Another Busy Week in the Arts, Part 1 (9/30-10/02)

The 33rd Annual Navaratri Festival at Wesleyan begins its 5-day run with a Colloquium on Wednesday September 30. The program blends music and dance from different traditions of Indian culture plus movies, a dance party and a worship service.

Wednesday's event features Matthew Allen (Wesleyan Ph.D 1986), Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Asian Studies at Wheaton College. He'll give a talk at at 4:15 p.m. in the CFA Hall (the old Cinema) putting the Festival and its different components into perspective. Allen received both his M.A. and Ph.D from Wesleyan and went on to co-author a book with his musical mentor T. Viswanathan titled "Music in South India: The Karnatak Concert Tradition and Beyond" (Oxford University Press.) This event is free and open to the public.

Other events include "Vocal Music of South India" on Thursday (October 1) at 8 p.m. in the World Music Hall featuring Wesleyan faculty members B. Balasubrahmaniyan (vocals), David Nelson (mridangnam) and guest artist K.V.S. Vinay (violin).
On Friday, there will be an "Indian Dance Party" at 6 p.m.. in the World Music Hall. According to the press release, "You will be treated to a Bollywood style group dance by several youngsters, Kolattam (dance with sticks from South India), Dandiya (dance from the North Indian state of Gujarat using sticks performed during Navaratri) and Bhangra (Spring dance from the North Indian state of Punjab)."
Following the dance, head over to Crowell Concert Hall for a duo concert featuring the fine young sarod player Alam Khan (pictured above) and the world-famous tabla player Samir Chatterjee. Khan, son of the late Swara Samrat Ali Akbar Khan, has established his credentials as a master player in the past few years while Chatterjee has worked with a diverse group of artists including Ravi Coltrane, Branford Marsalis, the Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic and the Ethos Percussion Group as well as Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. For ticket information about the events above, go to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa or call 685-3355.

Other events this week- Thursday Oct 1:
The Buttonwood Tree presents its monthly Open Mic at 7 p.m. Hosted by Bob Gotta, it's an opportunity for local artists to be "heard" in a non-judgmental atmosphere.

"Common Ground: Middletown International Film Festival" continues with a screening of "Offside", the 2006 film from Iran, at 7 p.m. at Middlesex Community College, 100 Training Hill Road. The story, inspired by director Jafar Panahi's daughter's attempt to attend a World Cup Soccer match in Iran (female attendance at sporting events is forbidden under current Iranian rule), tells of young girl flaunts the rules but not because she is such a big soccer fan. The screening is free and open to the public and is the result of a collaboration between the Middletown Commission on the Arts, MxCC, the Green Street Arts Center and Wesleyan University with the aid of Russell Library.

The Elia Kazan Centennial Celebration film series continues at Weseyan with an 8 p.m. showing of the 1951 classic, "A Streetcar Named Desire." Adapted from Tennessee William's 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, the film stars Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh (who won the Academy Award for her performace), Karl Malden and Kim Hunter. Joan Miller, Head Archivist, Elia Kazan Collection at Wesleyan, will introduce the film. The event, which takes place at the Goldsmith Family Cinema on Washington Terrace, is free and open to the public. For more information, call 685-2220.

The Middle City Stage Company, a new troupe headed by Kelly DiMauro, debuts with "TheWoolgatherer." The play, written by William Mastrosimone and first premiered in 1979, stars Anita Vlad and Michael Eck and is the story of 2 very different people who come together and manage to overcome their issues. Performances take place at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday and take place on the Main Stage of Oddfellows Playhouse. For more information, call 681-2141 or email tickets@middlecitystage.org.

Friday October 2:
MAC 650, the cooperative gallery located at 650 Main Street, celebrates the opening of "The Addams Family Gathering: A Collection of Macabre Artistry and Eclectic Oddities" at from 7 - 10 p.m. Finger foods, spirits and dirge melodies will be provided and you'll get the opportunity to meet the artists involved in the exhibition - they include Joseph Dinunzio, Joseph Galluccio, John McCormack, Shannon Gagne, Shelley & Katie Oswiecki, Jason May, Carrie Swider and Joey Marsocci. For more information, go to http://mac650.blogspot.com.



The Free-at-Last Players, a theater troupe organized by Connecticut Heritage Productions "dedicated to dispelling the myths and misconceptions that surround mental illness", is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The group starts its new season with a performance at 8 p.m. in The Buttonwood Tree. For more information, call 347-4957.

At 10 p.m., The Buttonwood presents Tommy Monaghan and Sean Frenette for a late evening of improvisational music. Monaghan (percussion) and Frenette (guitar), both graduates of the New England Conservatory of Music, have studies and worked with numerous musicians (including Joe Maneri, Billy Hart, Bob Moses, Zakir Hussein, Frank Carlberg, and Hankus Netsky) and bring an intensity to their duet explorations. Call the number above for more information.

The Frank Varela Project provides the music at 8:30 p.m. in Boney's Music Lounge - call 346-6000 for more information.