Looking forward ….

I just got done looking through the program for this year’s festival, and I’m very excited!! There are so many diverse and interesting events to look forward to. Everything from quantum physics to organ playing, modern art to global warming, and animal sounds to dance is covered. Where else could you see all that in one weekend?!

I’m especially looking forward to the Pilobolus Dance Theater performance on Friday night and the Bang on a Can All-Stars and Iva Bittova performance on Saturday night. As a dancer and a musician myself, I always look forward to these awe-inspiring and amazing performances. The daytime performances promise to be fascinating as well — in my experience the LiW events are a perfect blend of science, art, music, and engaging lectures. Even better, they make difficult science understandable and complex art and music easy to appreciate!

*****

Right now, I’m still at Princeton, but I’ll be coming home to Ithaca on Wednesday for the specific reason of attending Light in Winter. You should know that LiW and I go way back — I’ve known about the festival for years before it even came into being! The founder and Artistic Director, Barbara Mink, is one of our closest family friends (and someone I consider to be a second mother to me), and my mom has been involved in the festival since its inception, as a former Associate Director and as a member of the Board of Directors.

I’d been hearing about the Light in Winter idea from Barbara for many years before it finally came into being, and I was thrilled to finally see it come to life in Ithaca in January 2004. Over the years I’ve helped out with setting up rehearsals, selling tickets at events, introducing performers, and I even once made a brief appearance onstage myself (as a member of Mirage, an Ithaca bellydance troupe, at the finale of the 2004 festival).

In 2004, I was a senior in high school and attended almost every event of the first festival. In 2005, I was living abroad and unfortunately was not able to attend LiW — but Barbara still made sure to send me a brochure of the festival program, and a CD by Kronos Quartet, one of the headlining groups of that year’s festival. In 2006, I made a special trip home from Princeton to see the show (I was very excited to see Middle Eastern musician Simon Shaheen) and this year I plan to do the same. It’s a great opportunity to see friends from home, learn about new topics, and enjoy a weekend of truly world-class performances!

I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you over this coming weekend!

Categorized: General