Art Reception Double Feature at the Koger Center by Emily Moffitt

The Koger Center for the Arts underwent a large cosmetic upgrade during the summer months, including new carpet and the installation of telescopic seating in their large rehearsal room to create a black box theatre. Aside from the physical facelift of the building, the two gallery spaces now hold new exhibitions for patrons to enjoy before an event or any time throughout the day. The two new exhibits are “The Project 2023 Winners’ Exhibition” in the Gallery at the Koger Center, and in the Nook, one of our Jasper Galleries locations, Marius Valdes is the featured artist of August. A large-scale opening reception for both exhibits is scheduled for August 15, 2024, from 5:30 – 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.  

The Project 2023 Winners’ Exhibition features the winners of the Koger Center’s annual art competition. The 2023 iteration winners are Yvette Cummings, Roberto Clemente de Leon, Gerard Erley, Jo-Ann Morgan, and Susan Lenz. “The Project: A Call for Art” is a competition that began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and is dedicated to uplifting and featuring visual artists across the state of South Carolina.

A variety of media is included in this exhibit: from oil paintings to sculpture, from collage to quilting. Stop by the Gallery at the Koger Center and mingle with artist peers from across the state!

 As a member of the Vista Guild Association, the Koger Center for the Arts is proud to partner with the Jasper Project in Third Thursday Art Night. We feature a different artist every month in our rotating gallery, The Nook, with an opening reception on the month's Third Thursday. August 2024's featured artist is Marius Valdes.

Marius Valdes is an artist currently based in Columbia, SC. Valdes has been recognized by design publications such as Graphic Design USA, HOW, Print, Communication Arts, Creative Boom, Creative Quarterly, Step, and industry competitions including American Illustration, and The World Illustration Awards. In 2022, the UK's Creative Boom website named Valdes as one of its "20 Most Exciting Illustrators" to follow.

Valdes is a Professor at the University of South Carolina. He teaches graphic design and illustration in the GD+I program in the School of Visual Art and Design. He lives in Forest Acres with his wife, Beth, and their daughter Emma. Mary, the dog, is always around for a good laugh.

CALL for Visual Artists! Koger Center for the Arts Opens Submission Period for Annual Art Contest

The Koger Center for the Arts is bringing back their art competition, “The Project” for 2024. The submission period opened on April 17 and will close on July 19, 2024. The first-place winner for the contest receives a $500 stipend and a group of artists will get the opportunity to showcase their winning artwork!

The beginning of the art contest started during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The goals were simple – offer a small financial award to a South Carolina artist and provide a platform to showcase the talent of artists in our state through an exhibition at the Koger Center.

You can fill out the submission form here!

The requirements for submissions are as follows:

·         Artist must be over 18 years old and based in South Carolina

·         Submissions must be your own, original work

·         Submissions must have been created in the past 2 years

·         If an artist has applied before, repeat art cannot be submitted again

·         Previous winners of The Project/1593 Project (the name of the contest the year it was created) may not submit artwork for up to 5 years. Honorable mentions are still allowed to enter again.

The end of the submission period coincides with the run of the exhibit “The Project 2023 Winners’ Exhibition.” The featured, winning artists from last year’s submission period are Yvette Cummings (first place), Roberto de Leon (second place), Gerard Erley, Susan Lenz, Jo-Ann Morgan, and Cameron Porter (honorable mentions). More information about this upcoming exhibit can be found on the Koger Center site.

If you have any questions or concerns about the submission process, call the Koger Center Admin Office at (803)777-7500, or email Emily Moffitt at moffitte@mailbox.sc.edu.

 -Emily Moffitt

Head for the Hills to Support Columbia's 3D Artists Clay Burnette, Lee Sipe, and Susan Lenz

“There’s gold in them thar hills!” — a quote originally spoken by Georgia miner M. F. Stephenson, though ironically lifted by Mark Twain and attributed to his character Col. Mulberry Sellers in his 1892 novel, The American Claimant.

If you’re looking for a reason to flee the hot and humid dog days of this particular Soda City summer for some cool and cleansing mountain breezes, Jasper has a thought—Why not pack up the old wagon and head up to lovely Asheville to show support for some of Columbia’s finest 3D artists whose work is currently exhibited there?

At Blue Spiral Gallery, Clay Burnett and Lee Sipe are part of a group show of unique and innovative basket makers representing artists from throughout the country.

Of Staked Out: Contemporary Basketry, the gallery website says, “What can you make with sweetgrass, copper wire, clay, thread, paper, reed, pine needles, beeswax, cement and paint? A whole lotta baskets! The artists in Staked Out use traditional and non-traditional materials to create functional and sculptural masterpieces. Some artists stake out the form and weave though with the traditional methods of the Cherokee peoples; others build it up from clay or wood; while others use brightly colored thread and natural fibers to enhance decorative elements.”  

Fertility by Clay Burnette

Clay Burnette from the gallery website:

“I coil pine needles with waxed linen thread. I begin the process by gathering fresh pine needles from longleaf pine trees that grow in the sandhills of South Carolina. The needles are colored with fabric dyes, acrylic paints and iridescent inks, then sewn into coils using various colors of waxed linen thread. My tools are simple: a large steel upholstery needle and a pair of sharp pointed scissors. When completed, each piece is preserved with a light coating of beeswax and signed with my initials. I use the basic basketmaking technique of coiling to create contemporary shapes that incorporate lots of patience, persistence, and imagination. Time is irrelevant whenever I am stitching. The exploration of color, pattern, texture and form keeps me focused on the moment, but always thinking of what is yet to come.”

Vessel No. 380 by Lee Sipe

Lee Sipe from the gallery website:

“My heritage helps me to appreciate the unusual beauty in the common, the simple and the ordinary as well as the beauty of form and detail. I use weaving, twining, hand building and coiling to transform pine needles, clay, reeds, copper wire and other materials into forms that capture my experiences. I value order, hard work, detail, the beauty and tranquility of nature, tradition, family and sharing with friends. I also place great value on innovation. I consistently strive to create works that incorporate these values and are totally new, fresh and unique.”

The show runs July 1 through August 24, 2022, in the Blue Spiral Lower-Level Gallery, 38 Biltmore Avenue.

Mandala CXXIII by Susan Lenz at the Grovewood Gallery

While in Asheville, one should always pay tribute to the work of Columbia’s own Susan Lenz who has been represented by the illustrious Grovewood Gallery for a decade or more. Lenz’s Stained Glass, In Box, and Found Object mandalas are items of high demand in the gallery, and, in fact, the artist is toiling away at present to provide the gallery with Lancet Windows which, once again, are in short supply.

Lenz writes on her website:

“I stitch both by hand and machine but also indulge a passion for book arts and unique, 3D found art objects. Altering found photos is an obsession. My work has appeared in national publications, numerous juried exhibitions, and at fine craft shows including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Smithsonian Craft Shows. I've been featured on art quilting television programs and on South Carolina Etv's Palmetto Scene. My work is in the permanent collection of the Textile Museum in Washington, DC and the McKissick Museum in South Carolina.”

Grovewood Gallery is adjacent to the Grovepark Inn at 111 Grovewood Road in Asheville.

An aside:

If you know of any other artists showing their work out in the hinterlands beyond the SC Midlands, please let Jasper know so we can help spread the word. Lord knows the spaces for our artists to show off the fruits of their labors are slim, which is a sad commentary on a state’s capitol city. So, until we have that problem collectively resolved, let’s put on our Deadhead hats and, as much as we can, follow our artists wherever they show!

-Cb

ARTIST PROFILE - Susan Lenz & Found Objects

Mandala CXI Steinway piano keys

JASPER: When did you first begin to pursue visual art? Where and when did you train,
or are you self-taught?

LENZ: I started in 2001 at the age of forty-two. I am self taught.

JASPER: Where did you grow up? If you are not from SC, what brought you here?

LENZ:I am from Columbus, Ohio and came to Columbia in 1987 in order for my husband, Steve Dingman, to work as at a coastal engineering company.  He hated it and quit after three years, but we stayed.

JASPER: What mediums in visual arts do you typically use and why? 

LENZ: I am primarily a fiber and installation artist but will dabble in most visual artists media.

JASPER: Where do you work now and where do you show your work? 

LENZ: My studio is in my legally zoned live/work location, Mouse House.  I am represented by the Grovewood Gallery on the grounds of the historic Grove Park Inn in Asheville.  I show my work in both solo and nationally juried exhibitions and high end fine craft shows including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Smithsonian Craft Shows.

JASPER: Who has been your greatest influence as an artist? 

LENZ: Stephen Chesley

JASPER: What do you feel makes your art unique? 

LENZ: Using a threaded needle, I work in partnership with my materials and use found objects to express my thoughts on remembrance and mortality. My work is unique in the many ways it pays homage to anonymous ancestors and to those whose voices might otherwise be stilled.

JASPER: Who is your favorite SC-based visual artist and why?

LENZ: Stephen Chesley lives a true “artist life” without compromise and through his example, I have learned and will continue to learn how better to be more myself than I initially knew was possible.

JASPER: What are you working on now, will we get to see it, and if so, where, and when?

LENZ; I am currently working on a pandemic-inspired series influenced by the traditions of Buddhist mandala making.  Repetitive circles of found objects are stitched onto sections of neglected, old quilts.  The series is as much about the hunt for unique, found objects as the actual creation of the artwork. Adventures include dismantling an old, broken Steinway piano for three, commissioned pieces for Carolina Steinway in Charlotte and sourcing Hawai’i stamped golf tees from a cyber friend in Texas. The series now numbers over one-hundred and will be on view at the upcoming Smithsonian Craft Show, April 20 – 24, 2022 but some will be available at the Cottontown Art Crawl. 

The series can be found on-line at: https://foundobjectmandalasbysusanlenz.blogspot.com/

Mandal CXII Susan Lenz

Mandala XCVI - Susan Lenz

Mandala CX - Susan Lenz

"It's Been a While" - Group Art Exhibition at Outpost Arts Space by Ron Hagell (Guest Writer)

“It’s Been a While”

Group Art Exhibition at Outpost Arts Space

715 Saluda Ave., April 3 – 24, 2021

Care. Comfort, and Kindness by Olga Yukhno

The Free Times leads off it’s piece in this week’s paper by saying, “Artists get lonely, too”.  In fact, this was one spark for this exhibition that helped to start it. Flavia Lovatelli, Kristi Ryba (a Charleston artist) and I were discussing how long it had been since we went to an opening and the general lack of exhibitions over the pandemic year. We decided that it might be possible to ask if the Outpost’s new exhibition space might be available in April. It turned out that the space was free and Caitlin Bright was very interested in helping get us off the ground. I’m not sure we were all “lonely,” maybe just missing what had become a rather active arts scene in Columbia. But once the artists started showing up with work this week, I realized how much I missed seeing everyone – so did they!  Our exhibition, “It’s Been a While,” opens on April 3 at Outpost Arts Space in Five Points.

You may remember that this group [along with the Jasper Project] used to be in the Tapp’s building on Main Street and we always had a new exhibition each “First Thursday on Main.” Then we were called The Tapp’s Arts Center and some still refer to us as “Tapp’s Outpost.” There are similarities between the two, the people and mission continue, but many things have changed beyond the actual location.

You may recall that, in addition to our exhibitions, we also had open studios (where shopping was possible) and you could pick-up a beer to start your art crawl on Main. Now we all know that First Thursday is not the same now that most of the “art” on Main has left for many reasons. For us, this location has made a big difference. Obviously the amount and character of the space is a vast difference, but the foot-traffic is very different. Often at Tapp’s we had very few visitors except for exhibit nights, but in Five Points there is a constant flow and some of us have experienced much better sales.

… we are hopeful that “It’s Been a While” will continue the spark of creative activity and be the rebirth of more and better days for our whole Columbia arts scene

There are also plans afoot to improve our new home and build even more and better studio/workshops inside and behind the existing shop fronts, as well as collaborative activities with the vast space behind the White Mule that is scheduled for future renovations. 

But, we are hopeful that “It’s Been a While” will continue the spark of creative activity and be the rebirth of more and better days for our whole Columbia arts scene. We invited many artists to join us and have a real cross-section of folks taking part.  Charleston-based artist Kristi Ryba, whom we met in 2019 while participating in Lake City’s annual ArtFields competition, has agreed to show two new works and many more local friends also wanted to take part.  There are sculptures by Olga Yukhno and Sharon Licata and a couple of large hanging fabric pieces by Janet Swigler. Columbia Photographer Molly Harrell shows her recent work and I’m putting in an older video because it just speaks to this moment so well. But, I’m also showing a few smaller paintings that I’ve been working on during this downtime.

In fact many others are showing works that deal directly with the pandemic such as Gerard Erley’s “Pandemic Cardinals” and more – not to be missed.

Pandemic Cardinals by Gerard Erley

Also showing are works by Susan Lenz, Michael Krajewski, Keith Tolen, Bonnie Goldberg, Stephen Chesley, Heidi Darr Hope, Kirkland Smith, Tabitha Ott, Diko Pekdemir, and Flava Lovatelli. Some have direct connections to our past year and the pandemic or the political shift while others do not. It is a very eclectic event. 

ABC by Michael Krajewski

As always our group wants to engage the community in ongoing conversation and creative connections. But now we really need to catch-up after over a year. It’s 17 artists wanting you to see their work and, as Caitlin says, she anticipates “a lot of sharing, commiserating, sympathy and empathy.”

Because, it’s been a while…

Ron Hagell, Studio Artist, Outpost Arts Space

Ron Hagell is a Columbia, SC-based artist who makes films and art with installations featuring paintings, projections, prints and film centered on portraiture.

Teacups by Kirkland Smith

If you haven’t joined the Jasper Project Guild yet this year, now is a good time to do so, guaranteeing that YOUR NAME will appear in the next issue of Jasper Magazine, releasing May 2021 and, depending on your contribution level, securing you a space at some of the limited seating events Jasper has in the works for the coming year.

Plus, everyone gets to see your name here!

An Interview with Board Member Bert Easter on the Jasper Project Galleries at Meridian

With the Street Gallery concept, the public can visit the Jasper Project Galleries windows and not have virus concerns.  Viewing artwork at these windows can be done safely from the sidewalk; someone could even drive by and take a peek at the artworks from their car. 

-Bert Easter

Board Member, The Jasper Project

Bert Easter - courtesy of Ed Madden

Last April, The Jasper Project opened a new gallery in a prominent downtown Columbia building. Though the Meridian Building opened its doors in 2004, it was built from the facade of the 19th century Consolidated Building. This coalescence of elements externally can also be found internally, through the art featured in the lobby and the display windows that line Sumter and Washington Streets.

courtesy Historic Columbia

I was able to chat with fellow board member Bert Easter, who started and organized the gallery, about what this first year has been like, what artists are currently being featured, and how the public can interact with this significant space and the art within it.

JASPER: It’s been just over a year now that you’ve been working on the Meridian. How has it been?

EASTER: I really have had great luck with the Meridian hosting and being very helpful with my little idea.  It’s actually been a lot of fun, and some work, pulling together artwork to offer in downtown Columbia. And we have been very lucky to develop a partnership with Virginia Scotchie of USC to show student work alongside her artwork.

JASPER: What made you first walk past this building and think, “This is the place for a gallery”?

EASTER: I saw the windows as a missed opportunity for both the city and the arts community.  When I approached the Meridian, I was pleased that they were excited with this idea and even offered the additional space of the grand lobby area to be opened up for local artists. 

JASPER: Did you have any specific goals for it then?

EASTER: I hoped then, and now, that at the Meridian we would have business folks who might see, connect with, and purchase local art.

JASPER: With such a great pool of artists in Columbia, how do you select artists to meet the gallery’s goals?

EASTER: Thus far I have contacted the artists and helped select artwork that I hope works well and complements the other artists’ work.  I try to also have a few pieces that challenge the traditional ideas of artwork – to offer abstract paintings or a brutalist sculpture or a pottery vase that you would never use for flowers.   

JASPER: Have you had any highlights in this journey of merging art styles and voices?

EASTER: Pulling together Assemblages by Susan Lenz, with plastic assembled work by Kirkland Smith, alongside found metal items sculptured by Andy White was one of my favorite window displays show in our first show.  I have also enjoyed showing pottery by Paul Moore with carved palmettos on the side of the vases placed by landscape paintings.  

JASPER: Well other than great art, what should people expect when going to the gallery?

EASTER: The windows are just like storefront windows for a department store.  They are lighted at night, and I actually tell folks that the windows look better at night from the street and sidewalk.  The lovely Main Street lobby is limited to weekday business hours (8-6) due to the security concerns of the Meridian. Currently, once you enter through the revolving doors on Main, you’ll find pottery on pedestals by Virginia Scotchie and USC students and paintings on canvas by Nikolai K Oskolkov.

 JASPER: Has COVID-19 impacted the way people visit the gallery?

EASTER: With the Street Gallery concept, the public can visit the Jasper Project Galleries windows and not have virus concerns.  Viewing artwork at these windows can be done safely from the sidewalk; someone could even drive by and take a peek at the artworks from their car. 

JASPER: You mentioned it briefly before, but if people want to stop in or drive by, what artists can they expect to find currently? And how long will the current artists be up?

EASTER: The current show has 10 different artists being offered with a large collection of paintings by Nikolai Oskolkov in each of the 3 galleries on this block. We have been switching out artwork every 3 months so that we would have 4 shows each year.  When the virus hit, we stopped, and the current show has been left up, but I plan to switch out the artwork after the virus is less of a concern. This show includes art by Nikolai K Oskolkov, Bohumila Augustinova, Michael Krajewski, Eileen Blyth, Virginia Scotchie, and USC students from the School of Visual Art and Design. 

JASPER: What should people do if they see one of these pieces of art and fall in love with it?

EASTER: The signage will provide the cost of the artwork and my cell number where folks are able to ask any questions, arrange for me to come to the Meridian and meet with them, or to arrange purchase of the artwork. As far as pricing, we have offered original artwork starting with prices at $200 and going up to $2,500.  

JASPER: Well, to round all this out, tell me: Columbia is a city full of artists & galleries — what makes the gallery at the Meridian special?

EASTER: We have established this partnership with the Meridian to offer artwork outside the gallery setting to bring local artworks to the people who might not visit galleries with the intention of purchasing artwork – in a hope that downtown folks might see, connect, and enjoy art by local working artists.  We think that the display window setting might allow someone just headed out to a meeting, dinner, or a local church service to view artwork in downtown Columbia.

The Jasper Galleries at Meridian is located at 1320 Main Street. If you’re feeling cooped up at home and want to feel inspired, take a drive down Washington or Sumter Street and see the selection of artists that Property Manager Amy Reeves stated “brought life to our windows”, and maybe even take a piece home to keep you company.

 -Christina Xan

Christina Xan is a writer, a doctoral student at the University of SC, and a member of the board of directors of the Jasper Project where she manages the Tiny Art Gallery Project.

The Jasper Project operates public space galleries at Harbison Theatre, Motor Supply Company Bistro, and the Meridian Building in downtown Columbia. If you’re interested in developing a gallery area in your public space, or you’d like to exhibit your art, please contact Laura Garner Hine, Bert Easter, Christina Xan, Cindi Boiter, or Wade Sellers.

To support the work of Jasper, including articles like the one above,

please consider becoming a member of the Jasper Guild at www.JasperProject.org

Under the Jasper Tent on the Jasper Arts Fairway at West Columbia's Kinetic Derby Day!

Jasper is delighted to feature work by Columbia-based artists under the Jasper tent along the Jasper Arts Fairway tomorrow at West Columbia’s Kinetic Day Derby. Please join us starting at 10 am as we celebrate the art of movement.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Bohumila Augustinova is a 3D artist, focusing often on wire sculptor and jewelry, as well as the director of Yarnbombers of Columbia and the manager and curator for Anastasia and Friends art gallery. Her work is included among the artist at Columbia’s new boutique hotel, Hotel Trundle

Gina Langston Brewer’s whimsical and innovative art lifts the spirits of the viewer on sight. An artist who readily makes use of multiple mediums, Gina sees art in unlikely objects and places and facilitates their realization via her unique abilities and talent. Also a poet, Gina will be reading at the Jasper Literary Salon, hosted by Kristine Hartvigsen and located by Ed’s Editions book store.

Laura Garner Hine - After completing an undergraduate program with the University of South Carolina in 2011, Laura moved to Groningen, the Netherlands until 2013. She continued with her education by pursuing a Masters program in Restoration of Painting with Accademia Riaci and completed the program in the summer of 2014, and is now pursuing a professional career in Historical Preservation and Conservation; with a focus in the restoration and conservation of oil paintings, as well as frames. Check out her website at https://www.laurakgarnerfineartist.net

Fiber and installation artist Susan Lenz is a full time, professional studio artist in Columbia, South Carolina. Her studio is located at Mouse House, Inc. at 2123 Park Street where she has both a studio for 3D sculptural and installation work and a separate fiber art studio. Susan's work has been juried into numerous national and international exhibits, featured in solo shows all over the United States, and shown on television and in print. She has been awarded six full scholarship art residencies and several "Best of Show" ribbons. Susan can’t be with us for Derby Day because she is on her way to install her art at the 36th Annual Smithsonian Craft Show. Check out her website at http://www.susanlenz.com/default.shtml

Lucas Sams was born and raised in Greenwood, South Carolina and in 2006, Sams left home to live and study at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville. Prior to attending the Governor’s School, Sams had worked primarily with illustrations, graphic arts, and ceramics. Upon graduation from the Governor’s School, Sams traveled to Tokyo where he studied painting at the Temple University Tokyo Campus. His major professor there was the Brazilian-born eco-artist, Walderedo De Oleveira. De Oleveira taught Sams the technique that he most often uses in his work today.  After returning to the US in 2008, Sams enrolled at the University of South Carolina and began working on an undergraduate degree.

Taryn Shekitka-West and David West are quintessential partners in all things important in life – especially as artists, parents, and spouses. David will be live painting for us starting at 10 am, and he and Taryn will be showing their work under the Jasper tents.

Barry Wheeler is the president of the Jasper Project board of directors and the Arts Project Manager for the Jasper Arts Fairway at this year’s Kinetic Derby Day. Barry is also primarily a sculptor and 3D artist working most recently with wood and metals. He and sculptor, installation artist, and environmental artist Billy Guess have collaborated on many projects for the Jasper Arts Fairway this year.

REVIEW: Columbia City Ballet's Cleopatra featuring Ballerina Regina Willoughby's Retirement Performance

by Susan Lenz

Regina Willoughby taking her final bow for her performance in Cleopatra on March 24, 2018 (photo courtesy of Julia Gulia)

Last night, Ballerina Regina Willoughby couldn’t hold all the flowers presented at the conclusion of her farewell performance of Columbia City Ballet’s Cleopatra. She carefully laid those in her arms atop the mound of roses company dancers had placed at her feet. She gracefully stepped around the pile for one last bow. Artistic Director William Starrett addressed the standing ovation with words of praise for her long career and sparkling personality, and Mayor Stephen Benjamin presented the Key to the City. Many in the audience wiped away tears as the curtain was lowered. 

I hadn’t seen such an emotionally charged scene since Prima Ballerina Mariclare Miranda’s 2006 retirement performance of Giselle. Here in Columbia, the audience seems to know how to respond to the last show in a principal dancer’s life and to the talent they just witnessed. Regina Willoughby was certainly the star in the production. The title role was set on her in 2008 and reprised in 2010. I remember these evenings rather well.

Regina Willoughby was brilliant as Cleopatra in all three seasons, dancing as if she’d already found the Egyptian secrets of an ageless afterlife. Her blunt cropped coiffure by Brittany Mocase Luskin of Studio B at the Old Mill was again perfect. It is little wonder that Regina selected this production for her final appearance. Unfortunately, her Act I partner was not as convincing as past years when Robert Michalski (2008) and Peter Kozak (2010) danced the role of Julius Caesar. Also missing was the excitement and technical abilities seen when William Moore, Jr. danced the part of Ptolemy, Cleopatra’s scheming younger brother. Frankly, the male roles were lack luster until principal Bo Busby stepped onto the stage as Marc Antony. Then, the partnering seamlessly sizzled. Their pas de deux was the highlight of the evening and lived up to a performance worthy of the retirement hype.

Otherwise, much of the choreography was to be in unison or to feature corp de ballet dancers racing across the stage, one-after-the-other in a strong diagonal line. In these instances, it is too easy to see lack of synchronization. Much of the ballet appeared to need additional rehearsal time. The canned music was also problematic. It seemed to need a bit of professional mixing for smoother transitions from melody to melody.

Problems aside, the evening was a lovely way to celebrate a ballerina’s retirement. Columbia City Ballet and local audiences will undoubtedly miss Regina Willoughby but will happily welcome principal Claire Richards and newly appointed principal Bonnie Boiter-Jolley into leading ladies. As Cleopatra’s handmaidens, they complimented one another perfectly. I look forward to seeing them during the 2018-19 season’s productions of Dracula: Ballet with a Bite; The Nutcracker; Sleeping Beauty; and the world premier of Beatles: The Ballet.

My recent interview with Regina Willoughby included well wishes and fond memories from dancers who have moved away or retired. Since then, I’ve received a few more quotes.

Pat Miller Baker wrote: Only once in a blue moon does a ballerina like Regina come along. She made her mark in every role she danced and the memories of her portrayals along with her physicality and artistry shall remain in all of our minds and hearts forever. I have loved being her teacher, coach and friend.  (Pat Miller elegantly appeared in last night’s production as Calpurnia, Wife of Caesar, a character role demanding exquisite dramatic acting.)

Journy Wilkes-Davis wrote: Some of the first big roles in my career I danced with Regina and it was her confident experience that allowed me to grow as a partner. She is a daredevil in the studio and onstage and the intensity she brings to every role pushed me to take risks as a partner where I had previously would have played it safer. I have great memories of dancing Arthur opposite her Lucy in Dracula or Romeo to her Juliet where it was inspiring to match the commitment she brought to her character and build a believable story for the audience. She taught by example how to throw caution to the wind and live in the moment onstage, a gift I will carry with me the rest of my career.

William Moore, Jr. wrote: I will start off by saying that it was a pleasure sharing the stage with Regina for several years! Notably our performance of Cleopatra was an unforgettable process and I am honored that I had that awesome opportunity early in my career. Love Regina dearly and I wish her the best in her retirement!
Love, William Moore Jr, former dancer, current music producer

REVIEW: Columbia Classical Ballet's Don Q - by Susan Lenz

 

Audience Needed

I’d been looking forward to Friday’s one-night-only performance of Don Quixote by Columbia Classical Ballet all season, especially after seeing portions of it during last month’s Studio Series preview. Why? Well, I’ve only seen the full ballet once. 

It was a long time ago, 2005, but a very memorable experience. The Bolshoi, accompanied by its own orchestra, came to Wolf Trap theater outside Washington, DC. At the time, world renown Alexei Ratmansky was the artistic director. Many consider him the best choreographer working in the world today. He’s a MacArthur fellow and current artist-in-residence with American Ballet Theater in NYC. Ratmansky was trained at the Bolshoi, the company for which Don Quixote was originally choreographed back in 1869 by ballet's greatest classicist Marius Petipa. Most performances today are based on Alexander Gorsky’s derivative 1900 choreography, but that was for the Bolshoi too. So, Don Quixote by the Bolshoi, I can pretty much say that I once saw “the best of the best”.

Don Quixote is performed in either three or four acts with at least eight scenes of bravura, emotionally charged character dancing, flashy use of fans and capes, a hot Mediterranean aura, and a pumped-up score by Leon Minkus. The story comes from episodes found in Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote de a Mancha, a tale of unattainable humanity, chivalric romance, and the impossible dream of justice. In the ballet, The Man of LaMancha is really part of the background. The innkeepers’ flirtatious daughter Kitri and her love, Basilio, are are center stage. The ballet is full of humor and lots of variations for the casts’ female dancers plus one of the most frequently performance full pas de deux. That’s why I know the ballet so well.

Over the years, I’ve seen parts of this ballet literally hundreds of times. There are at least six female variations performed in international competitions and the wedding scene is generally on every gala program. Odds are, if you’ve been to Columbia Classical Ballet’s annual LifeChance gala, you’ve seen part of the production as well. Thus, when I say Friday night’s performance was wonderful, trust me!  You should have been there! It was undoubtedly the best ballet performance in Columbia this season.

Radenko Pavlovich, Columbia Classical Ballet’s artistic director, should be rightfully proud of his talented company. They were so good that even the few flaws were wonderful. A fan was dropped but the dancer showed no sign of concern. She waited for the perfect moment to pick it up, as if the accident was part of the choreography. Dancing to canned music sometimes causes problems too. There are variations in which the movement begins before the music. With an orchestra, the conductor is to watch the dancer and know precisely when to bring down the baton. With canned music, timing is tricky, not always perfect. A missed cue happened, but I doubt most in the audience knew. The dancer in question was so well rehearsed that he was flawlessly back with the music within seconds. 

The highlight of the evening was watching Nao Omoya as Kitri. Not only is she a technically brilliant dancer who makes every move look effortless but she’s a lovely actress. Her energy seemed to increase with the physical demands of the ballet. Her double fouettés in the final coda were world-class. Koyo Yanagishima partnered her beautifully and his boyish charm was evident throughout.

Now, I know there were lots of other cultural events going on last night, including another opportunity to see dance. But, it is a shame that every seat in the Koger Center wasn’t filled. This was a performance that deserved a full house and a standing ovation. I left the theater wondering about Don Quixote’s unattainable quest for chivalry and a better, more just world. In Columbia, dance companies have their own unattainable quest:  finding an audience to fill the seats. I was happy to occupy one, and I hope my previews and review for Jasper Project might assist in awareness for local dance and filling seats in the future because occasionally, like last night, Columbia’s audience has a chance to see “the best of the best” right here in the Midlands.

REVIEW: Columbia City Ballet's Off the Wall and Onto the Stage by Susan Lenz

Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green

For me, writing a review of a one-night-only performance is difficult, especially since my viewpoint is as an expert audience member. No matter what I say, there’s no chance for others to attend the show to agree with me or not. So, I’m approaching this review from another angle. I’m comparing last Friday, February 9th performance of Off the Wall and Onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green to earlier productions of the same show. I’m hoping that this article will explain why the public should see any ballet more than once. Ballets, even the classical ones, change over the years, from season to season, from cast to cast, through new costuming and staging and even through new choreography.

Columbia City Ballet’s Off the Wall has undergone plenty of changes since it’s 2005 premier. I attended that lavish February 4th opening at the Koger Center and largely agreed with the New York Times review which stated, “The evening seems short on specifics of Gullah life, let alone the evocation of actual characters” and went on to note a lack of coherence in the choreography and a disconnect between the two acts. That was thirteen years ago. 

Since that time, Artistic Director William Starrett has been polishing the show. In fact, this signature production is occasionally presented in a scale-down version as it was during the summer of 2014 for the 39th annual national assembly of The Links Foundation, an international nonprofit. That forty-two minute performance outside Washington, DC for an audience of 4,000 earned the company $50,000.  The first act vignette, “Love of the Harvest” to Marlena Smalls’ “Carry Me Home,” is frequently performed alone. I saw Amanda Summey and prima ballerina Regina Willoughby dance this remarkably touching piece last month in remembrance of Coralee Harris, a long-time arts supporter and former chairman of the board for the ballet company.  Basically, Off the Wall has been an active part of Columbia City Ballet’s repertoire since it debuted and is constantly being refined. 

The second time I saw the production was in 2011. Changes, especially in the second act, improved the experience. Individual personalities better emerged in the Silver Slipper Dance Hall and an interior church scene was added as a final number. Jonathan Green’s paintings, dance, and choral music brought the audience to a standing ovation then and again last Friday night. 

I generally complain about Columbia’s audience rising to their feet when the curtain falls as if a requirement, but it was impossible to stay seated in the crescendo of energy brought about by dancers popping up and down in their pews to high-spirited vocals by Elliott Hannah and singers from the Claflin University Gospel Choir, the University of South Carolina, ATOF, and Benedict College.  The show ends very, very well, especially in a space as open as the Township Auditorium. Audience and performers melded into a singular celebration.  It was terrific.

Other highlights include billowing fabric from which Regina Willoughby magically appears, Maurice Johnson striking a pose so perfectly that it suggests he modeled for Jonathan Green’s Fishing Break, and Amanda Summey’s feisty character in “He Treats Your Daughter Mean”. It was also a pleasure to see guest principal dancer Paunika Jones return to Columbia.

Most important to the success of this ballet is the way large-scale scrims of Jonathan Green’s painting really do come to life. Even from the 2005 debut, this difficult task worked. Translucent backdrops give way to specific places and characters. Yet, the spacious Township Auditorium seems to dwarf these backdrops when compared to their impact at the Koger Center. Fortunately, a multi-media projection off-set this spatial concern and actually showed even more of Jonathan Green’s low country images. Overall, the change in venue made the performance new and fresh.

The next time I see Off the Wall and Onto the Stage, there will be other changes.  How do I know this?  Well, in 2005 I had the pleasure of watching former prima ballerina Mariclare Miranda.  The New York Times liked her too, describing her as “an elegant classical dancer (who) proves that some exalted titles are not merely honorific.”  Later this season Regina Willoughby will retire, too.  Therefore, the future will bring another dancer to sizzle in Little Esther Phillips 1962 R&B hit “Please Release Me”.  I will look forward to that show.

PREVIEW: Puck Luck - Colin Jacob Has It in Columbia City Ballet's Upcoming A Midsummer Night's Dream by Susan Lenz

"Puck luck" is a hockey term that refers to those factors which influence the outcome of a game that do not involve the strategy and skill of the players.

When Columbia City Ballet and the full South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Morihiko Nakahara perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Koger Center this coming Saturday night, January 27th, Colin Jacob will be the envy of many hopeful dancers. He’ll be wearing green and dancing his first principal role. Plucked from the corp de ballet by Artistic Director William Starrett, Colin will use his acting background from high school musical theater and gymnastics to bring Shakespeare’s “merry wanderer of the night," Puck, a mischievous but shrewdly knavish sprite to life.

The role is demanding. It requires lofty leaps, whirling turns, and even a bit of tree climbing. The speed of the scherzo leaves the dancer breathless but insists on an immediate return to stage as if the activity was all in the course of a normal day. A clever but impish character must be maintained despite the grueling pace. This is Jacob Colin’s challenge. He has videotapes from previous Columbia City Ballet seasons, including one featuring Jose Serrano in the role. I remember that show well. In fact, I know the ballet rather well. William Starrett’s 1987 choreography is inspired by Sir Frederick Ashton’s from 1964. I’ve seen that version too. I know that Puck is the audience favorite. I was happy to hear that Colin Jacob is working hard to do as well or even better than those who have already performed the fun but rigorous role here. This is his “big break”. Some might even call it “Puck Luck”.

Perhaps “Puck Luck” was involved. No one could have predicted the strategy that would find the originally cast dancer no longer with the company, that Colin would unexpectedly be told to learn the part after rehearsals had begun. Perhaps “Puck Luck” was involved because Colin’s skill doesn’t come with more than a decade of dance training, something generally expected for a principal part. Yet, my interview told another story.

At seventeen, Colin was asked to help a local, amateur show in his hometown of Brecksville, Ohio.  They needed a male dancer. Without prior dance experience, Colin stepped up to the plate, continued lessons, and earned a scholarship to Pittsburgh’s Point Park University, one of the country’s top programs. He earned his BA in only three years and accepted a trainee position with Ballet West in Salt Lake City. This was after winning scholarships in 2013 and 2014 from Youth American Grand Prix, an international amateur dance competition. No dancer climbs the ladder of success so quickly without natural ability, a great work ethic, and tremendous daily effort. 

My interview with Colin revealed him to be a most articulate young artist who is looking forward to performing to live music.  He said that as a dancer, live music makes the show “feels like the first time because it isn’t exactly like a tape recording. Music is a cultural plus.”

(Please note, child prodigy, Felix Mendelssohn wrote the overture as a seventeen year old in 1826 and added his incidental music, Opus 61, sixteen years later for the production of Shakespeare’s play. The score includes the now, traditional “Wedding March”, generally heard as brides walk down aisles. This melody was adopted by Princess Victoria in 1858 for her wedding to Prince William of Prussia.)

Of course Columbia City Ballet rehearses to a tape recording. There’s no other way to do it!  For Colin, each rehearsal is getting easier and easier, but he is quick to add that each one reveals another fine point for him to work on. 

I am quite sure that Colin Jacobs will be bringing a memorable performance to the stage.  I wish I could see it, but alas I’ll be teaching a fiber arts workshop in Alabama. More than for myself, I hope Colin’s parents are able to make the arrangements. Like Colin, they weren’t expecting “Puck Luck”, a big break for a very likable and talented dancer. Thankfully, many will be in the audience especially to see Colin. He regularly teaches dance at Southern Strut, Columbia City Jazz, Richland Northeast High School and at Columbia Music Festival Association where he also media coordinator. 

Accepting the corps de ballet position with Columbia City Ballet, along with his other dance related opportunities, has provided Colin a level of financial stability. He bought a car and is paying off student loans. More importantly, our local dance company has provided amazing performance opportunities and the potential for upward mobility.  Whether “Puck Luck” was involved or not, Saturday’s performance is more than a “big break” for a single dancer. It is a big break for people in Columbia is watch the start of a winning young talent.  It is a fabulous opportunity to see our full company perform to live music. I’ve focused this preview on just one dancer but there are many. Go see for yourself! It will be worth it!

Tickets for the 3:00 PM matinee and the 7:30 PM evening performances on Saturday, January 27th are available at:

http://www.kogercenterforthearts.com/event.php?id=535

REVIEW: Columbia Classical Ballet's LifeChance 2018 - The Show Must Go On by Susan Lenz

Less than thirty-six hours before the Koger Center curtain went up, Columbia Classical Ballet’s Artistic Director Radenko Pavlovich received a text message that changed the entire ballet gala. Pavlovich’s protege and Washington Ballet principal dancer, Brooklyn Mack would not be able to make the trip. The program was already printed listing three numbers in which he would appear. This news came on the heels of another unfortunate cancellation. An injury prevented two Pennsylvania Ballet dancers from bringing the 3rd Act Pas de Deux from Don Quixote, always a big crowd pleasing piece, to the stage. 

What to do? The show must go on!

The show did go on and beautifully so. As promised, the evening was a delightful mix of contemporary and classical featuring guest principal and soloist dancers from Boston Ballet, Washington Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance of Chicago, and Pennsylvania Ballet. The audience was mesmerized though slightly confused by the shifted program. Too many were consulting the line-up using illumination from their cell phones. (This is a BIG no-no and the topic of a recent Dance Magazine article. http://www.dancemagazine.com/phones-during-performances-2522420426.html) Checking the program was totally unnecessary. Each piece was clearly announced over the public address system.

The evening started after a few, brief introductions including Kassy Alia, founder of Heroes in Blue. (http://heroesinblue.net.) Her local charity received some of the proceeds from the evening. She asked all the police officers in attendance to stand for a round of applause. For most, this was their first experience seeing dance. I knew one of the Forest Acres police officers. My husband and I ran into him and his well dressed wife at nearby Hunter-Gatherer before the show. He asked me what to expect. He imagined an evening of tiaras and short, pancake tutus. But, that’s only how the program started. 

Boston Ballet’s Patrick Leonard Yocum and Ji Young Chae dazzled in the Sleeping Beauty Wedding Pas de Deux. But before the first half ended with an ethereal rendition from Les Sylphide, the audience was treated to extraordinary diversity with Manuel Vignoulle and Rena Butler’s Black and White, Columbia Classical Ballet dancer Koyo Yanagishima’s athleticism in a variation from Diana and Actaeon, and Yanagishima’s choreography for two of his fellow company members.  Dancers appeared in itty-bitty costumes. Black and White should really have started with even less. (Long story short, I wish I could have seen the original, changing costumes. But this is the South, after all, not a place quite ready to witness an exploration in a mixed race couple’s relationship and gender equality through parted toplessness even if they progressively added clothing.) Finally, Rosalie Cirio was truly breathtaking in her perfect, long white romantic tutu and expertly partnered by Paul Craig.

When the curtain rose to the cast of Columbia Classical Ballet’s dancers for Rhapsodic Variations, the audience was well aware that Brooklyn Mack, listed to begin the second half, was not in attendance. It really didn’t matter. Rick McCullough’s choreography perfectly suited our local company, the dancers expressed more emotion than I’ve seen in earlier productions, and I’d personally enjoy seeing the piece again.  I certainly could repeatedly watch 50/50, a steamy tango-in-pointe-shoes by Boston’s sultry Ashley Ellis and her handsome partner Matthew Slattery or Dueto danced by Arian Molina Soca and Dayesi Torriente from Pennsylvania Ballet.

What surprised me was seeing the Grand Pas de Deux from The Nutcracker as part of a gala so close after the holiday season. As soon as Tamako Miyazaki took the stage, I understood. She is the embodiment of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the type of dancer who makes the little-girl-heart in me remember why I love dance. Her smile transformed the entire Koger Center into an odyssey of enchantment. It didn’t hurt that her Washington Ballet partner, Rolando Sarabia looks like a matinee idol and lands his Tour en l'air with total bravado. (Tour en l'air is a movement in which a dancer jumps straight upward and completes at least one full revolution in the air before landing.) 

I was delighted to learn that Tamako Miyazaki was once a Columbia Classical Ballet company member. Opportunities here in Columbia assisted with the progression of her career. Opportunities were abound last night due to an unfortunate text message. Koyo Yanagishima’s Diana and Actaeon variation was a program addition. He danced Flames of Paris during the second half. More time on stage was allotted to our local talent. As Radenko Pavlovich put it, “I am raising the bar for quality in Columbia”.  His dancers are stepping up to meet the challenge and definitely held their own on a stage with world-class talent from across the country. 

LifeChance Preview by Susan Lenz

Anyone in Columbia who has even a slight interest in the local dance scene knows that twice a year there's exceptionally good evenings to witness world-class ballet performers. One of those nights is coming up on April 15th when USC presents the 13th Annual Ballet Stars of New York. The other night is just around the corner:

Columbia Classical Ballet presents

LifeChance 2018 this coming Saturday, January 20th.

Don't miss it!

Principal dancers from Boston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Washington Ballet, and Chicago's Hubbard Street Dance are coming to the Koger Center. One night only! Every year LifeChance puts on this benefit gala. Proceeds will benefit Heroes In Blue (http://heroesinblue.net/), a local charity that was founded in honor of Forest Acres Police Department Officer Gregory Alia who was killed in the line of duty on September 30, 2015.

Now, I'm sure there will be other news articles featuring the internationally known artists and the very high caliber dancing that this gala brings to the stage, but I promised to write articles from a different point of view. I want to bring more awareness of the local dance community from the audience's perspective. After all, Columbia Classical Ballet's roster of talented performers will also be dancing during LifeChance 2018. These are the dancers who regularly grace our stage. It must be an amazing opportunity for them to perform alongside some of their own idols. It must be exciting for the staff, choreographers, and those behind the scenes too. In this vein, I sought out the opportunity to get a few quotes!

Juliet Brown is really excited about Saturday night. She’s in her second season with Columbia Classical Ballet and fondly remembers last year’s LifeChance as her favorite time on stage. She said, “There are even more guest dancers this year. It’ll be a longer show.” Clement Guillaume echoed my opening statements, “LifeChance is a one time thing. It’s a gala. There aren’t two chances to look good. As a company, we are really close to one another and really looking forward to dancing Rick McCullough’s contemporary piece, Rhapsody.”

Yet, I had the most fun interviewing Koyo Yanagishima. Like his fellow company members, he’s in Rhapsody but he’s also dancing Flames of Paris. In past LifeChance galas, Artistic Director Radenko Pavlovich has showcased several of his exceptionally talented dancers in order for them to share the stage on an equal footing with the world renown guest dancers. Koyo was almost blushing to admit being selected for this rare opportunity. He was assuredly embarrassed by my next few questions.

I asked Koyo if the LifeChance 2018 poster was the first time a solo image of him was used to promote a performance. It was. I asked if he called his mother back in Japan. He did. He shared it on social media too.

Yet, Koyo was quickly serious when discussing Shadows, a male duet he choreographed. Radenko Pavlovich is proud to include Koyo’s choreograpny in Saturday’s line up. It will be seen alongside Topless, a contemporary piece from Hubbard Street Dance. Pavlovich is as eager to see the audience’s reaction to his young dancer’s choreography as he is to see the reaction to the Chicago-based company’s work even though he had to nix the original costuming (or lack thereof).

Time talking with Radenko Pavlovich was enlightening. He mentioned many past events and the amazing guest dancers who have come to Columbia. He added, “When my company dancers come here for a season, they are cheering for one another to excel beyond their own earlier expectations. I believe, without a doubt, that LifeChance is the very best evening of dance in Columbia. It raises the bar for quality, locally and for my company. It makes my dancers push themselves, collectively and individually.”

Hopefully, the excitement at Columbia Classical Ballet for the upcoming star-studded evening will add to the number of people in attendance. I know I'm excited and promise a review of the evening shortly after the curtain comes down!

For tickets to Saturday’s LifeChance 2018 gala:

http://www.kogercenterforthearts.com/index.php

Koyo Yanagishima holding a LifeChance 2018 poster in which he is featured.)

Susan Lenz is a full time, professional studio artist in Columbia, South Carolina. Her studio is located at Mouse House, Inc. at 2123 Park Street where she has both a studio for 3D sculptural and installation work and a separate fiber art studio. Susan's work has been juried into numerous national and international exhibits, featured in solo shows all over the United States, and shown on television and in print. She has been awarded six full scholarship art residencies and several "Best of Show" ribbons.

She blogs at

http://www.susanlenz.com/

http://artbysusanlenz.blogspot.com

http://decisionportraits.blogspot.com

http://graverubbingquilts.blogspot.com

Susan Lenz

photo Forrest Clonts

Jasper Dance Writer Susan Lenz Weighs in on Which Nutcracker Ballet to See but Cautions that the Choice is Yours!

Both have snow, tiaras, and take a young Clara on a fairytale journey into the Land of Sweets with dancing variations and a final pas de deux. So, what are the differences? Which company's production should an informed audience member select?

Is that a Unicorn in Columbia City Ballet's Nutcracker?

My husband and I own a little frame shop. My sales counter is in front of a non-working fireplace with a mantel holding family pictures, including some of my dancing son. For years these images seemed to remind clients that ballet is part of my life. Every holiday season, clients excitedly tell me, "I'm going to The Nutcracker!" Of course I'm happy for them and ask, "Which production?" The answer is always the same. "The one at the Koger Center."

Further conversation reveals that most people in Columbia are aware that The Nutcracker comes to the Township Auditorium every Thanksgiving weekend. Some even know that this is the civic company.  (I wrote a review of last month's show at http://jasperproject.org/what-jasper-said/88xw7fa24pxcfdb5x77mxf5zyrkgxd). Most seem to know that The Nutcracker also comes to the Koger Center for three weekends in December, but they are totally unaware that two different, local professional ballet companies are putting on these shows. They have no idea to which production they've booked tickets. They have no idea that there is a difference. But there is a difference.

The first weekend features Columbia Classical Ballet (Radenko Pavolich, artistic director). The later two weekends feature Columbia City Ballet (William Starrett, artistic director). Yes, the company names are as similar as The Nutcracker's basic storyline.  Both companies use canned Tchaikovsky music, cast students from their independent ballet schools, and include adults from the community in character roles, mainly in the first act's party scene. Both companies sell tickets through the Koger Center's on-line box office. Both have snow, tiaras, and take a young Clara on a fairytale journey into the Land of Sweets with dancing variations and a final pas de deux. So, what are the differences? Which company's production should an informed audience member select?

Let me cut to the chase. If one wants to see a technically superior Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier, book Radenko's production. I saw Nao Omoya and Koyo Yanagishima on Saturday night. At least I think I did. The program listed double-cast roles but didn't indicate which dancers were performing in which show. I still have no idea who I saw as Clara. Despite being in several Act II variations in both that afternoon's matinee and the evening performance, these two dancers surprisingly had plenty of energy and brought excellent technique to the stage. The dancers for Columbia City Ballet had two performances the following Saturday. I saw both. Claire Richards was lovely but her afternoon partner was weak. Bo Busby and Regina Willoughby looked understandably tired that evening.

Yet, who goes to The Nutcracker for just the last pas de deux? In almost every other way, Columbia City Ballet's production was more pleasing.

That last sentence was hard for me to write.

I'm predisposed against the liberties William Starrrett takes with his production. I'm more inclined to like the traditional dancing dolls during Act I's party scene. Radenko Pavlovich’s Harlequin and Columbine were first rate but couldn't save the scene. That party unfolded as if a series of recital pieces. At one point, all the girls covered the stage rocking baby dolls, and there weren't even enough to go around. Stranger yet, the Nutcracker doll wasn't even a traditional solid. Its legs were moveable, possibly even like a stuffed animal. 

William Starrett’s nutcracker doll looks like a nutcracker, but it’s the only doll on stage. Instead of the classic mechanized dancing doll variations, Starrett features a flirtatious Scarlett straight from Gone With the Wind mythology and a courtship dance between Clara’s older sister and a lead cadet. It works though. It works because the Columbia City Ballet dancers are good actors. As the scene continues, the audience has no problem following the plot. The nutcracker doll is broken, repaired, and placed by the Christmas tree. Effortlessly, the audience follows the action. Clara is lurked back to the darkened living room and a dream sequence begins. Mice and rats battle and the nutcracker is magically transformed into a living doll and finally a prince. One doesn’t have to consult the program. The plot is told through the choreography, the dancers, and good lighting.  Virginia Welsh as young Clara, though not technically perfect, was utterly charming and carried the audience into the Land of Snow and beyond.

Unfortunately, Columbia Classical Ballet’s dancers generally don’t express much emotion and pivotal moments often occurred in poorly lit areas of the stage. There was too much fog and the machine producing it made a lot of distracting noise. The transitions from the Stahlbaums’ living room into a battle scene and onto the Land of Snow were simply not as magical as intended. Narrative was lost.

Columbia Classical Ballet’s Act II is traditional, though it starts oddly. Why? Well, there is no overture played before the ballet begins. Thus, it is strange to listen to the first part of the angelic scene played to the curtain. William Starrett’s Act II starts the same way but his production includes the opening overture. Musically, that seems proper. Musically, Starrett’s Act II is anything but proper. It starts to the correct, heavenly melody and altogether too much gold lamé but then progresses into the Waltz of the Flowers. The other variations are also mixed up and include Neapolitan Ice Cream Flavors and Striped Candy Canes using music that isn’t even from Tchiakovsky’s Nutcracker score. Anyone familiar with the music knows it’s all out of order.

Yet, it works. There’s a flow from section to section and a nice mix of humor for sheer entertainment. I didn’t even mind the appearance of a white horse dressed as a unicorn. Admittedly, its a gimmick but it is only a magical inspired entrance. It doesn’t distract from the dancing or the progression of the ballet. 

By the end of both ballets, Clara is back in her living room and the audiences are altogether too eager to give standing ovations, as if a requirement. Both ballets had their strong points and weaknesses. Both were worth seeing. 

Both companies have extremely enticing opportunities for audience members to witness something special in the coming new year.  On Saturday, January 20th, Columbia Classical Ballet will present their annual LifeChance, an International Ballet Gala of Stars (always one of the best ballet performances in Columbia). On Saturday, January 27th, Columbia City Ballet is partnering with the full South Carolina Philharmonic under Morihiko Nakahara’s baton for Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Looking ahead, I hope this article assists future audience members make informed decisions about their Nutcracker options. Best bet: see both and compare! Maybe you’ll agree with my impressions. Maybe next year’s productions will be entirely different. There’s still time to catch the last weekend of Columbia City Ballet’s Nutcracker. It can be seen at the Koger Center:

3:00 PM Saturday, December 16, 2017
7:30 PM Saturday, December 16, 2017
3:00 PM Sunday, December 17, 2017

Postscript: Most informed audience members know something else. Using LED devices is strictly prohibited. The family sitting in front of me during Columbia Classical Ballet’s Nutcracker used a cell phone to record the entire Bon-Bon variation. The gentleman sitting beside my husband at Columbia City Ballet’s Nutcracker checked his email during the Sugar Plum pas de deux.  Please, go to the shows but don’t do this!

Susan Lenz - photo by Forrest Clonts

Susan Lenz is a full time, professional studio artist in Columbia, South Carolina. Her studio is located at Mouse House, Inc. at 2123 Park Street where she has both a studio for 3D sculptural and installation work and a separate fiber art studio. Susan's work has been juried into numerous national and international exhibits, featured in solo shows all over the United States, and shown on television and in print. She has been awarded six full scholarship art residencies and several "Best of Show" ribbons. She blogs at 

http://www.susanlenz.com/

http://artbysusanlenz.blogspot.com

http://decisionportraits.blogspot.com

http://graverubbingquilts.blogspot.com

The Kids Get It! Carolina Ballet's Nutcracker by Susan Lenz

Township Auditorium teemed with excitement as Richland One School District's third graders squirmed in their seats. I spoke with Cliff Butler, a science and math teacher at Sandel Elementary. No significant preparation had been given to the more than ninety students who came from his school. Daily class schedules are already too tight. The kids were simply excited for the curtain to rise. Then, Nancy Pope, the district's Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator, took center stage. She spoke of audience etiquette. She really didn't need to. The coming two hours proved just how well behaved our local elementary school students really are, even without much of an introduction to ballet, the story line, or other instruction. Shortly thereafter, Neil Casey, Columbia Festival Orchestra conductor, raised his baton and The Nutcracker's overture brought a hush over the crowd.

Ann Brodie's Carolina Ballet presented the full length production. Nothing was abbreviated. Co-artistic director John Whitehead thinks it important that kids be exposed to "the real thing." There were appropriate moments of awe, giggles when Fritz (the youngest Silberhaus child) received a spanking, and gasps of dread when the fearsome Rat King entered the battle scene. Most impressive was the innate knowledge for applause in all the right places. Although Tchaikovsky's score punctuates these moments, the elementary school audience was totally captivated. They were paying close attention to every move. Looking around me, I saw students sitting on the edges of their seats.

During the intermission, I wondered about the hearing impaired students from Brennen Elementary. What impression was made without the melodies? Through an interpreter, I asked. Hands flew in response. I recognized the universal gesture for a powerful lift and a twirling index finger for an amazing pirouette. The consensus: They liked Katherine Brady and Caleb Roberts as Snow Queen and Cavalier. The first act was magical.

Magical!  I couldn't agree more. Now, were there problems? A few imperfect lines? Too much smoke affect at the start of the battle scene? A bobble here and there? Of course! But, this is a civic ballet company. Few on stage will ever dance professionally. The cast is almost entirely students. Some aren't even old enough for kindergarten.

What I saw was a very well rehearsed cast and expert staging. I also saw a strong sense of community, especially in the character roles. Jimmy Moon, a NYC actor, returned to Columbia as Herr Drosselmeyer. USC Dance Company Artistic Director Susan Anderson was wonderful as the widow. Parents of current dancer and parents of dancers who are now off in college pulled on evening gowns and tuxedos for the party scene. More adults were back stage carefully assisting with proper entrances and exits. 

The second act doesn't have the glitz of a party scene and the action of a battle. It is mostly a sequence of ballet variations ending with the full Sugar Plum pas de deux danced by the guest artists SeHyun Jin and Eric Beckham. These are moments for the dancers to shine, to set a mood, but not necessarily to carry the plot. And yet, the third grade audience remained mesmerized. A dropped pin could have been heard when Hollis Baroody entered as Arabian Coffee. I was most impressed by the Vienesse Marzipan trio. Lily-Cate Buchanan and Adaline Fletcher were expertly partnered by an outstanding young Wesley Miller. Wesley's high caliber of dancing reminded me of Eric Beckham in the same role several years ago. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see this young man in Eric's Sugar Plum Cavalier role in a few years.

Eric Beckham is one of Carolina Ballet's many success stories. He danced his way up the ranks from role to role in The Nutcracker before going off to the School of American Ballet in NYC. For the past two years, he been an apprentice with The National Ballet of Canada. He's now in the corps de ballet at Miami City Ballet. His partner, SeHyun Jin's journey brought her here to Columbia where she is a principal dancer under Radenko Pavolvich at Columbia Classical Ballet.

Over the years I've seen many young dancers grow up in Carolina Ballet's Nutcracker. As a city, we should all be very proud of our civic company and Richland One School district's commitment to bringing a third grade audience. This production is more than an annual exposure to elementary school students. It is proof that Columbia has the potential to grow an outstanding audience for dance. We've had this potential for years. While leaving the auditorium, I asked several students if they'd like to see ballet again. Eyes lit up. Of course they would.

Keeping this flame for dance alive is a problem. How do we, as a community, foster this positive exposure into a knowledgeable, engaged, and passionate future audience? I don't know. I hope my articles for the Jasper Project encourage this conversation. In the mean time, I have one suggestion. The chaperones and teachers accompanying these truly enthralled elementary school kids ought to stay off their cell phones and iPad during the performance. I counted no fewer than six LED lights throughout the second act.  Shame on these adults ... because the kids get it.

See if you agree! Carolina Ballet's Nutcracker will be performed this coming weekend at the Township Auditorium:

Friday, November 24 at 7:30

Saturday, November 25 at 7:30

Sunday, November 26 at 3:00 PM

For tickets and reservations, call (803) 576-2350 or visit www.TicketMaster.com

Dance Scene at the Nick, a new film series

By: Susan Lenz

On Monday night, Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan kicked off the Nickelodeon's new special programming series Dance Scene celebrating the best in contemporary dance-based cinema. Four more films are slated over the coming month of Monday evenings. Programming coordinator Amada Torruella described the series as "riveting tales of spirit and commitment, capturing the passions and partnerships that subtend the dance world." Each film is partnered with a local organization to highlight area dancers, artists and community leaders and their relationships to international dance movements.

Before the theater darkened for Restless Creature, Columbia City Ballet's artistic director William Starrett introduced principal dancer Regina Willoughby. Regina discussed her journey into ballet, her support system, and future plans after retirement. For Willoughby, dance is the fabric of her life, and her upcoming retirement will be a time for celebration. Using all of the available space, Regina then performed the first half of a new work she choreographed on herself to a piece by Dustin O’Halloran. When asked about the musical selection, Regina commented on the soft, new beginnings of the piece that builds in excitement only to end, abruptly but peacefully, much like she envisions this, her final year as a professional ballerina.

Between the film and Regina’s presentation, I learned something new and was truly entertained. I highly recommend this enlivened and well-curated series. Hope to see you on subsequent Monday nights!

For tickets and additional information on the Dance Scene series, please visit http://nickelodeon.org/. Below is a list of the upcoming films:

Alive and Kicking, a dynamic exploration of the history of swing dancing, will be screened on Monday, October 30th and is partnered with a performance by Palmetto Swing Dance Association.

KIKI, a film set in the New York LGTBQ community's dance and ballroom scene, will be screened on Monday, November 6th and is partnered with South Carolina Black Pride, featuring MeMe Revlon and Babe Ebony.

Rize, a documentary on clowning and krumping in Los Angeles, will be screened on Monday, November 13th and is partnered with Fuse Arts Alliance.

Mr. Gaga, a documentary on Ohad Naharin, the artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, will be screened on Monday, November 20th and is partnered with both Columbia City Ballet and modern dancer Carolina Lewis Jones.

Art to Benefit Flood Victims at 2nd Act Film Festival

Everyone has a role to play as we, as a community, keep making our way through one of the strangest and trying times in our city's history. Our role, on Friday night, will be to go ahead with the 2nd Act Film Festival and offer everyone the opportunity to sit down for a while and enjoy some art. We thought long and hard about whether to postpone the festival and this is where we landed.

We have 10 exciting 6 minute films created for you by 10 different South Carolina filmmakers. While each film is decidedly different, each filmmaker and her or his team sought to solve a common problem.  Each filmmaker was given the first and third acts of a screenplay and charged with writing the 2nd act and making the film with all three acts. This year's theme is consciousness. From a time-traveling Richard Nixon to a wife whose man has cheated for the last time and suffers the altered penis to prove it, each film brings its own unique perspective to the challenge.

We have a couple of announcements though.

First, we'd like to invite everyone who attends and is up for it (and even if you can't attend you can still do this) to bring a donation of children's arts supplies that we will be sure gets to local children who have lost their supplies in the flood. Crayons, coloring books, colored pencils, sketch pads, markers, craft kits -- everything is welcome. If you'd like to go ahead and drop your donation off at Tapp's Arts Center (1644 Main Street) Caitlin Bright has set up a collection bin for us there and is open from 10 am until 6 pm daily.

Next, thanks to the generosity of visual artist Michael Krajewski and the gorgeous framing by Susan Lenz and Steve Dingman at the Mouse House, we will be (silent) auctioning Krajewski's second painting in a series of art he has created specifically for Jasper and the 2nd Act Film Festival. This beautifully framed painting (above) is valued at more than $1000 - we hope to make a generous donation to our local flood victims.

So, please come out and see us on Friday night at 7 pm at Tapp's. A special VIP champagne reception to meet and greet the filmmakers -- with snacks generously provided by Bourbon -- will take place at 6 pm. Tickets are available via http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2304300 -- we sold out of even our SRO tickets at the last festival, so please keep that in mind when planning your Friday night rest for the weary.

Art from the Ashes Book Launch and Gallery Opening on February 1st at Tapp’s - A JASPER Project

 

Over the course of four evenings in the summer of 2014, more than two dozen literary, visual, and musical artists gathered in the Jasper Magazine office with experts on the February 17^th, 1865 burning of Columbia. The artists immersed themselves in the events that took place the night of the burning as well as the days and nights leading to and immediately following it. Six months later, their inspirations have come to fruition in a multi-disciplinary series of arts events – Art from the Ashes.

Art from the Ashes: Columbia Residents Respond to the Burning of Their City is a collection of poetry, prose, and even a screenplay by some of Columbia, SC’s most dynamic writers, including Ed Madden, Tara Powell, Ray McManus, Susan Levi Wallach, Tom Poland, Al Black, Jonathan Butler, Rachel Haynie, Debra Daniel, Will Garland, Betsy Breen, and Don McCallister. Edited by Jasper Magazine’s Cynthia Boiter, it is a publication of Muddy Ford Press and the first in the press’s new series, Muddy Ford Monographs.

In concert with the book launch, Art from the Ashes: The Gallery will open on the same evening, also at Tapp’s, and will run throughout the month of February. Participating visual artists include Susan Lenz, Kirkland Smith, Christian Thee, Michael Krajewski, Jarid Lyfe Brown, Whitney LeJeune, Mary Bentz Gilkerson, Cedric Umoja, Michaela Pilar Brown, Alejandro Garcia-Lemos, and Kara Gunter.

Join us as we celebrate the book launch and gallery opening from 5 – 7 pm. Visual artists will be on hand to answer questions about their work and literary artists will be signing and reading from their writings. Musician Jack McGregor, who created a three movement musical composition in response to the burning, will premiere his work as well.

Additional events include a Visual Artists Panel Presentation on Thursday, February 5^th at 7 pm and a Reading and Book Signing on February 17^th at 7 pm, followed by a concert by Columbia-based musical artist, the Dubber.

All events take place at Tapp’s Arts Center on Main Street and are free and open to the public

Palmetto Opera, Lowe, Lenz, Krajewski & McClendon all help Jasper celebrate its fourth year of publication - Thursday Night!

We’re starting our fourth year of bringing Columbia in-depth local arts coverage in theatre, dance, visual arts, literary arts, music, and film, (and we’ll be adding design soon), and we’re celebrating with a multi-disciplinary release celebration to kick the year and the arts season off right.

Please join us on Thursday, September 18^th at 5 pm at Vista Studios – Gallery 80808 at 808 Lady Street as we welcome the new issue of Jasper Magazine.

Classical oil paintings by internationally renowned realist Tish Lowe will set the stage in the main gallery.  Palmetto Opera’s artistic director, Walter Cuttino, will lead a one-night-only performance of highlights from Puccini’s La Bohème, hits from familiar musicals such as Phantom of the Opera and Carousel. .

The atrium will showcase a collaborative installation by fiber and installation artist Susan Lenz, who was Jasper’s 2012 Visual Artist of the Year and artist Michael Krajewski, who was Jasper’s first centerfold.  Their work, Threads: Gathering My Thoughts, will be a manifestation of the mental images and ideas that naturally flow through the human mind while engaged in the viewing of La Bohème.  Lenz’s tangle of unraveled, old threads will cascade in and out of suspended baskets mimicking the colors, complex plots, and emotions of a performance. Krajewski’s bohemian, pencil graffiti will literally express the connections between the visual, musical, dramatic, literary, and poetic world of a bygone, operatic world still dancing in the twenty-first century mind.  The arts exhibition will remain on view through Tuesday, September 30^th.

Jasper adores the film Wade Sellers, our beloved film editor, made for Susan Lenz -- you can watch it here - and you should because it's really lovely.

Following the presentations by Palmetto Opera, multi-talented musical artist Tim McClendon, who is also featured in this issue of Jasper Magazine for his design work, will perform an impromptu set of music.  One Columbia will also be on hand to kick off their Cultural Passport program as will the Rosewood Arts Festival and the Jam Room Music Festival to share information about their upcoming events. The event is free and open to the public.

volumes 2: women bound by art opens at the Curtis R. Harley Art Gallery

 

volumes 2: women bound by art, an altered book exhibition, will be on exhibit at the Curtis R. Harley Art Gallery, University of South Carolina Upstate (USC Upstate), at 800 University Way, Spartanburg, SC 29203 from January 17 - February 21, 2014. This show will be exhibited in conjunction with selected works from volumes: women by by art which was created in 2012 and was exhibited at the main branch of the Lexington County Public Library, Lexington, SC and at Portfolio Art Gallery in Columbia, SC.  The women featured in the exhibition will participate in a panel discussion at 4:30 p.m. on January 30, 2014, which will focus on their respective creative processes. A reception will follow the discussion.  All Gallery events are FREE and open to the public.

The art exhibition includes a collection of 17 altered books created by 18 women artists: Eileen Blyth (Columbia, SC), Cynthia Colbert (Columbia, SC), Jessica Cruser (Columbia, SC), Heidi Darr-Hope (Columbia, SC), Janette Grassi (Charlotte, NC), Tonya Gregg (Columbia, SC), Mary How and her young daughter Macy How (Columbia, SC), Doni Jordan (Columbia, SC), Susan Lenz (Columbia, SC), Susan Livingston (Orangeburg, SC), Gina Moore ((Columbia, SC), Yukiko Oka ((Columbia, SC), Kay Reardon (Columbia, SC), Liisa Salosaari Jasinski (Newberry, SC), Virginia Scotchie (Columbia, SC), Kathryn Van Aernum (Columbia, SC) and Katie Walker (Greenville, SC). The group includes art therapists, art professors, potters, fiber artists, graphic designers, illustrators, mixed media artists, painters and photographers.

Conceived and curated by artists Susan Livingston and Doni Jordan, each artist was given a volume of an encyclopedia and complete creative control.  volumes 2:women bound by art is the result of that creativity. The Standard International Encyclopedia,1954, was donated to the artists by Hal McIntosh, thanks to help of artist Cynthia Colbert. Encyclopedias, the forerunners of todays electronic search engines, where first written by an ancient Roman scholar and focused on grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, musical theory, medicine, and architecture.

ABOUT THE CURTIS R. HARLEY ART GALLERY

The Curtis R. Harley Art Gallery is located at 800 University Way, University of South Carolina Upstate, Spartanburg, SC 29203 and is located on the first floor lobby of the Humanities and Performing Arts Center (HPAC). The gallery showcases nationally and internationally established artists and exhibitions that support the academic mission of USC Upstate. Most recently the University was the recipient of 5 original screenprints by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to enhance the current collection of 150 Polaroid photographs by Andy Warhol. Hours: 9am-5pm /Monday - Friday.