Kaatsbaan Summer Festival: Dance, Of Course, But Also Music, Film And Food
You'll see dancing, don't worry. But Chief Executive and Artistic Officer Sonja Kostich wants you to have a multilayered, full experience when you come to Kaatsbaan’s Summer Festival in Tivoli, New York. In fact, that experience is built into the programming. Over three consecutive weekends, beginning August 28 and running through September 12, the multidisciplinary festival at the Hudson Valley's year-round dance sanctuary will feature three new classical dance works with live music; a free weekend of western swing music, art, and picnicking; a film screening in partnership with the Woodstock Film Festival; and an inaugural outdoor end-of-summer dinner celebration.
While dance is, of course, the primary focus of Kaatsbaan, it’s not for nothing that the organization, formed in 1990 in Tivoli, New York is called Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, and that its stated mission is “to provide an extraordinary environment for cultural innovation and excellence.”
“Translation: it should include all arts,” says Kostich. “There are people in the Hudson Valley who love dance, but they also love music and visual arts. And we are in the Hudson Valley, where food is such an important part of the culture, so we’ve incorporated culinary arts as well. With that understanding , we started to develop this approach for our spring festival.”
Culinary cultture: Ruth Reichl, Jeff Gordinier, and JuanMa Calderón and Maria Rondeau, who will prepare the pachamanca
Two festivals within a matter of months is ambitious, to say the least. But, Kostich says, programmatically and financially, it makes sense for Kaatsbaan, and the summer festival is building on the success of the spring event.
“It was the largest thing we’ve ever done,” Kostich said. “All the artists had a fantastic time. Our tech director built a stage in the back field that was absolutely stunning. We were able to have the biggest audience ever — 350 people even with spacing for COVID. It felt very intimate, like you could reach out to Patti Smith.”
Yes, that Patti Smith. Kaatsbaan is Dutch for “a playing field,” and “players” included dancers, musicians, sculptors, and filmmakers. While the spring festival included icons of dance and music (American Ballet Theatre, Mark Morris, Martha Graham Dance Company), the summer festival supports the next generation of creators and artists. Events will take place both outdoors across its 153-acres as well as in its indoor theater, following all CDC and New York State guidelines.
The summer festival opens August 28 and 29 with the premiere of three Kaatsbaan-commissioned classical dance works (each choreographer created her piece during a Kaatsbaan residency). Gemma Bond’s work includes dancers from American Ballet Theatre (ABT). Renowned concert pianist Cecile Licad will play excerpts from Rachmaninoff’s virtuosic "13 Preludes" in collaboration with these dancers. Clair Davison of ABT brings a site-specific physical comedy piece to the grounds of Kaatsbaan, accompanied the Avila Ensemble, composed of Venezuelan students from Bard Conservatory. Choreographer Lauren Lovette (New York City Ballet) brings a new pas de deux to the outdoor Mountain Stage, with live music provided by the Balourdet String Quartet. Pianist Licad will open the outdoor Mountain Stage portion of the evening with a solo concert.
September 4 and 5 is a weekend of free art at the Cultural Park, with its fields open to the community for picnicking, western swing music with Tamar Korn & A Kornucopia, strolls through the sculpture garden featuring works by local Hudson Valley artists, and cocktails and beverages available for purchase from Milk and Honey Mobile Taps. Although admission is free, visitors must register for a ticket to enter the grounds.
For the final weekend, additional disciplines come into the picture. On September 11, there will be screenings of the Hudson Valley premiere of the film “In Balanchine’s Classroom,” presented in partnership with the Woodstock Film Festival. Invited guest speakers include filmmaker Connie Hochman, with former New York City Ballet Prima Ballerina Merrill Ashley.
The next day, September 12, the focus is on food with the inaugural “Playing Field Dinner,” curated by Jeff Gordinier, cookbook author and food writer for the New York Times and Esquire. The end-of-summer feast is in partnership with JuanMa Calderón and Maria Rondeau of Esmeralda and Celeste, who will prepare a pachamanca — an ancient Peruvian technique of cooking in the ground for which they were recently featured in the New York Times. The evening will also feature a conversation between Gordinier and Ruth Reichl, Hudson Valley resident, author, and former editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine.
Kostich is particularly looking forward to the pachamanca. “The people who are involved with it absolutely incredible,” she says. “They see this as a performance. The whole ritual of cooking and serving food has choreography with it.”
All of these other arts have a connection to dance. Kostich believes collaboration is the future, so, to that end, Kaatsbaan has opened its bubble residency program to include writers and filmmakers. There’s no telling what future festivals will hold. In the meantime, the summer festival looks to be a carefully programmed mash up of world-class cultural experiences.
Note: In line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation and New York’s most prominent performing arts venues requirements, Kaatsbaan will require proof of vaccination for all events, outdoor and indoor.
Please Support Rural Intelligence
We want to continue delivering the entertaining, informative and upbeat stories in the inimitable Rural Intelligence style, despite a pandemic. But we need your support to keep us going. Please consider making a donation; even a small amount helps secure our future. Support us now.
(If you prefer, mail a check to: 45 Pine Grove Ave., Suite 303, Kingston, NY 12401.)
Support Now