ArtsIgnite: Culture is catching

By Taylor Kennamer
Arts & Entertainment Editor

What is ArtsIgnite? Besides being an arts festival sponsored by the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County it is, according to the project's slogan, "16 days of love, jealousy, passion, power despair and joy." Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? Including a sculpture walk, a performance by a gospel choir and almost everything in between, the festival is designed to show local residents the best of what the Triad has to offer to the world's artistic community.

"I expect ArtsIgnite to accomplish a heightened interest in and enthusiasm for the arts in a city that, for its size, has riches that are sometimes undervalued by its citizens," said Lillian Shelton, who directs the university's Secrest Artists Series, in a Sept. 22 Winston-Salem Journal article.

ArtsIgnite kicks off Sept. 27 - 29 with Old Town Breakdown, featuring musical performances by local and nationally known musicians including Etta Baker, Little Milton, The Jim Lauderdale Band, The Old Crow Medicine Show and Eddie Cotton. The performers span genres, including R&B, blues, jazz, rock, gospel and folk. This juxtaposition of so many different types of music is designed to emphasize the role Forsyth County has played in the emergence of America's national musical identity. Performances will be held Sept. 27 at the Sawtooth Center, Sept. 28 at Sixth and Trade Streets in the Arts District and Sept. 29 at SECCA.

As part of the festival, SECCA and the Arts Council are co-sponsoring an invitational, juried sculpture exhibit at Fourth Street. Artists from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia were invited to submit artwork; the sculptures will be unveiled Sept. 28 for the Sculpture Walk. During the walk, the alban elved dance company will be performing what ArtsIgnite describes as "aerial dance sculpture."

At 8 p.m. Oct. 2 at the R.J. Reynolds Auditorium, audience members will be treated to Flamenco Vivo!, a dance concert by the Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company. Santana, the director and founder of the company, incorporates modern ballet and jazz with elements of traditional flamenco.

Other highlights of the festival include a retrospective of Robert Duvall's films on Oct. 5, 6 and 9 at the North Carolina School of the Arts' School of Filmmaking and performances by the American Repertory Ballet of a program entitled A Midsummer Night's Dream/Where the Wild Things Are Oct. 10-12 at the R.J. Reynolds Auditorium. The ballet brings together interpretations of Shakespeare's whimsical comedy and images from Maurice Sendak's children's story, uniting them with the theme of dreams.

In conjunction with the Piedmont Opera Theatre, ArtsIgnite will present Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto, the story of a physically deformed, bitter court jester. The opera will be presented Oct. 4, 6 and 8 at the Stevens Center.

Chamber and Beyond: A Musical Feast is an opportunity for music connoisseurs to develop a new appreciation for both contemporary and traditional chamber music. The program includes performances by the ArtsIgnite Chamber Ensemble, the Mendelssohn String Quartet and Project Space 211.

Project Space 211 includes percussionist and composer Gerry Hemingway; the Saturnalia String Trio, which plays jazz, 20th century classical music and improvisation; the alban elved dance company; and Defenestrator. A Defenestrator performance may be the only chance you'll have for a while to hear someone playing the moog. What's a moog? Go and find out, and while you're at it, you can hear clarinet, double bass, alto sax, bass clarinet and guitar.

Arguably the most innovative segment of ArtsIgnite,"Hush: Composing Blind," a multimedia theatrical poem based on the life of Tom Wiggins, an autistic slave who was a musical genius, will be presented Oct. 10-12 at the Stevens Center.

The university-hosted performance of dramatic tenor Ben Heppner at 8:00 p.m. Oct. 5 in Wait Chapel is a collaborative effort between ArtsIgnite and the Secrest Artist series.

For more information, including ticket prices, a complete list of performances, show times and venues, call 1-800-514-7811 or visit www.artsignite.com.

One, which is presenting

tenor Ben Heppner at Wake Forest University as part of the festival.. "Both of us end up winning. ArtsIgnite gets a high-ticket artist. Secrest gets a larger audience."