First Fridays: May 5 Lily Erb spends a lot of time outside, taking stock of the natural world for images, information and patterns to use in her steel sculptures, some of which are on view this month in “Epitaxy” at the Welcome Gallery at New City Arts. Sometimes she’ll focus on abstracting a certain natural form—for […]
The human voice is an extraordinary thing. Even the softest, quietest sound is no small feat to produce. Here’s how it works: The lungs pump air through the trachea (windpipe) and into the larynx, where the vocal cords are located. The air makes the vocal folds—multilayered folds of tissue—vibrate, and they alternately trap and release […]
Everything about Colossal is a pleasant surprise. From its cute premise carrying actual dramatic weight, to every moment it made the choice to be better instead of safer, to the revelation of Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo demonstrating that his brand of humor and metaphor needs no further translation, it is difficult to recall a film […]
Each spring in central Virginia a unique handoff takes place at the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase. After nine months of learning from the best in their respective fields, students graduate with skills and a deep appreciation for traditional music, food and crafts such as Hindustani vocals, square dance calling, paper sculpture and Cambodian costume-making. The […]
Singer-songwriter Sean Rowe is growing his career with a grassroots approach. In addition to offering wilderness and foraging classes on his website, he splits his time between the road and raising a family. About a recent tour, Rowe says, “At every house, barn, chicken coop, apartment, loft and church, we made a real connection…” and […]
Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, August Wilson’s award-winning Fences offers an inside look at an African-American community in mid-20th century America. The play follows 53-year-old Troy—a former baseball star and thief—who struggles to provide for his small family. Troy’s wife, Rose, asks him to build a fence around their home, which comes to symbolize the protections […]
Take some kite flying, throw in a little bird feeding, add an uber-nanny, a chimney sweep and two precocious kids, and you’ve got the makings for a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious evening when the Albemarle High School Players present Mary Poppins. Based on the popular Disney movie, the musical, directed by Fay E. Cunningham, follows the story of […]
Unconventional is a word often found in descriptions of Eugene Chadbourne’s work, but it doesn’t begin to capture the far-out 63-year-old musician’s career. Wikipedia notes that his mastery of guitar, banjo, rake and plunger, and his immersion in free jazz, folk and experimental music led to collaborations with John Zorn, Fred Frith, Jello Biafra, Violent […]
When Alethea Leventhal was a child, she’d sit for hours at the piano in her mother’s Charlottesville home, singing, playing chords and experimenting with sounds. She remembers obsessively listening to songs like Jimmy Ruffin’s 1966 Motown hit “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted,” pressing play over and over again and using that piano to figure out […]
Ben Wheatley’s obvious joy of filmmaking is contagious. It’s clear from everything he’s ever made that movement, color (or lack of it, as in A Field in England) and the extremes of human behavior compel him to create unique, kinetic films with an energy that bridges the gap between raw inspiration and technical perfectionism. Even […]