Corning Glass Museum

The Corning Glass Museum is at the outer limits of what can be considered a local Rochester attraction, since the time you'll spend there is roughly equal to the time spent driving to and from. The only time I've been there was about 10 years ago on a drive in a blizzard from NJ to Rochester when we were visiting Charlie's parents here, and even then, we only made it into the extensive gift shop. But my friend Mary Beth, who was visiting from NYC for the weekend, had already been to the Susan B. Anthony House twice, and the George Eastman House. She wanted something she couldn't see a bigger version of in her home town. So even though you'd never visit NYC and take a day trip to Philadelphia, she wanted to go to Corning. And it was on my list, so off we went.

We arrived just before noon, so decided to fortify ourselves first with a tasty bite in the cafe. Then we made our way through the contemporary glass, and there were quite a few pieces we wouldn't have minded having, including the glass beehives (Mary Beth was dubious about my hearing the buzzing of bees coming from the cassette tapes, but my hearing for annoying sounds is better than most...), and a really fun teacup.

The collection of historical glass is overwhelming, and amazing that so many of these delicate pieces even survived all these years (I break so many glasses just washing them!). It was fun to see the array of old wine bottles, all different shapes and sizes, and some leaning slightly, because they obviously were blown by hand. And the cases of paperweights – just paperweights! There were also the obligatory displays of Steuben and Tiffany and Lalique. Many of the cases displayed items three or four deep, so we really needed to take our time to take it all in.

It was a welcome relief to sit for the 25-minute glassblowing demonstration. A young woman expertly blew a fluted vase, while her companion narrated the process, and occasionally helped, when an additional rod or hand was required. Having taken several lessons, I know how difficult it is to gather the glass, to keep the heavy rod constantly turning to fight gravity, and to remember to hold the rod on the part that isn't blistering hot... This girl did it with such ease, and with an audience! Unfortunately, they didn't take questions – I would have liked to know what they did with the pieces they blew – were they for sale in the gift shop?

The gift shop was a mix of items, from cheap Chinese chachkies to art glass that could just have easily been upstairs in the museum. There were a few small items from defunct Steuben, and also a few from the Taiwanese Liuligongfang (but none as pretty as the pieces Charlie brought home years ago each time he went to Asia on business...).

Naturally, we went a week before a new wing was to open. So I'll just have to find an excuse to go back, and maybe even take a glassblowing lesson as well!

RPO – A Night of Dance

Balanchine's Serenade is one of my all-time favorite ballet pieces – I've seen it almost a half dozen times at the New York City Ballet. I can't hear Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings without also picturing the incredible choreography – to me they are inextricably linked. So I was thrilled when I saw that the Rochester City Ballet would be performing it with the RPO on this program.

There is much debate in the dance world regarding who owns choreographed pieces – the choreographer or the company for which they are developed. For example, Martha Graham's heir lost a court battle with the Martha Graham Company, which retained the rights to most of her dances. George Balanchine must have had a different relationship with the New York City Ballet, because his pieces are all copyrighted, and the George Balanchine Trust licenses them, with the “responsibility of disseminating and protecting the integrity ... of (his) work in the present and for the future.” This means that any company wishing to perform a work choreographed by Balanchine must not only pay a fee, but must prove itself worthy, and apparently our local ballet company has!

My friend Linda accompanied me (as soon as I mentioned “dance” to my husband, he claimed he had something else to do...). The house wasn't full, but there was a healthy representation of young girls. I was looking forward to seeing the guest conductor, Daniel Meyer, since he will be conducting Concentus in our concert with the RPO in May. Unfortunately, he and the orchestra were obviously stuck in the pit, so we only got a peek as his head bobbed up to acknowledge the audience's applause.

The first RCB piece, choreographed by artistic director Jamey Leverett, was cute, but unexceptional. Oddly Andrew Russo, the talented on-stage pianist, was in street clothes, as if he'd forgotten his concert black. The second piece, presented by FuturPointe Dance, was just bizarre. The video projection, which went from pseudo-psychedelic to creepy, in disjointed randomness (hawks exploding, flowers blooming, a jellyfish floating, and lots of other unidentifiable stuff), was extremely distracting. It was a disservice to the dancers, who seemed very capable but were left mostly in the dark, overpowered by the moving images behind them. Someone obviously went to a lot of trouble to put the video together (and the hawk headdress costumes...), but why?

But then came the finale – Serenade. It was classic Balanchine – magical, sublime, transporting. It was pure joy to watch the RCB perform this piece; they were more than up to the task. And the RPO's performance of the piece, under Meyer's baton, was more subtle and nuanced that I remember the New York City Ballet Orchestra's ever being. Most Rochesterians will never experience the NYC Ballet performing Balanchine, and the RCB will probably only rarely present one of his pieces, so it was a true privilege for the audience, and I suspect for the dancers as well. They received a well-deserved standing ovation, and the orchestra even stuck around a while in the pit, since this was, after all, their concert, too!

Geva's "Women In Jeopardy"

Just about a year ago, I went with several friends to see Women in Jeopardy as part of Geva's Plays in Progress program. It was just a play reading – no costumes or sets or staging, but it was clear even then what a hit it would be. Jenni Werner, Geva's Literary Director/ Dramaturg, explained to the audience that “every play was once a new play,” and that Women in Jeopardy would have its premier in 2015. Wendy MacLeod, the playwright, was on hand to gauge the audience's reaction (we all loved it – it was consistently laugh out loud funny, even in just a reading) and to answer questions: for example, about the inspiration for the plot (a real murder case, although “once you’re into the action, the murder mystery plot device really is secondary to the dialog and relationships”) and the inspiration for the characters (she wanted to write a piece that would feature interesting women of a certain age). Julia Brothers, as the character Jo, was outstanding.

So imagine my delight that she ended up playing the role in this premiere! She was even better than I'd remembered – her face is so expressive, and she really seemed to be Jo. The other actors were also very good, especially Jennifer Cody (who grew up in Greece (the Rochester suburb, not the country...), and is married to actor Hunter Foster) and Scott Rad Brown, another Rochester native.

I went with a group of women friends, but there were lots of men in the audience, and they were laughing just as much as the women. The dialog was very realistic and witty – you could imagine having some of these types of conversations in real life, or wishing that you did. After the show, one friend said this was one of the best shows she's ever seen at Geva – not just the acting, but the direction as well (she did admit she hasn't seen a lot of recent productions...). Many thanks to director Sean Daniels. We will miss him greatly, but wish him success in his new position at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre.

This show is the perfect antidote to winter. Both close in less than two weeks!

Bivona – Open That Bottle Night

This was our second time attending this Bivona Child Advocacy's Open That Bottle Night as the guests of our friends Tom and Glen, and we were deeply moved, again, by the event. It's a fun evening for a somber cause, and you can't help but be overwhelmed by the scope of the problem, and the depth of generosity to help address it. It was an emotional roller coaster.

Tom and his magnum!

376 people attended, including Maggie Brooks, Bob Duffy, and Sandra Doorley. In this time of extreme partisanship, it is nice to rally around a non-partisan issue. Mary Whittier, Executive Director, shared some mind-boggling statistics: 1 in 10 kids suffers from some sort of abuse by age 18, 90% of them by someone they know, love, and trust; there is a relatively high proportion of boys, as well as kids in the suburbs who suffer. Bivona has evaluated 12,513 kids in 10.5 years and it now sees 1500-1600 kids per year. Remarkably, their $4.5 million capital campaign has been exceeded by $700,000. They will be moving into their new building at 1 Mount Hope Avenue this August, where they will be more productive in their coordination of 21 different agencies that work together to help kids of physical and sexual abuse, to minimize the children's traumatization of having to retell their stories multiple times, and to help the DA's office prosecute better.

some of the silent auction items

Mary then read a 13-year old's “impact statement” that the girl had read in open court. She had been abused for years by her stepfather, who threatened that no one would believe her if she told. She worried about her sisters when they were with her stepdad, and felt guilty at breaking up her family. Her stepfather received a sentence of 18 years. Later, a founding board member and survivor took the podium and told her story. Like the other girl, she was told that no one would believe her. Her abuse started at age 7, and Christmas, when lots of family were around, was her only reprieve. She has moments she can't remember, and moments she can't forget. But she found the support to tell her story and move forward. There were tears in many of our eyes, agreeing with her that there are “things a child should never have to do.”

our table

The paddle call strategically followed, and at one point, the woman at the table to my right raised her paddle and confided conspiringly over her husband's empty chair between us, “he's in the bathroom, right?” The live auction bidding was indeed lively, with all items going well over value (the $1200 package of restaurant certificates went for $10,000, and the bidder received hugs and a kiss from Mary!), and most times a second item was offered to the second-highest bidder if s/he'd match the top price (which they almost all did). By the time we left, after the 13^th of 22 live auction items, they had already raised $73,000. It was heartening that many of the silent auction items were bid above value – this was not a crowd looking for a discount.

My husband and I remarked on our way home what a lovely and well-organized event it was, and how lucky and proud we are to live in a community that is so engaged in helping others less fortunate. We have a long way to go, but we're making small steps in the right direction, and, to use Bivona's motto: “building hope.”