2014 Shindig on the Green dates announced by Folk Heritage Committee

The Folk Heritage Committee announces the summer 2014 dates for two celebrated mountain traditions in Asheville, North Carolina: the 48^th Annual Shindig on the Green and the 87^th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. Both events feature long-standing as well as the newest generation of traditional and mountain string bands, ballad singers, and big circle mountain dancers and cloggers, resulting in fun-filled and authentic evenings enjoyed by kith and kin of all ages.

The 48^th Annual Shindig on the Green, a free event in the heart of downtown Asheville, with a stage show and informal jam sessions, takes place on Saturday evenings. Kicking off on June 28^th this year, Shindig on the Green will be held on June 28; July 5, 12, 19; and August 9, 16, 23, and 30. Shindig returns again to the heart of downtown Asheville at Pack Square Park’s Roger McGuire Green. The stage show takes place on the Bascom Lamar Lunsford stage, named for the founder of the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. Locals and visitors alike gather “along about sundown,” or at seven o’clock for those who wear a watch, for Shindig on the Green. Since the outdoor event’s inception in 1967, hundreds of thousands of individuals from across the region and throughout the world have shared and enjoyed the rich traditional music and dance heritage of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in this outdoor setting.

The 87^th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk and Festival, a ticketed event at Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place in downtown Asheville, takes place at 7:00p.m. nightly, Thursday through Saturday,  July 31, August 1 and 2, 2014. The sister event to Shindig on the Green, the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival was founded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in 1928. The nation’s longest running folk festival, the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival showcases the best of the region’s mountain musicians and dancers during its three evenings of indoor performances.

The non-profit, all-volunteer Folk Heritage Committee^TM’s mission is to preserve and present the musical heritage of the Southern Appalachian Mountains to audiences from throughout the region and world, for entertainment and education, by producing the annual Shindig on the Green^TM and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival^TM events.

For more info about the 48^th Annual Shindig on the Green or the 87^th Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, visit www.folkheritage.org or call the Folk Heritage Info Line: 828.258-6101 x345.

The NC Outward Bound School presents Workplace Coaching Skills for Leaders workshop - April 29

A Benefit for the NCOBS Western NC Youth Scholarship Fund -
*Helping to build strong communities, one person at a time!

Workshop Description
Coaching and developing your people is a critical leadership competency in today’s business environment because Talent is the Key Differentiator. Today’s leaders understand that coaching and developing their people (talent management) is a key driver of employee engagement, which in turn fosters innovation, profitability, and customer loyalty. This
highly engaging program makes key distinctions between managing people, and growing them. Participants will learn and practice the conversation skills and tools of effective coaches in the workplace.

Who Should Attend
Any leader who supervises or manages others and is expected to achieve performance outcomes for their organization. Even if your title doesn’t include managing direct reports, you will find these professional communication skills relevant for influencing and persuading others at work or home!

About the Presenter
Steve Rudolph delivers inspiring and effective leadership, management, and coaching training to Fortune 1000 clients and small businesses. Steve Rudolph is a certified coach with the International Coaching Federation and has a M.A. in Organizational Management from the Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. Steve is a former guide for U.S. Disabled Ski team and is a former senior instructor for the Pacific Crest Outward Bound School. He is a current member of NCOBS Regional Advisory Board. For more information or to
contact Steve, visit www.steverudolphcoaching.com or call 828-772-9396.

Date: April 29, 9:00am – 12:00pm. Please arrive at 8:30 for sign-in, have a cup of hot brew, and say hello!
Price: $120 for individual, $89 for each additional key member of your team you include.
100% of the workshop fees, after a deduction for the direct expense of printed materials and event refreshments, go directly to NCOBS’s Western NC Youth Scholarship Fund.
Location: Prestige Subaru Adventure Center - 585 Tunnel Road Asheville, NC 28805
(heading east, 2nd driveway past Prestige main entrance. Look for “Adventure Center” sign.)

To Register: Click here to register, www.steverudolphcoaching.com and click on “workshop” icon.

To learn more about North Carolina Outward Bound School, visit www.ncobs.org.
*NCOBS’s Western NC Scholarship Fund supports youth and educators from partner schools Owen High School and Irwin High School to attend North Carolina Outward Bound School courses.

The Weekend of Wonder comes to Asheville - May 2-4

For three wondrous days in early May, the historic downtown district of Asheville, North Carolina will come alive with Magic, Mystery and Enchantment for The Weekend of Wonder. From Friday, May 2nd through Sunday the 4th, a Dream Team of Master Magicians will appear at over a dozen venues in a dazzling showcase of Close-up, Stage and Street Magic, One-Man Shows, Lectures, Workshops and All-Star Galas. World renowned magicians, Jay Scott Berry and Maxwell Blade have teamed up to produce this historic event that is rapidly becoming the largest Festival of Magic ever held in the US.

Joining Blade and Berry will be a host of International Stars including, direct from Las Vegas, multi award-winning Wizard, Jeff McBride, World Champion Close-up Artist, Michael Ammar and Magical Minstrel, Andrew Goldenhersh. Feature Artists include Asheville magicians, “MagicBrad” and TJ Shimeld, Charlotte’s Chastain Criswell and, from Dallas, The Serpentine Sorcerer, Daryl Sprout. The Festival’s Guest of Honor will be local celebrity and magic shop owner, Ricky Boone, who will perform and lecture.

The Weekend of Wonder is a golden ticket into the world of pure imagination, perfect for children, families and everyone who loves magic. Your journey begins at the Asheville Community Theatre. This state-of-the-Art venue will host all of the Main Events. These include The All Star Gala on Friday night, The Masters of Magic Gala on Saturday night, the One-Man Shows and Magic Lectures. The on-site Black Box Theatre, known as “35 Below” will host the Workshops.

From there you can venture in all directions to be amazed, amused and inspired. Tickets start at only $10 each and many of the shows throughout the Festival are free! Ticket Packages are very reasonably priced at only $150 adults and $100 for Children under 17. These are specially designed for Magicians or the general public and include Reserved VIP Seating to 10 of the Major Shows and Events.

The fun begins with The Grand Opening Celebration, high noon on Friday at The Asheville Community Theatre. This is a free event for introductions, questions, photos and autographs. The All-Star Street Magic Gala starts at 5pm and later that night, the Meet the Stars party starts at 10:30pm. Both of these special events are also free. The WOW Festival wraps up with the Closing Party at 8:30pm Sunday night. In between will be non-stop fun, surprise shows, balloon workshops and so much more!

Make plans now to attend this historic event. We have a number of partner hotels, offering Festival rates, to suit any budget, all within easy reach of the ACT and historic downtown area. Detailed schedule, venue map, tickets and show times are available on The WOW Festival Website: www.WeekendofWonder.com/Asheville and Facebook Page www.Facebook.com/WeekendofWonder

"Ghosts" presented by The Autumn Players - May 30 and 31

Ghosts, a classic social drama by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen  (1828 - 1906) is scheduled for three matinee performances by The Autumn Players of Asheville Community Theatre (ACT): Friday and Saturday, May 30 and 31 in 35below at ACT; Sunday, June 1 in the Manheimer Room at UNC Asheville's Reuter Center. Under the direction of Anita Chapman and in partnership with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, this is the fourth of five productions of the 2013-14 season of Readers Theatre Showcase. Curtain is at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $5 cash at the door.

    

In the 1880's Norwegian audiences were scandalized by Ghosts. In England it was banned. Ibsen, ever critical of the life-lie, raises a provocative question in this play: When a society prescribes what is allowable in our behavior, what is really achieved by following the rules? Helene Alving, a woman who has outwardly conformed to the conventions of her time and devoted her life to keeping up appearances, finds herself haunted by the truth of the past when her artist son returns home with a mysterious illness.  

Anita Chapman has directed several concert-style readings for The Autumn Players: The Trip to Bountiful, The Little Foxes, A Delicate Balance, and Uncle Vanya. She performed in A Man for all Seasons, The Heiress, and The Shadow Box. For the WNC Historical Association she directed a reading of Beneath Shelton Laurel.  Recent Chair of The Autumn Players, Ms. Chapman was trained as a Dramaturg at the University of Amsterdam.

The Autumn Players is ACT's volunteer outreach company consisting of almost 100 seasoned actors, directors, writers and event organizers dedicated to taking theater into the community. Since 1992 the company has provided entertainment, enrichment, and education for thousands of students, seniors, and in-betweens at venues within an hour or more from Asheville. 

For more information or for a full schedule of the Readers Theatre Showcase series, please visit www.ashevilletheatre.org.

Asheville Art Museum kicks off First Friday Art Walks with a focus on photography - April 4th

The Asheville Art Museum will kick off the First Friday Art Walk season on April 4 by celebrating the new exhibition Ralph Burns: A Persistence of Vision, Photographs 1972-2013. Guests are invited to view this evocative exhibition, and enjoy light snacks and a donation bar. The Museum encourages viewers to engage with photography and promote Asheville’s vibrant art scene by taking photos during the evening and sharing via social media using #avlart and #firstfriday tags.

The Museum is pleased to offer a “Pay As You Wish” entrance fee from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. for all of the First Friday Art Walks, which take place on the first Friday of each month from April – November 2014. More than 20 members of the Downtown Asheville Art District (galleries and museums representing many diverse types of art) participate in First Friday Art Walks — all venues are located within a walkable half mile radius of downtown Asheville.