Delightful diversions
By Providence Phoenix Staff

Best merging of inner and outer
Modern theater meets massage therapy. Under the umbrella of the FULL CIRCLE ARTS INSTITUTE, the Dragonfly Wellness Center and the Rhode Island Theatre Ensemble (RITE) are hoping to be under one Westminster Street roof in the near future. CJ Racinsky, artistic director of the theater, has developed a holistic-based teaching technique that combines the healing arts and the performance arts, for both stage performances and classroom and community outreach programs. The "RITE Technique" depends on building a foundation of trust, self-confidence, and respect and has been drawn from different sources, including artists of several disciplines, social workers, early education teachers, and holistic counselors. Among the wellness center's offerings are reiki energy healing, massage therapy, yoga, and movement instructions. Workshops have ranged from anger management and teen empowerment to "Communicating With the Youth of the New Millennium."
401.383.5146

Best way to get the summer blues
What is it about the blues that can lift your spirits? Is it those slow-hand guitar riffs that seep through your pores? Is it those raucous rhythms that set your feet stepping and your tail wagging? Or is it the moan of a harmonica, letting loose those inner demons? Whatever it is, you can get it . . . every Wednesday night in July and August at 6 pm on the Westerly Town Beach (in Misquamicut) at BLUES ON THE BEACH. Paying homage to local and national acts, this series brought out dance fans and blues fanatics in '05 to see Roomful of Blues and bands with Roomful or Rhody connections: Greg Piccolo & Heavy Juice, Dave Howard and the High Rollers, Johnny Nicholas and the Texas All-Stars, Sugar Ray Norcia, and Al Copley and his Prophet Motive.
401.348.2500 | www.bluesonthebeachri.com

Best lies to be told
Well, not exactly lies. Just tall tales, yarns, songs, anecdotes, stories. And more stories. Twenty years worth. For the past two decades, an annual event of Women Celebrating Women in Story and Song has been a great occasion to gather a group of women friends and head to GIRLS NIGHT OUT. Perennial favorites have included Jeanne Jordan Bent, Sparky Davis, Cindy Killavey, Carolyn Martino, Marilyn Murphy Meardon, Diane Postoian, and Valerie Tutson. There've been stories drawn from many ethnic traditions - Native American, African-American, African, Jewish, Middle Eastern, Irish, and Scottish among them. There are tales woven from the daily fabric of women's lives and from extraordinary circumstances. Tales of pluck and perseverance, of common sense and courage, of wisdom and of wit. Girls Night Out takes place each year in March during Women's History Month (men are welcome, too).
401.351.8090

Best spontaneity without combustion
The laughter can be explosive, though. There's something about improvisational comedy that can't be accomplished with a script, no matter how clever the writing. Premeditation just can't compete with watching the process of skillful, intelligent performers finding things funny. The PROVIDENCE IMPROV FEST, hosted by Improv Jones and Unexpected Company, this year drew groups from San Francisco to the Big Apple, doing short-form games, long-form stories, and plenty in between. Maximum yucks for 10 bucks - three shows for $25 - is hard to beat without throwing in toasters. The first year three companies performed, the second 16, the third who knows? The festival's founder and director, Trinity Rep company member Mauro Hantman, says he already has a troupe from Ireland who wants to attend, so next year's event in late June will be international.
www.providenceimprovfest.com

Best vocational / artful pairing
There's a fine line between industrial arts and fine arts when the former can lead to the latter. Maybe some of the young students who are learning and honing their skill with an acetylene torch at the STEEL YARD will go on to weld hulls in Groton, but many will be creating sculptures. Founded by artists who wanted to make a difference, the school is currently offering community courses in blacksmithing, sculptural welding, glass casting, and lost wax bronze sculpture. In addition, for those already well-trained but needing facilities, there are open studio access programs for a monthly fee, in which participants have a locker on-site, storage space for their projects, and use of equipment. That offering is also designed for those needing to incubate a business affordably.
27 Sims Avenue, Providence | 401.273.7101 | www.thesteelyard.org

Best summer of '05 singalong<br> The Dambuilders, Dinosaur Jr, and the Cure are just a few of the kindred spirits we hear in the irresistible '05 summertime smash "Can't Look Down" by local quartet ZOX, whose disc The Wait moved 2700 units nationwide in its first week of release in August (the 2003 debut Take Me Home has sold close to 3000) and debuted at #7 on the Billboard Internet charts between Black Eyed Peas and Coldplay. The warbled and lovelorn croak of "that 'I'll Be Waitin' ' song" had us howling along in glee to the infectious hook that received nationwide airplay. The energetic pace and jagged violin squalls cruise along with a bridge clearly reminiscent of Robert Smith. The renowned live show (they've played more than 400 since 2003) is a breathless romp of controlled chaos. The month of November will find the boys rocking through Ohio, New Jersey, Florida, and Tennessee, before closing things out with a private show at Mount St. Charles in December. Four tracks from the album, including "Can't Look Down," are available at Zoxband.com, along with tour dates and links to buy the discs.

Best local food celeb
There's just something about local restaurant hopper and TV Maitre D' host JOE ZITO. Maybe it's the soft-spoken narratives, the gentlemanly rapport, or the mock-'neck and blazer with matching mustache. Zito is the ultimate affable local guy who frequently travels outside DePasquale Plaza to statewide gems like Gian Carlo's Ristorante in Woonsocket, Sabina Doyle's in Newport, and Trattoria Del Corso in East Greenwich, with frequent visits to mainstays like Venda Ravioli and Twin Oaks. The half-hour show coasts along with Zito offering insight to the state's best dining, usually with a giant glass of wine in his hand. Check out www.fox64.com for the TV Maitre D' archives.
On Sundays on Channel 64 at 11 am + on Channel 12 at 11:30 am

Best chance to see ballet dancers sweat
In the ballet world, the exertion of the dancers is usually far removed from the audience. They run, leap, lift, and twirl as if effortlessly. But at Festival Ballet Providence's UP CLOSE, ON HOPE series, in their 90-seat Leach Grand Studio Theater, no one is more than 15 feet from the "stage," and consequently, everyone can hear the dancers breathing, see them sweating, notice the sudden rips in costumes and the occasional missed beat. The pluses greatly outweigh those minor distractions: the chance to see short pieces, many of them debuts by fledgling choreographers; to glimpse emerging dancers in solo roles; to witness the work and the polish of these dancers. This fall, Up CLOSE, on HOPE will reprise last year's Halloween piece, The Widow's Broom, October 29-31. The next series, on November 12, 19, and 20, features contemporary work by Festival's artistic director Misha Djuric, company members Piotr Ostaltsov and Mark Harootian, and guest artist Colleen Cavanaugh.
825 Hope Street, Providence | 401.353.1129 | www.festivalballetprovidence.com

Best reason to send Li'l Rhody into cyberspace
It calls itself "THE ULTIMATE WEBSITE PERTAINING TO THE FAVORITE: FOOD, PLACES, NOSTALGIA, AND PEOPLE OF THE GREAT STATE OF RHODE ISLAND," but you can just call it a hoot. The site was set up by ex-pat Web designer Ray Testa, who now lives east of Dallas but pines for New Yawk Systems like Buddy misses his rug. It's "to keep my memories fresh," he says. Every day he gets comments from former staties all over the country about such highlights as the state's local food and eatery bests, feasts and festival links, diction lessons, and pix of drive-in theaters that were. The application for Rhode Island citizenship asks such questions as whether you know all the flavors of Del's, if you always keep a bottle of coffee syrup in your fridge, and whether you were "on TV downtown live when they released The Verdict."
www.pagesintime.com/ri/index.html

Best cultural immersion
Africa may be thousands of miles away, but there's a great way right here in Rhode Island to become better informed about this vast continent. The third AFRICANIST WEEKEND BIENNIALE FESTIVAL at Brown University on February 10, 11, and 12, 2006, is intended to foster, through the performing arts, a better understanding and awareness for all of us of the issues facing contemporary African countries. One guest at the fest will be Kongo Ba Teria, from Burkina Fasa, with a piece about starvation and thirst in sub-Saharan Africa. Organized by Brown faculty member and choreographer Michelle Bach-Coulibaly, the festival will bring artists from the Caribbean, Central America, Africa, the US, and Europe who may be filmmakers, poets, spoken word artists, musicians, puppeteers, or lecturers. Bach-Coulibaly will premiere "Melting into Glass," which deals with issues in modern-day Africa, including the neverending refugee and civil war problems.
401.863.3285 | www.ridance.com/africanist04.html

Best grass roots music venue
It got its name from the folk tale about a stranger arriving in a village with a pot of water and a stone to make soup. People's curiosity got them to toss in vegetables, meat, and seasonings. So, too, have hundreds of volunteers pitched in their talents over the past 25 years to keep the folk and acoustic music coffeehouse called STONE SOUP thriving and surviving. Not only has this institution nurtured local and regional musicians, but it has brought some of the finest (and fun-est) national acts to our shores. This fall's lineup includes Halloween stories by the Spellbinders (October 29); the often-hilarious Cliff Eberhardt (November 5); bluesy and funny Roy Book Binder (November 12); singer/songwriters Kerri Powers and Terence Martin (November 19); and ultra-master blues guitarist Paul Geremia (November 26). All suggestions are welcome for a new home for Stone Soup. And get off that couch and support live music!   210 Main Street, Pawtucket | 401.457.7147 | www.soup.org

Best ethnic switch for Columbus Day
If you think that the Italian-Americans have a lock on this weekend, think again. In Woonsocket, the three-day annual event of AUTUMNFEST (next year is the 28th) celebrates the French-Canadian heritage of many residents, with a huge parade on Columbus Day (floats, bands, fire trucks, clowns, wandering accordion players, etc.) and crafts tables, foods booths, and musical entertainment (local, regional, and national acts). Local dance studios and winners of a Friday night talent contest take over the afternoon stage and keep that small town spirit pumping; the singalongs with any French-Canadian performer nail the French flavor of the fest. As do the tourtieres (meat pies) and dynamites (a French-Canadian version of a sloppy Joe - specialty of the St. Agatha & Precious Blood Youth Ministry). Other ethnic food options include kielbasa, gyros, souvlaki chicken teriyaki, and lo mein. There's even a beer garden, with its own bands.
World War II Memorial Park | 401.762.6400 | www.autumnfest.org