By the time audiences see the annual Thanksgiving-time performances of The Nutcracker, with dancers provided by the Rochester City Ballet and music performed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the work is polished. The poise of the dancers, the memorable swells and leaps in Tchaikovsky’s score, the dancing sweets and swirling snowflakes — it all makes […]
Erica Curtis
Posted inMusic
The font of consummation
The Tragically Hip is getting back to its roots. The band’s eleventh album, In Between Evolution, hearkens back to the quality and sound of earlier records, before the generally panned Music @ Work and In Violet Light of recent years. It may have seemed that the quintet was running dry after 20 years of writing […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
All
You can find hundreds of books on feng shui at the bookstore: Essential Feng Shui, 101 Feng Shui Tips For Your Home, Feng Shui for Singles, Feng Shui for Dummies. There are feng shui candle sets, CDs, and body lotion. Westerners have been trying to tap into the exotic wisdom of the “Orient” since we […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Down the garden path
Gardeners living in the city don’t always have a lot of space to work with. But the urge to set hands into soil is a powerful one, and thank goodness. The pockets of beauty these tillers create are something we all can enjoy. The City of Rochester recently announced the winners of the Flower City […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Finding a city oasis
Not many people living outside the 19th Ward can understand why people choose to live there. Then there are the 19th-Warders themselves, a group that has adopted the slogan “Urban by Choice.” Many of these folks are fiercely loyal to their corner of the city. And they sing the praises of its diversity. Barbara and […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Putting on a good show
It is, in my opinion, the best moment in the world: after the lights go down and before the show starts. Voices hush, bodies settle, and you wait. There is so much possibility in the air that breathing feels better. In fall, local theater and dance groups start performing in earnest. Rochester and the surrounding […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Hitting the lecture circuit
OK, all you nerds out there, it’s time to get down to work. Stock your pencil boxes, pull out your literary anthologies, and check the batteries in your tape recorders: fall is bursting with enough lectures and literary events to make us all feel like we’re back in school again. Listen to authors and scientists, […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Hard riding
The emcee has the audience going. But then again, it is a willing audience, already charged. The 250-member crowd laughs easily, cheers easier, and talks back. At one point he calls out, “All the females that ride raise your hand.” All the women — just about half of the audience — raise an arm and […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Fall Guide 2004
Fall with grace It leads us into the grip of colder, darker winter, but fall is a gentle warden. The colors are rich, the temperature is comfortable, and everything smells good. And best of all, fall brings with it a boom of cultural events. Autumn is theater, dance, and art shows! It’s movies and live […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Moving with grace from jig to waddle
John Haldoupis, artistic director at Blackfriars Theatre, recently introduced a showing of May God Strike Me Dead… (If I’m Telling a Lie)! with: “We’re thrilled to have a little-known performer — perhaps you’ve heard of her — Adele Fico.” The audience twittered in knowing anticipation. Patrons who for years have enjoyed Fico’s acting and comedy […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Looking for a room of their own
It’s a Goldilocks-style dilemma. Of all of the performing arts spaces being proposed — all the various sizes, locations, and configurations — for every arts group there is one that would fit just right. But who gets into which round of discussions, and how much weight those discussions actually carry, are questions some small- […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
What marriage means to New York
Several issues were left hanging when the state legislature adjourned last week. But there is probably one bill you won’t see on the lists of things yet to be decided: the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA is a bill, not yet voted on, to outlaw the marriage of gay or lesbian couples in New […]
