Rural Intelligence (Page 662)

Arts

This Week at Jacob’s Pillow: Jane Comfort and Company

Dance preview by Bess J.M. Hochstein “Dance theater,” like its cousin “performance art,” can be a weighted term. Purists of either discipline – dance or theater – tend to view it as a bastardization of both. In the hands of a smart, engaged choreographer/director such as Jane Comfort, who has

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Community

O Say, Can You See Some Fireworks

Funny how fireworks, invented by the Chinese in the 12th century, still inspire more awe and delight than anything Disney (studio and parks divisions combined) has conjured up so far. This weekend there will be many displays, the big challenge, apart from nabbing a parking spot with a view (despite

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Parties

Toasting Tapestry Health at Spice Dragon

Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield:Reproductive health and family planning are serious issues, but the benefit party on Monday, June 27 to mark the 38th anniversary of Tapestry Health, the only organization to provide these services in Western Massachusetts at low or no cost, was cause for celebration.

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Arts

Ragtime Concert Picnic, a Family Affair

“It’s amazing how many people don’t know what ragtime music is,” says Gwen Gould, Founder and Conductor of the Columbia Festival Orchestra. “It’s full of energy. It’s delightful,” says Ragtime expert Dan Paget. “It’s syncopated sound,” says Webster’s Dictionary, the music considered modern when

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Food

AgriCulture: Antibiotics, You Can Run But You Can't Hide

AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week, Mark writes: Lately I’ve been afflicted with the uncomfortable feeling that my fate is in the hands of other people. Last week it seemed almost all of those people were in

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Parties

Follow the Fold: Barrington Stage Company's 2011 Gala

The gym at St Joseph's Central High School is where Barrington Stage Company always holds its season-opening gala, and it feels like a homecoming dance. It's become a ritual for the audience to parade up North Street from the theatre to the school, and last

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Parties

Spencertown Academy's Twilight in the Garden

On Friday, June 24, Madeline Hooper and Ian Hooper (left), turned up at the Spencertown Academy's Twilight in the Garden benefit well prepared. What they found, thanks to hosts Jerry Croghan and Louis Hedgecock's spacious barn and adjacent tent, was a waterproof "garden" party

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Arts

Larry Keigwin + Company: Sparkle and Sass

Review by Bess J.M. Hochstein Photos: Christopher Duggan courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow When putting together each summer’s Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Ella Baff ensures that the schedule includes something for everyone. This weekend’s pairing of Keigwin + Company in the Doris Duke Theater, while Ballet Genève

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Arts

Review: "A Streetcar Named Desire" at Williamstown Theatre Festival

A Streetcar Named Desire—the Pulitzer Prize winning 1947 Tennessee Williams play that became the classic 1951 movie with Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh—dates back to the era when some films were made in Technicolor and others in black-and-white. Two summer's ago, Barrington Stage offered

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Arts

Ballet Genève's Romeo and Juliet -- A Somber, Spellbinding Success

Review by Bess J.M. Hochstein Photos: Christopher Duggan courtesy of Jacob's Pillow Those who think about performing arts programming could be forgiven for scratching their heads to find Romeo and Juliet on this season’s Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival schedule. After all, just two years ago

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Arts

"Spring Awakening" Team Returns to Powerhouse to Workshop a New Musical

by Scott Baldinger If you were in Los Angeles, busy working with Burt Bacharach on a new musical (Some Lovers), having just returned from a project in London (a new version of Alice in Wonderland for the National Theatre), how would you feel about having to be in Poughkeepsie the

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Food

Brick House Pub: A Nirvana for Hungry Beer Geeks

For the past few years, Leland Kent (right) and John Flynn (left) worked as bartenders at the no-frills Brick House Pub in the Great Barrington village of Housatonic. "We always talked about how we would make it better if we were in charge, how we'd serve

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