Keep on Dancing!

Some would say it’s a glamorous job. Booking bands and finding exotic acts to perform for our Friday Night LIVE series. I’m not going to say that I think it’s glamorous...but I will say it has opened my eyes to how many things actually happen in Baltimore. Last Thursday is the perfect example of how one thing leads to another. I’m hanging out downstairs in Brewer’s Art after dinner, and an Argentinean friend of mine says, “Let’s go learn the tango!” What? The Tango? Argentinean Tango, no less? And where does this happen? The questions kept coming…who KNEW?

I end up in the upstairs lounge of Dionysus and feel like I’ve turned the clock back to a time when men and women danced with their eyes closed and their heads together. SIMPLY DIVINE. There were about 10 couples dancing slowly in the circle, no one in the middle disturbing the flow. You could hear the soft brush of shoes touch the hardwood floor. The music was from 1957 and sounded as if it were being played on a record...just the right amount of crackle! I sat on a couch that overlooked the dance floor. Mostly in amazement, I said nothing to anyone for at least 30 minutes, watching some of the most beautiful dancing I’d ever seen. Now, some people were better than others and you could tell teacher from student, but the environment was so...satisfying and peaceful and everyone was...blissful.

Immediately, my head went to, “How do I get people to have this same experience at CENTERSTAGE?” And then I realized that we a) don’t have a hardwood floor and b) an instruction of the simple steps takes a good hour and LIVE is only an hour. But that hasn’t stopped me before! It’s so important to me that people know how much of a treasure our community is. That there are all types of wonderful things happening in our fair city. And LIVE is a great platform to showcase those talents. As I write, Mark, the main Tango instructor, is trying to figure out if there’s a way to have them give instruction at Live. Worry not! I’m thinking hard as well and still going out on a nightly basis looking for, not necessarily those entertainers, but more of those moments. You know. The ones you just have to share because they mean something. Stay tuned...more good trolling to come!

~Charisse


Photo: Charm City Swing is one of the many groups to perform at Friday Night LIVE this season.

Living Local

Nearly every Sunday morning I roll out of bed, grab my canvas tote bags and stroll down to the farmers market under the JFX. My morning ritual takes no more effort than driving to Safeway and I get much more out of the experience. Natural sunlight instead of florescent bulbs, and seasonal produce instead of a genetically modified object draw me in, but it is the people who keep bringing me back. I love talking to the vendors and trying food that may not be part of my grocery list.

I’m not the only one who feels this way. The farmers market is always crowded, thanks in part to the local food movement (and those hot, fresh donut holes with extra powdered sugar, I’m sure). People want to know where their food comes from and support the local economy. I feel the local arts community is part of the “living local” movement as well.

Take a look at the lobby during a Friday Night LIVE event. Performers from the Baltimore area (such as St. Veronica’s Steel Drum band, pictured) entertain as the crowd munches on complimentary samples from area restaurants and enjoys Happy Hour drink discounts. It can resemble the farmers market in many ways, with neighbors catching up and experiencing the talent Baltimore has to offer.

LIVE is also an opportunity to see the local establishments help each other. CENTERSTAGE promotes the performers and restaurants, performers talk about the LIVE party and show to their friends, who then go to dinner at a restaurant we promoted and then to a show at the theater! We get patrons who may not be familiar with theater or our plays that come knowing they will experience something new.

Just as the farmers market exposes me to new foods, CENTERSTAGE exposes patrons to new ideas and shows. Like many recent college graduates, I was only familiar with Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, but the CENTERSTAGE production of Wilder’s The Matchmaker introduced me to more of his great writing. I’m looking forward to Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? because I’ve only seen the movie version and can’t wait to see the sharp dialogue and action happen only a few feet away from me.

There are numerous ways to engage with artists and the community at CENTERSTAGE with one of our ongoing series. Baltimore presents opportunities to have fun and support local artists like no other city and it’s time we all took advantage of it. I’ll see you at the theater!

~Sarah Anne