Happenings for Week of July 30th, 2007

Monday, July 30th, 2007

Knitting Class (E, S)
Knit New York provides free instruction to beginners through experts. Yarn and needles are provided.
@ Bryant Park
Upper Terrace across from the Bryant Park Grill
6th Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets
2 - 3:30p
Free
Call 212-387-0707 to pre-register
For more information, please visit knit

Exhibition Closing and Artists Reception (A, C, E)
Matt Hoyle: Icebergs
It was the commitment to their "winter swimming" ritual and the diversity of characters who do this, that drew me to create this project. I simply wanted to capture the faces that made up these clubs rather than the physical pools or the spectacular views. I wanted more than anything to capture a look and tone for these members that almost suited their "Iceberg" title. Every artist needs to find his or her voice and if I had to describe mine, it would be of quirky empathy that I feel for my fellow human. From the humorous to the heartfelt, I try to look deeper within the subjects I photograph to draw something out that is unique. In doing this, I try to let you look a bit deeper too. My photography I think has become known equally for its character and narrative as well as the distinct treatment I give each shot afterwards.
@ Point of View Art Gallery
638 West 28th Street (between 11th and 12th Avenues)
6 - 9p
Free
For more information: gallery

All Singin! All Dancin! (A, C, D, M)
The Song & Dance of The Great White Way
An exhilarating extravaganza of Broadway song and dance from Cohen to Stroman. Inspired by Fred & Adele Astaire, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Agnes DeMille, Gower Champion, Jerome Robbins and more of today’s great singin’ and dancin’ stars will create their own thrilling rendition of Broadway history.
@ Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street (between 6th Avenue and Broadway)
8p
Tickets: $40 & 35
For more information and to buy tickets: townhall



Harlem Renaissance Orchestra Performs (C, M)
The orchestra maintains a nucleus of ten veteran musicians. These musicians have engaged in performances around the world and acquired college degrees in Music Performance and in Education. As a result, their contributions have provided a firm foundation over a span of twenty years. Collectively and with conscious effort, we have been able to blend the talents of fine young musicians with more mature musicians, thus producing a sound that is enjoyed by music lovers of all ages.
@ Morningside Park
399 West 110th Street (@ Morningside Drive)
6p
Free
For more information: jazz and harlem

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

Art Exhibit: Parian Porcelain:A Nineteenth-Century Passion (A, C, E)
Developed in the mid-nineteenth century, inexpensive European and American parian porcelain ware allowed the middle classes to ornament their homes with sculpture and other decorative items. Intended to resemble marble from the Greek isle of Páros, parian ware soon developed its own market. Parlors in well-appointed Victorian homes would have included several parians, demonstrating the inhabitants’ sense of style and taste, enlightened culture, and even political leanings.Featuring parians from the University of Richmond Museum’s permanent collection and several private collections, the exhibition explores the impact these wares had on American popular culture and decorative arts. The 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia highlighted works made by several potteries in the United States, including Brooklyn’s Union Porcelain Works and Trenton’s Ott & Brewer.
@ Forbes Galleries
62 Fifth Avenue (at 12th Street)
Free
For more information: forbes



Walking Tour: Flatbush and Prospect Park South (C, E, S)
Until the 1880s, Flatbush was a quiet farming area of Brooklyn. The arrival of the Brooklyn, Flatbush & Coney Island Railroad (now the Brighton Line of the BMT) changed all of that. The area was developed into fashionable suburbs such as Prospect Park South, Ditmas Park, and Fiske Terrace. Step back into time to view a world of sprawling lawns and large mansions. Discover earlier roots of Brooklyn, such as the Flatbush Reformed Church, established under Peter Stuyvesant or the 1876 Flatbush Town Hall. View Erasmus Hall Academy, established in 1658, and the former school of such notables as Barbra Streisand, Barbara Stanwyck, and chess champion Bobby Fischer. Stroll through the tree-lined streets of Prospect Park South - developed at the end of the 19th century by visionary developer Dean Alvord as a community of large, individually-designed mansions.
Meeting location: outside the Q train entrance of Church Avenue at the Church Avenue Station.
6:30p
$15, payable on site
For more information: newyork

Sizzling Summer Skies (Code: HM073107) (E, F)
Enjoy a live presentation under the brilliant stars of the Zeiss Mark IX Star Projector. This tour of the heavens offers a view of the constantly changing night sky. Learn about the current positions of the Moon, planets, and stars, as well as visual spectacles such as meteor showers, eclipses, and conjunctions.
@ Hayden Planetarium Space Theater
200 Central Park West, entrance is on West 77th Street (between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue)
6:30 - 7:30p
$12
For more information and to sign up: amnh

Wednesday, August 1st, 2007



Wine Tasting: Revisiting Rose (D/F, E)
Remember when the Rose's started arriving in May? They all felt so knew and exciting. To keep things interesting we have a few new Rose's for to wake your tired tastebuds up.
@ Vine Wine
12-09 Jackson Avenue (between 47th Road and 48th Avenue), LIC
6 - 8p
Free
For more information: tastings



Mavis Staples (C, M)
Celebrating her newest album release, We’ll Never Turn Back, soul legend Mavis Staples performs a special concert featuring updated ‘Freedom Songs’ of the Civil Rights Movement along with classic Staple Singers hits.
@ Rockefeller Park
Chambers Street (between Reade and Warren Streets)
7p
Free
For more information: music



Movie Screening: Stripes (A, F)
Stripes is a 1981 American comedy film starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and Warren Oates. The director was Ivan Reitman. Stripes also featured several noted actors in their first significant movie roles, including John Larroquette, Sean Young, and Judge Reinhold. It was one of Canadian comedian John Candy's earliest film appearances. Bill Paxton and Timothy Busfield are also in one scene apiece.
@ Pier 54 (between 14th Street and Hudson River)
Dusk (usually 8:30p)
Free
For more information: hudson and Stripes

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

Dancing on the Plaza: Swing Night with Sam Ulano's Swing 8 (C, D, E, M)
Bring a friend, or find one here, for dance instruction followed by dancing to live music under the stars.
@ The Charles A. Dana Discovery Center
Inside the Park at 110th Street (between Fifth and Lenox Avenues)
6 - 8p
Free
For more information: dance

Speed Dating (S)
Up to 16 dates in one night
Ages: women 33-43, men 35-48
Join us in the cozy, dimly-lit, romantic downstairs lounge at this Moroccan bar and restaurant. Delicious complementary snacks and great drink specials ($6 martinis, $6 wine, and $5 sangria and beers) for speed daters.
@ Tagine
537 Ninth Avenue (@ 40th Street)
7:30p
Cost: $37 (use the name - Laura when registering on-line and save $5)
For more information and to sign up: dates

A Brave New World Repetory Theater presents: (A, C, L, M)
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry featuring composer: Jenny Scheinman
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry that fuses poetry, projections, music, rap, and dance. Violinist/composer Jenny Scheinman "has the street musician's trick of getting attention with the pure power of a single, perfect note."
@ Brooklyn Prospect Park Bandshell
(between Prospect Park West and 9th Street)
7:30p
Suggested donation, $3
For more information: brooklyn

Friday, August 3rd, 2007

Wine Tasting: Chill Out with Beaujolais (D/F, E)
Beaujolais is the perfect summer red for picnics or just hanging out and we will show you why.
@ The Chelsea Market
75 Ninth Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets)
4 - 7p
Free
For more information: chelsea

Movie Screening: Mouchette (F)
Written and directed by Robert Bresson, based on the novel by Georges Bernanos. With Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert. In Bresson's masterpiece, loneliness, shame, and other tragedies universal to human experience are evoked with compassion and subtlety through the depiction of twenty-four hours in the life of a teenage outcast who quietly absorbs the sins and abuses of her rural community. In French; English subtitles.
@ Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2
6:15p
$10, but, Free with same day museum admission ticket
For more information and to buy advanced tickets: film

A Night of Billie Holiday Remixed and Reimagined (A, C, M)
Presented by Turntables on the Hudson, this amazing night will feature DJs Nickodemus, Jazzy Nice, + Nappy G on percussion & Jay Rodriguez of Groove Collective on the saxophone. Come experience a legend as you've never heard her before.
@ South Street Seaport
Pier 17 (between Fulton/Beekman and FDR Drive)
7p
Free
For more information: river

Saturday, August 4th, 2007



The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival (A, C, S)
A significant holiday celebrated in China and the one with the longest history. Colorful and lively, the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated by a day of races in narrow boats shaped like dragons. Competing teams row their boats in sync with a furious rhythm pounded out by on-board drummers.
@ Flushing Meadows Park
11-51 Corona Ave (between Saultell Avenue and 111th Street)
9 - 5p
Free
For more information: boats

A Folk Feet Dance In (C, D, E, S)
As part of the Summer of Love 40th Anniversary festivities for Lincoln Center Out of Doors Play Day, BAC Folk Arts hosts a Dance-In. Learn limbo, salsa, locking, uprocking in Apache lines, and of course, The Hustle popular in African American and Puerto Rican Brooklyn communities. Learn the dances in mini-workshops during Get Your Dance On and then show your moves on the floor during our Hustle Plus Party.
@ Lincoln Center, South Plaza
West 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue
2 - 6p
Free
For more information: brooklyn

Brandy Tastings (D/F, E)
You’ve had a long week of the daily grind. You’ve got a long dinner ahead of you of over-priced raw fish and awkward chit-chat. Let’s face it, you’re gonna need it.
@ Brandy Library
25 N. Moore Street (between Varick and Hudson Streets)
5 - 8p
Free
For more information: Brandy



Roland Barber Quartet (A, C, M)
Energized by both the lessons of their musical predecessors as well as the synergy of their unique relationship, the Barber Brothers have developed a contemporary soundscape for jazz listeners of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
@ Cleopatria’s Needle
2485 Broadway (between 92nd and 93rd Streets)
8 - 12a
No cover, but minimum $10 per person
For more information: cleopatra and jazz

Sunday, August 5th, 2007



Art Exhibit: Rudolf Stingel (A, C)
Employing such materials as rubber, carpet, painted aluminum, Styrofoam, and paint, Rudolf Stingel's work questions and disrupts the viewer's understanding and experience of an art object. Although Stingel's work does not always involve paint on canvas, it continually reflects upon some of the fundamental questions concerning painting today, including authenticity, hierarchy, meaning, and context. While Stingel, who was shown in the 2006 Whitney Biennial, has created major installations for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and numerous other institutions, this is his first solo museum exhibition in the United States, surveying his career to date and including a new site-specific work.
@ Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Avenue (@ 75th Street)
$15
For more information: whitney

Walking Tour: Crossing Delancey (C, D/F, E, S)
This revealing tour will take you inside some truly historic sacred sites that reflect the Lower East Side of the early 20th century and what it’s like today. We will stop along the way for a nosh.
Meeting place: Congregation Chasem Sofer
8 - 10 Clinton Street (near the corner of Houston Street)
11:15a
$18, save $2 by pre-registering
For more information and to pre-register call: 212.374.4100 x1

The Evolving Landscape in "New" Jewish Media (Code: T-NNJFE00-01) (E, L)
Join a discussion with some of the top names in the "new" Jewish-focused media scene based in New York to hear how each have navigated from old to new and where they see themselves fitting in among the growing field of print, online, blogs and other sources of media, individual and cultural expression. Panelists include: Tahl Raz (Jewcy), Sara Ivry (Nextbook), Rebecca Wiener (Heeb), Esther Kustanowitz (PresenTense), Daniel Sieradski (Jewschool) and moderator Ami Eden (JTA).
@ 92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue (at 92nd Street)
Weill Art Gallery
8p
Free
For more information: 92y

Amateur Female Jello Wrestling (S)
Females of all sizes, shapes, and skill levels are encouraged to participate. Just come to our "Wrestle Lesson" which is always before our show. At that time you will meet the other wrestlers and learn some fun stunts. Our wrestlers have stage personalities and names and often dress to fit their character. We will help you to find yours. Please invite your friends to the show to cheer for you as you achieve your wrestling glory.
@ Arlenes Grocery
95 Stanton Street (between Allan and Ludlow Streets)
8p, lessons at 6:30p
$5 (girls that don’t wrestle), $10 boys (that come with girls), $15 boys (that don’t come with girls)
For more information: arlenes

Monday, August 6th, 2007



Travel Exhibit: Tourisme Montreal
Lose the routine and find your Montréal getaway.
Imagine entering a space that plunges you into the sites and sounds of one of the world’s great cities, where you can escape your daily routine and live a virtual vacation. Through state-of-the-art technology, you’ll have an opportunity to explore this unique North American metropolis that mixes European flair with a North American vibe. The Montréal experience revolves around six distinct themes spotlighting the city’s creativity and effervescence in cuisine, arts & culture, architecture, shopping, outdoor activities, and nightlife. And visitors can also enter a contest for a chance to win one of three fabulous Montréal getaways!
@ Grand Central Terminal - Vanderbilt Hall
42nd Street (between Park Avenue and Vanderbilt )
Free
For more information: grandcentral


Key to Activities

A Art
C Cultural
D Dance
D/F Drink/Food
E Education
F Film
L Literature
M Music
NP Non-Profit
P Party
S Sport