Holiday Gift Guide 2005	All in the Family by Cynnie Gaasch

I heard a mom talking recently about the holiday season as an opportunity to expose her children to the arts. The memory of “A Christmas Carol,” dressed in my red velvet dress, seated next to my mother at the age of eight is still fresh in my mind. Bigger than life, the scary ghost of Christmas Future and the decadently joyous ghost of Christmas Present filled the theatre with his baritone laugh. The same goes for a holiday performance of “Peter and the Wolf” read aloud with a live orchestra. I was hooked on live art performances from the get go, and I have never stopped feeding that need as an audience member or participant. You can never start too soon with your little ones, and this mom I was listening to had some suggestions for how to prepare children for live performances. So I’ll give you some suggestions here, as well as highlights of this holiday season. Hopefully, your children can develop into the future audience for the visual and performing arts in our area.

Appreciating Art 101

First off, it’s important to instill in your children an appreciation for the efforts, talents and generosity of the artists they are going to watch perform (that works for arts studio visits or fine gift shop visits as well). Compare the production or artwork to your child’s own experience creating something, or their hard work in chorus or dance class (or even sports or a martial art, or baking a cake). They can understand that, just like respecting their parents and listening, they should do this with performers. Explain to them that often a musical, dance, or theatre production is longer than their favorite television show, so they may have to work a little bit harder at staying still, but it will be worth it! And lastly, try introducing them to similar subject matter or the art form with a video, music recording, or a book. If you are making a trip to Graycliff, spend some time beforehand with a book about Buffalo’s architecture.

Seeking Santa

If it is possible to combine the arts with a Santa experience, what could be a better way to entice your children down the path of cultural awareness? The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s “A Visit from St. Nick” on Sunday, December 11 brings in the assistance of the Greater Buffalo Youth Ballet and Diane Dick on hand bells. BPO Executive Director Daniel Hart dons the Santa costume to welcome all of the children to the holiday performance (www.bpo.org). Saturdays through December, Mr. St. Nick will be visiting the shops and wandering the Elmwood Village to add to the holiday abundance of our most prized shopping district (www.foreverelmwood.org). The “Elmwood Village Christmas Parade” is December 17 at 10 am, and a special visit with Santa can be arranged by emailing events@foreverelmwood.org. The Herschell Carousel Factory Museum in North Tonawanda is also hosting a special Santa event on Saturdays December 3 and 10 from noon to 4 pm. Children aged twelve and under can visit for free (www.carrouselmuseum.org).

Storytelling

In a slightly different spirit, Musical Fare Theatre, at Daemen College in Amherst, presents the comedy A Christmas Survival Guide (pictured above, left), which is currently running through December 11 with performances Wednesday through Sunday (839-8540). (Check out Artvoice Theatre Editor Anthony Chase’s “Artist of the Week” interview with the show’s director, Lisa Ludwig, in this issue.) For more theatrical fun, check out Petites Choses (pictured above right), a fabulously inventive puppet show, created and performed by Michele Costa and music by Eric Satie, Nov. 26 and 27 at 7 pm, at Rust Belt Books (not for young children due to “small puppet nudity”); or Nuncrackers, a musical comedy production, at the Lancaster Opera House through December 7 (683-1776). The UB Department of Theatre and Dance is presenting The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare, directed by Saul Elkin, this weekend, Thursday through Saturday at 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm (645-ARTS).

The Theatre of Youth’s production of The Masque of Beauty and the Beast is a retelling of the 17th-century fairy tale, “La Belle et la Bete.” The production opens December 2 and runs through December 23 with Friday performances at 7 pm and Saturday and Sundays at 2 pm (884-4400). Buffalo’s Pick of the Crop Dance Company will perform “Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat” at the historically restored 1891 Fredonia Opera House this Saturday, November 19 at 2 pm (679-1891). This dance production is the story of a proud and haughty widow who learns happiness and humility through her friendship with a mysterious ginger cat, based on the book by Jennifer Armstrong.

Something to See

Art shows abound during the holidays, and make great family outings. The Graycliff Conservatory, Inc. will offer special expanded tours this Thanksgiving weekend with tours Friday and Saturday at 11 am, noon, 1, 2, 3, and 4 pm, and 1, 2, 3 and 4 pm on Sunday; tours on Saturday will be hosted by architect Patrick Mahoney (947-9217).

The annual Artists in Buffalo Holiday Open Studio event will take place this year on December 2, 3 and 4, with receptions Friday evening. Artists will open their studios to the public on Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm. A map is available at www.artistsinbuffalo.org. Buffalo Arts Studio’s annual Resident Artist Small Works Exhibit is another opportunity to spend time in artists’ studios and consider original art by local artists, including William Cooper, David Derner, Bryan Hopkins, A.J. Fries, Ani Hoover, Rob Lynch, Sarah Prochownick, and Deborah Stewart, for purchase. The exhibit opens with a reception this Saturday, November 19 and continues through January 7 (833-4450). Music will be provided at the reception by Sick & Tone (jazz, soul and originals), and an expanded jewelry selection will be available courtesy of Wild Things.

Bringing it All Together

In addition with the new “Culture Craze” adult ticket packages (see page 31), this collaboration between nine Buffalo art organizations is now offering the “Holiday Happenings” family package. It includes, among other events later in 2006, “A Visit from St. Nick” with the BPO, a screening of the perennial favorite film A Christmas Story at Studio Arena Theatre, the Model Train Village exhibit at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, and a screening of the classic film, It’s A Wonderful Life at Shea’s Peroforming Arts Center on December 4 at 4 pm. Visit www.culturecraze.org for more information.