[flynncenter]

Final Performances from the Flynn’s Musical Theater Camps

The Flynn held a number of virtual camps this summer including two musical theater camps, one for ages 8-12 and one for ages 13-18. Both groups did a fabulous job making these remote sessions fun and creative. Below are the final videos each produced, showing off the moves they learned and the joy they shared even from a distance.

Musical Theater Camp  (ages 8-12): You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

Musical Theater Camp (ages 13-18): Omigod You Guys

[flynncenter]

What We Ask of Flesh with Christal Brown/INSPIRIT

On August 3, choreographer Christal Brown presented segments of her in-progress work What We Ask of Flesh, co-presented by the Flynn and the New England Foundation for the Arts, and presented as part of the Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America series. This epic work is a physical examination of the capacity of human life, exploring the distance between our aspirations and reality, and has seen many variations over the years. For the Arts Across America performance, Brown and her company performed excerpts from the work, including a solo by Brown. She and Flynn Artistic Director Steve MacQueen also discussed the piece and offered context throughout the hour.

You can view the full performance below.

[flynncenter]

Virtual Performances from Flynn Spring Classes

The Flynn’s spring semester was just picking up steam when the pandemic hit. Fortunately, the Show Choir program and the Youth Jazz Combo were able to adapt, transition to distanced learning through virtual sessions, and produce performances for all to enjoy.

Show Choir

This video produced by the Show Choir team, titled The Greatest Show, features rehearsal footage alongside students’ performances during quarantine, giving a highlight reel of an unusual, but ultimately resilient and inspiring, semester for the program.

Flynntones Jazz Orchestra - Hot Fun In The Summertime

The Youth Jazz Combo (AKA the Flynntones Jazz Orchestra), directed by Tom Cleary, produced this take on Sly and The Family Stone’s sizzling classic, with all nine parts arranged and performed virtually.

Flynntones Jazz Orchestra - Low Tide

Here is the Flynntones' remote collaboration on Low Tide by Elmo Hope, a friend and contemporary of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk and a lesser-known giant of the bebop movement in jazz.

[flynncenter]

Dancing to Sara’s Tune

This poem was composed by Bonnie Dinsmore Kerrick, a student in the Flynn’s Movement for Parkinson’s and Wellness class. The class, taught by Sara McMahon, is specifically designed for people who wish to continue moving dynamically despite movement challenges, tapping into the body’s intelligence, creating new neural pathways, strengthening movement patterns, increasing range of motion, and stimulating social interaction.

At ten o’clock on Thursdays, give or take a week or two We gather in the classroom, Sarah’s “Parkie” dancing crew And when we are assembled, each on seated on a chair Sara breezes in with so much energy to share She begins our weekly workout with a ballet masters mission Drilling us in dancing moves of infinite precision She puts us through our paces, with little time to rest But that’s what has to happen. When you’re working for the best And when the sessions over, there’s a feeling, what is it? It’s as if our cares and worries had all lifted, just a bit You see, Sara brings a special kind of magic to the room And we all feel so much better, when we dance to Sarah’s tune!!

[flynncenter]

A Declaration & Affirmation of Love for Black Men and Boys.

We’re honored to know our community artist-in-residence, Daniel Bernard Roumain. As both an artist and an activist, Daniel speaks truth to power every day—this moment of deep civil unrest in our country is no exception. The Flynn stands in solidarity with the right to personal safety regardless of race and gender, and a commitment to Black men and boys.

A Declaration & Affirmation of Love for Black Men and Boys. 

We, as a dedicated group of artists, arts organizations, and places of education and learning, declare without reservation or restraint, that the presumed guilt of Black people—and specifically Black men and boys—in recurring encounters with errant law enforcement officers, has disproportionately led to summary, inhumane responses centered on fear, detainment, arrest, removal, or a growing, repetitive practice of unlawful and unnecessary deaths. 

We acknowledge America’s historical propensity towards harm, injustice, and exclusion. We also witness America’s extraordinary capacity to heal, be just, include and embrace. We know that law enforcement is tasked with the difficult work of policing our communities as they uphold the law and their solemn oath to protect and serve. And we are aware and reminded of the distance and divides we face between our politics, as well as the constant struggle we face in finding agreement on what we most value. 

However, as artists, educators, and learners, we are clear and committed to the sanctity of life, the promise of liberty, and the most fundamental and absolute right to personal safety regardless of race and gender. 

Therefore, we proudly and boldly affirm our commitment to Black men and boys as a vital part of our American identity and families, and implore all of us to see in them your father, your brother, and your son—all living within one spirit of one nation engaged in a shared, everlasting pursuit of happiness and love.

Dr. Daniel Bernard Roumain May 28, 2020

[flynncenter]

This Week in the Arts World

As we all hit pause and hunker down, we at the Flynn still want to brighten your day and enrich your life with art and entertainment. Each week, we’ll update this post to highlight up-to-date happenings from all over, as well as from the Flynn, that you can access from home. We hope you enjoy this curated resource.

Want the latest arts happenings sent directly to you? Subscribe here to receive THE FRIDAY FIVE, a weekly email from the Flynn that runs down the top five virtual events and performances for the week to come.

Arts Across America: Christal Brown

Choreographer Christal Brown presents segments of her in-progress work What We Ask of Flesh, co-presented by The Flynn and the New England Foundation for the Arts, and presented on Monday, August 3 as part of the Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America series. This epic work has seen many variations over the years, exploring the distance between our aspirations and reality. The work was going to premiere at The Flynn in 2020/21 season, though Covid-19 has wreaked havoc with that. For the Arts Across America performance, Brown and her company will perform excerpts from the work, including a solo by Brown. She and Flynn Artistic Director Steve MacQueen will also discuss the piece and offer context throughout the hour. It happens on Monday, August 3 at 4 pm on the Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America Facebook page. 

Online Classes

Pay-what-you-can online dance classes at the suggested cost of $10 per class (and as little as $0). Beat the quarantine blues while supporting the Flynn and our incredible teaching artists.

Youth classes

Online Show Choir (ages 8-19)

Online Choose Your Adventure (ages 8-12)

Pre-recorded Hip-Hop for Kids (ages 7-12)

Pre-recorded Mini Dancers (ages 4-7)

Movement in the Park with Rose Bedard

Teen/Adult classes

Online Tap

Online Burlesque (ages 18+)

Online Songwriters Bootcamp with Myra Flynn

Online Moth Storytelling class - coming soon!

Online Movement for Parkinson’s

Movement in the Park with Rose Bedard

Burlington ReDiscover Jazz Festival

From June 4-14, in partnership with Vermont PBS, Vermont Public Radio, and Burlington area restaurants, we streamed a wealth of jazz videos for the Discover Jazz Festival archives. All the videos from the virtual festival are available on the Flynn’s YouTube channel.

TURNon

Tuesdays and Fridays

TURNmusic, Vermont’s leading champions of contemporary chamber music, are holding livestream concerts every Tuesday and Friday at 7 pm, supporting local musicians and celebrating living composers and songwriters.

Replays

Llammadoll: Silent Shorts 

Llamadoll is a Vermont-based project that melds silent film and original music in ways that are utterly magnificent and revelatory, charming and hilarious, entertaining and thought-provoking.

Le Patin Libre, Vertical

Five-strong troupe Le Patin Libre use the ice in daring and dazzling ways to present a completely new perspective in the full length 20-minute film, Vertical. The Flynn presented the group’s performance of Vertical Influences at Burlington’s Leddy Park in January 2017.

Ambassador Brother Mister

In 2015, Christian McBride, five-time Grammy winner and the preeminent jazz bass player of his generation, was the artist-in-residence for the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. He was out in the public, giving lectures, workshops and master classes, as well as performing with his trio and being a jazz ambassador to the town. This film, produced by Vermont Community Access Media in partnership with the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, chronicles his time in the Queen City and showcases his expertise, not only as a jazz musician and historian, but as an educator.

Brian McCarthy’s After l Life

Jazz saxophonist Brian McCarthy’s nonet, recorded live in Flynn Space on November 8, 2019, draws inspiration from the history of jazz while maintaining a modern awareness. McCarthy’s compositions consider the arising of a giant stellar dust cloud, the Primordial Nebula. Out of stars, planets, order, and chaos emerges all that connects and shapes the world we live in.

Flynn Chats

Jacob’s Pillow Virtual Festival

July 7-August 29

The longest-running dance festival in the United States now comes directly to you . . . for free! During Jacob's Pillow's first-ever virtual festival, held over eight weeks, you can pick and choose what you most want to see. RSVP to as many events as you want, then watch and participate on YouTube and Zoom with artists and audience members from around the world.

Vermont Symphony Orchestra

July 16-August 22

This summer, VSO is visiting all 14 Vermont counties, bringing a variety of repertoire to parks, patios, and other outdoor venues. The Close to Home and Far Afield series features small ensembles and ample room to stop by and enjoy music from a safe distance. All concerts are free of charge. Here are the shows announced so far: Manchester (July 16), Burlington (July 17), Greensboro (August 9), Woodstock (August 14), St. Johnsbury (August 15), St. Albans (August 22). Check vso.org/events to stay in the loop as more concerts are announced.

Yo-Yo Ma

July 24-25

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma makes his Global Concert Hall debut with an homage to Ennio Morricone, the legendary Italian composer and conductor who died earlier this month. Ma’s recital will explore these themes in an energetic program that brings performer and audience on a journey across space and time, from Morricone’s iconic film scores to traditional tunes from Mongolia and America to Schubert and Bach.

While We Breathe

July 29

#WhileWeBreathe: A Night of Creative Protest is a one-night-only event featuring short works written and directed by theater alums, to benefit the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, The Bail Project, Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD), BYP100 Education Fund, Forced Trajectory Project (FTP), The Justice Committee, and SONG.  The premiere will be followed by a live discussion at 10 pm ET, hosted by CBS host Michelle Miller.

Wayne Shorter Celebration

July 31

Masterminded by Herbie Hancock as a tribute and benefit for Wayne’s medical expenses, an all-star roster of jazz greats assembled over four nights to perform classic material written by Shorter. The SFJAZZ website is rebroadcasting this 2019 benefit concert, featuring Hancock, Terence Blanchard, Terrace Martin, Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade, with proceeds going to Shorter’s ongoing medical needs. The July stream is part three; part four will stream on August 28. 

Newport Folk Revival Weekend

July 31-August 2

The 2020 Newport Folk Festival was canceled in April so in its place Newport Folk has announced a a virtual event featuring performances by Phoebe Bridgers, Mavis Staples, Leon Bridges, Sharon Van Etten, Deer Tick, Jim James, Jason Isbell, Roger Waters, and more. The Folk on Revival Weekend will will include pre-recorded music performances, Newport Folk Revival Radio, audio archives, and the screening of an original film.

Sara Juli’s Burnt-Out Wife

August 11, 7 pm

Sara Juli’s dance-theater-comedy show Burnt-Out Wife will have its virtual premiere on August 11 (available to view through August 17). Burnt-Out Wife explores the decay and detritus of a once-promising marriage. Separation, sex deprivation, and lack of communication add up to wanting to run from the popular, yet impossible binding contract. Using her comedic text-driven dance style, Sara Juli blows up marriage.

The Metropolitan Opera

Every day, 7:30 pm

Each day, a different encore presentation from the company’s Live in HD series is being made available for free streaming on the Met website, with each performance available for a period of 23 hours, from 7:30 pm until 6:30 pm the following day.

The Muny

Mondays and Thursdays, 9:15 pm

Starting in July, The Muny began offering a free online variety show—The Muny 2020 Summer Variety Hour Live! The show features cast reunion sing-alongs, famous musical theater duets performed by real-life Muny couples, Munywood Squares, archived clips from past Muny summer productions, song and dances created by Muny artists across the U.S., behind-the-scenes stories, and so much more!

The Tank

Tuesdays, 4 pm

CyberTank is an e-home for e-merging artists. The CyberTank Variety Show is The Tank’s FREE virtual gathering place, hosting dozens of artists every week on Tuesday at 4 pm EST. View past episodes and catch the next episode on August 4 hosted by Stevie to launch off PrideFest.

Renée Fleming: Music and Mind Live

Tuesdays, 5 pm

Starting May 19, Renée Fleming will hold weekly webinars that explore the powerful impact of music and arts on human health and the brain.

The Next Festival of Emerging Artists

Tuesdays & Thursdays

This year's Festival goes online with free events on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons through July 2. The four-week series of workshop, mini-courses, and collaborative projects will feature over 20 guest artists and speakers, accessible online and open to the public through Eventbrite registration. This year's festival will culminate in performances of new works created by remote collaboration.

Live with Carnegie Hall

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2 pm

Live with Carnegie Hall is a new online series designed to connect world-class artists with musical lovers everywhere, featuring live musical performances, storytelling, and conversations that offer deeper insights into great music and behind-the-scenes personal perspectives.

Houston Ballet

Tuesdays, 8 pm

Houston Ballet presents The Dancer Perspective, hosted by Principal Ian Casady, Tuesdays at 8 pm starting May 19. This mini-series is dedicated to giving insight into the Houston Ballet world of dance, directly from company dancers.

Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center

Wednesdays

Every Wednesday, Jazz at Lincoln Center will release a new full length concert on its YouTube channel.

Ballet Hispanico

Wednesdays

Ballet Hispanico Watch Parties happen live at 7 pm every Wednesday, beginning with a performance video premiere and followed by Choreographers & Cocktails, a live discussion with company artists. You can watch the video premiere of the full-length repertory on their website, Facebook page, or YouTube channel.

Vermont Comedy Club

Fridays

Every Friday night, Natalie & Nathan chat with celebrity comedians, local heroes, strange characters, talented musicians and other fun people in their series Talk to Us (please)!. The club also has a number of other streaming options across their channels including family-friendly and archival videos.  

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Fridays

AAADT is thrilled to share full-length videos of the company performing on stage, streaming free online, directly to your living room! This week, they are streaming their take on Camille A. Brown's City of Rain. Plus: though the Ailey dancers are still finding ways to connect and dance together, so enjoy their videos in #TheShowMustGoOn series, the "Dancer Diaries" series, and the "Conversations With..." series.

Lincoln Center’s Broadway Fridays

Fridays, 8 pm

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has announced Broadway Fridays, free online streams of some of the most beloved Live From Lincoln Center broadcasts of Broadway productions from Lincoln Center Theater and the New York Philharmonic.

Lincoln Center Youth Programs

Weekdays and Sundays

In addition to their weekly Broadway streams, Lincoln Center is holding regular youth-oriented concert streams and educational programming. Don't miss their Pop-Up Classroom weekdays at 2 pm and Pop-Up Concerts for Kids on Sundays at 11 am.

Caramoor

Thursdays, 7 pm

Caramoor, a summertime classical-music destination housed on a verdant estate near Katonah, New York, inaugurates a boldly reconceived festival, featuring both online concerts and outdoor events that allow for social distancing.

Sandglass Theater

Thursdays, 7 pm

Each Thursday, Sandglass Theater will release an archival video of a production that is no longer being performed in their repertoire. These livestream events are available on their website and Facebook page.  These performances represent a wide spectrum of Sandglass’ work over their almost 40 year history. A Q&A will accompany each livestream and will include special guests such as Sandglass founders, ensemble members, and collaborators.

Joshua William Gelb’s Theater in Quarantine

Every other Thursday

Joshua William Gelb is a theater director, performer, and librettist based out of New York's Lower East Side. He is currently in residence in his 4x8x2 closet, which he has converted into a white box for the duration of this quarantine. His Theater in Quarantine (TiQ) series features new works posted every other Thursday. Any money raised will go to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

National Theatre at Home

Thursdays, 2 pm

Showing this week: Les Blancs, the final play by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Yaël Farber: a brave, illuminating and powerful work that confronts the hope and tragedy of revolution. Next up: Terence Rattigan’s devastating masterpiece, The Deep Blue Sea, contains one of the greatest female roles in contemporary drama, played by Helen McCrory.

Stratford Shakespeare Film Festival

Thursdays, 7 pm

Launching on Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23, Stratford Festival will premiere one Shakespeare production each week, for a period of 12 weeks. Each film will debut with a 7 pm on Thursday and remain available for free for a three-week period.

Joe's Pub Live!

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, 8 pm

While Joe's Pub is temporarily closed, they are hosting a free series of live-streamed and archived performances from their iconic stage in New York City.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Fridays, 2 pm

Andrew Lloyd Webber is streaming of one of his Broadway musicals every Friday at 2 pm (available for 48 hours).

SFJAZZ

Fridays, 8 pm

SFJAZZ has launched a weekly series called Fridays at Five, featuring archival concerts from amazing musicians live from the SFJAZZ Center. Coming up: John Scofield & Lettuce (July 10), Afro-Cuban All Stars (July 17), Cécile McLorin Salvant (July 24), John Santos (August 7), Bokanté (August 14).

Bread + Puppet

Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, 4 pm

See Bread and Puppet's latest work, The Insurrection and Resurrection, live and in person at their farm in Glover, VT. Bread and Puppet is restricting the size of their audience in compliance with state guidelines for outdoor gatherings and has put in place a number of other practices for safety of audiences and the community. You must purchase a ticket for each person in advance (no same-day, drop-ins) so that they may track and limit audience size. Tickets are $10. Shows are Fridays through Sundays at 4 pm through August 30.

West Australian Opera

Saturdays

Each Saturday through the end of May, Ghost Light Opera will celebrate Western Australian singers performing gorgeous arias spot lit on a darkened stage.

Afro Latin Jazz Alliance

Sundays

Each sunday, ALJA hosts a Digital Village event with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orquestra, playing Virtual Birdland live on Facebook at 8:30 pm. Their site also features a bunch of new performances and talks with a variety of jazz musicians.

Bria Skonberg

Sundays and Wednesdays

Hang out with 2019 Burlington Discover Jazz artist, Canadian singer, trumpeter, songwriter, arranger, and bandleader Bria Skonberg as she hosts Facebook Live chats every Sunday and Wednesday. It's lighthearted fun—songs, stories, even singalongs!

Second City

Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays

Three days a week, at 8 pm EST, Chicago's funniest comedy talent joins forces with Second City alumni from across the country to bring you an interactive Improv House Party. Plus, every Thursday at 2 pm EST,  The Really Awesome Improv Show offers family friendly, high-energy fun for all ages, and relies on audience suggestions and participation.

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Every three days

Ryuichi Sakamoto has launched a new series called Incomplete via his YouTube account. Incomplete pairs new compositions with video art by Zakkubalan, with a new video released every three days, starting May 18. Sakamoto also shared a new concert film, Playing the Piano for the Isolated, which features Hidejiro Honjoh on shamisen, recorded in Tokyo in April.

Scottish Symphony Orchestra

In addition to frequently releasing archival concerts on their website, BBC SSO recently held a virtual Tectonics Festival, featuring performances of new and experimental music from their archives, all available to replay.

The Dark Theatre

The Dark Theatre mixes classroom drama techniques with an interactive comic book, framing you and your students as detectives trying to answer the question: who killed playwright Nathan Page? You just need a smartphone or tablet for personal reading, or PC, Mac, or Chromebook for a big screen read! Issue 1 and issue 2 are available now; issues 3 and 4 are coming soon.

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is holding a Digital Season series with new videos available daily. This weekly program features unmissable full-length performances, live recordings, and never-before-seen footage from the Opera House archives.

Bolero Julliard

Bolero Juilliard is a complex online puzzle with many components being conceived, rehearsed, and produced simultaneously. Directed and choreographed by Larry Keigwin with associate Nicole Wolcott, featuring a reimagining of Ravel’s score, conducted by David Robertson, and produced by Kurt Crowley. The short film features Juilliard dancers, musicians, and actors, with alumni Christine Baranski, Jon Batiste, Renée Fleming, Isabel Leonard, Laura Linney, Yo-Yo Ma, Andrea Miller, faculty member Itzhak Perlman, Bradley Whitford, and many more.

Vermont Shakespeare Festival

VSF is responding to this crisis of isolation with what it does best: spreading joy and connection through performance! Shakespeare To You is an opportunity for you to send a 2-3 minute performance to family, neighbors, or friends via front yard delivery, Zoom, or telephone. It's kind of like a live telegram! Shakespeare To You is free, and is a fantastic way to send a unique birthday wish, celebrate a graduation or anniversary, or simply offer a connection to someone who needs a pick-me-up

Spruce Peak Arts

Our friends at Spruce Peak Arts in Stowe streamed local artists for eight weeks as part of their Wednesday Night Music Series. Now you can catch them on demand on YouTube: Daniel Rodriguez, Myra Flynn, John Fusco, Patti Casey, Dave Keller, Dwight & Nicole, Michael Mwenso and Members of the Shakes, and Christine Malcolm and Rudy Dauth.

The Criterion Channel

The Criterion Channel has removed the paywall on classic Black cinema in support of Black Lives Matter. These films include Body and Soul by Oscar Micheaux, Black Panthers by Agnes Varda, Portrait of Jason by Shirley Clarke, Daughters of the Dust by Julie Dash, and Down in the Delta by Maya Angelou.

The Talk

Sonny Kelly performs his solo show about the lessons that black fathers are required to teach their sons about racial division in America, drawing on both his own family history and his research as a doctoral student at UNC Chapel Hill. This production, directed by Joseph Megel, was recorded during the show’s original run in Durham in 2019, and is being shared for free through July 10.

The Joyce

The Joyce Theater in Chelsea is curating a recurring archival series, Joycestreams, featuring full performances and artist talkbacks, a discussion series with choreographers and collaborators moderated by Joyce staff. Right now, they are streaming Declassified Memory Fragment, a dance theater work inspired by some of the political and cultural realities affecting the continent of Africa. It is available through July 31. Coming soon: Meditations: A Silent Prayer on July 16.

The Walker

The Living Collections Catalogue—Creative Black Music at the Walker: Selections from the Archives focuses on a select group of influential black artists who came to the fore in the ’60s and ’70s, and appeared at the Walker multiple times, each having an indelible impact on US musical culture. Archival material not before available for public view is at the center of this publication, including rare audio and video recordings, photographs, posters and programs, and correspondence. The volume also features commissioned essays and interviews.

amplify 2020

An extensive library of COVID-era sound art has accumulated at amplify 2020: Quarantine, an online festival headed by Jon Abbey, of Erstwhile Records. Culled from experimental composers around the world, these projects conjure sonic otherness from the constricted, mundane circumstances of lockdown.

Interior Listening Protocol 01

Interior Listening Protocol 01 attempts to recuperate liveness and spatially dynamic, embodied listening back into our mediated moment. It functions as a participatory listening score that’s has to be done to be heard. You’ll miss the phenomenon entirely if you sit back and watch the video like Netflix. Think of it like a quartet for your skull, with you as conductor, shaping the temporal unfolding of the whole experience.

VTIFF

Every week, VTIFF streams exclusive new movies as part of their Virtual Cinema series, plus they feature live Q&As with filmmakers, discussions on specific topics, and showcases of local short films.

Hyperallergic

Online publication Hyperallergic compiled a watchlist of essential Black documentaries, including links where these works are available to stream or purchase. Collectively, they illustrate both the undeniable threat of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy and the incomparable strength of Blackness.

T.W. Wood Gallery

The T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier is currently closed to the public due to the pandemic, but its 2020 Members Show must go on. This year, the annual exhibition is online only and on view through September 15. Browse prints by Heidemarie Holmes-Heiss, paintings by Joann DiNicola, collage by Michael Levine, and works by 11 other Vermont creatives.

Manual Cinema

Manual Cinema’s 10th Anniversary Retrospectacular! is a month-long virtual birthday party featuring four of the company’s most seminal shows from the past 10 years on multi-camera, high-definition video, streaming for FREE through August 23. The streams come with a suggested donation to Manual Cinema to compensate for lost touring income due to Covid-19. In addition, each week, Manual Cinema will host live, online, virtual talkbacks reuniting each production’s creators, collaborators and fans.

[flynncenter]

Not Just a Stage

This article was commissioned and paid for by Pomerleau Real Estate and published in Seven Days on April 8, 2020.

You can’t see a show right now at Burlington’s Flynn Center; the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the city’s iconic performing arts theater on March 13. The lovingly restored art deco hall is empty.

The nonprofit organization that runs the Flynn had to lay off 90 percent of its workforce, according to Kevin Titterton, director of marketing and communications. That includes the stage crew, box office staff and numerous arts educators; the organization hopes to bring many of them back once performances resume. “It’s a little grim right now, to be honest,” he said in a phone interview.

One source of comfort: The Flynn has overcome adversity, including two destructive floods, before. As we all stay home contemplating what our post-pandemic lives will look like, it’s helpful to consider how the renowned cultural center—now a 1,411-seat theater, a 180-seat cabaret space, an art gallery, two education studios and a wide variety of educational programs for Vermont students—came to be.

ACT ONE

Opened in 1930, the Flynn initially hosted vaudeville acts and what its first souvenir program called “sound pictures.” According to that program, the Flynn was richly appointed: “Luxurious carpets of deep pile, into which footsteps sink . . . Terrazzo, inlaid with brass strips, covers the floors of the lobby and men’s smoking room.”

By the 1970s, though, its glamour had faded. The Flynn had become a down-at-the-heels movie theater showing “adult” films. “Tawdry” is the adjective former executive director Andrea Rogers used to describe it at that point.

The effort to restore and improve the downtown landmark came from the all-volunteer Lyric Theatre, which had begun producing shows on the Flynn’s neglected main stage in 1974. The University of Vermont donated its expertise in historic preservation; the funding came largely from local businesses. When the nonprofit Flynn Theatre for the Performing Arts was formed in 1980 to buy the building, lawyer John Gravel was chair of the board; Ernest Pomerleau of Pomerleau Real Estate was vice chair. In addition to their own contributions, they leveraged a game-changing donation of $150,000 from IBM.

LOCAL PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES WILL RALLY TO RESURRECT THE FLYNN—NOT NATIONAL RETAILERS LIKE WALMART OR AMAZON.

On September 26, 1981, the Flynn hosted an opening gala featuring performances by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Ketch Dance Company and Lyric Theatre. The event program listed donors large and small, along with the members of at least a dozen volunteer committees. And it was packed with ads from local businesses—Pizzagalli Construction, Expressions, Michael Kehoe, the Rusty Scuffer, Lake Champlain Ferries, the Shoe Horn, Nan Patrick, Champlain Cable Corp., Nectar’s.

In the same program, Rogers acknowledged the “exciting moment, this rebirth” while preparing the local audience for improvements still to come: “The marquee and the front entrance have been lovingly painted and restored, and we’ve brought in lots of props to make the lobbies look and feel elegant. But the performers still have no dressing rooms, no bathrooms, no proper lighting, and the technical crews are working with 1930s rigging.”

ACT TWO

That dream had to be delayed longer than expected. Just a few months after the opening, on a cold January night in 1982, the building’s boiler failed, triggering the sprinkler system. Rogers rushed to the scene early the next morning. “When we went into the theater, there was water in the orchestra pit, water raining down from the beautiful light fixtures,” she recalled.

It was a major setback, for sure, and cruelly timed. But the local community rallied. People who had already given generously to the restoration eff ort reached back into their pockets—and hearts—to donate money and time to make the needed improvements. Two months after the damage, the Vienna Boys Choir performed to a sold-out crowd. It was the first of many shows that have moved Vermont audiences to their feet and put the state on the cultural map. Rogers led the organization until she retired in 2010.

Restoring the Flynn’s marquee in the 1980s

Her successor, John Killacky, stayed for eight years; he’s now in the Vermont legislature representing South Burlington. What Killacky loved most was seeing schoolchildren visit for student matinees, “especially the little ones, their little heads just poking over the tops of the seats.” He remembered watching a pair of students walking up the aisle on their way out of a show. “Those were real live people up there,” one said to the other. “I thought, ‘That person’s world has just been changed by the Flynn,’” he said.

TO ME, THE ARTS ARE WHERE HOPE LIVES. John Killacky, former Flynn Center executive director

Those young people sometimes return. Killacky recalled watching Grace Potter perform in October 2011 for “Goodnight Irene: A Flood Benefit.” The Waitsfield native told the audience she attended shows at Flynn as a child and imagined herself up on the stage someday. “She said, ‘I’m so glad to be able to be here and to give back,’” Killacky recalled.

That same giving spirit will help Vermonters get through this hard time. Local people and businesses will rally to resurrect the Flynn—not national retailers like Walmart or Amazon.

It’s vital work, according to Killacky.

“To me,” he said, “the arts are where hope lives. For 90 years, the Flynn has delivered inspiration to millions of Vermonters. I can’t wait for the lights to go on again.”

[flynncenter]

A Message to Flynn Ticket Holders for Shows through May 31

All performances at the Flynn through May 31 have been cancelled. If you are a ticket holder to an event during this time, we can return your tickets and process a refund. But, if you can, we ask that you consider donating the tickets back to the Flynn as a tax-deductible contribution, or transferring the funds to a Flynn gift certificate, which can be used for future events.

We advise you to send an e-mail to [email protected] as soon as possible, to let us know how you would like us to proceed—whether a refund, donation, gift certificate, or a combination of these options. In the subject line of the e-mail, please include: “Ticket Return” plus your last name and your order number, if you have it. In the e-mail, please provide a daytime phone number where you can be reached, as we may need to verify credit card information to process refunds.

Please Note that Lyric Theatre is working on rescheduling their presentation of Matilda and ticket holders are asked to be patient as those arrangements are made. The Bob Weir performance has been moved to Monday, October 26 and all original tickets, including seat locations, are valid for the new date. 

Donate your tickets

[flynncenter]

Art in a time of COVID-19

Commentary is by Karen Mittelman, executive director of the Vermont Arts Council in Montpelier, and Jody Fried, chair of the Vermont Creative Network and executive director of Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury. First published by VTDigger on March 15, 2020.

Across the nation, theaters and museums are going dark in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Arts organizations are closing to protect the health and welfare of their communities, often at the expense of their own financial security. In Vermont, the list of canceled concerts, festivals, workshops, classes, and other public events grows by the hour.

The long-term economic impact of those cancellations will be devastating for our state’s creative sector—and many local economies—if we don’t act quickly. The impact is particularly damaging for performing arts organizations, where lost revenue from ticket sales and event cancellations is already stretching the resources of many organizations close to the breaking point. But the ripple effects will be far greater. Local restaurants, hotels, bars, coffee shops, and stores rely on performing arts events for a substantial part of their revenue. Out-of-state tourists who come to Vermont for an arts event typically spend $46.35 in local businesses. (Vermont residents spend, on average, $23.45.) Vermont’s arts and culture industry leverages $44 million in event-related spending.

Although the virus only reached Vermont within the past couple of weeks, our communities are already feeling the impact; public health officials tell us that it’s only a matter of time before we will see more schools and businesses shuttered. In the midst of a public health crisis, of course our first priority must be to safeguard the health and safety of our people, especially the most vulnerable Vermonters. We applaud Gov. Phil Scott and his administration, and our legislators, for acting swiftly and decisively to respond to the pandemic in our state.

But we simply cannot afford to ignore the future financial health of Vermont’s creative sector. Vermont has a higher share of jobs in this economic sector (9% of all employment) than the average across the United States. A growing body of research nationwide tells us that the creative sector—the people and businesses that produce and distribute creative products and services—is particularly critical to economic growth in rural states like ours.

Art and culture are also essential to attract and retain the young people who are vital to Vermont’s future. We know that millennials spend more on arts and cultural experiences than other demographic groups, and look for places to live that offer vibrant downtowns. Arts and culture build the infrastructure for healthy, vibrant communities where people want to live, work, and raise their families.

And perhaps just as important as the economic impact: the arts will help us to heal. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, community arts projects invited people to share their stories and support one another. Artists are already mobilizing across Vermont in response to COVID-19, devising creative responses to the pandemic. Live-streamed concerts, online performances and film-watching parties, and family arts activities will help to ease the social isolation and fear experienced by ill and vulnerable Vermonters in the coming months.

Artists and arts organizations—the ones that can weather this crisis—will be there to enable our communities to move forward when the worst is behind us. We need the arts now more than ever, to remind us of our better selves, to help us to support each other with creativity and compassion. We call on private philanthropists and our elected officials to ensure that arts organizations are included in relief packages for small businesses, and that there is emergency aid available for individual artists (50% of whom are self-employed or freelancers).

We can’t afford to wait to confront the very real financial distress in Vermont’s creative sector if we want to ensure a stable economic future for our communities.

[flynncenter]

Important Announcement about Coronavirus/Covid-19 and Upcoming Flynn Activities

We know that updates about COVID-19 cause concern about how we can keep our communities safe and healthy. We deeply appreciate the trust you place in the Flynn as your artistic and cultural home.

In light of a rapidly changing climate, the Flynn is cancelling the remainder of our season through May 31. This means all events at the Flynn. This temporary closure affects all remaining performances and education programs. We will reevaluate the status of Burlington Discover Jazz Festival and our summer camps on April 13.

We are currently working through the logistics of this significant change with our staff and board; please be patient as we adjust. Please also consider donating your tickets back as a tax-deductible contribution.

More than anything, we want to say thank you to our community. We would not be able to make it through this difficult time without all of your love and support.

For ticket refunds to Flynn presented shows, please contact the Box Office by phone at 802-863-5966 and have your ticket order number handy. Note that shows presented by other promoters may be rescheduled; specific information about each of those shows will be noted on www.flynntix.org and ticket purchasers will be contacted with updated information.

[flynncenter]

Double Take: An Underrated NEA Jazz Master & "The People's Diva"

By Steve MacQueen, artistic director

Carlos Santana is more succinct than I’ll be, but he gets to the heart of the matter when he says, “Charles Lloyd is an international treasure.” True enough. The 81-year-old jazz saxophone legend has impacted American music in a variety of delightful ways. He brings his stellar band of virtuosos, The Marvels, and the great American roots singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams to the Flynn for what will be a season highlight, as well as a show that will whet the appetite for the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival in June.

Obviously, an artist like Lloyd attracts top talent, and The Marvels is an astonishing aggregation of A-list players. Guitarist Bill Frisell is one of the most influential players on his instrument, a leader in his own right. Drummer Eric Harland and bassist Ruben Rogers comprise one of the top rhythm teams in jazz.

And then there’s Lucinda Williams, one of the great songwriters of her generation, whose masterpiece Car Wheels on a Gravel Road assures that people will talk about her long after she’s gone.

Still, at first glance, roots-rock and improvisational jazz do not seem like the most perfect bedfellows. Yet the album Vanished Gardens belies that impression, as the musicians continually find common ground on a deep, soulful level within music that defies easy categorization. Rather than limiting either artist, their collaboration seems to set them free. Word has it the live performances reach levels only hinted at in the recording.

“I think it was fated to be, because Southern crossroads met,” Lloyd explained. “It was a coming-together of two different forces, and a third force happened.”

Renée Fleming is, quite simply, one of the great singers of any kind of music anywhere in the world. She resides at that unique intersection of technique, talent, soul, and artistry. There are few pleasures as pure and intimate as seeing her sing in recital with just a piano behind her.

I first saw her sing at a 400-seat recital hall in Atlanta some years ago. It remains one of the most indelible performances I’ve ever seen. Every note, every gesture, every breath seemed weighted with emotion and importance. When she concluded the last of Strauss’ Four Last Songs, I expected her to take flight and ascend to her home in the clouds.

Every casual opera fan knows her name, as she has sung in all the major concert halls and opera houses worldwide. She’s the only classical singer to have sung the National Anthem prior to the Super Bowl. She killed it. She’s also performed at the Nobel Peace Prize, the 9/11 Commemoration, the Beijing Olympics, the 2012 Obama Inauguration, and the funeral of John McCain. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2012.

Her recital at the Flynn marks her first-ever visit to Vermont to perform, so I am totally unclear why anyone would choose to miss it.

While in town, she’ll also pursue another of her passions: arts education. As part of the Kennedy Center’s Sound Health initiative, Ms. Fleming created a program called Music and the Mind which explores the power of music as it relates to health and the brain. At the Flynn, she’ll host a presentation and panel discussion that will feature UVM’s Dr. James Hudziak, an expert on the correlation between music and brain development, particularly in children, and members of the Me2 Orchestra, the world’s only classical music organization created for individuals with mental illnesses and the people who support them.

[flynncenter]

At Shelburne Museum, Children Step Into the Past for a Better Future

By: Matthew H. Califano Gold Key, 2020 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Matthew Califano has been a cast member of History Comes Alive! for the past six summers and will return to the program this summer as a leader-in-training. In addition to his interests in history and writing, Matt is an avid distance/trail runner and a fan of old-time radio shows, particularly the Orson Welles episodes of The Shadow. He will be a freshman at Craftsbury Academy this coming fall.

SHELBURNE, Vermont - The summer of 2020 will mark the twenty-fifth year of History Comes Alive!, a week-long summer educational program for children sponsored by Burlington’s Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in cooperation with the Shelburne Museum. Since 1995, History Comes Alive!, created and directed by Joan Robinson, a playwright and faculty member of the Flynn Center and St. Michael’s College , has introduced children to theatre and Vermont history by giving them the opportunity to participate in a series of improvisations set in some of our State’s most challenging and transformational periods. In recent years, the program has dealt with subjects such as the Underground Railroad, the Great Vermont Flood of 1927, and the immigration of Italian stone workers to Barre in the early 1900’s. While the program has had other venues, the Shelburne Museum, with its vast collection of Vermont artifacts and historical buildings, now provides both inspiration and the backdrop for these young historians’ week of learning through improvisation.

Although each year covers a different subject in Vermont’s history, the basic structure of the week’s activities follows a familiar pattern which Joan has refined over the past quarter-century. At the beginning of the week, the children are introduced to a very basic plotline which they each will help to enhance and develop. With pen and paper they create names and give their characters jobs, skills, and relationships. Once the children have created their characters, they participate in a series of scenes and behave as they believe their characters would have, using what they have learned about the pertinent historical period. At the end of each day, every student records his or her character’s experiences in a written diary. For the concluding performance, the camp’s instructors take excerpts from these diaries to narrate a series of tableaux summarizing the historical episode in which the students have immersed themselves. These tableaux, along with a live, unscripted final scene are performed in front of the children’s parents and friends and are followed by a question and answer period. During this session, students are given the opportunity to answer questions about the plot, their characters, and how these characters dealt with the issues that arose during the week’s improvisation.

Ms. Robinson was inspired to create History Comes Alive! by the work of the late English educator Dorothy Heathcote, an aspiring actress who believed that drama and role-playing could be used as a means to enhance students’ engagement with and understanding of virtually any subject. “Our mission,” says Joan “is to get youth engaged in local history through the arts. We want them to create a character. As I always remind the children at the beginning of each session: ‘You are no longer yourselves, but the people you are trying to be’. We want them to be the character, to ask themselves the question: ‘What would my character do in this situation?’.”

By its very nature, improvisation is unpredictable, and each year no one quite knows what twists and turns the story will take or how it will end. Given that History Comes Alive! has recently dealt with such difficult subjects as slavery, racism, and immigration, one would expect this unpredictability to be a cause for concern. Joan, however, does not see things this way: “What we try to do is help these kids see that they have the ability to change [outcomes]. Children have a natural tendency to compromise. We want them to use that ability…[We want] to teach them the power of compromise.”

As a student of History Comes Alive! for the past six summers, I have myself witnessed this natural tendency to seek consensus, one which I believe is enhanced by the fact that the students spend the week seeing the world from a perspective other than their own. Take, for example, this past summer’s story: During the 1920’s, the town of Barre, Vermont is hit by a wave of Italian immigrant quarry workers. The town’s established Vermonters feel that the new immigrants are a threat to their way of life. After a long period of strained relations between the groups, both the immigrants and Vermonters set aside their differences to combat an employer who is exploiting them both and work together for the common good.

To be sure, the Barre imagined by this past summer’s students was by no means a utopia. Over the course of the week, there were tensions and struggles between the immigrants and the native Vermonters. However, they were able to find enough common ground to forge a new community that was beneficial to both groups. This result was both surprising and unexpectedly hopeful, particularly in a world in which The New York Times reports that the U.S. President advocates the use of alligator and snake-infested moats as a means of preventing immigration.

Despite her contagious optimism, Ms. Robinson knows that the actual ending of each improvisation of History Comes Alive! is not realistic, but realism is not ultimately the point. By stepping into the past and living for a week in someone else’s shoes, these students learn to be empathetic, responsible, and compassionate citizens. In this age of entrenched partisanship in which our leaders seem incapable of even listening to any opposing perspectives, this may be History Comes Alive!’s most enduring legacy. As Joan herself says, “at the end of the day [History Comes Alive!] shows not what we have done, but what we can do if we work together.”

Works Cited and Influence:

Heathcote, Dorothy and Gavin Bolton. Drama for Learning: Dorothy Heathcote’s Mantle of the Expert Approach to Education. United Kingdom: Heinemann Drama, 1995.

Robinson, Joan. Personal interview. 8 Aug. 2019.

Shear, Michael D. and Julie Hirschfeld Davis. “Shoot Migrants’ Legs, Build Alligator Moat: Behind Trump’s Ideas for Border.” The New York Times, 1 October 2019. Newspaper Source, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/politics/trump-border-wars.html .

[flynncenter]

Promoting Equity and Social Justice at the Flynn: An Interview with Wanda Heading-Grant

“I’ve always been familiar with the Flynn in terms of it being this theater, this place, this space,” says Wanda Heading-Grant, Vice President of Human Resources, Diversity, and Multicultural Affairs at UVM, “but I never expected I’d become so intimately involved.”

Heading-Grant’s history with the Flynn goes back many years and has cycled through several phases: she was chair/coordinator/performer at the annual Gospel Fest, which was held at the Flynn for a number of years; she served on the Flynn board; and she now oversees key collaborative projects between UVM and the Flynn.

“When I became chief diversity officer, the university had a relationship with the Flynn called the UVM Diversity Partnership, and I took that over,” she says. This program offers discounted tickets for students, faculty, and staff for a selection of shows each season, handpicked by Heading-Grant from the Flynn season. “I want to be able to open the doors to faculty, staff, and students who enjoy the arts, as well as those who have never been introduced to it, and use the arts to tell a story around social justice and equity.”

This partnership parlayed into another venture, in conjunction with UVM’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Education and Learning Series, held each January. “We started working with the Flynn to really choose presentations that complement what we are doing for MLK. That partnership and that connection has been phenomenal.”

This year’s performance is Damien Sneed’s We Shall Overcome on Wednesday, January 22. Showcasing a repertoire of African-American music traditions that electrified generations of civil rights activists, this production ties together traditional and modern gospel, classical, jazz, Broadway, and spirituals, all interwoven with excerpts from Dr. King’s speeches. “We want the audience taken to a space where they can reflect, dream, think, be inspired, or encouraged by the message that’s being given around Dr. King’s legacies and principles.” She also wants these events to be catalysts, for people to feel like “they got something that they didn’t know, hadn’t heard before, or they got clarity. They can take it and apply it to their life and to their work out in our world.”

Damien Sneed performs  We Shall Overcome, a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.,  on the Flynn Main Stage on January 22

Heading-Grant has steered many attention-grabbing changes at UVM, but she cites two accomplishments in particular that stand out. The first is the Blackboard Jungle Symposium, a professional development program going into its 13th year that has expanded exponentially—in scope and participation. “It became a lot about having courageous conversation, navigating conversations in the classroom; it became about curriculum transformation,” she says. “And we try to make it a community affair; to get people pumped up and inspired.” Secondly, Heading-Grant speaks passionately about her involvement in the creation of the Andrew Harris Commons at UVM, dedicated in 2018 to the university’s first African-American graduate. “That Andrew Harris Commons is like a legacy,” she says, “I’m really happy to be able to be part of the creation of this space for a man who, if you’re familiar with Ralph Ellison’s book Invisible Man, that’s what I think of Andrew Harris. He wasn’t seen as a person when he was here, and part of this journey that I and others are taking around him is to make sure he’s visible, that he’s seen.”

Addressing these topics in Vermont can be challenging, but when Heading-Grant goes to conferences around the country, her peers are often shocked at the level of engagement—“‘In that predominantly white place?’” she mimics, with a laugh. Originally from New Jersey, with extended family in the South, she emphasizes that “lots of other places that are more physically diverse, visibly diverse, are not having the conversations we’re having.” The challenge, she notes, is that “sometimes they’re not as productive because people aren’t skilled at having them, but even in those instances, somebody’s actually trying; so they need to work on making sure they are productive conversations.”

Pinpointing the Flynn’s role in leading conversations around race, religion, ethnicity, gender orientation, and beyond, she stresses the importance of continuing to put in the hard work as a prominent community institution—to not just be good, but to do good. Heading-Grant wants the Flynn “to be an entity where folks can get educated, get informed, but where people can also smile and create memories with their families and friends because they chose an evening at the Flynn. The Flynn has been a valuable partner in getting across the shared vision for unity and equity.”

[flynncenter]

Star Trek: A Love Story

By Ingrid Pels, Flynn Interim Director of Finance

“Love is what makes the cold universe warm.” –William Shatner, The Guardian, 2014

On most evenings at the Flynn, I exit the administrative offices via the side entrance, entering our sanctuary of vaulted ceilings in the hallway that leads to the Hoehl Studios. In these moments and spaces, one is reminded of the lifeblood of a performing arts center: the beautiful sounds of musicians of all genres, choirs of children, or aspiring actors practicing their craft with a mentor. We are fortunate to observe and experience the development of transformational moments at the Flynn.

A few days prior to the deadline for this article, I was greeted by the haunting vibrato of a trumpet wafting from above. As the musician glided the familiar F# to E, my ears perked up and my heart skipped a beat. Was this a portent of inspiration? The next notes were not the start of the vocals in the theme music for Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), but my heart was full nonetheless. And anyhow, this unmistakable score will soon ring out at the Flynn Center when William Shatner takes the Flynn Main Stage on January 16.

William Shatner presents a screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, followed by a discussion and Q&A, on January 16 on the Flynn Main Stage

Full disclosure: I was not always a Star Trek fan. My early years consisted of being a die-hard Planet of the Apes and Battlestar Galactica aficionado, as well as a Carl Sagan/Cosmos groupie. The wonders of the world and the possibility of exploration were endless. What kid wouldn’t be marveled by the prospect of “billions of stars”? It was happenstance that, at about eight years old, I watched a rerun of an episode of Star Trek: TOS with, as most episodes go, Scotty activating the transporter. The simplicity of the set, combined with the glittery magic, pushed my path toward all things Gene Roddenberry. High school activities included debates about the merits of Star Trek: The Next Generation versus Star Trek: TOS and jam sessions to play the score from Star Trek IV. Model rocketry and physics camp soon followed. It was also a time when I met the love of my life, and he was really into Star Trek, too. With Spock-like precision, care, and introversion, my soon-to-be life partner could easily, in Name That Tune fashion, identify any episode—title and season (plus several fun facts about the actors or guest actors from the time period, to boot)—from just a line or two of Star Trek: TOS dialogue. He had been to several conventions and had even taken a family trip to see the USS Enterprise model in Washington, DC. I clearly had met my match.

Our household is not that different from others in the Star Trek universe. We have watched all episodes of all of the Star Trek series and have debated the beauty of the various art forms. We attended a convention and even joked with the greeters in red shirts about their clothing choice, given the likelihood of shortened lives for crewmen wearing that color. An “Amok Time” wedding theme was briefly considered, but was changed, as we wisely thought our families would likely be expecting a more traditional Jewish ceremony. Our baby had Star Trek clothing; and now, one of our cell phones even resembles a communicator. While the franchise’s wonder, nostalgia, and anticipation of better things to come are core components of our shared passion, and our shared life together, the magic of Star Trek for the two of us is simply an enduring love.

[flynncenter]

Champlain Elementary Students Perform LIVE with Abenaki Artist and Friend Bryan Blanchette

Originally posted by Russell Elek for the Burlington School District

Champlain Elementary students on the big stage under the bright lights! The elementary school students performed three songs with Vermont Abenaki artist Bryan Blanchette during matinee performances at the Flynn on December 17 and 18. Among the songs students joined was Blanchette’s new song Water is Rising, which students sang in both English and Abenaki!

Earlier this year, the Burlington School District made it a priority to teach and learn about Abenaki culture, leading up to and through Indigenous Peoples’ Day. BSD worked with several Vermont Abenaki Artists Association members, including Bryan Blanchette and the Abenaki Circle of Courage Youth Group, who performed for students in each of the district’s six elementary schools. That involvement created an opportunity for the staff and students at Champlain to work closely with Blanchette.

“There has been a spark of collaborative energy that has carried us to this moment,” said Betsy Greene, music teacher at Champlain Elementary. “The collaboration with Bryan began when he visited our school and graciously translated the lyrics to one of our favorite songs at Champlain. He taught us “N’kottliwi nidôbak,” the Abenaki phrase for “I am with my friend.” From then on, Bryan was connected with our students and our school.”

From there, Blanchette invited students to sing his most recent song Water Is Rising in both English and Abenaki at a Champlain Elementary school assembly. That experience went so well that Blanchette invited the students to record the same song with him on his new music album, which in turn led Blanchette to invite the students to perform with him at the Flynn.

“This has been an incredible experience for our students,” said Aziza Malik, a fifth-grade teacher at Champlain whose students have been working with Blanchette. “We work on honoring people’s culture and heritage, learning about and respecting everyone around us, but this is so much more. Bryan has given our students a hands-on, real-world learning opportunity and has shown both our staff and our students the importance of indigenous cultures and experiences.”

“This collaboration has led to learning on so many different levels—cultural, environmental, historical, and musical—all integrated with social justice,” Greene and Malik added. “Our students and staff are extremely honored and grateful to Bryan for this partnership and learning opportunity.”

[flynncenter]

New Moves

By Jessica Handrik, Director of Education

As a rural state with one of the oldest populations in the country, Vermont and its nonprofit sector needs bold, creative thinking to remove one of the key challenges older adults often face: a sense of isolation from one’s community. At the Flynn, we welcome the assets only an older adult can bring to our stages and studios.

With our acceptance into the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s Catalyzing Creative Aging program, the Flynn joins a national movement to connect older adults to each other, their communities, and their artistic selves. The program includes training for Flynn staff, in best practices for arts education, as well as a seed grant to try out a new class idea.

Beginning in fall 2019, we are piloting our class Dance Floor Moves. Created for adults age 55 and above, the class builds dance floor confidence while increasing balance, coordination, and space awareness. Students learn everything from swing to disco, jitterbug to hip-hop, setting them up with moves for the dance floor at any social gathering. Students even learn to throw their own dance party!

“Anyone can learn these dances! Have fun and get some exercise!” 

—Judy

Students attending the class this fall are rediscovering their love for familiar music and dance techniques, experiencing the joy of dancing with others, and embracing the fun of learning new moves in modern music styles, especially hip-hop.

We work in partnership with Wake Robin to remove transportation challenges; scholarships are also available to remove financial barriers. Our long-term vision for older adult programming is to add more classes and art forms, and to offer these programs off-site throughout Vermont.

The class participated in the Community Arts Showcase on December 9 on the Flynn Main Stage, giving everyone a chance to see the Dance Floor Moves class in action, and to join them on the dance floor!

Registration for the Flynn winter/spring 2020 semester opens to members on December 10 and to the general public on December 13. 

Dance Floor Moves, with Rose Bedard, runs from January 14 through May 5, on Tuesdays from 5:30-7 pm. 

[flynncenter]

Family Fun in the Flynn Lobby

Picture the Flynn’s Main Stage lobby abuzz with youthful energy at 10 am on a Saturday morning, with dozens of families joining together to sing, dance, play, and learn. This has been a monthly scene at the Flynn since September, when a new series was introduced: Free Family Saturdays.

The series kicked off with special guests Mr. Chris and Friends on September 14. In October, Chief Don Stevens and Nulhegan Drum from the Vermont Abenaki Artist Association engaged families with storytelling and drumming. In November, Red Kite Green Mountain put on imaginative, sensory-friendly shows for young people on the autism spectrum.

There’s much more to come. On December 7, dynamite local Afro-funk septet Sabouyouma plays.

In January, DJ Craig Mitchell hosts a family dance party. February features Flynn artist-in-residence Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR). And in April, Young Tradition Vermont pays a visit.

Attendance is free and while walkups are welcome, pre-registration is suggested. To find out more about upcoming Free Family Saturday events, go to flynncenter.org.

“A safe place where a kid or adult can be free to explore and enjoy without limitations, feeling welcomed and accepted regardless of ability.”

—Melissa Bronson, mother of participant