A string quartet, street dance, an exhibit of early modernism, boogie-blues, Jewish world-beat jazz, an alternative circus, Southern bluesy folk-rock, and an original work of multimedia performance art are just a few highlights of our cultural weekend in the greater region.
The Momenta Quartet will perform works by Charles Ives and Tan Dun at Simon’s Rock College in Great Barrington as part of the South Berkshire Concerts series on Saturday at 8 p.m. The program will include the Second String Quartet of Charles Ives, followed by “Ghost Opera,” a theatrical work for quartet and pipa, a Chinese lute, composed by Tan Dun, perhaps China’s best known living composer.
Up in North Adams, Storyboard P and his troupe, the Warriorz, bring their stylized street dance to Club B-10 at MASS MoCA on Saturday at 8 p.m. Storyboard P has been called “the Basquiat of street dance,” and “a man whose dancing seems to belong less to the limitations of the human body and more to the magic of special effects.” Kinetic, fluid, and utterly mesmerizing, Storyboard P elevates street dancing to a form of high art with his explosive energy, smooth yet spasmodic style, and perpetually in-the-moment stage presence.
On the MASS MoCA campus, Uncanny Valley, a show of innovative works on paper and paintings by New England-based artist Shona Macdonald, opens at Independent Art Projects on Saturday, with a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. The exhibition is a new series developed from 2013 to 2015 that explores how human intervention interrupts the landscape. Thus, tarps cover over-wintered plants, reflectors resemble eyes, and hay bales become ominous teeth.
Over in Williamstown, Machine Age Modernism: Prints from the Daniel Cowin Collection, features works created by artists associated with London’s Grosvenor School of Modern Art in the 1930s and 1940s. The prints were inspired by such prewar movements as Futurism and Cubism and used innovative techniques. The new exhibit goes on view at the Clark Art Institute on Saturday, and remains on display through May 17.
In Pittsfield, George Thorogood & The Destroyers bring their singular style of boogie-blues to the Colonial Theater on Tuesday, at 7:30 0.pm. Legendary Boston-based soul-rock shouter Barrence Whitfield opens the show. George Thorogood and his longtime band, the Destroyers boast a catalog of iconic hits, including "Bad To The Bone,” "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” and "Move It On Over.”
Jewish world-beat jazz quartet Sha’ar performs a Candlelight Concert at Omi International Arts Center in Ghent on Saturday, at 6:30 p.m. The quartet features drummer/percussionist David Freeman, guitarist Oren Neiman, Iván Barenboim on clarinet and bass clarinet, and bassist Doug Drewes.
Hudson’s own Bindlestiff Family Cirkus continues its wintertime tradition of hosting a monthly cabaret, featuring a variety of circus, theater, comedy and musical entertainers, at Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday at 9 p.m. Also at Helsinki, the Grammy Award-nominated North Mississippi Allstars and singer-guitarist Anders Osborne will combine forces as N.M.O. (North Mississippi Osbornes) on Sunday, at 8 p.m. The evening will feature separate sets by each artist, who will then come together to celebrate their new collaboration and new CD with a set of their rootsy songs that harken back to the Band and the Grateful Dead.
And finally, Hudson-based Performance artist Ryder Cooley will present her new multimedia work, “Revival,” at the Tavern Bar and Library above Pecks Arcade in Troy -- coinciding with Troy Night Out -- tonight at 9 p.m. The program is a 20-minute live-cinema performance comprised of re-edited archival film, live music, recorded sound, projections, shadows and movement. Cooley will also perform a selection of musical numbers from her vast repertoire with her Dust Bowl Faeries band mate Karen Cole.
I’m Seth Rogovoy, and that’s the Rogovoy Report for this weekend.