Archive: Arts & Entertainment

The History Center in Tompkins County announced its participation in New York State's Museum Week 2012 and New York State's Heritage Weekend.

The History Center will open its doors for Heritage Weekend on May 19th, and for Museum Week on May 31st, June 2nd and June 5th, 2012. People from all over New York State will be able to visit and admire crazy quilts and silk quilts dating from the mid- and late-19th century at The History Center in Tompkins County. This new batch of quilts, as part of the revolving display in the Historic Quilts Unwrapped exhibit, will display wild patterns, stark colors and delicate fabrics for the public's enjoyment throughout the month of May.

The Tompkins County Public Library will host an encore performance by the Senior Citizen’s Theatre Troupe of Lifelong, May 24 at 6 p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room.

A follow-up to last spring’s performance at the Library, this show will center around the theme of education and feature humorous and serious stories from troupe members’ lives. The Troupe performs simply, with no lights, props or sets. The theatre being performed is developed from themes that the actors pick, and the stories they tell are based on their own experiences.

SMART TALK

by Dr. Will S. Sert


COMPLETE AND TOTAL: Here at the Center for English as a First Language, we have a collection of redundancies like this, the most egregious kind, that combine two synonyms. Complete and total, for instance. Is a complete fool any more foolish than a total fool?

Totally and completely shows how a linguistic virus can mutate, adapting itself to new situations in spite of our best efforts.

A relative of these pairs rears its ugly head when some yob describes a book as complete and unabridged.

The ultimate fools may well be any spring's new crop of young lovers. Such happy and enviable fools, totally and completely in love. Always and forever.

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On May 11 and 12, Central New Yorkers will have a special opportunity to see Steps in Time at the Irene A. Bisgrove Theatre at Cayuga Community College. The show will honor the late dancer and choreographer Thommie Walsh, an Auburn native who was Tune's longtime friend and collaborator.

Proceeds of the event will help endow a new Cayuga Community College scholarship in memory of Thommie Walsh. Both performances will be introduced by Walsh's cousin, John Walsh, a fellow Auburnian and the creator and host of the Fox Television Network series America's Most Wanted.

Aurora, New York—The Wells College Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Bands are pleased to present their spring concert for the community. The concert will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 3 in the Recital Hall of Barler Hall on the Wells campus. Admission is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

The members of the Chamber Orchestra are Sunedara Davis ’14, Leanna Dellinger ’12, Courtney Fesko ’15, Sarah Hansen ’12, Sarah Johnson ’14, Mei Kawachi ’15, Julia Knecht ’15, Alexandria Kreuzburg ’12, Sandra Manzella ’15, Chelsea McGrath ’14, Justin Nasca ’12, Bryant Sanders ’12, Hannah Sterling ’12, T.J. Wissick ’15, Jackson Maloney ’15, Heidi Schlager ’13, Chris Tinozzi ’15, and Kathryn Stiadle.

On Saturday, May 5, the Ithaca Community Orchestra will present its Spring Concert at the First Baptist Church on DeWitt Park in downtown Ithaca. This concert, entitled "America!", features composers who are American or have a strong connection to America.

Works to be performed include Morton Gould's American Salute; Dvorak's American Suite; Ashokan Farewell by Jay Unger; Fast Freight Dream composed for the ICO by Ithaca College faculty member Sally Lamb McCune; A Symphonic Portrait, a medley of Irving Berlin songs; and excerpts from Aaron Copland's Rodeo Suite.

This is the last edition of “former underrated masterpieces.” Hereafter, when I have time, I’m planning to dive into reviews of newer releases, particularly blues releases.  Rock and R&B have gone a tad stale. Most songs sound alike, there is too much glam without substance, and there are too few really new and innovative artists surfacing. Today’s rock, with a few exceptions, seems accentuated, and even defined, by compositions, if you can call them that, which are devoted only to rhythm, many with almost no melody at all. I find it trite and boring. Thus, the blues is where, in my opinion, most truly creative music is being generated these days. …Well, enough pontificating – MSB Stagepass awaits….

The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame’s location in Cleveland is no accident. So many musicians and bands started or broke out from that gritty Midwestern city that there were few serious challengers for the title. Among the famous artists that came from the Cleveland music scene are Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Bobby Womak, Tracy Chapman, the Busboys, Artful Dodger, Eric Burton, Henry Mancini, Mitch Mitchell, the Pretenders, the Dead Boys, Pere Ubu, Joe Walsh, Devon Allman, Trent Reznor, and Devo.

Belle Sherman Elementary School kindergarteners and their families gathered on March 22 in teacher Peggy Dolan’s classroom, which was transformed into a gallery of students’ artwork. The event culminated a three-month project connecting nature, art, literature and movement, and was funded by an Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) Red & Gold Grant.

“Science, art, poetry and music: it’s a lot of fun to help the students connect these areas,” said Dolan.

SMART TALK

by Dr. Will S. Sert


BITS AND PIECES: At the Center for English as a First Language, we have a collection of these special redundancies that use two synonyms. My colleague, Dr. Shirley Glibb, thinks teachers such as those at Smith Elementary and Wesson High, here in Underbelly, Texas, might be partly at fault.

Miss Shirley Markem Lowe, for instance tells her twelfth grade English classes to write essays of at least 250 words. This tempts students to develop the habit of padding their writing with useless words, such as bits and pieces instead of bits or pieces.

Writing about their hopes and aspirations only adds to the word count without adding information. They can pick a career or choose one, but saying it's hard to pick and choose is saying they don't have much to say.

The rules and regulations of every English class should put the importance of clear, tight, quality communication over and above word count, which is almost always bad.

The very best English teachers often set a maximum word count and grade on clarity, effective word use, and quality and depth of information.

Lo and behold, their students achieve greater success in their chosen fields. They can communicate better, and they can think better. That's what it's all about.

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Following the highly successful completion of a capital campaign that raised over $5 million and an extensive renovation of Ithaca’s Hangar Theatre, Lisa Bushlow has announced her decision to resign her role as the theatre’s executive director at the end of 2012 in order to pursue new professional opportunities.

According to Ann Costello, president of the Hangar Theatre Board of Trustees, Bushlow and the board are discussing a continuing role for Bushlow with the theatre, with an emphasis on sustainable development. Peter Flynn, the Hangar’s artistic director for four years, will continue in his role with the theatre.