Volume 78 / Number 13, August 27 - September 2, 2008
West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933

The A-list

class

Contra and English Country Dance
Maybe it’s not as challenging as Argentine Dancing but it’s a far less intimidating and appeals to those who worship Merchant Films, are obsessed with the current revival of “Brideshead Revisited” as well as Jane Austen Freaks. On the other hand, Contra is robust, energetic and visceral fun. If you can walk, you can dance. Live music. No partners are necessary; it’s a great way to meet people and enter a rarified community. Contra Dancing classes held on Saturdays, Sept. through June, 8-10:45 p.m. Beginner basics at 7:45 p.m. English Country Dancing held on Tuesdays, 7-10:15 p.m. The Church of the Village. 201 W. 13th St. (at Seventh Ave.) Bring clean, soft-soled shoes. 212-459-4080, cdny.org.

Readings

Photo credit Zan McQuade

Becky Ciletti comes face to face with her teenage angst.

Cringe
Cringe founder Sarah Brown hosts a reading of the best from the past three years opf the popular reading series, which features people sharing diaries, notes, letters, poems, abandoned rock operas, and other writings from their adolescent (read: cringe-inducing) years. Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. Free. Housing Works Book Café. 126 Crosby St. 212-334-3324, housingworksbookstore.org.

Panel

Author and professor Susan Shapiro

The Future of Publishing
Will all newspapers and magazines disappear if they don’t go digital? Should everyone learn interactive skills? Are clips best sent with links, attachments or by fax? Can lower book advances save publishers from going out of business? These provocative questions and many more will be posed by moderator Susan Shapiro to a panel of editors, including Jula Turner (Slate), Jim Roberts (NYTimes.com), Susan Morrison (New Yorker), Radhika Jones (Time magazine), John Abell (Wired), and more. Proceeds benefit PEN American Center’s Emergency Writer’s Fund. Sept. 10, 7-9:30 p.m. $15 students in advance; $20 at the door. Cooper Union’s Great Hall. 7 E. Seventh St. 212-353-4196. For more info, contact Susan Shapiro at profsue123@aol.com.

Comedy

Kimberlee Auerbach knows exactly what’s on your mind.

Ready, set, atone!
The Yom Kippur Show features a night of stories, rants and songs about sin. Written and performed by Kimberlee Auerbach (author of The Devil, the Lovers and Me), Abby Sher, Rachel Hamilton, Melanie Hoopes, Kelly Park, Anna Stone, Gabra Zackman, “and several wise men with beards.” Proceeds benefit the Eluxolweni Boys Home in Port St. Johns, South Africa. Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. $8. Magnet Theater. 254 W. 29th St. 212-244-8824, magnettheater.com.

Art

Courtesy FusionArts Museum

Carrie Beehan, “Untitled” Acrylic on canvas with found objects and electric lights

“Woman”
This group exhibition by female artists attempts to rebuke perceived notions that popular culture places more emphasis and value on women’s appearances than their societal contributions. Inspired by Ovid’s line, “What one beholds of a woman is the least part of her,” the artists here have wielded paint and found objects to remind us that women are—and can be represented by—more than their Manolo Blahniks. Sept. 2-Oct. 7. Opening reception for the artists on Sunday, Sept. 7, 7-9 p.m. FusionArts Museum. 57 Stanton St. 212-995-5290, fusionartsmuseum.org.