African Drum & Dance
2019-02-13 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
African Dance Class with Tara Murphy and LIVE drumming! All LEVELS WELCOME, $15/class. Tara is the founder and director of Cape Cod African Drum and Dance and has been teaching African dance for 15 years.
This dance will get your blood pumping and your heart soaring…. feel the rhythms and shake what you got! Participants will learn the basic style of African dance as well as traditional dances from Mali, Guinea and Senegal, West Africa. The class emphasizes community, self-expression and the joy of movement. We will let our spirits fly! Wear comfortable movement clothes and bring water.
No drum class this month; come back March 6th for drum class with Matt Dean.

Architecture + Design Film Series: The Black Museum
2019-02-20 18:30 - 20:30
The Architecture + Design Film Series continues with THE BLACK MUSEUM
Directed by Oliver Hardt
2017, Germany, 52 Minutes
PREVIEW ON YOUTUBE
The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C vibrantly explores America’s history and culture through the lens of the African American experience. Designed by British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye, it has been met with overwhelming success during its first year of operation. Through interviews and observation, Director Oliver Hardt, who frequently addresses black history and culture with a strong emphasis on architecture, takes us through the remarkable physical spaces, the palpable engagement of museum visitors, and gives us insight into the challenges faced during the design process. The success of the project serves as a reminder that design and advanced storytelling can challenge the dominant political discourse and enable a diverse conversation.
Doors open at 6:00pm. Films are free and open to the public.

Drag Out the Fabulous
2019-02-23 21:00 - 23:30
Drag Out the Fabulous returns with your host, Lily DeValley!
More info coming soon.
Interested in performing in this February’s drag show? Click here to fill out the new performer application.

Debbie's Farewell Feast
2019-03-01 16:00 - 19:00
The Longueil family is hosting a Farewell Feast in honor of Deborah Longueil, who unexpectedly passed on January 31st, leaving behind her three sons Ebon, Devon and Adam. There will be a spaghetti supper with Garlic bread, salad, desert and a beverage.
Plates are 10 dollars and for children under ten 5 dollars. We will also be having a raffle with a few gifts. All of the proceeds will go directly to Deborah’s after life expenses.
More importantly this will be a chance for everyone to get together and celebrate my mothers memory. A chance to share stories and connect with people who knew and loved my mother.
If you have any photos of Deborah you’d like to share, please bring them to the supper. Write your name on the back of the photo to make sure you are returned your memory.
If you don’t have time to attend the event, please donate to the GoFundMe the family has set up.

Essential Oils and Natural Healthcare Presentation
2019-03-02 17:00 - 21:00
More info coming soon.

Long Essential Oils Workshop
2019-03-03 09:00 - 17:00
By invitation only.
More info coming soon.

African Drum & Dance
2019-03-06 18:00 - 20:30
African drum and dance with live drumming! All levels welcome.
Drum class: 6 – 7:00pm, sliding scale $12-$20
Dance class: 7:00pm – 8:30pm, sliding scale $15-$20.
More info on dance teachers coming soon.

The Roundtable Discussion Series: An American Nurse at War
2019-03-14 18:00 - 19:00
Award-Winning Short Film Honors Local Nurse’s Service in WWI
Photographer Steve Hooper will present his award-winning short film on the WWI experience of Brattleboro nurse Marion McCune Rice, “An American Nurse at War,” for the Brattleboro Words Project’s monthly Roundtable Discussion on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 118 Elliot at 6:00 pm. The event is free and refreshments will be served.
Through written accounts and the many photos Rice took, the 34-minute film chronicles the Red Cross nurse’s four years serving in French military hospitals during WWI. During her time in France Rice took hundreds of photos on her Kodak camera, and along with the many letters she and the wounded soldiers she tended wrote, these offer a local’s firsthand experience of a bygone time in “An American Nurse at War.”
Rice was born in Brattleboro in 1882 and graduated from Brattleboro High School in 1900 before attending Smith College and nursing school in Philadelphia. She volunteered as a Red Cross nurse during WWI, and in 1925 she was named director of the Simmons School of Public Health Nursing in Boston. She was the sister of Howard Crosby Rice, longtime publisher of the Brattleboro Reformer, and spent summers at her home on Chestnut Hill. She retired in a small cottage at 90 Chestnut Hill, where she resided until her death in 1955. The film about her time in WWI is produced by her grandnephew, Steve Hooper, and honors a local woman’s war service in her own words.
Roundtable Discussions are also an opportunity for Words Project research leaders and teachers to share information and inspiration and for members of the public to discover how they too can participate in making podcasts about sites and themes important to our region’s storied past.
The Brattleboro Words Project, a multi-year collaboration between the Brattleboro Historical Society, the Brattleboro Literary Festival, Write Action, Brooks Memorial Library and Marlboro College and backed by a National Endowment for the Humanities matching grant. The Project seeks public participation in research, writing and creating a ‘Brattleboro Words Trail’, audio linked to sites of interest in the history of words for walking, biking and driving tours of our area, a book on Brattleboro’s printing and publishing history, and other events linked to the October Brattleboro Literary Festival and throughout the year. For more information visit: www.brattleborowords.org
Click here to learn more about Marion McCune Rice’s Brattleboro Words Trail research site.

Were the House Still Standing: Maine Survivors and Liberators Remember the Holocaust
2019-03-15 19:00 - 21:00
The Windham World Affairs Council presents “Were the House Still Standing: Maine Survivors and Liberators Remember the Holocaust,” a screening and talk by Robert Katz, Professor of Art at the University of Maine at Augusta and past president and currently a member of the board of directors of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine.
There will be a screening of Katz’s innovative video/acoustic installation project, Were the House Still Standing, which is on permanent display at the Michael Klahr Center in Augusta, Maine. First shown in 2007, thousand of students, educators and community groups have experienced this project. In addition to the showing of the film, Katz will present a compelling talk about family remembrance and the Holocaust.
Doors open at 7:00 PM, film starts at 7:30 PM. Refreshments will be served.
Click here for more information about the project.

Architecture + Design Film Series: Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight
2019-03-20 18:30 - 20:30
The Architecture + Design Film Series continues with MILTON GLASER: TO INFORM AND DELIGHT
Directed by Wendy Keys
2009, USA, 73 Minutes
PREVIEW ON YOUTUBE
Milton Glaser has often been called America’s foremost graphic designer. Best known for co-founding New York Magazine and the enduring I Love NY campaign, the full breadth of Glaser’s remarkable artistic output is revealed in this documentary portrait, Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight. From newspapers and magazine designs, to interior spaces, logos, and brand identities, to his celebrated prints, drawings, posters and paintings, the documentary offers audiences a much richer appreciation for one of the great modern renaissance men. The film glances into everyday moments of Glaser’s personal life and captures his immense warmth and humanity, and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.
Doors open at 6pm. Films are free and open to the public.

Holi Celebration & Indian Dance
2019-03-21 19:00 - 20:00
As a benefit for Brattleboro Planned Parenthood, and in celebration of the Indian festival of Holi and Spring, kathak dancer Veronica Simas de Souza and cellist Jake Charkey will present an evening of Indian classical dance and music.
Suggested donation $10, but no one turned away for lack of funds.
Holi! A Celebration of Color
By Veronica Simas de Souza

Holi: The Festival of Colors & An Evening of Indian Classical Dance and Music, a benefit for Brattleboro Planned Parenthood, celebrates Holi and Spring with kathak dancer Veronica Simas de Souza and cellist Jake Charkey on Thursday, March 21, 7:00 pm at 118 Elliot, 118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301. Suggested donation is $10 but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Springtime in Chuim Village, Mumbai, India. Fresh out of bed, I stepped out of my house and into the alley when—WHACK! A slimy, purple-pink paste hit me in the face and started running down my neck. Shouts and jeers of excitement pierced my ears: “Happy Holi!”
Holi, or ‘the festival of colors’, is India’s most vibrant holiday. It marks the start of spring when we celebrate the blossoming of nature and welcome the warmth of love spreading around us. And while my first contact with Holi was a playful little surprise, I was not prepared for the magnitude of the celebration.
It was my first year in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, home of the world’s biggest film industry and India’s financial epicenter, as well as Asia’s biggest slums and the largest tropical forest in an urban zone. Mumbai isn’t a threatening place, but it has a fierce energy, like New York on steroids.
I had been advised to leave the house that day wearing old white clothes, so that the colors would show, and to protect my hair with coconut oil. Outside, I started wiping the slime off my face when I noticed the neighborhood kids and elderly ladies smirking at me. When my local rickshaw driver appeared at the end of the alley, I thought I had been saved. “Chalo Andheri!” I screamed as I ran to him. But no such luck. We drove through clouds of pink powder, following the thumping music vibrating through the streets. Not even cows, dogs and cats were safe from the explosions of color that filled the streets.
When we entered the grounds of a friend’s building, there were hundreds of people, young and old, women and men, smeared head to toe with the same purple-pink paste I had tried to avoid. Everyone was dancing in and out of a giant rain machine to Bollywood hits. At the sight of my friends I sighed, and I told myself: “The only way out is in… surrender!” “Surrender” was one of the lessons that stayed with me throughout the 12 years I lived in India. Soaked in color and water I danced my heart out all day long. I realized then that Holi is for making memories.
I had come to India to study a North Indian classical dance tradition that uses eyes, hand

and facial expressions to narrate a story using the art of gesture along with rhythmic foot patterns, lyrical arms and rapid spins. The word Katha means “story” and Kathakar means “the one who tells a story.” The form is passed down orally from generation to generation. I had come from Chile to study under the tutelage of a 15th generation Kathak dancer named Sunayana Hazarilal.
In 2009, I debuted as a Kathak dancer performing in the National Center for Performing in Mumbai. I was invited to teach at Whistling Woods International Film School, an opportunity that would lead me to train Indian film celebrities.

During this time, I established a dance school and company, Veve Dance, which toured China, Turkey, and Egypt, and at its height had more than 700 students. Besides being a dance school, Veve Dance was also an important vehicle for empowering women, creating a safe space, and building community for women to be comfortable with their bodies and exchange ideas across boundaries of class and caste.

Working with Indian musicians brought me together with my husband, Jake Charkey, whose family is from Brattleboro. We live now in Brooklyn and Brattleboro, and Jake teaches at Marlboro College. I came back to the US determined to share this incredible art form with the community, and to share the warmth and love of the Indian culture wherever I can. I am excited to perform for the first time in Brattleboro with Jake at a celebration of Holi and Spring as a benefit for Planned Parenthood Brattleboro. I promise no purple paste in the face, but lots of fun sharing of this unique holiday with Indian classical dance and music traditions.

Veronica Simas de Souza (Photo: Carlos Garcia Granthon)

Veronica Simas de Souza, a native of Peru, lived in India for 12 years and studied Kathak, a graceful North Indian classical dance form that emphasizes storytelling, complex rhythmic footwork, fast spins, and pantomime.

Between Two Worlds: A Multimedia Performance by Jodina Meehan
2019-03-24 19:00 - 21:00
Between Two Worlds is a multimedia performance by local artist Jodina Meehan & her band Cymatica, about traversing between the “real” world and the “imaginary” world of dreams, and how the two crossover. It will include readings from her upcoming fantasy trilogy “Cymatica,” songs from the imaginary world, poems from this world, and songs written for this world, performed by Jodina and Cymatica (Alex Sela/electric guitar, Lauren Bernozzi, voice & percussion). There will also be demonstrations of Cymatics, “the art of sound made visible,” featuring hand-built instruments and live projections of the geometry of sound.
$10 tickets online
$10-$20 suggested donation at the door
All tickets and donations will go directly toward the first album recording by Cymatica.

Off the Wall Art Lottery
2019-03-30 17:00 - 20:00
Early bird tickets: $100 / Regular price tickets $125 / $25 for guest tickets
Local artists and collectors donate artwork for this fun event held by the River Gallery School; some are from well-known artists, others not-so-famous but wonderful nonetheless. Every participating ticket holder will leave with a gem of a painting, drawing, or print valued at least $100.
Participants choose a numbered ping pong ball to place in the tumbler. Come on time to preview the many beautiful works and make your list of favorites while you enjoy refreshments and conversation.
Excitement builds as the giant tumbler starts to spin at 6:15.
When your number is picked, you select your painting from those still available
and literally take it Off The Wall.
The art can be previewed below and in the school’s Main Street Gallery at 36 Main Street until Friday, March 29th.
See us in the office at 32 Main Street if the ground floor studio is locked. Keep checking as new art arrives right up to the night of the event.
Early bird tickets: $100 / Regular price tickets $125 / $25 for guest tickets
All proceeds benefit The River Gallery School’s community-oriented art programming.

Confluential Frequencies: A Sound Journey
2019-03-31 15:00 - 16:30
A Sri Healing Arts Event
Join us for a psychoacoustical journey voyaged to enhance the art of listening. An opportunity to explore where sound meets the psychedelic realms. Sound meditation, sound healing, sound bath … whatever you might call it, we invite you to come and let the experience dissolve conception and enhance sensation.
We Bring:
– A collection of gongs. singing bowls, and other unique acoustic
instruments with a dash of electronic/plugged-in stuff
– The ability to create and hold a safe container for the journey
– Passion, knowledge and skills for working with sound, music and the
spaces between to unfold dynamic soundscapes
– Chocolate for post-event consumption
You Bring:
– Your sense of curiosity
– A yoga mat, antigravity chair, cushions, blankets, pillows, eye pillows/
coverings, and anything else you will need to be comfortable. This
event is held in a beautiful gallery space with hardwood floors and
very limited props so we encourage you bring things.
– Many people experience temperature changes during these events so
layers of clothing are highly recommended
– Your friends, family and others who love any of the following: music,
meditation, relaxation, perceptual exploration and/or pondering the
workings of consciousness
Led by Sher Levesque and Marcus Soifer

Sher Levesque is a healing arts practitioner who works with the mediums of movement, meditation and vibration. She has worked in the public health/social services field for over twenty years and currently works at the TAP program with NEYT. Sher is completing her certification in sound therapy with Mitch Nur & 9ways Academia and crystal therapy with Naisha Ahsian at the Crystalis Institute.
Marcus Soifer is a psychotherapist and board certified music therapist with a private practice at Indigo Wholistic Healing Center in Florence, MA. He is currently training for certification in sound therapy with Mitch Nur, PhD and 9ways Academia.
Cost: $20 if purchased via Paypal before March 30th
$25 at the door cash or check
To Register: Email srihealingarts@gmail.com

African Drum & Dance with Ult Mundane & Tara Murphy
2019-04-03 18:00 - 20:30
Drum class with Ult Mundane from 6 -7 pm and dance class with Tara Murphy 7 – 8:30 pm at 118 Elliot in Brattleboro, VT on Wednesday April 3rd.
The cost for the drum class is $10-12 and the dance class $15-20 sliding scale. ALL LEVELS WELCOME!
There are extra drums for those who need one for the drum class. Live drumming for the dance class. Wear clothes that you can move in and bring a water bottle.
Ult Mundane has been studying traditional West African drumming for over fifteen years. He has learned from world-renowned teachers such as Famoudou Konate and Mamady Keita, and since 2010 he has studied with Namory Keita, a master drummer from Guinea who now lives in Maine. He’s been teaching weekly djembe and dundun classes for twelve years. He currently teaches Monday evenings at the Rise Up Center in Wilton, NH. Learn to play the high-energy dance music of West Africa! We’ll touch on the foundations of technique for playing the djembe, and then learn a series of phrases that go with a traditional song.
The African dance class with Tara Murphy will get your blood pumping and your heart soaring. Feel the rhythms and shake what you got! Participants will learn the basic style of African dance as well as traditional dances from Mali, Guinea and Senegal, West Africa. The class emphasizes community, self-expression and the joy of movement. We will let our spirits fly!
Tara Murphy, originally from Washington, D.C., grew up studying ballet and theater. She earned her B.A. in theater and religious studies at Yale University. At this time she also began studying African dance and drumming, and exploring her African heritage. While at Yale, Tara was awarded a fellowship to study traditional dance and drumming at the University of Legon in Ghana, West Africa. For the past 20 years, she has studied closely under many African and Afro-Caribbean artists in Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston. Tara recognizes the practice of African dance and drumming as a tremendous force for healing, meditation, empowerment and community. It is her greatest honor to share the inspiration of these ancient traditions.

Steve Redmond: Sarasota Incognita
2019-04-05 17:30 - 20:30
Join us for the opening reception of Sarasota Incognita, the work of painter Steve Redmond.
This retrospective begins with work from Redmond’s early painting years on a self-built studio houseboat. Traveling from Vermont through central Florida to the Gulf coast, Redmond lived, worked, and painted, on board and off, for three years. These and later paintings alternate between the outer and the inner journey, interposing explorations of the American landscape, the Tarot, Grail legend, and creation story. This show is a must-see for all those interested in a self-styled journalistic approach, one which uses archetypal mythology alongside abstraction in service of authentic expression.
Food and wine served!

Local Ukulele Student Showcase and Fundraiser for the Vermont Ukulele Harvest
2019-04-07 13:30 - 16:30
Public invited to enjoy a variety of works performed by local ukulele students. All-ages performances! Families and children encouraged to attend! Local teachers and artists will be on site to provide information about ongoing class, lesson, workshop and performance opportunities. Enjoy a meet-and-greet with teachers after the performances. Vermont Ukulele Harvest information provided after performance also.

Architecture + Design Film Series: Leaning into the Wind
2019-04-10 18:30 - 20:30
The Architecture + Design Film Series continues with LEANING INTO THE WIND

Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer
2017, Germany, 97 Minutes
PREVIEW ON YOUTUBE

Leaning into the Wind is a vibrant journey through the diverse layers of Andy Goldsworthy’s world. From urban Edinburgh and London to the South of France and New England, each environment he encounters becomes a fresh kaleidoscopic canvas for his art. A lushly-visualized travelogue, Goldsworthy’s work and Thomas Riedelsheimer’s exquisite cinematography redefine landscape and inextricably tie human life to the natural world.

Doors open at 6pm. Films are free and open to the public.

British sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist Andy Goldsworthy is known internationally for his “earth art,” site-specific installations that incorporate nature and the passage of time. Leaning into the Wind is a vibrant journey through the diverse layers of Andy Goldsworthy’s world. From urban Edinburgh and London to the South of France and New England, each environment he encounters becomes a fresh kaleidoscopic canvas for his art. A lushly-visualized travelogue, Goldsworthy’s work and Thomas Riedelsheimer’s exquisite cinematography redefine landscape and inextricably tie human life to the natural world.

The Architecture + Design Film Series, started five years ago in Burlington, selects diverse films celebrating design in all its various forms. This year, through the generosity of the American Institute of Architects Vermont Chapter and local sponsors, the monthly screenings will be held simultaneously at 118 Elliot through May 2019. Film showings are free and open to all, presented to foster understanding and stimulate conversation about the impact of design and beauty in our daily lives.

The Architecture + Design Film Series website www.adfilmseries.org tells the history of the film series and presents film trailers for movies this season. 118 Elliot is a modern, fully accessible arts and educational center in Downtown Brattleboro. A new season will start in September of this year. Learn more at www.118Elliot.com.

The Roundtable Discussion Series: Robert Frost at Marlboro College
2019-04-18 18:00 - 19:00
In a nod to National Poetry Month, Landmark College professor and Robert Frost scholar Daniel Toomey will discuss Frost’s ties to Marlboro College for the Brattleboro Words Project’s monthly Roundtable Discussion Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 118 Elliot at 6:00 pm. The event is free and refreshments will be served.

It’s a little known fact that Robert Frost had a hand in the
founding of Marlboro College. In 1917, when Frost started teaching at
Amherst College, he began his mentorship of Walter Hendricks, the
writer, educator, and publisher who would go on to found Marlboro
College in 1946. Robert Frost read a poem at the school’s first
graduation, and in the college’s early days he would visit campus and
practice what he called “education by presence,” listening to students’
ideas and sharing his own in a free interchange. As Daniel Toomey will
show on April 14, Frost had a lasting influence on the Marlboro College
community and way of life, and his presence remains.

Roundtable Discussions are also an opportunity for Words
Project research leaders and teachers to share information and
inspiration and for members of the public to discover how they too can
participate in making podcasts about sites and themes important to our
region’s storied past.

The Brattleboro Words Project is a multi-year collaboration
between the Brattleboro Historical Society, the Brattleboro Literary
Festival, Write Action, Brooks Memorial Library and Marlboro College
backed by a National Endowment for the Humanities matching grant. The
Project seeks public participation in research, writing and creating a
‘Brattleboro Words Trail’, audio linked to sites of interest in the
history of words for walking, biking and driving tours of our area, a
book on Brattleboro’s printing and publishing history, and other events
linked to the October Brattleboro Literary Festival and throughout the
year. For more information visit: www.brattleborowords.org

African Drum & Dance with Namory Keita & Seny Daffe
2019-04-24 18:00 - 20:30
African Dance Vermont is excited to welcome back Namory Keita and Seny Daffe, both master teachers originally from Guinea.
There will be live drumming accompanying the dance classes. The drum classes are from 6:00 to 7:00 pm and the cost is on a sliding scale $10-12. There are extra drums for those who need one. The dance classes are from 7:00 to 8:30 and the cost is on a sliding scale $15-20. All levels including beginners are welcome. Wear clothes that you can move in and bring a water bottle.
Namory Keita is an accomplished Guinean drummer who was the lead drummer for his village, Sangbaralla. He has lead countless traditional musical events and ceremonies. Since 2006, Namory has performed and taught around the U.S. and internationally and has recorded with the group Fankaba. For several years, Namory taught a weekly drum class and accompanied the dance classes in Brattleboro, Vt. and currently teaches and drums for classes in Kittery, Me. Namory plays for the world renowned West African dance teacher Youssouf Koumbassa, the Kouraba Festival in Canada, Cirque Zuma Zuma, ILAP, and many other noted musicians and venues throughout New England and the US and abroad. Namory is a sought after teacher and performer with a unique style and a wealth of traditional knowledge very rare to find outside the villages of Guinea. He is a fabulous djembe player and a generous teacher who is experienced at teaching across cultures and skill levels. He is known for his love of his village, his respect for traditional music and his infectious joy of life. Take a class with Namory and experience the joy of learning from a masterful player and teacher.
Seny Daffe was born in Conakry, Guinea, West Africa, where dancing and drumming are inseparable from their culture. He is a versatile musician and a very talented dancer, singer and comedian. Seny has a wealth of performing experience in traditional and contemporary dance and drum. Since coming to the United States in 2006, he has traveled the east coast from Florida to Vermont working with several companies and well-known artists. As a member of Jeh Kulu Dance and Drum Theater of Burlington, VT, he is a regular drummer and teacher for dance classes, and assists in musical direction and choreography. He also independently leads multiple dance and drum classes, and is in popular demand to lead workshops throughout the northeast and beyond. He is a multi-talented and dynamic teacher and performer who is gaining a reputation for his approachable and exciting dance and drum classes, his electrifying doundoun playing, and for his rich and powerful voice.

Bernie 2020 Organizing Kickoff
2019-04-27 16:00 - 18:00
Kick Off with Bernie!
Saturday, April 27, 4-6 PM
Come together with your friends, family, and neighbors to join Bernie Sanders’ historic campaign to defeat Trump and transform America. Join us on April 27th to hear from Senator Sanders about our vision and what it’s going to take to complete the political revolution. It’s going to take all of us, so let’s get to work!
RSVP here: https://act.berniesanders.com/event/KickOff

Voices of The Lakota
2019-04-28 19:00 - 21:00
The Experiential Learning and Collaboration Course with The Oglala Lakota People Presents:
Voices of The Lakota.
9 members of the Marlboro College community ate, lived and traveled together for a 2 week trip to The Pine Ridge Reservation. Pine Ridge has the reputation of the poorest reservation in this U.S. We worked to understand this at the same time as we worked to understand how to be respectful visitors. We will share excerpts from video interviews and thoughts on our experiences visiting various elders and families. We will also talk about the non-profit organizations we visited, such as Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, White Clay Makerspace, B.E.A.R. Project (Better Education and Reading), Lakota Solar Enterprises. The work of these organizations is crucial to addressing some of the issues people on the Reservation face.
7pm, Sunday April, 28th at 118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro
For more information please call John Willis 802-380-9057

BAPC Dance Party & Mocktail Contest
2019-05-01 18:30 - 21:00
The Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition is hosting a dance party and mocktail contest in celebration of everyone who successfully completed their “Alcohol-Free April” challenge.
Attendees will vote on their favorite mocktails from five area restaurants: Duo Restaurant- Vermont, echo restaurant & lounge, Twin Flames Taqueria, Whetstone Station Restaurant and Brewery and India Masala House.
Co-sponsored by Park Place Financial Advisors and Brattleboro Savings & Loan.
Come for the music, stay for the drinks—and, yes, there will be prizes! All are welcome.

"COBRA" Taught by Anna Patton
2019-05-02 19:30 - 21:30
A participatory, improvisatory musical game-piece created by John Zorn. For instrumentalists and vocalists who are willing to make stuff up, listen, and pay attention.
At 118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro VT
3 Thursdays in May, from 7:30 – 9:30 pm
May 2
May 9
May 16
…and likely more dates in early June
Cobra is a fun, fast-paced musical(-ish) game-piece by John Zorn. It’s structure might remind you more of a theater improv game than a piece of music. The musical/sonic material is entirely improvised and different in every iteration of the game. Participants signal a prompter to give the ensemble various cues written on cards so that all the improvisers can momentarily take control of the shape of the piece. Transitions can be quite fast and comically abrupt. Cobra is a great structure for working on decisiveness and commitment in improvisation, and for exploring urges that may be inappropriate in politely democratic jam sessions.
Participants may come to whichever date or dates they can make, though there will probably be less teaching of the game at later dates and they may need to watch and listen for a while before jumping in.
There is no fee, but there will be a donation jar for anyone moved to contribute for the teaching and the use of the space.
Questions? anna@annapatton.com

Diversity Day Exhibit
2019-05-03 17:00 - 20:00
May 3rd, Gallery Walk: As part of the 20th annual Diversity Day celebrations, 118 Elliot will exhibit student artwork and host a story time and music and movement session for children. Art will remain hanging for the month of May as 118 Gallery’s featured exhibit. More on Diversity Day 2019 from the organizers:
“The Town of Brattleboro and Windham Southeast Supervisory Union are proud to host the 20th annual Community Celebration of Diversity! WSESU students, families, friends, and community members are all welcome at this festive event celebrating our diverse schools and communities. The theme of this year’s celebration is Voices of the People highlighting the perspectives and experiences of marginalized people.
This event will feature art and performances by WSESU students from BUHS, BAMS, and elementary schools in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Vernon, Guilford, and Putney. Elliot Street will be closed from Harmony Lot to Main for a festive block party with crafts, activities, entertainment, and food!”

Confluential Frequencies: A Soundscape Journey
2019-05-05 15:00 - 16:30
A Sri Healing Arts Event
Join us for a psychoacoustical journey voyaged to enhance the art of listening. An opportunity to explore where sound meets the psychedelic realms. Sound meditation, sound healing, sound bath … whatever you might call it, we invite you to come and let the experience dissolve conception and enhance sensation.
We Bring
– A collection of gongs. singing bowls, and other unique acoustic
instruments with a dash of electronic/plugged-in stuff
– The ability to create and hold a safe container for the journey
– Passion, knowledge and skills for working with sound, music
and the spaces between to unfold dynamic soundscapes
– Chocolate for post-event consumption
You Bring
– Your sense of curiosity
– A yoga mat, antigravity chair, cushions, blankets, pillows, eye
pillows/coverings, and anything else you will need to be
comfortable. This event is held in a beautiful gallery space with
hardwood floors and very limited props so we encourage you
bring things.
– Many people experience temperature changes during these
events so layers of clothing are highly recommended
– Your friends, family and others who love any of the following:
music, meditation, relaxation, perceptual exploration and/or
pondering the workings of consciousness
Who We Are
Sher Levesque is a healing arts practitioner who works with the mediums of movement, meditation and vibration. She has worked in the public health/social services field for over twenty years and currently works at the TAP program with NEYT. Sher is completing her certification in sound therapy with Mitch Nur & 9ways Academia and crystal therapy with Naisha Ahsian at the Crystalis Institute.
Marcus Soifer is a psychotherapist and board certified music therapist with a private practice at Indigo Wholistic Healing Center in Florence, MA. He is currently training for certification in sound therapy with Mitch Nur, PhD and 9ways Academia.
Cost: $17 if you pre-register by 5/4, $20 at the door

Exploring the Green New Deal: A Brattleboro Town Hall Meeting
2019-05-07 18:00 - 19:30
As part of the Sunrise Movement’s Road to the Green New Deal, 118 Elliot is hosting a town hall event for local organizations and residents to discuss climate policy and the Green New Deal.

How do we break our dependence on fossil fuels? What is driving unprecedented wealth and income inequality? Can we turn the tide on climate change? These questions are related, urgent, and framing a national conversation on a Green New Deal. The answers will define the viability of our economy, character of our democracy, and obligations to our children.

Join a conversation at the crossroads of economy, society, and environment as ecological economist and author Jon Erickson, the Blittersdorf Professor of Sustainability Science and Policy at the University of Vermont, offers specifics and perspectives on the Green New Deal and its effort to address climate change at a Brattleboro Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, May 7 at 6:00 pm at 118 Elliot, 118 Elliot Street in Brattleboro, Vermont. Dr. Erickson will speak from 6:00 to 6:30 PM and lead a discussion until 7:30 PM. Doors open at 5:30 PM. Light refreshments will be served.

While the meeting is intended as an informational gathering for ordinary citizens to learn more, a variety of local climate, social justice, and community organizations will attend to bring their perspectives to the discussion as we explore what a Green New Deal could look like in Vermont and beyond as part of the youth climate activism Sunrise Movement’s national effort to spark public participation and debate around the Green New Deal’s viability and goals. The companion bills, HR 109 and S 59, ‘Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal’, have today respectively garnered 92 and 12 cosponsors.

Presenter Jon Erickson, PhD, Blittersdorf Professor of Sustainability Science and Policy at the University of Vermont

Jon Erickson received his PhD in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics from Cornell University, and a BS in Applied Economics and Business Management from same. He has published widely on energy & climate change policy, land conservation, watershed planning, environmental public health, and the theory and practice of ecological economics. His books include The Great Experiment in Conservation: Voices from the Adirondack Park (2009), Frontiers in Ecological Economic Theory and Application (2007), and Ecological Economics: a Workbook for Problem-Based Learning (2005). He is also an Emmy award-winning producer of films such as the four-part PBS series Bloom on sources and solutions to nutrient pollution in Lake Champlain. He was the Interim Dean of UVM’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources from 2012-2014, Managing Director of UVM’s Gund Institute for Ecological Economics from 2009-2012, and is past President of the U.S. Society for Ecological Economics.

Sunrise Movement is a national, youth-led organization working to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. According to its website: “We do not look right or left, we look forward.’ The Brattleboro Town Hall is part of its ‘Road to the Green New Deal’ gatherings to promote Americans coming together around the future of our communities and our planet.

Tango Classes with Joaquin Amenàbar
2019-05-10 19:30 - 21:00
Brattleboro Tango and Western MA Tango present:
A chance to delve into the diverse rhythms and musicality of tango with the master musicality teacher Joaquín Amenábar, who literally wrote the book on how to teach tango musicality for dancers without any music training.
Pre-register: bit.ly/2TMYEMU
While you can attend these à la carte, it is recommended that you attend at least the first two if you want the later classes.
Full Schedule of Classes
Friday
7:30PM – 9:00PM
Saturday
1:00PM – 2:30PM
3:00PM – 4:30PM
4:30PM – 6:00PM
Sunday
1:00PM – 2:30PM
2:30PM – 4:00PM

BAJC Antique & Collectibles Appraisal Day
2019-05-19 13:00 - 17:30
Join the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community for their fifth annual Antiques & Collectibles Appraisal Day! Find out the value of your heirlooms and keepsakes for $7 per item or $36 for 6 items (limit of 6 items per person). No admission to enter.

Daisy Turner & Community Storytelling with the Vermont Folklife Center
2019-05-23 18:00 - 19:00
The Brattleboro Words Project
Roundtable Discussion Series
Thursday, May 23, 6:00 to 7:00pm at 118 Elliot
The Brattleboro Words Project’s monthly Roundtable Discussion series presents Vermont Folklife Center (VFC) Associate Director and Archivist, Andy Kolovos, at 6:00 pm at 118 Elliot, 118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro. Kolovos will discuss place-based audio storytelling and VFC founder Jane Beck’s work with Vermont storyteller, Daisy Turner—the daughter of the formerly enslaved Alec and Sally Turner who settled in Grafton, Vermont in the years following the Civil War. All Brattleboro Words Project Roundtable Discussions are free and refreshments are served.
For over 35 years Vermont Folklife Center staff members have traveled the state documenting the lives and experiences of Vermonters from all walks of life. Over this time VFC has built an archive containing over 6,000 recordings, and has incorporated these voices into exhibits, websites, print publications, radio documentaries and, most recently, their podcast, VT Untapped™.
“The Vermont Folklife Center has been instrumental in shaping our approach to community-based learning,” said Brattleboro Area Middle School teacher Joe Rivers, who creates student-produced podcasts and radio for the Brattleboro Historical Society and helps spread this pedagogy to other area schools through his leadership in the Brattleboro Words Project. “[VFC’s] student-friendly ethnographic techniques, and ability to engage learners with appropriate technology, have made our efforts to chronicle Brattleboro’s past more robust and accessible.”
The Brattleboro Words Project has been donating audio equipment and trainings to area schools and helping community members participate in place-based research and creative audio production on sites important in the history of words in and around Brattleboro, with a focus on indigenous and other underrepresented stories. Collaboration with VFC will help Brattleboro Words Project teachers and community researchers better approach the stories behind the places on the Brattleboro Words Trail, the initial interation of which will be available to the public by the end of 2020. “As folklorists and ethnomusicologists we ground our work in ethnographic inquiry,” says Kolovos. “We seek to understand experience from the perspective of the people to whom an experience belongs, and audio interviews lie at the heart of what we do.”
The Brattleboro Words Project is a multi-year collaboration between the Brattleboro Historical Society, the Brattleboro Literary Festival, Write Action, Brooks Memorial Library, and Marlboro College backed by a National Endowment for the Humanities matching grant and support from area businesses and foundations. The Project seeks public participation in research, writing and creating the Brattleboro Words Trail, audio linked to sites of interest in the history of words for walking, biking and driving tours of our area, a book on Brattleboro’s printing and publishing history, and other events linked to the October Brattleboro Literary Festival and throughout the year. For more information visit: www.brattleborowordsproject.org
