First Fridays resume

     BELFAST -- BelfastART, a consortium of several of Belfast’s growing community galleries will host the 2006 return of First Friday Openings from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday, May 5. New artwork will be exhibited and refreshments will be available at Belfast Framer and Gallery, Art Alliance and First Light Gallery, all located downtown within a city block of each other. Works from a variety of media created by close to 20 local artists will be exhibited in these three galleries.

     For information, visit www.belfastarts.com.

A play ripped from the headlines

     BELFAST -- A timely, poignant drama, “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me,” will open this weekend at the Belfast Maskers Waterfront Theater on Front Street.

     The show debuted Thursday, May 4, and continues with performances at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Sundays through May 14. There will be a question and answer session with director Richard Sewall and the actors following the Sunday matinees.

     The play, based on a true story, takes place inside a prison cell in the Middle East where three victims of political action -- an Englishman, an Irishman and an American -- struggle to deal with their plight. Playwright Frank McGuinness explores the daily crisis endured by hostages whose strength comes from communication, both subtle and mundane, and from humor, wit and faith.

     Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for teens. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Maskers box office at 338-9668 or can be purchased in advance at the Fertile Mind bookstore on Main Street in Belfast.

     For information, visit www.belfastmaskerstheater.com.

English country dancing

     THORNDIKE -- The monthly evening of English country dancing will take place 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 10, at Harvest Moon Grange Hall, Route 139, Thorndike. John McIntire and Nancy Rosalie will call to traditional live music by John Kuehne and friends. All dances will be taught and beginners and singles are welcome. Dancers should wear soft-soled, non-street shoes. Suggested donation is $5. For information, call 568-7597. From left are Rosalie, Dave Thompson, Kuehne’s daughter, Ruth Shaw, Mike Little, Jim Birch, McIntire and Kuehne.

Eastern Illustrating images at the library

     BELFAST --”Greetings From Belfast, Maine: A Selection of Photographs from the Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Collection” is on view during May in the Kramer Gallery of Belfast Free Library, 106 High St.

     The Rockport Institute of Photographic Education exhibits a selection of the glass plate images it acquired from the Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Co. From 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Friday, May 5, there will be an opening reception for the show, coinciding with the first First Friday Openings of the season.

     In 1909, R. Herman Cassens, a young entrepreneur, started a postcard company, the Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Co., in Belfast. He and his small crew of photographers traveled through rural New England and New York, focusing their lens on locally known landmarks, street scenes, country stores and businesses, events and people. The exposed glass plate negatives were sent back to the “factory” in Belfast, where they were processed, printed and sent back to the general stores for sale at two for 5 cents.

     Cassens sold his business in 1947 and died in 1948. Though his dream of photographing all 48 states was not fully realized, his company did manage to make more than 30,000 glass plate negatives of New England and New York between 1909 and 1947. The images are fascinating on many levels. They take their viewers back in time to when the roads were still dirt, horse-drawn carriages outnumbered cars, coastlines were still undeveloped and elms lined the streets.

     The glass plate images seemed to die along with Cassens. The company stopped producing the “real photo postcards” and switched to the more contemporary color postcards. The glass plates were left in storage, collecting dust for the next 40 years, until the Rockport Institute for Photographic Education acquired them in the late 1980s. Now new life is being breathed into the collection.

     Last June, the monstrous task began of cleaning, identifying, organizing cataloging and scanning the glass plates. The goal is to make these images available to the general public and the money generated from print sales and licensing the images will fund the project. This is the first exhibition of prints and is being held at Belfast Free Library, the town where it all began.

     Because there are so many images and a lot of local history behind this exhibit, an additional program will be held. Kevin Johnson, archives curator at the Rockport Institute of Photographic Education, will give a slide show and talk at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 16.

      All Belfast Free Library programs are free and open to the public. For information, call the library at 338-3884, Ext. 10.

Communication symbols as art

     UNITY -- May is Better Hearing and Speech month. In celebration, the Centre Gallery at the Centre for Performing Arts, 42 Depot St., is holding an “Art of Communication” exhibit through the end of the month.

     The exhibit is comprised of posters and pictures that use symbols developed for communicating. Individuals who are unable to speak or read use these symbols, called DynaSyms, to communicate. The symbols, created graphically on the computer by a staff working with Faith Carlson in Unity, are used on electronic devices produced by DynaVox Technologies of Pittsburgh, Pa. They are used all over the United States and Canada, as well as in other countries.

     This exhibit displays the symbols as functional art. The public is invited to an opening from 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday, May 5, and to a reception for the creators of the symbols from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Friday, May 19.

     The gallery is open when performances are scheduled or by appointment. For information, call 568-3147 or 948-7469. For a performance schedule, visit www.unitymaine.org.

Foreign Film Series resumes

     BELFAST -- The 17th year of the Belfast Free Library’s Foreign Film Series continues with a concentration on British and French Films.

     The month of May is given over to the world of music and dance, beginning with one of the best-loved films of all times at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 5: “The Red Shoes,” directed by Michael Powell and released in 1947. For lovers of ballet, this film and its followup by Powell are the high points of films on this subject, and the dancer/actor cast included the leading dancers of the London stage.

     On May 12, “The Company,” directed by Robert Altman, returns to the same basic story line of the competition in the dancer’s heart between love and the passion for the dance, this time in 2003 and with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago as its milieu. This may not quite fit the foreign film series format, but Altman belongs to no one country.

     On May 19, the focus is on choral music and its therapeutic power among troubled boys in a school for such children in France. Comparisons of “Les Choristes” with “Mr. Holland’s Opus” are inevitable, but the power of music is handled in a very different way.

     In June, the scene shifts both in subject and intent. On June 2, “Ridicule,” Patrice Leconte’s brilliant study of the bitter satire of the court of Louis XVI, gives a historically accurate picture of an age when rulers could be as deadly as their weapons as they were brilliant in their speech. Stars such as Fanny Ardant make the past as alive as the present.

     The June 9 program allows film lovers to watch once again the brilliance and depth of the acting of Daniel Auteuil. His “Apres Vous” is a pleasant tale of good intentions.

     On June 16, Gwyneth Paltrow returns to the screen in “Proof,” a film adaptation of the play, directed by John Madden, who not only directed her on the London stage, but also in “Shakespeare in Love.” Anthony Hopkins plays her brilliant mathematical father.

     The Foreign Film Series is held in the Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library at 7:30 p.m. Fridays. Admission is free, and there is a discussion led by retired professor Baird Whitlock following the film.

Dinner dance at the Blue Goose

     NORTHPORT -- Senior Spectrum Knox and Waldo community centers are sponsoring a dinner dance fund-raiser Saturday night, May 6, at the Blue Goose Dance Hall on Route 1.

     A 6 p.m. lasagna dinner will be followed by ballroom, swing, line and mixers dancing until 11 p.m. with popular DJ Larry Dutch.

     Tickets -- $15 or $25 for a couple -- are available in Rockland at Wasses Hot Dogs, Second Read and the Knox Community Center; and in Belfast at Union Trust and the Waldo Community Center.

New Vaudeville adds second show

     BELFAST --The New Vaudeville Revue will presents its second extravaganza Sunday, May 7, at the downtown Colonial Theater’s Dreamland theater

     Due to the enthusiastic response to last month’s debut show, there will be two performances this month to accommodate the anticipated throng: 1 and 3:30 p.m. Tickets, $10, may be purchased in advance at the Colonial Theater on High Street.

     This month’s special guest stars include Tree By Leaf, Nathan Hillman and Susan Parness.

     Tree by Leaf offers the musical synergy of songwriter Garrett Souci on vocals and guitar, Siri Souci on vocals and Cliff Young on piano and vocals. The Freedom-based trio has toured the country, sharing dates with Vasar Clements, Tracy Grammar and Brooks Williams.

     Hillman, an 11-year-old fiddling phenom from Monroe, is a big crowd pleaser who recently wowed the audience at the Waldo County Fiddlers Showcase in Northport.

     Parness is the poet of the month and will bring her comedic rap style verse to the New Vaudeville Revue stage.

     This month’s house band members include the locally famed rockers Willy Kelly, Jeff Densmore and Paul D’Alessio. The show’s original cast of writers/actors -- Jenny Tibbetts, Kristin Burkholder and Peter Conant -- will be in full comedy swing while master of ceremonies Ando Anderson attempts to keep a lid on the whole raucous affair of songs, skits, jingles and poems about the joys of life in Waldo County.

Searsport sets spring concerts

     SEARSPORT -- The music department of Searsport District High School will present its spring concert at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 9, in the cafetorium, Mortland Street.

     The Searsport District Middle School’s spring concert will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 11, in the same location. The time difference is due to a SDMS game against Belfast that afternoon.

     There is no admission charge for either concert, but donations for music camp scholarships and spring trips are greatly appreciated, according to music director Charlene Farnham.

Flying Shoes contra dance and more

     BELFAST -- The monthly Belfast Flying Shoes Dance Series continues Friday, May 10, at American Legion Hall No. 43, 143 High St.

     The 8 p.m. contra dance will feature Jaige Trudel and Adam Broome with caller Rich Mohr. It will be preceded at 6:30 p.m. by a community dance that offers a chance to brush-up on dances and learn new skills. The community dance is geared for experienced and beginning dancers alike. Admission will be $2 adults and $1 children. Chrissy Fowler will call to tunes by the All-Comer’s Band -- all musicians are welcome to play.

     At 7:30 p.m., there will be a break for the Tasty Treat Potluck. Participants are asked to bring savory or sweet little after-dinner treats.

     Admission to the 8 p.m. contra dance is $8 or $6 for those who attend the community dance. Admission to just the community dance is $2 for adults and $1 for children. For information, call Fowler at 338-0979 or send e-mail to annadeene@gmail.com.

Argentinian tango heads to town

     BELFAST -- Advance tickets are on sale for an unusual evening of authentic Argentine tango, set for 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday, May 14, at Chase’s Daily on Main Street.

     The evening will begin with a concert and dance performance by the all-Argentine trio Mass Tango. Led by saxophonist and vocalist Bernardo Monk and including world-renowned Bandoneon player Hector Del Curto and pianist Octavio Brunetti, the trio will play the soulful and entrancing music that is uniquely Argentine. Dancers Dario Da Silva and Fernanda Cajide will interpret the music’s unmistakable rhythmic drive and lyrical beauty.

     Everyone will be invited to join in the dancing with the live music after the performance. This evening of music and dance is a rare opportunity to experience tango as it is done in the clubs of Buenos Aires -- with friends, food, and wine.

     Tango classes for teens and adults with Cajide and Da Silva will be offered Saturday and Sunday, May 13 and 14, in Belfast. For information and to buy advance tickets, call 338-6073 or send an e-mail to pamelamckeen@verizon.net.