A few months ago, we introduced our readers to Emily Tworek Helenbrook, a 14-year-old vocalist from Alexander, who was then being featured as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Emily's mother, Marisa, has sent us some updates on Emily that we wanted to share.

Emily was invited to sing for three separate services at the Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church in honor of the victims of the crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence Center a couple weeks ago. She was then requested by Erie County officials to open the memorial service last Monday morning. "She sand the inspirational song called 'You'll Never Walk Alone,'" her mother wrote. "Over 2,000 people attended the service."

From Marisa Helenbrook:

"On February 8, Emily entered a competition called Search For a Star, sponsered by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Over 100 talented young musicians attended. Emily was chosen as one of the winners and she will be performing with the RPO on May 31, 2009 at the Eastman Theatre (at) 2:00PM.

"On March 27, Emily will be performing at the University of Rochester at 7:00 and March 29 at the Montante Center with the ARS Nova Musicians at 7:00. (This) week, Emily will travel to Oberlin University in Cleveland, Ohio for the first round in the national competition called The Classical Singers Vocal Contest."

For those who missed it, here is the video of Emily from our original post:

From the Batavia Players:

To begin its 77th Year as one of New York State’s oldest continuous Community Theater organizations, Batavia Players, Inc. is pleased to announce it’s first offering this 2009 Season.  The Annual Shakespeare in Springtime Program this year will feature “A Comedy of Errors”.   The uproarious mistaken identity misadventure opens on the stage at John Kennedy Elementary School on March 19th and runs until Saturday, March 21st.  Show time is 7:30 each evening.  Tickets are available at the door or at Go Art!, 201 East Main Street in Batavia.  Ticket Prices are $10 for Adults and $8 for Students and Senior Citizens.

“A Comedy of Errors” is the shortest of Shakespeare’s plays and perhaps the most humorous.  It revolves around the story of two sets of identical twins that get separated shortly after birth.  The fun and frivolity ensues when both sets appear in the same town 30 years later.  Directed by E. Jane Burk, the play consists of a cast of 25 professional and community theater actors.  “Comedy’s” set is designed by Kevin Partridge and Patrick Burk.   Both Mr. Burk and Mr. Partridge also appear in the show.  Costumes are designed by Patrick Burk, Beth Ann Hooker and Alice Judkins.

Batavia Players, Inc. is starting its second year of a five-show season.  They also are looking to establish a permanent performance space by the 2011 Season.  This year’s season includes Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe - to be performed in June, Summer Youth Theater Production of The Wiz – August 20th – 22nd, A Wilder Evening – One Act Plays by Thornton Wilder  - September 18th – 19th and You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown which will feature the City of Batavia All Elementary Chorus as its holiday offering in December.

Anyone interested in Batavia Players can call 585-343-9313 ext 31 or call Patrick Burk directly at 585-343-9721.

From the VA Healthcare System:

Nationwide, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities use the creative arts as one form of rehabilitative treatment to help Veterans recover from and cope with physical and emotional disabilities. Across the country each year, Veterans treated at VA medical centers compete in local creative arts contests. This competition includes 50 art categories, ranging from oil painting to leatherwork to paint-by-number kits. In addition, there are 120 categories pertaining to all aspects of music, dance, drama and creative writing. The creative writing division is a more recent addition to the competition and includes original works in poetry, essay, short story, and personal experience writing.

VA Western New York Healthcare System’s Buffalo site, 3495 Bailey Avenue, will host the local Veterans Creative Arts Festival on Thursday, February 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Freedom Hall (Room 301).  The public is invited to attend the local festival and enjoy a wide variety of creative art forms displayed by local Veterans.

The winning entries will be sent to be judged by a national selection committee, which chooses first, second and third place winners among all of the entries. Select winners are invited to attend the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, taking place in San Antonio, Texas, October 5-11.

In 2008, 3100 Veterans from 113 VA facilities entered the contest nationwide, with nearly 150 of the medal-winning Veterans earning an invitation to participate.  The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is a week of learning, exploring, fellowship and celebration of the healing power of the arts.

From Genesee Community College:

Genesee Community College is proud to announce the addition of the Theatre Arts Academy beginning in the Fall 2009 semester. As the fifth Accelerated College Enrollment (ACE) Academy Program, the Theatre Arts Academy is a six-college credit program of study that gives high school students the opportunity to hone their theatre arts skills while earning transferrable college credit, and also help ease the transition into the college atmosphere.

With trained seasoned professionals, the Theatre Arts Academy combines classroom theory with extensive hands-on experiences to refine individual talents and develop creativity both on stage and behind stage. High school students will attend integrated classes with current Genesee students and earn high school elective credits, as well as college credits. Students in the ACE programs are offered a discount from the regular Genesee Community College tuition rate.

"We are very excited about giving high school students interested in Theatre Arts the opportunity to enrich their knowledge base of theater, as well as their comfort zone in acting or performing in front of others," said Maryanne Arena, director of Genesee's Fine and Performing Arts program. "Even someone who doesn't plan to make a lifetime career on stage will find this program valuable."

The ACE Program is a partnership between Genesee Community College and Western New York high schools to provide college courses to secondary students during the school day. These programs offer high school students the opportunity to enroll in college level courses and to earn college credits from Genesee Community College while still in high school. The goal is to enhance the high school learning experience and prepare students for the transition to college and career. ACE includes Advanced Studies, College Today, and the other Academy Programs including Health Careers Academy, Legal Careers Academy, Business Career Focus and Information Technology Career Focus.

Course work for the Theatre Arts Academy includes Fundamentals of Acting (THE103) and Stagecraft (THE106). Fundamentals of Acting will teach basic acting techniques and will help students become more comfortable with monologues and auditioning. Stagecraft will teach basic theories and techniques of design, construction and painting of theatre sets, as well as appreciation of the organization and operation of production crews.

Students will have the opportunity to learn and perform in the Genesee Center for the Arts, a state-of-the-art performing arts space located on Genesee's Batavia campus. At the culmination of the Academy program, students will produce a live performance in the spectacular Stuart Steiner Theatre, the heart of the Arts Center. The 328-seat facility is accessible for special needs audiences and hosts a wide array of performances throughout the year. Among the many amenities are contemporary lighting and sound systems, state-of-the-art acoustics, complete scene and costume shops and an art gallery in the lobby of the Stuart Steiner Theatre.

Acceptance into the Theatre Arts Academy is limited and requires a recommendation by the student's high school guidance counselor. Students must also possess a desire to explore career opportunities in the performing and theatre arts.

For more information on the ACE Theatre Arts Academy, visit www.genesee.edu/ace or call the ACE Programs department at 585-345-6801.

Every morning, I spend a good hour or so perusing the local media sites, looking for the stories most relevant to the folks of Genesee County. Links to those articles are then included in our Regional Headlines section down here to the right.

Often, there's that one story that deserves more than a cursory mention. For a while now, I've wanted to pick out that one article or news clip that deserved a bit more attention and bring it to you in the full light of our central blog well.

Today is the day we start that service. We hope you enjoy it.

An article this morning in the Buffalo News tells the story of a young man from a small town on the northern shore of Lake Erie. Reporter Chairty Vogel writes the tale with a sure hand and finesse enough to make it come alive.

He burned with artistic fire. But he lived a tough life, and died at a heartbreakingly young age.

Asa Ames was, in many ways, the James Dean of American folk art.

And he lived his entire life — just 27 years — right here in Western New York, in the Town of Evans, where today his simple slab tombstone lies toppled over in a country graveyard, crumbling and neglected.

That was in 1851. Now, Ames will be honored in an exhibit at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Vogel truly does a tremendous job with this story, which she recognizes as much more than a tragic tale of a talented young man who died too soon. This is the story of undiscovered talent—small town talent—that Vogel so aptly describes as "hauntingly personal." Ames was working outside of the mainstream, away from the city centers in a medium—wood—that was for the most part unappreciated at the time. He is the quintessential outsider. Like Georg Büchner and Henry Darger, Ames was not understood by the insiders until long after his death. And as Vogel tells us near the end of her article, Ames remains something of enigma, even today.

From the Richmond Memorial Library:

Date: December 10, 2008

Re: Nearly New Year’s Party

Why should adults have all the fun on New Year’s Eve? This year children can help ring in the New Year at the Richmond Memorial Library. Families are invited to the Children’s Room on December 31 from 11am –12 (noon of course) to celebrate at a “Nearly New Year’s Party”. Festive games, foods, and crafts are planned for this special occasion. So don’t let 2009 come without some fanfare. Call the library at 585-343-9550 ext. 4 and make your reservation today.

From the Richmond Memorial Library:

Sponsor:  Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross St., Batavia

Event:  Adult Book Discussion

Place:  Richmond Memorial Library

Date & Time:  Wednesday, January 14 7:45 a.m.*

Other Information:  The Adult Book Discussion Group will meet at Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross Street, Batavia on Wednesday, January 14 at 7:45 a.m. to discuss THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Books are available at the front desk. Refreshments served.  For more information, call the library at 343-9550, ext. 8 or log onto www.batavialibrary.org.

*a.m. is correct—we meet early!

From Genesee Community College:

The Genesee Center for the Arts at Genesee Community College is pleased to announce the calendar of events for its 17th season at the Stuart Steiner Theatre. The Center for the Arts is proud to bring in a variety of artists and productions that raises the standard for years to come. Live performances at the Genesee Center for the Arts begin with:

Arguably the most relevant blues artist of our time (Guitar Player magazine), OTIS TAYLOR brings his unique instrumentation and sound to Genesee Community College in early 2009. A genre defying, critically-acclaimed singer and songwriter, this former antiques dealer is currently on tour promoting his eighth and newest album Recapturing the Banjo. For more information, visit www.otistaylor.com. His performance is scheduled for Saturday, February 7, 2009 at 8:00PM. General admission ticket prices for Otis Taylor are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students, senior citizens and GCC faculty/students.

Continuing to present innovative programming for the enrichment of the community, the GENESEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA finishes its 62nd season with two final performances in the Stuart Steiner Theatre. General admission ticket prices for Genesee Symphony Orchestra concerts are $12.00 for adults, $8.00 for senior citizens (62 & over) and $5.00 for students (18 & under and GCC students with a valid ID). Orchestra tickets are also available through GO-ART 585/343-9313 and Roxy's Music Store 585/343-7222.

Concert #3: "Magnificent" is scheduled for Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 4:00PM.
Concert #4: "Exhilarating" is set for Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 4:00PM.

TThe Center for the Arts continues its commitment to introducing the performing arts to children and families by presenting the modern children's fable, THE INCREDIBLE JUNGLE JOURNEY OF FENDA MARIA. Written by Jack Stokes, Fenda Maria is the story of a young girl who, with the help of a village doctor, must travel through the jungle in order to save a prince from an evil witch. With help from the audience, Fenda Maria and her friends ultimately learn what's important ... the meaning of being a good person. Daytime school performances of The Incredible Jungle Journey of Fenda Maria are scheduled for Wednesday, March 25 through Friday, March 27, 2009, with one final performance for the public on Friday, March 27 at 7:30PM. General admission ticket prices are $6.00 for adults, $3.00 for students, senior citizens and GCC faculty, and $2.00 for GCC students with a valid ID. For more information on the daytime school performances of Fenda Maria, contact the Genesee Center for the Arts Box Office at 585/343-0055 x6814.

Weaving a rich tapestry of Celtic and World music, STONE ROW presents a unique style of old classics and captivating originals, by blending traditional and contemporary genres. From traditional Celtic songs and World music to a combination of folk, country and hard rock, goes beyond the normal Irish/Celtic stereotype. For more information, visit www.stonerow.com. The performance is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 8:00PM. General admission ticket prices for Stone Row are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students, senior citizens and GCC faculty/students.

The hilarious farce NOISES OFF depicts the onstage and backstage antics of a fifth-rate acting troupe touring in the awful sex farce, Nothing On. The play-within-a-play follows the acting company's antics, both on stage and off, from the disastrous final dress rehearsal through months of performances, that include deteriorating relationships, collapsing scenery, exploding props and general hilarity. Performance dates are scheduled for Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 7:30PM, Friday, April 24, 2009 at 7:30PM, Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 7:30PM and Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 2:00PM. General admission ticket prices for Noises Off are only $6.00 for adults, $3.00 for students, senior citizens and GCC faculty, and $2.00 for GCC students with a valid ID.

The talent of both local artists and Genesee students fill the Lobby Art Gallery at the Genesee Center for the Arts this spring. Open during normal college hours, admission to the Lobby Art Gallery is free. The Spring 2009 performances at the Stuart Steiner Theatre include the following Lobby Art Gallery exhibitions:

The 2008-2009 LOBBY ART GALLERY SEASON celebrates the New Year with JOSEPHINE KEARNEY: PHOTOGRAPHS FROM CHINA, an exhibit introducing vibrant and unconventional photographs throughout China. Scheduled to run from January 15, 2009 to February 24, 2009, an opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, January 22, 2009 from 1:00-2:00PM.

The talents of Genesee student artists take center stage with the GCC FINE ARTS STUDENT EXHIBITION, an exhibit featuring sculpture, ceramics, paintings, drawings, and design, highlighting student works (both art and non-art majors) at Genesee Community College. Scheduled to run from February 25, 2009 to March 24, 2009, an opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, February 26, 2009 from 1:00-2:00PM.

The season continues with VIRGINIA MARTIN: PAINTINGS EXHIBIT. Scheduled to run from March 25, 2009 to April 28, 2009, an opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, 2009 from 1:00-2:00PM.

In tandem with Genesee's Fourth Annual ECO-Fest celebration of Earth Day, a RECYCLED ART COMPETITION AND EXHIBIT will be on display from April 29 to May 1, 2009. A reception for the artists and recyclers will be with ECO-Fest on Thursday, April 30th from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.

The academic year concludes with the GCC DIGITAL ART STUDENT EXHIBITION, an exhibit of works from the best of Genesee's digital art students, including theatrical posters, advertising, marketing concepts and more. Scheduled to run from May 5, 2009 to August 25, 2009, an opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, May 7, 2009 from 1:00-2:00PM.

For more ticket information or reservations, contact the Genesee Center for the Arts Box Office at 585/343-0055 x6814, or by email at boxoffice@genesee.edu. The Genesee Center for the Arts Box Office accepts cash and checks only, credit cards are not accepted. For door-to-door directions, sent via email, visit www.genesee.edu.

A few weeks ago, we introduced our readers to Gina Pero, a hometown girl living out her dream on the stage, under the lights, kicking her legs, wowing the crowds. Yesterday, we met Emily Tworek Helenbrook, another hometown girl with lofty artistic aspirations and the talent to achieve them.

Emily is an ambitious 14 years old, the granddaughter of a former Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra concertmaster. So yeah, she says, music is in the family. Emily sings, plays the piano and the violin. Oh, and she plans to study law or linguistics... you know, so she has something to fall back on in case anything should happen to her voice.

She first took the stage when she was seven. She played Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz in her grade school Follies. Her twin brother and older brother performed with her, as well. Singing "Over the Rainbow" in the school's auditorium was enough to seal the deal, and it wasn't long after that first performance that Emily's aunt and mother started booking her shows in the area.

Soon enough, Emily got a reputation—and once you hear her sing, you'll understand why—and by the time she was 13, she had been invited to join the Buffalo group, Ars Nova, for the Viva Vivaldi Festival. Her solo debut was a Vivaldi motet!

Lessons, too, have been on her schedule. Emily has been studying at the Eastman School, and she plans to head to the Metropolitan Opera House for auditions when she turns 18.

"If I don't get right in, I'll keep trying until I do," she says.

Opera is her favorite, although she is especially fond of Baroque.

"Vivaldi, especially," she says. "It's really technical and very interesting."

This past Sunday, Emily debuted with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra as a soloist at the Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church in Clarence. She and the BPO will repeat that performance at the M&T Gold Dome Bank in downtown Buffalo on December 13. That concert will be free to the public. It begins at 1:00pm.

From Genesee Community College:

The annual Encore event is a holiday tradition featuring a performance by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra at approximately 7:45 PM in the Stuart Steiner Theatre. Guests will be welcomed by Edgar and Mary Louise Hollwedel, chairpersons of the event.

A pre-concert Gala Reception from 6:00 to 7:30 PM takes place in the William W. Stuart Forum where guests will savor sensational gourmet foods from various stations, and listen to the festive sounds of Derek Reiss' Jazz Quartet. After the RPO concert, guests will enjoy a coffee bar including a selection of delectable desserts.

A few tickets for the event are still available for $100 by calling 585-345-6809.

Author Bill Kauffman was recently invited to Emory University in Atlanta by a fledgling student group known as the Young Americans for Liberty. The group had organized an event on the theme of "the importance of traditional American values in the 21st century."

Kauffman, it turned out, fit that bill quite well.

From an article in the Emory Wheel:

“I always felt an intense homesickness no matter where I was,” Kauffman said. “I knew that where I was from mattered.”

Kauffman said that those who are immobile and choose to remain in a specific region are overlooked in modern society.

“Love’s truest, greatest expression as I’ve come to believe is immobility,” he said.

Kauffman gives vent to the rootlessness of American politicians, such as President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, and he speaks of the divide between "televised America" and the rest of us. But all is not lost, he says.

Despite the problems that have arisen due to the lack of connection between Americans and their hometowns, Kauffman said he believes the situation can be fixed.

“Our country is lost, adrift, but there are sign posts pointing us home,” he said. “We have to rediscover the places in which we live. It is our task to find the sacred in the everyday.”

There's an especially poignant bell struck here... for me, at least. With little seeming compunction, Kauffman digs trenches—between the nomadic and the sedentary, "the televised" and "the rest of us" (which latter are also equated with the sedentary), and the various subdivisions of the rooted and the rootless—and he takes sides. At least since Cain and Abel, and especially during the Exodus, the nomadic and the sedentary have been set at odds with one another. Be it divine or secular, judgment pronounced on the nomad is often fueled by the prejudice and derision of the sedentary—witness the gypsies of Europe. A person or people are exiled as a means of protecting the homeland, as a preservation of the sanctity of the species, as it were. Yet the nomad is no such simple fiend. The Wandering Jew is both cast out and yet forever among us: at home in his homelessness. Nomadism, itself, is both a curse and the mark of blessedness in the Old Testament.

It's fascinating to hear Kauffman take up this ancient dialectic, which for sure is a prominent theme in his writings, if I'm allowed to comment on the little that I have so far read. Yet, it's also unsettling that the author is so decisive on adopting the directives of one to the exclusion of the other. I'm all for the shades of grey, myself. I see the extremes and opposites more as determiners of one another than exclusive entities. If I were to adopt Kauffman's language, I would have to call myself "rooted-rootless"—home is a plural: I have the one made by my family, several made by friends, even a few I notched out myself on the headboard of my own lonesome living in distant geographies...

But back to what's poignant here... despite Kauffman's own trench-digging, he is an incurable champion of the particular. Listen to what he says: "It is our task to find the sacred in the everyday." While I shy away from the language of the sacrosanct, I follow the same sort of maxim. It's why I call myself "a voracious pursuer of the idiosyncratic," which amounts to the same thing: a belief that the individual things, if they can be found—like so much else in this world of ours, they, too, have become rare and endangered—will speak the most to us about ourselves and the general things we only purport to understand.

So... really, all this to ask: Where do you fall? Are you an inveterate caster of deep and permanent roots? Are you a nomad? Do you feel like me: a "rooted-rootless" believer in the pluralism of home? Do you distrust one side or the other? What of the everyday? Is it sacred or does it just get in the way?

The former Warsaw Cinema officially re-opened Saturday as The Stage, Warsaw's new center for the performing arts, according to the Daily News. There was sadly no mention in the otherwise great article about upcoming performances or even if there was a performance during the open house Saturday. We're told that the group Western New York Performance Center Inc. bought the place earlier this year

with the aim of creating a space for music, stage productions, educational programming, and independent film.

That sounds great. I'm all for more culture, in whatever form we can get it, and this place sounds like it will be a great addition to the area. Has anyone yet been down? It's a little outside Genesee County, but I may have to go check it out, get some video footage.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

From Genesee Community College:

The Fine Arts Committee at Genesee Community College is pleased to welcome PUSH PHYSICAL THEATRE to our campus this holiday season. Hailing from Rochester, New York, PUSH PHYSICAL THEATRE will be performing at the Genesee Center for the Arts on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 8:00PM, in the Stuart Steiner Theatre at Batavia's main campus.

Gravity defying, PUSH has been called a cross between fine art sculpture and The Matrix. Athletic and entertaining, this theatre of the body features performers who appear to manipulate time and space in a live environment. "Once you've experienced PUSH, you will know the strength of the human soul expressed by the power of the human body."

Husband and wife team Darren and Heather Stevenson founded PUSH PHYSICAL THEATRE in 2000 out of a desire to push the boundaries of conventional theatre. "It's all about the stories. The narratives of our lives played out with hope, strength and optimism." PUSH's unique form has transformed it into a national company that has performed all over England, across the United States and Mexico and has appeared on PBS and NPR.

PUSH's unconventional artistic process can currently be viewed at its MySpace Project Page (www.myspace.com/pushtheatre), where the online community is given an opportunity to view video of works-in-progress and offer comments and opinions, which are taken into consideration and influence the finished work. For more information, including images, videos and downloads, visit www.pushtheatre.org.

General admission ticket prices are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for seniors/students/faculty. For ticket reservations, contact the Genesee Center for the Arts Box Office at (585) 343-0055 x6814, or by email to BoxOffice@genesee.edu. The Genesee Center for the Arts Box Office accepts cash and checks only, credit cards are not accepted. For door-to-door directions to the Genesee Center for the Arts, sent via email, visit www.genesee.edu.

For further information contact: Christopher M. Montpetit, 585-343-0055 x6814, BoxOffice@genesee.edu.

Renovations are about finished on the Warsaw Cinema, which has been brought back to life over the past several months, according to the Daily News. Parts of the original have been preserved, including the "orginal, Roman-style murals," writes Matt Surtel.

The theater will mark its rebirth with an open house (November 15) from 1 to 5 p.m. That will be followed by a 7 p.m. reception, along with performances by a yet-to-be-announced Western Swing band, and the Jim Tudini Big Band from Buffalo.

Not really too much in the way of Genesee County news in today's paper: a couple feature stories about happenings in Oakfield and a couple other small blurbs of topical interest.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Ah, the grand premier! Gina Pero remembers it well. She was four years old and already inspired by the spirit of dance. So inspired, in fact, that she danced right into the stage curtains. When her mother saw her little girl get caught there in the drapery, she thought for sure that was the end of that.

Instead, it was just the beginning. Curtains aside, Gina fell in love with the stage.

"I was a shy child," she says. "But not on the stage. It was that distance, being high up, that space between the stage and the audience, that fine line. I loved the lights. As soon as the lights hit me, I used to get that feeling like no other, like I was supposed to be on stage."

Dance turned out to be the one thing Gina Pero cherished almost as much as her family.

"Growing up in Batavia was great because my entire family lives there," says Gina. "We're a very close family."

Literally close. Gina told me how she used to walk to her "Nana and Papa's" house, just down the street, where she would fill up on homemade Italian meals—her favorite. That's probably the hardest thing about living in New York City now, she admits: being away from everyone back home.

But for the next month and a half she won't be too far.

On November 13, Gina will take the stage as a Radio City Rockette at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo. The Radio City Christmas Spectacular will run nearly every day from then until November 30—sometimes up to four times in a day. (Follow the link above for ticket and showtime info.)

"For me to be a Rockette, I feel strong, I feel that I am a strong woman," she says. "I love the womanhood that is happening with the girls."

Rehearsal is strenuous, says Gina. All of the girls rehearse for at least six hours a day, not counting the time they spend before rehearsals warming up or the time after in the ice baths, cooling down, or, after all of that, the time most girls put in, still practicing, working late with the athletic directors, the choreographers, the stage managers.

"We have everything in the palm of our hands," she says.

Life as a Rockette may have been "one of the most amazing experiences" of Gina's life thus far, she admits, but it hasn't been the only one. Receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance education from the University of Buffalo in 2002 was a fine moment. Dancing with magician Jason Byrne in Japan wasn't too bad either. Nor was going larger-than-life as a billboard model for the show "Air Play" at the Tropicana Resort in Las Vegas... to name a few. Let's not forget, either, that Gina was a heck of a cheerleader at Notre Dame, where she also landed herself in the national honor society.

These days, Gina's especially proud of a program she started in New York City called Inside Out. She explains it as "a program to help artists find their inner voice and stay positive." The idea is to "keep artists from giving up and help them find out who they are and to appreciate what they have."

For the folks back home who haven't yet been down to the Big Apple, Gina's got a helpful tip: "Know your train."

"It's fast paced here," she says. "We drive everywhere in Batavia, but in New York you walk or take the train. There's a lot more variety of things to do, as far as anything for anybody. Anyone can go there and find work and find fun and find a place to live."

Talking to Gina, who seems to have done more than most folks do in a lifetime, you get the sense that she has only just begun.

"I want to continue doing everything," she says. "I want to perform forever. There's no feeling like the feeling on stage. I'm really looking forward to opening night at Shea's. It's going to be an amazing experience for me and my family."

(Photos courtesy of Radio City Entertainment)

From Genesee Community College:

Genesee Community College at Arcade is hosting a photography exhibit entitled "Lines Through The Lens" presented by photographer Bonita Chimes and the local chapter of VIEW FINDERS. The exhibit will open on November 2, 2008 with a reception from 4:00 - 6:00PM. The show will be on display through November 28 and is open during normal Campus Center hours (Monday through Thursday, 9:00AM - 9:00PM, and Friday, 9:00AM - 4:00 PM).

Bonita Chimes has more than 20 years of photography experience, including work with nature, photojournalism, television and commercial photography. She has been published in newspapers, magazines and books.

Since 1994, Bonita has been working on a project called "Little Towns Are Not Forgotten", which is an ongoing effort to document rural towns. She has completed five volumes to date which can be seen throughout WNY and Central California. In addition, Bonita supplied all the photographs for the guidebook "Somewhere To Go On Sunday", introducing both residents and visitors to the natural beauty of WNY and Southern Ontario.

Bonita is the founder of VIEW FINDERS, a group of professional and amateur photographers with chapters in WNY and Sacramento California. The group participates in photography tours and will be traveling to Alaska and Norway to hone their skills while having fun. Bonita conducts photography workshops, both on tours and locally.

The Arcade Campus Center of Genesee Community College is located at 25 Edward Street in Arcade, NY. For more information, or if you are interested in having a show at the Arcade Campus Center during 2009, please stop by or call 585-492-5265.

Most of the stories on the front page of today's Daily News were already featured on The Batavian this morning. We featured a full post on the court settlement between former priest Simon Howson and the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York. We also included in our early morning roundup two stories picked up from WBTA about the awarding of a $3 million grant to United Memorial Medical Center and the demolition of a downtown block in Le Roy.

We did not yet report that a state committee has begun the search for a private operator to take over the ownership of the state School for the Blind in Batavia. Scott DeSmit reports that "two private entities ... may be qualified to operate the school: Perkins School for the Blind in Masachusetts and The Center for Discovery in Monticello." Other operators may also be interested, and state legislature approval will be required before any move toward privatatization can go forward.

In other news, two new businesses are on their way to the town of Batavia: one to the new shopping center and another on West Main Street Road. Peebles, the national clothing retailer, will host its grand opening on November 13 at its location in the Batavia Shopping Center on Veterans Memorial Drive. Other businesses expected to move into the plaza include: "Cato, a women's and girls' cothing store; GameStop, a video game retailer, and a Shoe Show shoe store." Also planning on an opening by the end of the year is a KFC/Long John Silver's, which is set to open its doors at its West Main Street Road location by Christmas.

As for non-retail construction, an apartment complex set to go in "next door to East Town Plaza" got its approval from the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal. Joanne Beck writes:

The state-funded project is to be 43,000 square feet of a parking lot, two entrances (one for emergency vehicles) and 40 one-bedroom apartments. The units will predominantly be for clients of DePaul, a Rochester-based not-for-profit group that specializes in assisted living programs to help people who have mental illness, are in recovery from chemical addiction and/or live with a developmental disability.

Art enthusiasts and crafters in Genesee and Orleans counties will be happy to learn that galleries and studios throughout both counties will be open to the public this weekend. Genesee gets its turn Saturday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Orleans will have a go at the same times Sunday. Pick up your free map and brochure listing of all participating studios at GO ART! at 201 E. Main St., Batavia.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Blue Pearl Yoga, the yoga studio on the third floor at 200 East Main Street, Batavia is a place where one can find a way to connect  with one’s inner Self, to find dexterity, grace and poise in practicing the asanas, leading to harmony in body, mind and spirit.
Karen Reisdorf is the founder and certified teacher at Blue Pearl Yoga.  Karen makes the yoga practice accessible for everyone.  One does not need special equipment, or extreme strength or stamina to practice yoga.  One only needs a desire to feel better, to increase one’s energy, to improve balance and flexibility, and to gain a more positive outlook on life.

Karen will offer a Bookmaking  class starting on Thursday, October 2.  This will be an exploration of both the craft of bookmaking for journals and photo  albums  as well as artists’ books.  Students will learn four bindings and will complete at least one book.  Some supplies will be included and a list of remaining supplies will be given at the first class.

Classes are offered for Beginners as well as level 1 and 2 classes for those who are familiar with yoga.  Karen also offers Restorative yoga for deep relaxation and rejuvenation , Meditation classes for centering and relaxation, and Private Yoga Classes .  Joni Yaskulski, a certified Tai Chi instructor and Reiki Master/Teacher, offers Tai  Chi  classes and free monthly Reiki shares.  Rich Hayden is both a Blue Pearl student and  instructor, offering Beginner classes.
The next session of classes begins September 30 and runs through November 11; however, students are welcome to join at any point during the session and pro rated fees are available. A 10% discount is offered to all new students when registering this week for more information go to: www.bp-yoga.com
 

Helen H. Berkeley, the widow of Frederick D. Berkeley III, the former CEO of Batavia-based Graham Corp. (AMEX: GHM) has donated $1 million to the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester.

The donation is intended to transform the gallery's antiquities collection into a showcase of Near and Middle Eastern treasures.

"I've traveled a lot in the Middle East," said Berkeley, former president of the museum's Gallery Council, a volunteer fundraising organization. "You could call me a frustrated archaeologist. I'm delighted to have the opportunity to help with this gallery."

Her gift is one of the largest that the museum has ever received from a single donor.

...

The future Berkeley Gallery of Ancient Art probably won't debut until November 2009, said chief curator Marjorie B. Searl. Most of the construction will take place next summer — new cabinetry, lighting, humidity controls and alterations to the ceiling and walls. The space already is heavily trafficked by Rochester students on field trips.

"We're looking to provide better interpretation for these ancient collections," said Searl. "In the new gallery, students will understand more about their significance. These user-friendly displays will be integrated into their school programming."

Helen H. Berkeley is a member of the Graham Corp. board of directors.