Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.
community

Greenwoods Puppet Festival returns to Norfolk Library with whimsy and wonder

Greenwoods Puppet Festival returns to Norfolk Library with whimsy and wonder
Designed by Hilary Vanwright

The third annual Greenwoods Puppet Festival returns to Norfolk Library May 29 and 30 with two days of puppetry, storytelling and hands-on workshops featuring nationally recognized artists and family-friendly performances.

Children’s librarian and events coordinator Eileen Fitzgibbons said, “The first Greenwoods Puppet Festival was sparked by a question I had: Where does magic occur?”

The festival begins Friday, May 29, at 5:30 p.m. with an adult sock puppet workshop in the Great Hall at Norfolk Library. Eric Weiss of Homeslice Puppetry will offer a behind-the-scenes look at puppet-making while guiding participants in creating their own puppets. A simple dinner will be served.

On Saturday, May 30, at 10 a.m., award-winning puppeteer Liz Joyce will present “The Doubtful Sprout,” an ecological wonderland featuring multiple puppetry styles, projections and songs.

From 12:30 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Heather Henson, daughter of Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, will present a program for all ages called “Remember The Way: Where water flows and creatures return, balance is remembered.”

“We invited Heather Henson to come this year to give a performance. She has been very supportive of our town having puppet festivals,” Fitzgibbins said.

Using puppets, masks and dance props, participants will explore planetary movements, seasonal rhythms and interconnected waterways through immersive animal role-playing. Guided by whales, cranes, sturgeon and bison, audiences will journey through shifting landscapes while taking part in rhythmic dance games, song circles, crafting and interactive storytelling designed to illuminate the connection between local water systems and the ocean beyond.

At 3 p.m., puppeteer Sarah Nolen will present “Party Animals,” which follows four furry friends as they navigate throwing their first party. At 4:15 p.m., a children’s dress-up parade will take place outside around the library. Costumes are encouraged. There will also be opportunities to meet the puppeteers until 5 p.m.

Fitzgibbons concluded, “Puppetry is an ancient form of artistic expression. It is an avenue that can spread seeds of change, tackle issues of social justice and spark creativity. Puppets are tools of storytelling and are amazing works of art. It is an experience not to be missed.”

For tickets and information, visit norfolklibrary.org/events

Mike Cobb
community

Latest News

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

L. Tomaino

When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, conducts the audience at a performance.

Steve Potter

For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

“Early Music has been my lifelong passion and the focus of my specialization in Europe and South America,” Gevert said. “Bringing this repertoire to our audiences in a nuanced way that does justice to its incredible depth, intensity, and beauty is deeply important to me.”

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music’s 35th season opens with “Saluting the Clarinet” featuring clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.

Provided

For 35 years, cellist Yehuda Hanani has been inviting audiences to experience classical music in unexpected ways. As founder and artistic director of Close Encounters with Music, Hanani has built a concert series that goes beyond the music itself, exploring connections to literature, history, politics and the human experience.

This year, Close Encounters celebrates its 35th season with “Celebration & Discovery,” a seven-concert series that opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Shinbone Alley brings spooky songs to Spencertown

Shinbone Alley brings spooky songs to Spencertown

Seeing isn’t always believing. Sometimes it’s the lack of a defined picture that can be the most compelling. And when Alex Harvey of Shinbone Alley sings his supernaturally charged sea shanties and street ballads, the unseen will be downright scary. On Oct. 30, the historically inclined storyteller and performer will create a spooky evening of forbidden tales and yarns through a carefully chosen series of songs at Spencertown Academy of Arts.

The repertoire for the performance is a bit fraught. Over the years, Shinbone Alley has explored the world of folklore through music. Though the group usually features two musicians, Harvey, a multi-instrumentalist and singer, will be performing solo. That is, of course, unless you include the spirits.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa meet in Sheffield

Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa meet in Sheffield
Vieux Farka Touré
Proivded

Desert winds rarely blow into the Berkshires, but on Nov. 5, they will carry the Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa music to Race Brook Lodge.

That evening, Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, often called “the Hendrix of the Sahara,” and Moroccan musician Samir LanGus will play at the lodge’s Event Barn in Sheffield, Massachusetts, at a benefit for the foundation Touré directs.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.