An enthusiastic cyclist, violinist Marieke Neumann was the developer of the “Bach Bicycle Route” in central Germany, featuring guided tours to important locations from the composer’s life. Mezzo-soprano Anna-Luise Oppelt joins her for Bach by Bike to visit towns and cities where Johann Sebastian Bach lived and worked.

Now 47, the French Canadian dancer, artistic director, and choreographer Eric Gauthier joined Stuttgart Ballet in 1996, where he rose to the rank of soloist. Initially with six dancers, in 2007 he founded Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart.

The beauty of art and the tragedy of the climate crisis live side by side in a stunning new exhibit at the Design Museum of Chicago. Some 30 pieces ranging in size from framed art to wall-length tell the story of why we are “At the Precipice” in this record-breaking hot and stormy summer of 2023.

 Margaret Swan’s solo exhibition Flow investigates the duality of free-flowing forms versus structures of containment, choreographing an elegant dance between the two. The fluid, curving planes of her polychrome aluminum sculpture suggest movement, while contrasting latticed frameworks create tension and a sense of restraint. The final effect is that of water passing through nets or vessels—triumphantly finding its own way.

“Rusalka” ranks as Dvorák’s most popular opera and with good reason.  Applying Wagnerian principles with leitmotifs and in sung-through fashion, it also draws from Czech folk music.  The thoroughly romantic, luxuriant music possesses extractable set pieces of compelling melody and emotion.  The fairy tale story draws on several sources, mixing light and dark, with a resulting dramatic outcome.

Hip Hop Across The Pillow was curated by Melanie George and Ali Rosa-Salas. We were fortunate enough to catch the very last totally engrossing performance yesterday.

Strong Women in Renaissance Italy features approximately 100 works of art—sculpture, paintings, ceramics, textiles, illustrated books and prints—largely drawn from the MFA’s collection, alongside eight key loans from the British Library, the Dayton Art Institute, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum, the Boston Athenaeum and a private collection. Women became artists, writers, poets, musicians and singers. They acted as patrons and commissioned works of art.

The Mahabharata is regarded by many to be the fifth veda, or sacred Hindu religious text. Appropriately, the storyteller in this production, J Jha, is transgender, as the stories are told from both male and female perspectives, and sexual ambiguity plays an appreciable role. Jha gives an inspired solo performance in delivering a narrative that centers on a war between competing bands of cousins fighting for control of BCE Bharat, which would become India.

Berkshire Art Center’s 2023 Artists-In-Residence, Noah Beauregard and Kelly Potter, are celebrating the end of their residencies this summer with virtual artist talks and in-person exhibition openings at The Red Lion Inn and Chesterwood.  

Tippet Rise is the passionate expression of Cathy Halstead, a painter, and Peter Halstead, a polymath (poet, pianist, photographer, and novelist) who met when they were very young and have lived like two peas in a pod ever since.  Having assembled about 12,500 acres in southern Montana not far from Yellowstone National Park, they have taken cues from the natural surroundings to build concert halls, place site-specific architecture and sculptures and produce an annual summer music festival which is a model for the future.

I have no idea what happened. I feel fortunate to have heard his opinions on the art world which were for the most part conservative in intent. He was commenting on Twitter on the ongoing struggle in Ukraine understanding the manipulation of the American Neo-Cons in perpetuating it. He had just started to take and interest in the notion of Monadology as it might apply to his work. Again, the irreducible 

Absorbing, insightful, fun and hilarious are dumbfounding but accurate terms to describe the William Finn and James Lapine musical A New Brain being revised at Barrington Stage Company. It's a musical about neurosurgery.

Pete Hinmon and Lindsey Hinmon are Co-Directors of Tippet Rise Art Center. They are warm and deeply thoughtful, qualities you find in everyone at this working ranch. Qualities clearly treasured by the Halsteads, the couple creating this special art venue. The Halsteads have a knack for picking people. 

In late 2019 I made a piece (later to become The Chariot) and a friend suggested that I pursue a series based on the Tarot. Up to that point I had not worked in series, allowing myself to explore developing imagery as it occurred to me. Of course when Covid hit, I was faced with isolation and focused studio time, so the project took shape then. 

Tanz im Augus is the Berlin showcase for contemporary international dance. Organized, as usually, by the theater Hebbel am Ufer (HAU).

“An Afternoon with Charles Laquidara & Matt Siegel,” moderated by Joyce Kulhawik, is a fundraiser for the Paul “Tank” Sferruzza Scholarship Fund. The late Sferruzza was a sports director at WBCN and WZLX. The event is at City Winery Saturday, September 9.

MNM Theatre Company in West Palm Beach is presenting a vibrant production of the acclaimed musical revue, "Five Guys Named Moe." The production runs through Sept. 24 at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. In the show, through music, the titular characters hope to change the life of a drunken man whose wife has left him.

The ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance unveiled its nineteenth season of extraordinary theatre, music, and dance programming for the Williams College community and beyond.  

Lunar Eclipse, by Pulitzer prize winner, Donald Marguiles is having its world premiere at Shakespeare & Company. Directed by James Warwick it stars Karen Allen and Reed Birney. The playwright digs deep into the long marriage of the farmer and his wife. The drama of loss, legacy and end of life play out in the phases of an eclipse. The taut one act play is emotionally invasive.

One of the reasons John Zorn’s music attracts is that it’s so damn much fun. Leaping on and off the stage to introduce the numbers in his first of many 70th birthday celebrations at the Miller Theatre at Columbia, Zorn looked like he was going to last forever. And let’s hope he does. 

Last night I sat for my first ever Tarot reading. Well, Kindah. Not a full reading but just one card and a brief analysis. The format was devised to accommodate many visitors. Jane Hudson became energized explaining the significance of The Tower.  

Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, from struggling to find their “voice” and getting started in 1950s New Jersey to the 21st century.

Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) is now free to all visitors starting immediately. By ending paid admission, the museum advances access, accessibility and inclusion for our neighbors and surrounding communities.

The world premiere of The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, is presented by the La Jolla Playhouse.  Fifteen years in the making, the musical envisions Hunter’s life from childhood to his tragic death. The book is by Joe Iconis and Gregory S. Moss, music and lyrics by Iconis, and choreography by Jon Rua.

LakehouseRanchDotPng mounted a riveting production of the daring show, XOXOLOLA. The small company in Miami focuses on experimental and absurdist works. LakehouseRanchDotPng just won a Silver Palm Award, recognizing theatrical excellence in South Florida.