Art
The lights go out and the theatre is dark for a preternaturally long time. The sound of gushing water engulfs us, and we’re savvy enough about the events of August 30, 2005, in New Orleans to know that this is the 18-foot wall of water funneling down the streets of all the neighborhoods fanning out from the levees of Lake Ponchatrain.
Einstein alluded to it, and the quantum physicist and 1-800 medium alike declare it openly: linear time is way less real than we think it is. In Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown’s song-cycle musical, The Last Five Years, chronological time goes by the board as, in a clever device that turns the love story on its head, time moves forward from the man’s perspective, backwards from the woman’s.
Martha’s Vineyard music students will display their violin, piano, viola and flute skills at a concert Sunday, June 29, at 4 p.m. in the Whaling Church on Main street in Edgartown.
The program includes a flute and piano duet by sisters Rebekah and Kaija Nivala. Rebekah is the winner of this year’s Caroline Worthington Prize, named for one of the founding musicians of the Chamber Music Society.
Why didn’t anyone think of it sooner? The first annual Aquinnah Music Festival is shaping up for July 19, from noon to moonrise in the circle atop the cliffs of Gay Head, on Lighthouse Road.
Dance Classes
Vineyard Dance will offer a six-week summer dance course from Monday, June 30 to August 9, at the Oak Bluffs School on Tradewinds Road off Wing Road. Adults and teenagers may join at any time. Ballet, modern dance, modern jazz and floor barre classes will be taught by Kathy Joyce Costanza. For more information, call 508-693-2257.
The Field Gallery invites all to a free artists’ reception Sunday June 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. for an exhibition of new work by Ben Johnson and Janet Woodcock.
Returning artist Ben Johnson’s paintings celebrate the natural world. Images of birds and their surroundings depict the landscape in a bold and colorful style. Mr. Johnson draws his inspiration from the spacious landscape of Martha’s Vineyard. Recently reviewed in American Art Collector (June 2008), he is certainly an artist to watch.