Events around and about Dartmouth College and Hanover, New Hampshire
Bill 
Another unusual Telluride candidate: a musical. The opening scene was a treat, a slow opening in a traffic jam evolving into a huge song and dance fest.
Emma Stone was a strong lead, with a somewhat wooden Ryan Gosling. Great colors, and a fun story, although her meteoric rise was a bit exaggerated.
Part of Telluride at Dartmouth. I knew this was a science fiction film, which was unusual for Telluride, so I was looking forward to this one. And I wasn’t disappointed.
This was a strange movie, that was hard to follow, and you can’t really connect the pieces until the end, when it does all come together.
This was an unusual outdoor event. The dancers started from the roof, and “danced” on the side of the building as if it was the floor. The rope attachment allowed some spectacular jumps and swings.
The next act was on the wall of the Visual Arts Center to swing music. It started with a stray newspaper, and ended up with a lovely pas de deux on the glass wall.
What a treat to have this and Telluride all at the same time!
A sell out crowd in Spaulding led to a late start for the Chick Corea Trio. Chick is a very relaxed and congenial performer, and a master at the piano. The bassist Christian McBride was excellent, and so was enthusiastic drummer Brian Blade.
Somehow, the music just didn’t appeal to me. Maybe at a bar, or maybe some more recognizable music, and too many drum solos. I loved the bass solos though.
This lovely choral piece was held in Rollins Chapel on a rainy afternoon. It was a late addition to the program, and I got tickets at the last minute. The group was very formal – the women all in long black dresses, the men all in black suits. But it suited the piece. It was sung in Russian, which was interesting – on the fringe of understanding.
The bass was very powerful, providing the melody in a couple of the different sections. The mezzo solo in the second section, but Nikhil’s solos in section IX were very good – I still think he should have won Dartmouth Idol.
The piece was not what I would have expected – nothing like the piano works. Instead, very traditional, like the Baltic choir I heard a few years ago. The piece was written in 1915, and Rachmaninov wanted it played at his funeral.
I’m not sure if it was connected, but it happened to be Easter Sunday in the Orthodox calendar.