Light in Winter Festival 2010 Will Entertain Your Brain
Seventh annual Festival of Arts & Sciences featuring begins January 21, 2010 in Ithaca, NY.
Contact:
Marie Sirakos, Executive Director
Light in Winter Festival
607-280-2727
msirakos@lightinwinter.com
www.lightinwinter.com
Ithaca, NY January 7, 2010– The Light in Winter Festival will take place January 21-24th, 2010 at various venues throughout Ithaca, NY. Through interactive presentations including juggling, lectures, panel discussions, dance, music, workshops and multi-media spectacle, Light in Winter Festival will showcase cutting-edge ideas and will continue to bring accessible and entertaining explorations of sciences and the arts to festival participants.
Headlining events of Light in Winter Festival 2010 will include:
“Spherus” Trained at Centre National des Arts du Cirque, two-time Gold Medal International Juggling Champion Greg Kennedy delights and astounds audiences with fascinating new forms of juggling.
“The Klezmatics” are globally-renowned world music superstars — and the only klezmer band to win a Grammy award. The Klezmatics present klezmer steeped in Eastern European Jewish tradition and spirituality, while incorporating eclectic musical influences including Arab, African, Latin and Balkan rhythms, jazz and punk.
Science & Arts presentations will include:
“Bitter Sour Salt Suite” by Bruce Adolphe, performed by Susan Waterbury and Ithaca College President Tom Rochon. A set of evocative musical vignettes about food and drink, each preceded by a humorous poem by Louise Gikow.
“Seen/Unseen: Art, Science and Intuition”- Art historian Martin Kemp explores the ways in which scientists and artists perceive the world and respond to its patterns. He shows how “structural intuitions” are reflected in visual arts, science, architecture and design from the Renaissance to today.
“Dance of Scales” presented by Redshift Productions is a multimedia narrated dance performance about the movement of organisms at different length scales and the social process of scientific research, featuring Cornell physicist Itai Cohen and choreographer Maren Waldman.
“One of a Kind: The Physics of Snowflakes” Cal Tech Physicist and author Kenneth Libbrecht’s microphotographs of real snowflakes show the amazing beauty and science behind nature’s creations.
“Of Sound Mind” Concert pianist Frederic Chiu explores the mind-body-heart connection. He will share his knowledge of “what it takes” to give a successful performance ranging from the physical challenges of precision and coordination to the emotional flexibility required to truly connect with an audience.
“Kinetics” Originally trained as an engineer, Greg Kennedy quickly made a name for himself in the juggling community not only by his mastery of traditional juggling technique, but also for creating entirely new forms of manipulation. Kinetics is an educational show based on physics for audiences of all ages that explains the principles of motion, light, energy and (of course!) gravity.
“Living with Chance: Our life with a timber wolf” Composer and former drummer for the Blue Oyster Cult Ron Riddle and his wife Andrea spent four years consulting animal behaviorists, trainers, animal communicators and wolf specialists until the Riddles created what animal behaviorists call an inter-species pack with a Timber Wolf they had adopted from the local SPCA. A model for others? Or should wild predators stay wild? Jody Enck, a research associate in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell who specializes in restoring animal species to places where they have been extinct for decades, joins the discussion.
“Sexing the Demon: Chance, Choice and the Future of Nanotechnology” – Microprocessors, with billions of electronic switches working in perfect coordination, have been the model for how humans design at the nano scale. But Cornell physicist Paul McEuen says life doesn’t play by such rigid rules, but prefers to use sex, sharing and jumping genes to change genetic traits willy-nilly. Accompanied by “atmospheric electronica” by microbiologist Sharinne Sukhnanand (aka DJ Laika).
Interactive presentations and workshops will include:
“The Hall of Wonders” – A science fair for all ages and a museum come to life, including curious exhibits and hands-on activities to inspire curiosity and learning.
“For Love of Chocolate” Sarah’s Patisserie Chef and chocolatier Tammy Travis will lead the audience through the depth and breadth of cacao and chocolate and will demonstrate how to temper chocolate for dipping. Gavin Sacks is a Cornell expert on taste and smell, and will give the real story behind why we love chocolate and maybe even why it’s good for you. Samples to be given away, with chocolates for purchase.
“The Locovore’s Guide to Beer” Dan Mitchell of Ithaca Beer and Duncan Hilchey of Cornell University’s Department of Development Sociology share the secrets of what make’s home grown beer special… and how to know what you’re tasting.
“Light in Winter is keeping lots of balls in the air this year. From the physics of juggling to the art of a snowflake, from a dance on the Nanoscale, to a taste of the science of beer, Light in Winter is seeks to serve up new ideas in a festive weekend sure to entertain your brain” says Barbara Mink, Artistic Director and Light in Winter Festival founder.
Festival Weekend Pass, FLEX Passes and tickets to individual events are now on sale at lightinwinter.com and through the Ticket Center at the Clinton House in Ithaca, NY. For additional information, contact Executive Director Marie Sirakos or visit lightinwinter.com.
About Light in Winter Festival:
The seventh annual Light in Winter Festival of Arts & Sciences will take in Ithaca, NY from January 21-24th, 2010. The Light in Winter Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Artistic Director Barbara Mink. On the web: www.lightinwinter.com
