A Lively Talk at The Mohawk

On a recent sunny afternoon, I headed down 9th Street to pay a long-overdue visit to the infamous Geoff Blake, otherwise known around town as the statement-making "Red Mohawk". True, he is that, but so much more. My hour-plus visit to his corner gallery, with sounds of early 90s Depeche Mode setting the mood, found us settling into an informal rap session with several of Wilmo's "Who's Whos" and characters alike. It was a blast. Example: As I arrived, an attractive young woman exited, having just finished a photo shoot of sensuous "pinup" shots. ("Does this happen everyday?" I asked.)

Mohawk's a 2005 UD grad in Photography with strong local ties. With Red Mohawk Gallery, he has created an amazing buzz around town, hosting monthly exhibits and events, providing opportunities for artist hangouts and generally serving as one very cool -- and identifiable -- champion of downtown's revitalization efforts. He worked nearly two years as the right-hand man for rock photographer/personality extraordinaire, Mark Weiss, a position which stemmed from a serendipitous visit to Weiss' studio with his musician friends.

In addition to his own work, his gallery currently features pieces by six Delaware College of Art & Design students. He describes his own work as "low-brow pop surrealism with a gritty tone". I describe it as art that will make you do a double-take; you may laugh wildly, you may cringe, you may be puzzled, but you'll take notice.

Blake welcomes emerging and established artists to drop in and show him what they've got. He wants to cultivate partnerships with local photographers to shoot and print at Red Mohawk, and he has a space below the gallery that he'd like to make available as a workspace for other artists. He wants his gallery to be a "...place where good stuff comes out of." Blake notes, "That is kind of the feel for the entire street...we want to create a 'diagonal of cool' here."

As we talked, we were joined by Wes Garnett, Jr. and Steve Roettger -- the guys behind the CoIN Loft -- who agreed with Blake's sentiments. "Your city is defined by your culutre," noted Garnett. "We're trying to create a '3rd Place' here, a neutral spot that is home to the entire community." In my opinion, they're all well on their way. Copper, a restaurant and catering business tied to the already launched CoIN Loft, will open in mid-July. To their description, the focus will be "the people, the libations and the menu". They're all about the partnerships and expanding the buzz, too. "Red Mohawk is all about showing the stuff that young people are into and pricing it so that all people can buy," Garnett said.

Joining us shortly into the conversation was, as Blake referred to him, "the Messiah of 9th Street" Chris Winburn of Preservation Initiatives. Winburn envisions 9th Street as the center for designers, fashion and the like. He heralds the foresight and leadership of Red Mohawk and The CoIN Loft, and hopes their efforts will spur the energy forward.

Finally, just to keep it interesting, we were interrupted by an array of salespeople and a "questionable" female artist. Blake laughs and says that he's also visited by Wayne, a homeless sage who advises him to be wary of Socialists carrying venereal diseases.

As I left, I felt so jazzed about the potential for this end of town led by "Red Mohawk" and his counterparts. Come down to 9th and spend some time...maybe buy some art and enjoy some suds or vino while you're there.

See http://www.redmohawk.com/.
See http://www.thecoinloft.com/.

From Russia to Delaware, with Love

People in Wilmington are always talking about the city’s small-town feel. Take that small community, and divide it many times over, and you have the dimensions of a very dense, interconnected Arts community thriving in Delaware and Greater Philadelphia.

Fellow blogger Margaret Darby and I were recently at the Exchange on Market after our performance at the Wilmington Library. We struck up a conversation with two dashingly handsome and personable waiters, Jake Allison and Nukri Mamistvalov, who turned out to be dancers from First State Ballet Theatre. They encouraged us to attend their upcoming performance of Swan Lake.

Graciously, the company’s artistic director, Pasha Kambalov invited me to attend a dress rehearsal of the famous ballet, choreographed to Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s glorious music. This vibrant young company has its roots in the Donetsk Ballet. Originally the Russian Ballet of Delaware, the company celebrates its tenth anniversary this season. Pasha Kambalov and his wife Kristina, ballet school director, are co-founders of the growing company, which is based at the Grand Opera House.

Swan Lake is the epitome of true classic ballet: graceful lines and delicate beauty based on a tragic fairy tale. Angela Zintchenko was lovely as the ill-fated Odette-Odile, paired with Justin Estelle, a convincing Prince Siegfried. Outstanding was Mamistvalov as the villain Von Rothbart as he cut an evil swath through the stage with his mysterious black-feathered costume. During a dress rehearsal, one often gets to see a director’s vision in its final stages of realization. Because it was the company’s first rehearsal for the production on the main stage, Pasha Kambalov was tweaking the spacing and overall look of the production. His gentle, yet firm direction to the dancers resulted in refined and beautifully spaced tableaus.

Next year, the company’s production of The Nutcracker will include a live performance by The Delaware Symphony Orchestra, since last year’s collaboration on the selections from the work was so successful.

See: http://www.firststateballet.com/.

Ten Months: Connecting with Wilmington’s Voices

Under siege and starving for change: that’s how our city is portrayed in Anna Marie Cammarato’s Ten Months, The Wilmington Voices Project, at the Delaware Theatre Company. The bare, white scaffolding onstage—intended to represent ongoing urban development—underscores the empty, gritty feeling of many Wilmington streets. Projected family snapshots, videos and archival photographs from the Historical Society of Delaware created a rich, striking sense of people and place. Wilmington is “a city with a broken heart,” as one character suggests. Cammarato, who conceived and directed this powerful production writes, “I cannot think of a better forum than our theatre to show everyone that there is poetry, pain, sorrow and true beauty in our everyday thoughts, conversations and dreams.”

The docudrama takes us through the heyday of Market Street with its upscale department stores and lively crowds, to the riots of 1968 and subsequent national guard occupation (lending to the title “10 Months”), the days of “white flight” and to the present—when shootings and violence are a stark reality, juxtaposed with the serenity of newly rebuilt neighborhoods. Using interviews, poetry and material from the Facebook page Tired of All the Killings in Wilmington :(. Cammarato creates a riveting, multi-faceted drama. Adding to the rich tapestry of the evening was the Delaware Historical Society’s lobby exhibit Full Circle: A History of Change on Market Street, which featured photographs of the street from over the years.

Three actors, Ben Cherry, Taïfa Harris and Erin Moon, each play several roles: teenage, middle-aged and older “voices” of different races, genders and backgrounds. The actors are moving and convincing as they glide effortlessly into the different personas. The two white Middle Voices have names, yet the African-American is simply “Woman,” perhaps suggesting both the facelessness and universality of her story: she stands each day on a city street, holding a poster of her murdered son, asking passersby to look at his picture and think about the meaning of his life and death. Her words become a theme, a stark reminder of the city’s brutal, senseless violence that weaves through the play, as she repeats her story like a chant.

After the show, I had the pleasure of speaking to Taïfa Harris, NYC-based actress. Her excitement about the production and her experience of Wilmington was contagious, and she encouraged us to return for the second act of the show, which includes an informal discussion with some of the people interviewed for the project. Though one audience member I spoke to felt the show perpetuated the misconception of Wilmington being an uninhabitable city, I found the production to be honest, poignant and, yes, full of hope.

See http://www.delawaretheatre.org/.