Since 1990 Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli has been a hub of creative arts activity, presenting internationally renowned artists in the genres of dance, theater, music, film, literature, spoken word, and the visual and culinary arts. A high point of its annual programming is its Fall Festival, which wraps this year with a dance concert by Ruckus Early Music (September 29) and a performance of Tan Dan’s “Ghost Opera” (September 30).
The New York-based Baroque band Ruckus Early Music fuses the early music movement’s questing, creative spirit with the grit, groove, and jangle of American roots music to create a unique sound that the New Yorker calls “rough-edged intensity.” For the group’s Kaatsbaan concert at the center’s Black Box Theater on September 29 at 7pm, they will be accompanied by dance caller Sargent Seedo. Tickets are $25.
On September 30 at 7pm and October 1 at 1pm, Kaatsbaan will present pipa master Wu Man and the Attacca Quartet in performances of composer Tan Dun’s “Ghost Opera.” The opera “evokes the spirits of Bach and Shakespeare—in the manner of ancient folk traditions and traditional shamanistic Chinese music, complete with elements of paper, water, stone, metal, and vocals.” A new production of the work, it features a dance element by dancer/choreographer PeiJu Chien-Pott and is directed by Jon Reimer. The performances will take place at the Kaatsbaan Black Box Theater. Tickets are $45.
For ticket purchases and more information, see the Kaatsbaan Cultural Park website.
