Thursday's Jive

Now let’s take a look at what’s going on in the community this week:

Tonight at the Buttonwood True, and every first Thursday, it’s Bob Gotta’s longstanding acoustic Open Mic. Sign-ups start at 6:30 p.m. Friday brings the Alon Nechushtan ‘Words Beyond’ Jazz Trio, a hard-swinging and inventive piano trio.Saturday, it’s Saturday Morning Qigong (Chi Kung) at 7:30 a.m., followed by community yoga for beginners and intermediates at 8:30. Saturday night at the Buttonwood, it’s the Grass Routes Bluegrass Band. Sunday, Food Not Bombs shares food at about 1 pm in front of the Buttonwood. All are welcome to enjoy a free vegetarian meal and to help prepare it beforehand at First Church at on Court Street at 11:30 am. For more information about all Buttonwood events, visit www.buttonwood.org.
At the Russell Library tonight, it’s “The Beatles: Band of the Sixties,” a 90-minute presentation , supplemented by audio clips of music and interviews with the band. To learn more, visit russelllibrary.org for more info.

Tonight brings the opening reception of “(Re)viewing Bodies – Selected American Photographs” to Wesleyan’s Davison Art Center . The opening reception is from 5 to 7 p.m., with a gallery talk by student curators at 5:30. The show includes more than fifty American photographs from the Davison Art Center collection.

Up in Hartford at Blackeyed Sally’s, tonight it’s  Heather Maloney and Them Damn Hamiltons, along with Rum Glass Serenade, to Sally’s as part of the Roots Music Series. And Friday, it’s Soul Tsunami. Saturday brings singer/songwriter/guitarist Debbie Davies to Blackeyed Sally’s. More can be found online at blackeyedsallys.com.

Friday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. brings a performance of work by Emily Faulkner ,  class of  ’86, to the Bessie Schonberg Dance Studio at 247 Pine Street. Schonberg is on the faculty of Movement Research and her choreography has been seen at venues in New York and Edinburgh.

On Friday and Saturday evening at 8, Gallim Dance comes to the CFA Theater to perform the New England premiere of “Mama Call”, a contemporary tale of border-crossing, and “Pupil Suite”, set to the contagious music of Israeli band Balkan Beat Box with a pre-performance talk at 7:30 on Friday by Debra Cash.  For more information about the events, go to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.   
     
On Friday at 7 p.m., the Greater Middletown Chorale sponsors McKay Jenkins, author of “The Last Ridge,” in a free illustrated talk about the 10th Mountain Division, its beginnings in World War II, its epic assault on Hitler’s troops in Italy, its impact on America’s ski industry and its service today in the Near East. The presentation will be in Middlesex Community College’s Chapman Hall, and a discussion will follow. The Greater Middletown Chorale presents the talk in connection with the world premiere of its newly commissioned work, Letter from Italy, 1944, scheduled for April 28.

Also on Friday, at 8 p.m., at the gallery MAC650, 650 Main St., there will be a fundraiser and dance party to raise money for an animation/video project, “Projected.”,  a pilot project to serve as an example for an after school program and  equipment to be used for movie and video game night at MAC 650. The event features  music from 8pm until 10 p.m. followed by dance music til midnight.

This Sunday At the MHS Performing Arts Center at Middletown High School, THE GREATER MIDDLETOWN CONCERT ASSOCIATION presents the high-energy Chamber ensemble, “Fireworks” in a program that moves from the bluegrass to Sacred Harp, Zydeco to Chicago Blues, plus rock and hip hop.  For info call (860) 347-4887or visit http://www.greatermiddletownconcerts.org

Now let’s take a look at cinema off the beaten track in Central Connecticut:

At Real Art Ways, Oscar-nominated short films, both animated and live-action, make up the bulk of the week’s schedule. Go to realartways.org for all the details.

At Cinestudio, Trinity College’s cinema, “The Central Park Five,” a documentary about the wrongful conviction of five black and Latino teens in New York City, continues through tonight. Thursday brings one showing of “Bound,” in which a female ex-con moves in next door to a low-level mafioso and his hot wife. As they devise a scheme to rip off a Mafia don, the two women’s friendship begins to heat up. Friday and Saturday bring “ARGO” to Cinestudio, and Sunday through Tuesday, it’s “Chasing Ice,” about the effects of global warming. More can be found at cinestudio.org.

Now let’s look at what’s on tap here at WESU tonight with our new spring schedule