The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire & Hudson Valley Cultural Preview

Oct 24-26, 2024

Oct 23, 2024

With so much going on culturally speaking in our greater Berkshires/Hudson Valley region, this is my highly selective, curated snapshot of some of the most promising upcoming events …

AILEY II BRINGS ORIGINAL DANCE to THE MAHAIWE

The Ailey II dance company performs at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Friday, October 25, at 8pm, and Saturday, October 26, at 3pm, as part of the Du Bois Freedom Center’s series “Democracy, Education, and the Arts.” Ailey II will perform Mystery at Sky Square (2024), choreographed by Alia Kache with music by Omari Tau; Down the Rabbit Hole (2024), choreographed by Houston Thomas with music by Johannes Goldbach (“Pomassl”); and Streams (1970), choreographed by Alvin Ailey with music by Miloslav Kabelac (“Eight Inventions, Opus 245”). Both performances will be followed by a post-show Q&A with the dancers, moderated by Sandra L. Burton, Williams College Lipp Family Director of Dance and Senior Lecturer in Dance. (Fri-Sat, Oct 25-26)

LARRY CHERNICOFF BOOKENDS REGION WITH TWO CONCERTS

Composer-instrumentalist Larry Chernicoff leads his 8-piece ensemble, Higher Octave, in two concerts this weekend: at the First Reformed Church in Catskill, N.Y., on Friday, October 25, at 7pm (presented by Beattie-Powers Place); and at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Saturday, October 26, at 7pm. Chernicoff’s music transcends boundaries, combining the free spirit of jazz improvisation with classical elements and orchestral instruments. Chernicoff and his ensemble create atmospheres of kinetic energy and moments of meditative calm. (Fri, Oct 25; Sat, Oct 26)

GUITARIST-COMPOSER GARY LUCAS PLAYS ORIGINAL LIVE SCORE to HORROR CLASSIC ‘VAMPYR’ at RACE BROOK LODGE

Composer-guitarist Gary Lucas will perform his original score to the Danish/German film classic Vampyr at Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, Mass., on Saturday, October 26, at 8pm. Lucas’s creative guitar style – an original musical language incorporating influences from avant-garde, jazz, rock, blues, roots, classical, and 1930s Chinese pop music – is the perfect complement to Carl Dreyer’s visionary 1932 masterpiece with modern dreamy, ethereal touches that help create a cinematic tension that spans a century of spooky storytelling. (Sat, Oct 26)

NEW GODFREY REGGIO FILM WITH PHILIP GLASS SCORE at MASS MoCA

Legendary film director Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi) brings Once Within a Time, a new experimental film with a score by Philip Glass with additional vocals from Sussan Deyhim and co-directed by veteran editor and filmmaker Jon Kane, to Club B10 at MASS MoCA on Saturday, October 26, at 4pm. The film is described as “a bardic fairy tale about the end of the world and the beginning of a new one, tinged with apocalyptic comedy, rapturous cinematography, unforgettable vistas, and the innocence and hopes of a new generation.” The screening will be followed by a conversation between Godfrey Reggio (joining remotely and streamed to Club B10), Jon Kane, and Hugh McGrory of Kinetek, an immersive art company based at MASS MoCA that merges creative production with emerging technology to create powerful and engaging experiences to connect with audiences in physical and virtual space. (Sat, Oct 26)

DRESDEN DOLLS PLAY TWO-NIGHT STAND at BEARSVILLE THEATER

The Dresden Dolls, featuring provocative indie singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer and multi-instrumentalist Brian Viglione, bring their self-styled “Brechtian punk cabaret” to Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, N.Y., for two consecutive evenings, Saturday, October 26, at 8pm, and Sunday, October 27, at 8pm. (Sat-Sun, Oct 26-27)

George Harrison author Seth Rogovoy (photo Franco Vogt)

SETH ROGOVOY to READ FROM and SIGN COPIES of NEW GEORGE HARRISON BOOK at THE BOOKSTORE in LENOX

Fresh on the heels of the publication of his new book, Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison, Seth Rogovoy will be appearing at several book events in the region, including The Bookstore in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday, October 27, at 4pm; the Chatham Bookstore in Chatham, N.Y., on Sunday, November 3, at 5pm (in conversation with Elena Siyanko, director of PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance), at Upstate Films/Orpheum Theatrein Saugerties, N.Y., on Sunday, November 17, at 2pm (in conversation with rock biographer Holly George Warren and author/musician Robert Burke Warren, who will play a few George Harrison tunes), and at the Williams Bookstore in Williamstown, Mass., on Monday, Nov 18, at 4pm, in conversation with filmmaker Stacy Cochran. Beatles expert Kenneth Womack writes in his review for Salon, “Within You Without You accomplishes a rare feat. In a sea of ineffectual biographies devoted to the Beatles’ guitarist, Rogovoy makes a case for Harrison’s most important contribution: the music itself … Rogovoy’s eye towards soberly capturing the history of the Beatles with a welcome dose of critical objectivity makes Within You Without You required reading when it comes to the guitarist. It’s that good.” (Sun, Oct 27; Sun, Nov 3; Sun, Nov 17)

Also of note:

Fans of Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse and Fiona Apple won’t want to miss soulful singer-songwriter Glori Wilder when she performs at the Dream Away Lodge in Becket, Mass., on Thursday, October 24, at 7:30pm.

Trad-rad folk ensemble The Mammals, featuring Ruth Ungar and Mike Merenda, bring their updated take on rootsy indie-folk to the Egremont Barn in South Egremont, Mass., on Friday, October 25, at 7:30pm.

Authors Laura Marris, Emma Copley Eisenberg, and Laurie Stone will read from their work at Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday, October 26, at 7pm, as part of the That Time of Year reading series.

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The Rogovoy Report