February/March 2009

Films ° Performances ° Lectures
and other events in February and March 2009

February 5–15

The Brandeis Theater Company presents Siddhartha: A Jungian Fantasy in Three Movements with Prelude. Adapted by Eric Hill from the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, this fantastical adaptation follows the young Siddhartha as he pursues truth and enlightenment with the help of Jung, Freud, and three Hindu goddesses. Call for times. Laurie Theater, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA. (781) 736-3400, www.brandeis.edu/btc

February 13–March 14

On the evening of their patriarch’s birthday, a wealthy Mississippi family is in danger of being torn apart. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece by Tennessee Williams, explores the hypocrisy, greed, and secret passions of this proud Southern family. Call for times. Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA. (617) 585-5678, www.lyricstage.com

Sea of Birds, Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond, Keene State College, Keene, NH.

March 12

White Box Theatre, Redfern Arts Center, and the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery present Sebastienne Mundheim’s Sea of Birds, a tale of one child’s memories of a displacement camp in wartime. Using paper sculpture, dance-based puppetry, and live musicians, audiences will be transported to a fantastical world exploring history, memory, and the power of imagination. 6, 7:30, and 8:30 pm. Space limited. Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery, Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond, Keene State College, 229 Main Street, Keene, NH. (613) 358-2168, www.keene.edu/racbp

Music

February 6

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Grammy Award-winning group from South Africa, has been regarded as the country’s cultural emissary at home and around the world for over forty years. They continue to perform their unique and beautiful traditional harmonies around the globe. 8 pm. Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT. (203) 254-4010, www.quickcenter.com

February 7

The New England String Ensemble will perform a concert that blends the classical elegance of Mozart and Haydn with the contemporary, raw passion of Osvaldo Golijov. Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony will also be performed. 7:30 pm. Rogers Center for the Arts, Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike Street, North Andover, MA. (781) 224-1117, www.newenglandstringensemble.org

March 2

New England Conservatory’s Intercultural Institute presents celebrated shamisen player Akiko Nishigata and her ensemble in a concert entitled The Japanese Spirit in Nature. Their performance of traditional and contemporary Japanese music will be accompanied by teachers and students from the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music. 4 pm. Brown Hall, New England Conservatory, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA. (617) 585-1100, www.newenglandconservatory.edu

March 14

The Lydian String Quartet continues their concert series Around the World in a String Quartet, a five-year project presenting musical narratives of diverse cultures across time and place. This performance will feature music from Germany, Czechoslovakia, and the United States. 8 pm. Slosberg Music Center, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA. (781) 736-3400, www.brandeis.edu/arts/concerts

Film

February 14

The first film made in the West by Chinese master director Hou Hsiao-hsien, Flight of the Red Balloon is an homage to Albert Lamorisee’s classic movie from 1965 about a boy and his balloon. Juliette Binoche plays a busy mother in a tale that focuses upon her child, his babysitter, and the fantasy balloon.  French with English subtitles. 113 minutes. 3 and 8 pm. Dana Auditorium, Mahaney Center for the Arts, Middlebury College, Route 30 South, Middlebury, VT. (802) 433-6433, www.middlebury.edu/arts

Through February

Dance

Isabel Bayón, Cutler Majestic Theater, Boston, MA. Photo: Ines Sagastume.

February 13–15

The tenth annual Flamenco Festival will feature performances by Isabel Bayón,
Soledad Barrio, and Noche Flamenca, celebrating the passion, purity, and integrity
of flamenco. Call for times and more information. Cutler Majestic Theatre,
Emerson College, 219 Tremont Street, Boston, MA. (617) 824-8000, www.maj.org

February 14

Recognized worldwide for its exuberant, athletic, and eclectic approach to dance,
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago has been an innovative force in contemporary
dance for over three decades. This program features choreographer
Doug Varone’s latest work, The Constant Shift of Pulse, an intricate and
visually powerful piece that illuminates purity of movement. 8 pm.
Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Road,
Fairfield, CT. (203) 254-4010, www.quickcenter.com

March 27–29

Australia’s award-winning Chunky Move is known for its distinct, yet unpredictable, brand of genre-defying dance. Inspired by real-life stories, the company’s touching and funny I Want to Dance Better at Parties uses documentary film and dance to capture both the joy of dance and the fear of ridicule in this brilliant, impressionistic, witty, and insightful work. Call for times. Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA. (617) 876-4275, www.worldmusic.org

February 4

In conjunction with the exhibition Miroslaw Balka: Lightworks (through March 29), Barbara London, curator of film/media at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, will discuss the video works on view. She will be joined by exhibition curator Gregory Salzman and the artist, Miroslaw Balka. 6 pm. The Museum of UMass-Amherst, Fine Arts Center, 151 President’s Drive, Amherst, MA. (413) 545-3670, www.fineartscenter.com/universitygallery

February 2 & March 2

In conjunction with the exhibition, Peaceable Kingdom, paintings by Gail Boyajian, the Cambridge Arts Council presents First Mondays @ CAC Gallery, featuring an informal talk with the artist along with Armenian music, performance, and a food tasting by a local purveyor in an intimate setting. 6 pm. CAC Gallery, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, Cambridge, MA. (617) 349-4380, www.cambridgeartscouncil.org

February–March

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, presents their Visiting Artist Lecture Series. During the months of February and March, artist lecturers will include Taryn Simon, Diana Cooper, Ellen Driscoll, and Jason Middlebrook. Call for times and more information. Riley Seminar Room, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA. (617) 369-3718, www.smfa.edu

March 19

Co-founders of the artist-activist collaborative THINK AGAIN, S.A. Bachman and David John Attyah will discus their artistic processes and inspirations. As public artists whose work often sends a powerful and emotionally charged message, this conversation will speak to larger issues of contemporary artists. 6:30 pm. Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA. (508) 799-4406, www.worcesterart.org

Flora in Winter at the Worcester Art Museum. Architectural Planes, Charles Sheeler. Interpretation by Elizabeth Call, Stow Garden Club.

February 5–8

Worcester Art Museum and the Tower Hill Botanic Garden will collaborate to host the seventh annual Flora in Winter celebration, the premier floral design event of the year and a feast for the eyes and spirit in the middle of winter. Twenty-three works from the collection are interpreted in flowers, and public spaces are adorned by area florists. Call for more information about the schedule and daily events. Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA.
(508) 799-4406, www.worcesterart.org