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State of the Arts goes "On the Road" with an unusual crew of dancers, musicians, and artists whose art forms are shaped by the experience of travel.
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Wednesday, March 7, 2007 @ 11:30 pm
 Preview
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| homecoming |
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Jazz and cabaret singer Stacey Kent is an expatriate American who spends most of her working life on the road--we meet her during a gig at Ramapo College's Berrie Center in Mahwah. Stacey's official bio reads like a piece of romantic fiction: American girl studying abroad meets British saxophone player, switches from comparative literature to music, cuts a demo tape that lands her a movie role, a recording contract, and heavy airplay on Britain's jazz stations, then marries the saxophonist and tours the world.
A major presence on the British music scene, in her native country (she grew up in New Jersey and New York) her star is somewhat dimmer. But American recognition is steadily building, thanks to great press, and a lot of miles on the road. The grueling schedule of one night stands in different cities is bearable, she says, because she does it with her husband, saxophonist Jim Tomlinson.
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| blow up big |
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They walk in small, they blow up big. The Fred Garbo Inflatable Theatre Company bounces into New Jersey to create their expanding universe of gigantic puppies, floating shapes, shapeless blobs and many other pumped-up characters… then they deflate the whole thing and move on to their next performance date. Fred Garbo started his career as Barkley on Sesame Street, moved on to tour with Michael Moshen, and now tours his own wildly popular dance theatre company.
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| the old plank road |
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Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains talks about the legendary Irish folk group's encore album to "Down the Old Plank Road," called "Further Down the Old Plank Road." It's a collaboration with American folk, bluegrass, and country musicians that shows how going on the road affects more than just performers, it affects the music they play as well.
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jersey
ride
Chakaia Booker makes art out of what takes us "on the road" -- the tires on our cars. Booker, who was born and raised in Newark, recycles old tires and manipulates their shape and content into works that are about perseverance and struggle as well as about form and motion. In 2004, the Jersey City Museum presented Booker's exhibition "Jersey Ride," a mid-career retrospective that examined how Booker's work is connected to the landscape and environment in which she was raised.
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| turnpike |
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The New Jersey Turnpike is gray and utilitarian, a direct reflection of a post-World War II ethos. But it is also a legendary road that has inspired artists, dancers, poets, and novelists since its very beginning in 1951. This clip from an award-winning State of the Arts documentary, “Turnpike,” features poet Jim Haba, novelist Tom DeHaven, historian Michael Aaron Rockland, and printmaker Judith Brodsky.
- when to see
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