Page 487 - Demo

A r t s :The %u2018People%u2019s%u2019 Culture Center Trying to DrawBY JEANNETTE WALLSIf the old adage about making people pay steeply for something for them to appreciate it isn%u2019t true, try coming up with a reason why the crowds aren%u2019t flocking to one of brooklyn%u2019s latest cultural centers.The Downtown Cultural Center, located at 11,1 Willoughby Street, opened toward the end of last July and offers classes in drama, voice, drawing, play production, modern dance, water color, ballet and musical instruments. The instructors, all Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) artists, are highly qualified and the classes, which arc very personal, are designed so its** they begin conveniently after work hours . Tbe rek| f&ncher is thak although onewools? think this would din* the center bursting with, eager applicants, the caanJhitfots (> '.w thecourse fee fr*r holding %u2022:! ram back. A sir: month hipcosts only $20.Seems unreal? That%u2019s - 'coordinator Janice Glander-Bar %u00b1is afraid peonle in she neighborhood think. %u2018 The classes here are top-rate and the teachers are very experienced. But I%u2019m afraid that when she people hear about the price the} must think that it couldn%u2019t be worth spending time on.%u201d Glander-Bandyk says that the fee and the center%u2019s relative newness are the only reason she can come up with for the Center%u2019s not having a better respone*. !'^Better response%u201d refer* to %u00bbore than %u201cthree or four regulars%u201d every session Gut low fees aren%u2019t the only things that the center has going %u201c against%u201d it. Located in what was once the school for St. Boniface Church, Kathy Berson, an instructor who teaches modern dance and ballet, points out that they are %u201c still battling the image of being %u2018the place where they hold flea markets.%u2019 %u201d vGlander-Bandyk agrees that getting that recognition in the area is abig problem, and right now the staff is doing everything they can to make themselves known. %u201cOnce people know about us and are aquainted with what we have, they love it. But then they hop around from the painting class to the drama class to the dance class, they can%u2019t get situated into one to really appreciate it enough.%u201dBut the few students that were there at the time had only good things to say about the center. %u201c The classes are very personal, the teachers are great. I think it%u2019s just fantastic,%u201d said Jolynn, who takes singing classes after school hours. %u201c And when they have students with different amounts of experience, they're great about handling that, too.%u201d . V'A carefully lettered sign on an office duor reveai* another of the center%u2019s major setbacks. %u201c The Not Ready For Major Center\problems. >Finding itself in athe cultural center dan*t'; additional funding unless attendance increases. %u201d C%u00ab things like a dance\\ftar would hdp^ make \\yftat students we have enthusiastic,%u201d pointed Glander*: Bandyk. But she calls the thus far a miracle. %u201cBelieve me,\she said, %u201cthis place was a The walls were filthy and The light .was non-eiis inadeqtMS situating ..contract tofefrt 'iftjjWieffl to Ho of the repair .p So the members are doing wfttothey can to make the interior of the two-story building more presentable. With the New York City Housing Authority%u2019s donation of excess test paint, the walls were recently given their first coat in 20 years. The spacious theater (which was once used by the Big Apple Theater Company) was painted a practical black and the lighting system was repaired. The linoleumof the dance floor, which was considered %u201c unusable\a good going over and the bathrooms were made into a collage of artwork. Paintings'were hung in an attempt to eliminate a stark feeling about the building and colorful murals are currently being painted on the walls.In the back, a semi-religious painting %u201c acts as a go-between for the religious and the secular\explained Glander-Bandyk, referring to the close proximity of St. Boniface Church to the Center. The coordinator says that she hopes to have poetry readings or outdoor plays soon.Despite all of its problems, GJapder-Bandyk feels that the Center U coming along %u201c very well.fT %u201c Tve-worltfc Wfth p galleries%u2014the Henry Hicks on Atlantic Avenue for one%u2014and1 hiiihi m ' iirJff iVii fii rani i Hi ifi i in ' iptllQffntflf] D iv e r t is s e m e n tp %u2019A u b e r to b e presented in the opera house ofBrooklyn Academyof Music,30 Lafayette Avenue,] O ctober 26 through lNovember5.believe me, compared to the complications I%u2019ve run into there, this place has been smooth sailing. I'm just beginning to understand the problems that we%u2019re running into and how to solve them. I'm getting a good grasp on where we might need to improve. For instance, we%u2019re beginning to organize transportation pools for our members. And we%u2019re learning more and more who to turn to when we need something.%u201dThe project was originally funded by CETA and the artists and art instructors are funded by CETA, Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Association (BACA), and YWCA/ BACA, and the Urban Core and the Colouier Council Foundation. Major Contributors lftdude Abraham and Straus. New York Telephone,J3rookJyB Onion and Consolidated Edlskm. %u2019These arethe largest employers in the area and since the program was designed for working people, they've helped us a lot. But 1 have the feeling that if we could reach more of their employees, the businesses might help us even more.\public the center is knocking off half of the $20 membership fee.%u201c We're located right in the middle of a lot of prominent neighborhoods, but we're in a sort of out of the way street. We%u2019ve already had an open house and pretty soon we%u2019ll be going to LIU,%u201d prfetty soon we%u2019ll be going to LIU.%u201d explained Glander-Bandyk. %u201c Ironic, isn't ft, that we%u2019rf h*v to push people into a progMusicbarge Anchors in New SeasonBY C. FREDERIC JOHNMusicbarge, Ltd., resumes its Sunday afternoon concert series October 15, at 4 p.m. with a program featuring flautist Kim Haely, accompanied by Lisa Bellman and joined by three string players. Ensemble works by Bach, Mozapt, and Beethoven are included, plus a solo number to be announced.Haley, a former student of the New York Philharmonic%u2019s Julius Baker, has already appeared twice on the Barge with the Basically Baroque ensemble.This Sunday she will perform Mozart%u2019s quartet for flute and strings in D, K. 285, with Barbara Govatos, violin, Lois Martin, viola, and Julian Rodescu, cello. This work is the most developed of a group of three such quartets the 12-year-old Moiart composed for a tm tm amateur to 1777. The briefto ffee Hatoe \moving elegies written for the instrument,%u201d by Mozart scholar A.I T ___kX L'' ~ Ai t j a n * k %u00bb * * ^ , %u00ab%u2022most beautiful accompanied soio ever written for the flute,%u201d by his biographer, Alfred Einstein.The three string players alone will offer a relatively early work by another composer, Beethoven%u2019s trio Op. 9, No. 1 in G, believed written between 1797 or '98, when Beethoven was 28. A youthfulexuberance can be found in the rambunctious theme that dominates the first movement (given out first by the cello). Later in the same movement an almost pleading motive, heard in both major and minor, brings about a complete change of mood, an early example of Beethoven%u2019s mastery at juxtaposing sharply contrasting themes. Bach%u2019s trio sonata in G for tlute, violin and keyboard provides an opportunity for a third combination of instruments to be heard together.The concert marks the return of Musicbarge to these shores after a two-week absence for hauling and maintenance. For those not yet familiar with New York%u2019s newest music haven, Musicbarge is a floating recital chamber docked at the old Fulton Street Ferry Landing. The creation of Olga Bloom, who tPaaa$pM%u00abd the vessel from coffeia kp ytof uAacert hull, MusRfewgft teas fettered Sunday afternoon performances since it was launched last April.i n v v i v i N T V i i i n Datmosphere. (In fact, this room also serves as Bloom%u2019s residence.) A brick fireplace with chopped wood ready for use provides a final touch.As the barge is nestled practically at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, the panelling ensures more than atmosphere%u2014it reduces the constant noise of bridge traffic to a distant hum, which one soon forgets. This underbelly view of the bridge, with its sturdy pillars and intricate swirl of cables suggesting the rigging of an old ship, would alone justify the walk to the water%u2019s edge, and becomes an added attraction for afternoon concert goers.Blopm envisions a continuing series based on a year-round residency for a number of musicians, and is seeking funding to realize this goal. So far she has augmented the two brings now in tetotoaice (cellist twdfacuand violinist Dan Stanley) with constant guests, both soloists and groups, such as Basically BaroqueThe physical structure is anything but the rude environment one might expect. The interior suggests a drawing%u2014or music-room in a townhouse of a more comfortable age. Mahogany panelling lines the walls, with occasional paintings, plants, and objects d%u2019art contributing to a friendly, homey**%u00bb%u00bb%u00ab** v* *%u00bb k j \\ j v%u00bb %u00bb* t *i v%u00ab g u n n e l . k it ivencourages ensembles breaking into various combinations, as Sunday%u2019s permutations demonstrate, offering greater potential to the performer%u2019- und wider variety to the audien^.Bloom, who thinks musicians need a home as respected professionals within a community, isvery enthusiastic about the Brooklyn community to which she has secured her moorings. She praises the public for its support, and is herself happy to be back in an urban environment after living in more placid Long Island.She also feels that %u201c all the media has been extremely kind,%u201d citing a Public Broadcasting event that was heard nation-wide and believes the success of her new venture%u2014not yet a half year old%u2014is steadily growing. In anticipation, she plans to acquire more chairs to accommodate the 175-person limit. The musicians have already expanded their roles to include teaching and coaching community amateurs. And professional-quality recording equipment has just arrived, opening new opportunities for the performers.As for year-round activities, she assures as that her vessel to folly wtoterfeML OMnetotely tasulatedand heuted by a furnace below the floor.What about the problem of large waves from passing snips rocxing the boat? %u201c Now and then we get a bit of a surge%u2014everybody adores it.%u201dWho%u2019s on deck at the Musicbarge? Pianist Myron McPherson offers a solo recital October 22, followed by violinist Toscha Samaroff the next Sunday. McPherson's program will featureworks by Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, and Messiaen, while Samaroff%u2019s recital will be dedicated to less-familiar works of the late 19th and early 10th centuries, as well as a Beethoven sonata.Musicbarge can be reached by following Cadman Plaza West down the hill. Nearest subway stop%u2014the A train%u2019s High S t./ Brooklyn Bridge station.Opera Society Opens %u2018Flqaro%u2019The Brooklyn Opera Society opens its 1978/79 season with a production of M ozart%u2019s %u201c The Marriage: of Figaro.%u201d Performances will be held November 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m. in downtown Brooklyn%u2019s New York City Comsnusky College andIf, t n .st. %u00abt;f %u00ab ! t f %u00ab tsThis season%u2019s program istoudesfive performances of Puccini's La Bo'neme, a Baroque twin bill featuring Purcell s Dido and A eneas%u201d and M onteverdi%u2019s %u201d 11 Ballo delle Ingraet%u201d during March. May will bring %u201c The Barber of Seville.%u201dproductions are from $16 to $48. Single tickets and group rates are available. For more information, call 789-6759.%u25a0 j p g *m m mv* VW<*%u2022*%