Category Archives: Holidays

It’s a Bolly Holi Day at Ron Robinson

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Zokkomon

Celebrate the festival of Holi on Saturday, March 7, during Bolly Holi Day, a day of Bollywood films, at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue, on the Main Library campus. All Bolly Holi Day films are free and open to the public.

The day, designed by the Main Library Adult Non-Fiction department, includes three Bollywood films which are in Hindi with English subtitles and Bollywood dance performances.

  • Qurbani (NR)
    noon
    Two best friends and the woman they both love are caught up in a plot to steal a fortune from a powerful crime boss and find themselves in mortal danger.
  • Zokkomon (PG)
    3:15pm
    With the help of a scientist hermit, an orphan poses as a ghost to haunt the uncle who abandoned him and becomes a hero to the abused children attending his uncle’s school.
  • Dance Performances
    5:15pm
  • English Vinglish (NR)
    5:30pm
    During a visit to Manhattan, a woman decides to learn English and gains new friends who are on the same transformational journey to find confidence and master the language.

Holi is a popular Hindu festival that celebrates the arrival of spring. The festival coincides with the full moon in March, and begins on Friday, March 6, 2015. It is traditionally celebrated by throwing vibrantly colored powder and water, playing music, dancing, and eating special treats. During Holi celebrations the strictness of social structures is loosened, closing the gaps between classes and bringing people together. Legends associated with the festival depict triumph of good over evil.

For more information on Bolly Holi Day or other CALS programming, call 918-3000.

 

Chinese New Year – Celebrate the Year of the Goat with Heifer International

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heifer goatToday marks the Chinese New Year. As part of the twelve year cycle of animals, this year marks the Year of the Goat.

A few years back, a goat was featured on the TV show The West Wing in conjunction with Little Rock-based Heifer International.  For $120, an entire goat can be donated which will go to a family to help it achieve nutritional independence.  This link tells how to make a donation for part or all of a goat.  Even contributing $10 from one person can be combined with other donations to add up to $120 for a goat.  Information on other animal sponsor opportunities is available on the Heifer website.

Visitors to the Heifer Village can learn more about Heifer International.  The center features unique, hands on exhibits about the work of Heifer as well as facts about hunger, poverty, and empowerment of individuals.  It is located on Heifer International’s World Headquarters campus in downtown Little Rock next to Clinton Presidential Park.

Heifer International’s mission is to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth. Dan West was a farmer from the American Midwest and member of the Church of the Brethren who went to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War as an aid worker. His mission was to provide relief, but he soon discovered the meager single cup of milk rationed to the weary refugees once a day was not enough.

And then he had a thought: What if they had not a cup, but a cow?

That “teach a man to fish” philosophy is what drove West to found Heifer International. And now, over 70 years later, that philosophy still inspires our work to end world hunger and poverty throughout the world once and for all.

Free Admission at Clinton Presidential Center today

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Clinton Library 3The Clinton Presidential Center was supposed to be free on Monday in honor of the George Washington Birthday Federal Holiday.  Since the facility was closed due to the inclement weather, they have extended the offer today.  Also free are audio tours narrated by President Clinton.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see the new temporary exhibits, “Pigskin Peanuts” and “Heartbreak in Peanuts.”  In honor of the 65th Anniversary of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, the Clinton Center – in partnership with the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California – celebrates the life and legacy of the creator of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy and the entire Peanuts gang.

“Pigskin Peanuts” features Schulz’s football-themed Peanuts comic strips. It also highlights how Charles Schulz often explored the theme of fairness in his comic strip and believed in giving everyone equal opportunity.

“Heartbreak in Peanuts” underscores the prevalence of love in the comic strip. Both exhibitions feature reproductions of Charles Schulz’s original Peanuts strips, student activities within the exhibition, 5–foot sculptures of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, and themed objects and ephemera.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Clinton Presidential Center

Dancing and Romancing on tap this weekend with Arkansas Symphony

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joan_kirby_artist_1Just in time for the Valentine’s Weekend, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO), Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, presents the third concert in the 2014-2015 Acxiom Pops Live! Series: Dancing and Romancing.

Broadway and Hollywood combine under the baton of ASO Associate Conductor Geoffrey Robson for a romantic and entertaining evening of song and dance with two veterans of the Broadway stage: Joan Hess and Kirby Ward. Inspired by the likes of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly and Eleanor Powell, this evening will put a song in hearts and have patrons dancing in the aisles. The Pops Live! Series is sponsored by Acxiom. The concert sponsor is UAMS.

Kirby Ward originated the role of Bobby Childs in the London production of Crazy for You (and is heard on the cast album). His Broadway credits include Show Boat, Woman of the Year and Never Gonna Dance.  Joan Hess recently starred on Broadway in Mamma Mia! Other Broadway roles include Crazy for You; Kiss Me, Kate; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Bells Are Ringing.  She is also a veteran of national tours of Sunset Boulevard, Crazy for You, 42nd Street and Beehive.

The concert is held at the Pulaski Academy Connor Performing Arts Center, 12701 Hinson Road, Little Rock, AR, on Saturday, February 14, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 3:00 p.m.

Tickets are $19, $35, $49, and $58; active duty military and student tickets are $10 are can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Connor Performing Arts Center box office beginning 90 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 100. All Arkansas students grades K-12 are admitted to Sunday’s matinee free of charge with the purchase of an adult ticket using the Entergy Kids’ Ticket, downloadable at the ASO website.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 49th season in 2014-2015, under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than sixty concerts each year for more than 165,000 people through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series, River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series, and numerous concerts performed around the state of Arkansas, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 26,000 school children and over 200 schools.

Annual Love Show tonight for Tales from the South at Best Impressions

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truetalesoflovevol129Since Valentine’s Day is later in the month, tonight’s episode of Tales from the South is the annual Love Episode.

Tonight, Tales originates at Best Impressions at the Arkansas Arts Center. The storytellers for this edition include Kay Fisher and Jessica Horton.

Music is by Amy Garland and blues guitarist Mark Simpson.

“Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host. The show is taped live on Tuesday. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

“Tales from the South” is a showcase of writers reading their own true stories. While the show itself is unrehearsed, the literary memoirs have been worked on for weeks leading up to the readings. Stories range from funny to touching, from everyday occurrences to life-altering tragedies.

Dinner is served from 5pm to 6:30pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $15.  Dinner can be purchased separately.

You MUST purchase your ticket before the show.

Previous episodes of “Tales from the South” air on KUAR Public Radio on Thursdays at 7pm.  This program will air on February 12.

Shadows for Groundhog Day

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Today is Groundhog Day.  In honor of prognostication based on shadows, some photos showcasing shadows.

0202Peace

Lorri Acott’s “Peace” sculpture at 2nd and Main

 

0202Barre

Windows and barres casting shadows in a Ballet Arkansas studio

The footbridge between Riverfront Park and the Old State House Museum.

The footbridge between Riverfront Park and the Old State House Museum.

A bird looking at its shadow in the River Market parking deck.

A bird looking at its shadow in the River Market parking deck.

The Broadway Bridge balustrade.

The Broadway Bridge balustrade.

 

“Young and African-American in 2015” is topic of panel at Clinton School this evening

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Clinton-School-of-Public-Service-LogoThe Clinton School and the Clinton School’s Center on Community Philanthropy are hosting a panel discussion: “Young and African-American in 2015″ this evening, Monday, January 19th at 6 p.m. to commemorate the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

This timely discussion follows the deaths of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fl.; Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.; Eric Garner in New York City; and New York City police officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos.

Panelists include Clinton School students Quiana Brown; Melvin Clayton; Akaylah Jones; and Clinton School alum Jonathan Dunkley. Brown is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University and has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Texas; Clayton is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and interned with the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C.; Jones graduated from Henderson State University and served with AmeriCorps; Dunkley grew up in Florida and graduated from Philander Smith College where he was Student Body President. Dunkley is currently the Director of Operations at the Clinton School. Clinton School faculty Dr. Christina Standerfer and Dr. Charlotte Williams will co-moderate.