Photo: Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal in a scene from “Kosmos” by Andonis Foniadakis. Photo courtesy of DANCECleveland. DANCECleveland and The University of Akron are strong and frequent collaborators. The two organizations–which will receive $5 million from Knight Foundation to fund the creation of the National Center for Choreography–teamed up to bring Les Ballets Jazz […]
Article · October 6, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Photo by Sophie Zhai, via Escher String Quartet website. It was a group of 13 young women who originally created the Tuesday Musical concert series in Akron, Ohio, back in 1887. But it is a group of four young men, the Escher String Quartet, who will kick off its 2015-16 season: Adam Barnett-Hart (violin), Pierre […]
Article · September 29, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Photo: Akron Civic Theatre welcomes Broadway performer Mary Bridget Davies. Photo by Roger Durbin. Mary Bridget Davies, a 2014 Tony Award nominee for best leading actress in a musical, will be performing at the Akron Civic Theatre on Sept. 19. Davies is appearing as part of The Club @ The Civic series, which involves a […]
Article · September 18, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Akron Symphony Orchestra. Photo courtesy of ASO. The Akron Symphony Orchestra, a Knight Arts grantee, will kick off its new season on Sept. 19 with a concert it’s calling “American Journey.” The evening will feature a complete version of “Rodeo” by well-known 20th-century American composer Aaron Copland, as well as a newer work, “Southern Air,” […]
Article · September 14, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Even a brief bout of rain in the middle of the afternoon didn’t slow things down at this year’s Porch Rokr. The annual community music festival, which is sponsored by Knight Foundation, was held this past weekend on Aug. 29, drawing almost 10,000 people to Akron, Ohio’s Highland Square neighborhood, organizers said. The day began […]
Article · September 4, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Photo: Installation artist Charles Beneke builds the framework for his installation art work “Specter.” Photo courtesy of the artist. During a recent visit to the Akron Art Museum, which received a $750,000 grant from Knight Foundation to support “groundbreaking exhibitions,” installation artist Charles Beneke was putting the finishing touches on a massive work called “Specter.” […]
Article · September 2, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Photo: A building block construction by Akron Art Museum staffer Dominic Caruso. Photo by Roger Durbin. The title of “Build It,” an interactive exhibit at the Akron Art Museum, is not a direct reference to the old adage of “build it and they will come.” Metaphorically, however, that is precisely what this show does. One […]
Article · August 26, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Photo: Verb Ballets performing Royce Zackery’s “Grace” at the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival. Photo by Dale Dong. A summer weekend evening watching a polished professional ballet company perform in a grassy outdoor park. It sounds like a highbrow but comfortable experience, and one exactly like what the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival, a Knight […]
Article · August 18, 2015 by Roger Durbin
In 2011, the Ohio Shakespeare Festival received a two-year Knight Arts grant for a project called Rare Works by Shakespeare, the goal of which was to stage “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and “The History of Richard III.” Since then, the Akron, Ohio-based company has continued to favor the Bard’s lesser-known works. Its current production of “Henry […]
Article · August 11, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Photo: Parsons Dance. Via altervista.org. DANCECleveland celebrated the National Day of Dance and kicked off its 60th season on Saturday, July 25 by co-sponsoring a performance by Parsons Dance at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Before the renowned contemporary dance company took the stage, other events filled up the festive occasion. Local dancers were […]
Article · August 3, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Wandering Aesthetics may have the most intriguing show title at the moment: “Boogers, Witches and Haints.” The performance itself also was extremely well-received when Kyle Josza did his one-man storytelling event at the Standing Rock Cultural Arts facility in Kent, Ohio. Two more performances are scheduled for this weekend. The show’s subtitle, “Spooky Stories from […]
Article · July 29, 2015 by Roger Durbin