ARTS Pick: Rodrigo y Gabriela

Acoustic ascent: The 20-year career of Rodrigo y Gabriela has played out as deftly as the acoustic rock duo’s music. Meeting in Mexico as teenagers, Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero became a couple and formed a rock band. After growing frustrated with local opportunities, they took up residency in Dublin, Ireland, where they perfected their […]

ARTS Pick: Dr. Coincidence’s Song and Dance Show

No happy accidents: Dr. Bernie Beitman’s 2016 book, Connecting With Coincidence, throws science at the notion that surprise happenings in our lives are not entirely by chance. Dr. Coincidence’s Song and Dance Show takes that thinking to the stage, where personal stories of serendipity come alive through, well, song and dance. Beitman is joined by […]

Bellair bears: Ursine invaders trash neighborhood

By Eileen Abbott Bradley Kipp recently noticed evidence of a nighttime intruder in the tranquil, wooded Bellair neighborhood west of town where he lives. A resourceful problem solver, Kipp decided to use bungee cords to thwart the thief. He created makeshift “locks” to tightly seal his trash bins, which were being regularly rummaged through, apparently […]

ARTS Pick: The Harry Potter Concert

Muggles music: Music director Benjamin Rous leads the Charlottesville Symphony through compositions by John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Nicholas Hooper, and Patrick Doyle in a showcase of magical moments from world’s most idolized boy wizard in Pops at The Paramount—The Harry Potter Concert. While the performance does not feature film clips, the audience is invited to […]

ARTS Picks: Jade Jackson

Fierce forward: A hiking accident at the age of 20 shattered Jade Jackson’s body as well as the aspiring singer-songwriter’s career dreams. The long recovery pushed her into depression and dependency on prescription painkillers, and she says she didn’t believe in music anymore. Miraculously, Jackson quit the meds cold turkey and made her way back […]

In brief: PrezFest, Monticello High news, and more

Presidential address Following a brief introduction by UVA President Jim Ryan—where Ryan mentioned he’d gotten food poisoning from the White House the first time he met Bill Clinton—the former leader of the free world then took the lectern in Old Cabell Hall to close out the Miller Center of Public Affairs’ first-ever PrezFest, aka Presidential […]

ARTS Pick: Shagwüf

Sally Rose leads her trio Shagwüf in Sweet Freakshow, an anniversary performance to celebrate five years of stirring up crowds with the group’s psychedelic, retro swagger. “The most punk thing you can do in divisive times is to write music and try and bring bodies together, to sweat and celebrate being alive and compassionate,” says […]

Unstellar moments: History of blackface at UVA

By Shrey Dua Just months out from the blackface scandal that rocked Virginia’s Democratic leadership and threatened Ralph Northam’s governorship, all of 10 people showed up May 15 to learn about UVA’s history of blackface. At a talk that was one of several held last week as part of the city’s Unity Days series on […]