Arts
Arts
Strand Theatre to host two free Boston Ballet shows on Friday
Mar. 8, 2011
Boston Ballet at Strand: Soloist John Lam represents the dynamic talent that will take the Strand stage on Friday. Photo by Gene Schiavone.Young Dorchester dancers will be “taking flight” as they bring audiences at the Strand Theatre to new artistic heights on Friday. A year ago the debut of the Boston Ballet at the Strand was so well received that Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen is bringing his renowned dance company back this Friday for free performances at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The morning school showcase, developed specifically for the Strand, offers a dynamic introduction to a variety of dance forms through an interactive and diverse program, which includes performers from a Dot middle school.
All of the Strand’s 1400 seats are expected to be filled on Friday morning with students from 11 Boston Public Schools, mostly from Dorchester, including the Clap, Greenwood, Holland, Mather, and Murphy Schools. The Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School will turn out as well to support fellow students who will perform. Read more
Contest winner sees rap career in his future
Feb. 24, 2011
Javon "Yung Fresh" Martin, a member of the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club in Dorchester, was named Northeast region winner in the music tech category of the Club Tech Digital Arts Festival. He will advance to the national competition to vie for the title in his age group, 13-15. He will also be opening the Colgate University Springfest in April.
For up-and-coming Dorchester teen Javon “Yung Fresh” Martin, winning the music category at the Boys & Girls Club’s Digital Arts Festival is just a rung on his ladder to the top.
Martin, 15, used the studio at the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club’s Music Clubhouse to combine a rap written by a few of the program’s 10- to 12-year-olds mixed with jazz sound bytes the club required be mixed in each song. The song - “Studio Heat Remix” - took first place in the northeast regionals last week.
“I got the samples and I made the beat, and then I told the kids the idea,” he said. “And they were like, ‘Cool, we want to do it.’” Read more
Black History month performances to take the stage at Hibernian Hall
Feb. 17, 2011
This weekend Mad River Theater Works of Ohio comes to the Roxbury Center for the Arts at Hibernian Hall with a pair of one-afternoon-only shows about African-American cultural heritage. The troupe performs “John Henry” on Saturday, 2/19 at 2:00 p.m. and “Wings of Courage” on Sunday 2/20 also at 2:00 p.m. Read more
Dot Art huddles to plan future, seek new leader
Dec. 10, 2010
The Dorchester Community Center for the Visual Arts is eyeing a new direction and a change in leadership. The local arts education program, also known as Dot Art, largely suspended operations and the longtime executive director stepped down earlier this fall. Only certain long-term projects have been kept going by volunteers.
A dozen supporters of the program met in Codman Square on Wednesday night to discuss the future of the program, which provides free or low-cost classes to children, teens and adults. Dot Art, started by sixteen residents in January 1998, provides classes and programs to around 1,200 participants a year, and collaborates with museums, schools and health care providers, according to the program’s website.
“I would say Dot Art is at a crossroads,” said Victoria Goldberg, chair of the board of Dot Art. Read more
New organ in place for Messiah Sunday at Blessed Mother Teresa parish
Dec. 8, 2010
This weekend debuts of a major new choral arrangement and of a bigger and better organ will be made during the 11 am “Messiah Sunday” Mass at Blessed Mother Teresa (BMT) Parish, marking 16 years that Music Director Sheldon Lee has been recreating a grand European Advent tradition in Dorchester parishes. Read more
Strand’s grand potential on display this week
By
Monday’s family-friendly, Dorchester-themed Christmas celebration at the Strand Theatre hit all the right notes. The event was staged by the Boston Classical Orchestra, whose executive director, Sean Roberts, lives on Jones Hill and has taken a special interest in reviving the Columbia Road theatre. Read more
Christmas cheer, musicians lift spirits at the Strand
Dec. 7, 2010
Dorchester Christmas Celebration
The Strand Theatre was the venue for last night's Dorchester Christmas Celebration, featuring the Boston Classical Orchestra under the direction of conductor Steven Lipsitt. Above, Lipsitt led the orchestra in a rendition of Jingle Bells, accompanied by the string ensemble from the Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy. Members of the Boston City Singers helped to lead a memorable sing-along to conclude the evening's show, which was hosted by novelist and TV personality Kim McLarin.
The performance lasted about one hour and 15 minutes and drew a crowd of about 500 people to the theatre. Tickets were priced at $5-10 to attract families from the neighborhood. The Boston Classical Orchestra intends to make the Strand Theatre its second home, according to executive director Sean Roberts, a resident of nearby Jones Hill. Support for the concert has come from the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism & Special Events and Boston Main Streets, along with corporate sponsors such as Mt. Washington Bank. Read more
Tonight: Christmas concert at the Strand Theatre
By
The neighborhood’s Christmas celebrations will get the marquee treatment on Monday as the Boston Classical Orchestra and local partners stage a special holiday concert at the landmark Strand Theatre. The family-friendly show is billed as a neighborhood-wide effort, with special performances by the Boston City Singers and the the Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy Choir and string ensembles.
Sean Roberts, a Jones Hill resident who serves as the executive director of the Boston Classical Orchestra, says that the show will fill a void in the neighborhood’s celebration of the Christmas season.
“We want to provide a special, family occasion for residents in Dorchester and surrounding neighborhoods, a true Dorchester-wide event,” Roberts said. “Tickets are priced at only $5 for unreserved seating, so everyone can come and choose their seat.” Read more
Tonight: Holiday season kicks off with Lower Mills Stroll
Nov. 11, 2010
Lower Mills Holiday Stroll 2010This evening – rain or moonshine – the third annual Lower Mills Holiday Stroll will continue to build on the success of the previous two years. In 2008 about 300 folks braved the drizzle, and last year participation jumped to between 400 and 500. 2010 promises to be even bigger with over 30 businesses in Lower Mills and Milton Village open from 5:30 to 8 p.m., offering samples, demonstrations, special discounts, and/or displays of work by local artists.
Though primarily a business booster co-sponsored by the Lower Mills Civic Association and Lower Mill Merchants Association, the Stroll is packed with pop-up arts events and family friendly entertainment. These organizations hope to stimulate holiday sales with bargains, freebies, musical interludes, surprises, even free trolley service to shuttle shoppers too weary to “stroll” across the bridge between Dorchester and Milton. Read more
Cady Vishniac: Dot’s ‘living statue’
Nov. 4, 2010
It’s extremely rare to hear a statue speak, unless that statue happens to be Cady Vishniac, Dorchester’s living statue, who occasionally breaks her silence to play her harmonica or to discourse about her unusual life’s work. Read more
