The Hudson Eye, the 10-day citywide arts festival through September 4, in Hudson, New York, includes dance, theater and music performances, poetry readings, film, gallery visits, artist and community talks, family friendly events, and a BBQ Across Cultures, to top off the festivities. In its fifth year produced by the Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation, the festival highlights the city’s strength as an arts magnet attracting visitors from the East Coast and farther afield.
Judging from the transporting dance performances of Jodi Melnick & Maya Lee-Parritz, a swirl of subtlety, masterful technique and choreography at Hudson Hall that opened the festivities, the week’s offerings promise to gratify.
Upcoming highlights include:
Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, Time and Space Limited (TSL), the outstanding, progressive and original theater and dance company, presents their newest, compelling work, SAID & DONE, on September 1. SAID & DONE, a trio for playwright and poet Linda Mussman, movement artist and actor, Claudia Bruce and dancer Charlotte Stickles, is in line with TSL’s nuanced, political oeuvre. Founded in NYC in 1973 by Mussman, and joined by Bruce in 1976, the two intuitively explore language, form and movement that develops organically into startling presentations. Moving to Hudson thirty years ago, Mussman and Bruce purchased a former bakery that has become over time, a welcomed artist center.
Choreographer and media artist Jonah Bokaer’s Open Systems takes place on September 2. A dancer of note, having famously danced with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Bokaer, as choreographer, collaborates with major artists, and has presented his dances, with his touring company of eight, across the globe. A leader in the field, Bokaer has realized four art spaces, in New York City and Hudson.
Underpinning the festival are the city’s 26 galleries. Jeffery Gibson, the Indigenous artist selected to represent the U.S. this year at the Venice Biennale, is a Hudson resident. SEFA Gallery, Susan Eley, gallerist, hosts an Artists Legacy Talk on September 3. Eley with fellow gallerist and sculptor, Jeremy Bullis, of Window On Hudson, feature the work of their parents, painter and sculptor Carole Eisner, mother of Eley and mobiles created by Bullis’ father, David Bullis. Eisner and Bullis each came of age as artists in the 1960s and exemplify the influence of mid-20th century Abstract Expressionism. Bright colors, shapes and movement characterize their work. Ellen D’Arcy Simpson, of Simpson Art Works, moderates the Talk that includes Eisner, Eley and Jeremy Bullis.
Catherine Tharin danced with the Erick Hawkins Dance Company. She teaches dance studies and technique, is an independent dance and performance curator, choreographs, writes about dance for Side of Culture, and is a reviewer and editor for The Dance Enthusiast. She also writes for The Boston Globe. Catherine lives in Pine Plains, New York and New York City.
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