Stop by for Great Sunday Afternoon Dancing of Ballroom and Latin Tunes.
3:15 to 3:30 — Instructional "BACHATA DANCE" by MELI
3:30 to 5:45 — Social Dance!
Cover charge is $12
Photo by Paul Bloomfield
In Karen With a “K,” longtime collaborators Kelly Silliman and Cat Wagner take on the mythology of the “Karen” persona and its increasingly ubiquitous use as a social meme. “Karen” has become a commonplace, pejorative term for white women who seem entitled beyond reason and who may also weaponize their privilege within certain contexts. In this dance play, Silliman and Wagner utilize “iconic” Karen moments from the past few years as a way to examine how racism and misogyny intersect in contemporary culture. They believe humor can offer opportunities to build tolerance for the messiness and discomfort inherent in personal growth, and also that self-reflection must be matched by thoughtful action.
Content Advisory: This piece contains audio from several viral videos of “Karens” which portray high emotions and include occasional profanity.
Cat Wagner and Kelly Silliman have been collaborating since 2013, shortly after they both graduated from the Smith College MFA program in Choreography and Performance. They create dance plays to explore contemporary feminism, intersectional identities, and American pop culture in playful, absurdist ways. Cat Wagner is the dance instructor at Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield, MA. Kelly Silliman is the Program Director at the Northampton Center for the Arts, and a core collaborator with Deborah Goffe/Scapegoat Garden. Kelly was also the founder/director of the tinydance project from 2012-2022.
33 Hawley is a fully accessible, ADA-compliant building. Bathrooms are labeled and include all-gender options. Masks are optional. The three spaces that the Center stewards (The Flex, Eli’s Room, and Carole’s Dance Studio) have HEPA filters running 24/7, in addition to the building's state of the art HVAC system.
Please join the Northampton Center for the Arts, A.P.E. Ltd., and Northampton Open Media at 33 Hawley for a reception for Currents, with refreshments and live music by Shannon Lambert during Arts Night Out on Friday 3/10 from 5:00-8:00pm! This exhibit, hosted by the Northampton Center for the Arts, is two in one! Currents and Coastlines, with artwork by Lee Thomson, can be seen on the mezzanine level, and Cutting Currents, with artwork by Sophie Chambers, can be seen on the ground floor level of 33 Hawley.
Sponsored in part by River Valley Co-op and Downtown Sounds Workers Co-op. THANK YOU!
Lee Thomson is a contemporary fiber artist living and working in western Massachusetts. Her stitched textile works draw on a background in geology, geography and cartography to explore the landscape from the bones up. Using quilting materials and fine art sensibilities, she creates visual work in a tactile medium. Starting with layered fabric, details are drawn in thread and the finished work shows a familiar landscape in a new way. Lee’s work has been shown in regional exhibits in New England, including group and solo shows, as well as local galleries.
Sophie Chambers started making art with more regularity during the summer of 2022 in a concerted effort to not burn out at her day job. That being said, art has been a companion throughout her life; first in the form of music and musical theater, and in more recent years through writing poetry and doodling. Sophie does her best to access the curiosity and freewheeling imagination that was so intrinsic to her childhood while using art to process her lived experiences. As a result, her art often speaks to more serious sociopolitical issues even while her creative self is very much rooted in the playfulness of an inner child.
Born across the river and raised in Amherst, MA, Shannon Lambert’s music fuses electro-acoustic and American roots elements with the DIY aesthetics of bedroom pop. Her self-produced debut album, Cool Girl (2021), utilized the challenges of recording in early-pandemic isolation as a creative framework through which the singer explored themes of finding and losing home against the backdrop of Western Mass. As she writes with a sophomore album in mind, Shannon’s newer work leans further into alt-folk aesthetics and draws on the singer’s choral background to showcase the voice as an instrument of both storytelling and texture-making capabilities. Her music is available to stream everywhere.
Please Ship This Wet Gift is one clown's presentation about terrible feelings, and provides an opportunity for family audiences to laugh together about feeling bad. Everyone can go home when she thinks you're prepared. (Because it's better if you're prepared.) (And she'll be the guy who prepared you.) Performed by Marta Mozelle MacRostie of Brave Bucket Co. and directed by Hannah Simms, this original work uses audience suggestion, audience participation, drawing, made-up songs, puppetry, and cardboard sharks to bring some empathy, laughter, and lightness to the heavy stuff.
Recommended for ages 4+ and adults who like awesome things, younger siblings always welcome!
Marta Mozelle MacRostie (Performer/Designer) is a puppeteer, clown, designer, builder, teacher and vocalist based in NYC. She holds a degree in Puppetry & Music from UMass Amherst, studied clown at Movement Theater Studio, and is a many-time alum of the O'Neill National Puppetry Conference. Marta's previous show for family audiences Help Save the Monkey! (with collaborator Liz Hara) premiered in the 2014 New York Children's Theater Festival, and was awarded a 2014 Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant.
Hannah Simms (Director) is a director and teacher based in Hartford, CT, where she is an ensemble member at HartBeat Ensemble. She is a graduate of the Dell'Arte School of Physical Theatre, the NTI Advanced Directing Semester at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and the Ada Comstock Program at Smith College.
Marta & Hannah met on their afterschool softball team in Amherst, MA. Their team never won a game, but they did do the bunny hop in the outfield. They're so pleased and excited to bring this work to their hometown. This weekend of performances is dedicated to the memory of Marta's mom, Robin MacRostie, who was an active and loved member of the Valley dance and arts community, and a longtime artist, student, teacher, and supporter of many programs at the Northampton Center for the Arts.
FUN with MARDI GRAS PARTY!
Stop by for Great Sunday Afternoon Dancing of Ballroom and Latin Tunes.
We will have Masks and Beads too.
Your host: Meli Morash, with
GUEST DJ RAPHAEL !
Deconstructions, an exhibit hosted by A.P.E.@Hawley, features new work by three UMass Amherst Studio Arts undergraduate students: Adrienne Albro-Fisher, Isabela Cusano, and Henry Prentiss. The exhibition explores vulnerability, decay, displacement, and claustrophobia, presenting viewers with reflections on human relationships with organic and constructed environments. The exhibit will be on display January 6-February 25, 2023.
The Youth Performance Festival (YPF), a collaboration between Play Incubation Collective and the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley, is a FREE opportunity for youth artists ages 8-18 to create original performance pieces under the guidance of mentor artists in the fields of music, dance, theater, poetry/spoken word, and video. YPF centers the creative agency of young artists, and is committed to supporting them as they discover their own creative processes. The festival performances showcase the work that young artists have created over the six week rehearsal process!
Tizzy playing at the Bay State Hotel in October 2000. Seth Kaye Photography.
Inspired by Steve Waksman’s recent book, Live Music in America, this panel discussion will focus on the past few decades of Northampton’s live music scene and the city’s musical life more broadly. A panel of local music insiders will reflect on the scene’s history since the 1970s, its present, and where it might go next. Preceding the panel discussion will be a brief presentation by Dylan Gaffney of Forbes Library, who will share archival photos and other materials to illustrate some of the venues and events that have defined Northampton music through the years.
The panel will be moderated by Steve Waksman, Smith College Professor of Music, and will feature:
Beth Caurant, founder and guitarist, Lilith
Joan Holliday, Program Director and afternoon drive host on WRSI, 93.9 The River
Neal Robinson, Iron Horse Music Hall|Race Street Live
Glenn Siegel, founder, Magic Triangle Jazz Series and co-founder, Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares
Register at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventRegoeidk=a07ejjw8fmq7aa6445c&oseq=&c=&ch=
We stepped into the New Year — Wishing you all a Happy & Healthy 2023!
Our first dance of the year will be on Sunday, January 22, at the Center for the Arts. We are inviting you all to come and have a FUN Sunday afternoon.
Please tell a friend and share with them!
Dancing is good for BODY and SOUL! If you are looking for a FUN way to listen to music, energize your body, and stimulate your brain then consider getting into Ballroom Dancing/Latin. Come and join us at NORTHAMPTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS!
Cover: $10
We are thrilled to announce that in January 2024, after the final construction phase of 33 Hawley is complete, the Center will be stewarding a brand new art gallery! We envision this gallery as an accessible and welcoming space partially programmed by a committee that includes community members. As we work towards this vision, we want to hear from you! What do you want to see in an art gallery? What’s missing from the gallery scene in our area? What do you love about specific galleries that you want to see included in our approach? Please join us on Saturday, January 21, from 1-2:30pm for a listening session and share your thoughts! (We will also be sending out a survey after the listening session to invite feedback from folks who aren’t able to attend). Refreshments and childcare provided!
Questions? Email ncfa@nohoarts.org!
Smith College Professor of Music Steve Waksman will discuss his new book, Live Music in America: A History from Jenny Lind to Beyoncé. Starting with Jenny Lind's fabled U.S. tour (she performed to large crowds in Northampton in 1851 and 1852) and winding all the way into the twenty-first century, Live Music in America is the first book to consider the history of live music in the U.S. across genres and time periods. It draws upon previously unstudied archival materials to shed new light on the origins of jazz, the emergence of rock 'n' roll, and the rise of the modern music festival. Dr. Waksman's presentation will be illustrated with photos from his research along with music and video clips.
Register at http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=mdtu7ycab&oeidk=a07ejjw8fmp0ba12a09
Please join the Northampton Center for the Arts, A.P.E. Ltd., and Northampton Open Media at 33 Hawley for a reception for the opening of Deconstructions with refreshments and live music by Lucia Dostal during Arts Night Out on Friday 1/13 from 5:00-8:00pm!
Deconstructions, an exhibit hosted by A.P.E.@Hawley, features new work by three UMass Amherst Studio Arts undergraduate students: Adrienne Albro-Fisher, Isabela Cusano, and Henry Prentiss. The exhibition explores vulnerability, decay, displacement, and claustrophobia, presenting viewers with reflections on human relationships with organic and constructed environments. The exhibit will be on display January 6-30, 2023.
Lucia Dostal will lead a group of talented musicians in performing a groovy selection of songs, including Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell and some classic jazz standards, as well as original songs heavily influenced by Lake Street Dive, Carole King and Andy Shauf. The performers include: Lucia Dostal (vocals), Tommy Harte (guitar), Elena Ciampa (bass), Izzy Davis (drums).
Sponsored in part by River Valley Co-op and Downtown Sounds Workers Co-op. THANK YOU!
Lucia Dostal
Classic Music. New Culture.
Relax and revel as you take in glorious chamber music in an atmosphere encouraging presence and connection.
Join musician-facilitators Charlotte Malin of Resonant Heart Healing and Carson Marshall of Clearing the Stage for a sonic journey weaving together elements of meditation, conversation, and opportunities for creative self-expression. This is an unconventional concert for those who want to explore a more liberated listening experience, without sacrificing high-quality musicianship and a focused environment.
Music by Mozart, Beethoven, and folk arrangements by the Danish String Quartet
Carson Marshall and Emma Carleton, violins
Charlotte Malin, viola
Wayne Smith, cello
For tickets, please visit https://www.resonanthearthealing.com/event-details/holistic-classical-string-quartet-concert
Bring your family to this classic Holiday event featuring ballerinas of the Academy of Ballet Arts and dancers from the community!
Under the direction of Katherine Bervera and Zazie Tobey, dancers perform to Tchaikovsky's joyous variations in this sweet and heart warming Nutcracker. Cast members as young as 4 along side talented guest artists create magic as party guests, mice, Dew Drop Fairies, Snow Flakes, a scary Mouse King and Belly Dancers!
Choose from any of our 3 performance options or purchase a VIP ticket to see all and support our dancers in different roles!
Tickets may be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mini-nutcracker-at-northampton-center-for-the-arts-tickets-479400127687
YES… This is our First Holiday Dance at the Northampton Center for the Arts. Please join us to celebrate coming holidays. This month our guest instructors — very well known by the dance community — are Savio Cheng and Megan Tierney. They are going to show us how to WALTZ LINE Dance. This will be FUN. We will also have small goodies for the dance.
So, take a break from shopping and join us Sunday December 18!
Keep Dancing!!!
Love to all ❤️
🎶 🎶💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺
Dancing is good for BODY and SOUL! If you are looking for a FUN way to listen to music, energize your body, and stimulate your brain then consider getting into Ballroom Dancing — come and join us at NORTHAMPTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS!
New Hampshire born, New Brunswick based, Jason Anderson is an award-winning indie folk artist whose work is as anthemic as it is affecting. Personal and passionate, Anderson's music crackles with life. A poignant writer and consummate showman, Jason’s songs are keenly-observed snapshots of emotion and experience, while his electrifying concerts celebrate the power of the here and now—both invitation and conversation, reflection and release. Expect a heartfelt evening of connection, catharsis, and a chance to see this much-loved performer in an intimate setting. Jason Anderson returns to westernMass for a very special night at Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley. Not to be missed.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasonandersonmusic/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasonandersontheband
For tickets, please visit: https://www.gethandstamp.com/event/an-evening-with-jason-anderson-northampton-ma
With a concept by David Cavallin, Ken Comia, Melissa Dupont, David Webber and Eddie Zitka, celebrate the season with a K and E Theater Group take on “festivating” the holidays in this annual tradition. Let us transport you to our second K and E Theater Group holiday party where our eight performers will harmonize and pay homage to traditional and contemporary holiday music! Be filled with the spirit of the holidays!
30 Poems in November! is a literary fundraiser to support our free English classes for immigrants, refugees, migrants, asylum-seekers. 75 writers joined us to write a poem each day in November and ask family and friends to sponsor them.
Although the month of writing has finished, you can still participate!
Friends and Supporters – Please click here to support a participating writer or make a general donation.
For our Blog: Please click here to read some of our new poems. This blog is updated weekly.
Our Reading & Celebration will take place Wednesday, December 14th at 7:00 PM at the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley and online. Please email Laurie for details on attending in person and/or online.
Northampton Open Media and the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley are thrilled to host the extended MICAfest art exhibit! Please join us on Friday, December 9 from 5-8pm for a reception with refreshments and live music, as part of Arts Night Out. This exhibit features the work of more than 20 visual artists who are also moms!
Founded in 2022, Mothers Institute for Collaboration and Arts (MICA) aims to support artistic mothers by building community. Through festivals, workshops, and support groups, MICA produces opportunities for mothers to create, showcase, and get paid for their creative work. MICA is a mother-led organization committed to responding to the unique needs of mothers and making space for mothers in the arts and cultural ecosystem through systemic change. MICA is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a New York-based nonprofit devoted to helping artists and arts organizations by providing fundraising tools, education resources, and support.
To celebrate the publication of Michael Favala Goldman’s fifth book of poetry, This May Sound Familiar, we will hold a party at the Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley St. on December 10, 2022 at 7pm.
The event opens with a set by Now’s the Time Jazz Quartet, featuring Michael on clarinet and bass clarinet. Immediately following will be a poetry reading from the new book and perhaps some brand new poems too. There will be books for signing and for sale, also sweets and beverages. Admission is free.
If you cannot make it in person you can attend via Zoom.