Nov.-Dec. activities at Duke Gardens

Here's our roundup. We hope to see you here!

Arts in the Garden

Storyteller Louise Omoto Kessel & percussionist Beverly Botsford
Saturday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m.

The Arts in the Garden family performance series presents a high-energy collaboration. Louise Omoto Kessel delights in welcoming audiences into the world of story, where turtles win races, rivers sing, giants dance and fools are wise. Botsford creates soundscapes for Louise's stories, using bells, chimes, drums, gongs, rattles and shakers from around the world.
The show will be in the Doris Duke Center. Admission is $8, and tickets are available at http://tickets.duke.edu or by calling (919) 684-4444.
See a video preview of Louise & Beverly or just Beverly.

Garden Guild Holiday Craft Sale

Nov. 14-15, 1-4 p.m.

Get into the holiday spirit with ornaments, knitted caps, painted plates & pots, jewelry, fabric microwave bags, wreaths, baked goods and more. All proceeds support Duke Gardens. Location: Doris Duke Center
Free admission

Free tours

Autumn in the Arboretum tour with Paul Jones, curator of the Culberson Asiatic Arboretum. Nov. 6 & 20, 10 a.m. Meet at the Doris Duke Center.
Walk on the Wild Side tour with Stefan Bloodworth, curator of the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, Nov. 5, Dec. 3, 11 a.m.-noon. Rain or shine. Meet at the Blomquist gatehouse. This tour runs throughout the year on the first Thursday of every month.
Bird Walk with Cynthia Fox, of Chapel Hill's Wild Bird Center, Nov. 7, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Please bring binoculars. Children welcome if they are 8 years old or older. Meet at the Doris Duke Center. If the weather is iffy, call Alice Le Duc at 730-2503 to check the status of the walk.
Please pre-register for the free tours at 668-1707.

Children’s Programs
Story time, Nov. 14, 10-11 a.m.
Also, please ask about children’s activity backpack rentals and Tues.-Thurs. morning school programs. Information: 668-1708.

Adult Classes & events

Spring Bulbs in a Container (pictured above; Nov. 5); Starting a Community Garden (Nov. 8; free); Triangle Orchid Society Meeting (Nov. 9; free & public is invited; topic is Costa Rican Orchids); Japanese Tea Gathering (3 seatings Nov. 11); Bow Making (Nov. 19); Holiday Decorations Workshop (Dec. 1).
Pre-registration is required, even for free courses. Call 668-1707.

Arts in the Garden video preview

Here's Louise Omoto Kessel and Beverly Botsford with a taste of their percussive storytelling. You can see them perform at Arts in the Garden in the Doris Duke Center at Sarah P. Duke Gardens Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. Tickets are $8 and available at tickets.duke.edu or by calling (919) 684-4444. Video by Lauren Sims.

Opera Express: family fun at Duke Gardens

Photo by Gregory Cable

Touring company makes opera an interactive delight

By Lauren Sims

As a horde of young children swarmed into the elementary school’s ladies' room for hugs and autographs, I imagined this must be what it’s like to be Hannah Montana. But I am no Hannah Montana, that’s for sure. I am a classically trained singer, and the performance that had worked these kids into such a frenzy was not marked by smoke effects or pyrotechnics. It was, in fact, a Mozart opera.

Opera Express, the educational arm of Charlotte-based Opera Carolina, has been bringing opera to elementary-aged students for more than 30 years. The company is a favorite in Sarah P. Duke Gardens’ Arts in the Garden series, which will kick off its 2009-10 season on Oct. 24 with Opera Express’ “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

My Hannah Montana moment happened while I was touring with the company in “The Three Little Pigs.” Like other Opera Express Productions, it combined a favorite fairy tale with classic operatic melodies.

It’s a productive pairing, says Teresa Robertson, Opera Carolina’s director of education.

“If you want someone to learn something new, you have to start them from what they already know. …We all know the stories and elements of stories. So then we can take them from that known to the unknown, which is the art form.”

These shows are specifically designed with elementary school students in mind. Restricted to under an hour in length, they keep kids engaged with a combination of playful music, bright colors and fast-paced staging. Additionally, children’s operas are deliberately connected with the literary structures students are learning in the classroom.

“This is not ‘extra’, it is another form of looking at the elements of a story,” says Robertson, a former public school teacher. “And true learning is going to occur if students can take what they’re learning in one sense and … apply that to another story genre -- that is, opera.”

The results are astounding. Young children who may never have been exposed to such sounds find themselves entranced with music that is hundreds of years old. They laugh at the performers’ antics, giggle and scream when the characters come into the audience, and clap and shout during the curtain call. By the end of the show, students are able to identify characters by terms like “protagonist” and “antagonist.” Finally, they leave the show with a new appreciation for, and desire to learn about, the classical arts.

After the shows, children are welcome to stick around to ask questions, meet the performers and take pictures. If you come to Duke Gardens’ performance, bring your imagination and plenty of energy, and prepare to experience the time-honored art form of opera in a whole new way!

The Oct. 24 performance is at 11 a.m. Tickets are $8 and are available by calling (919) 684-4444 or at http://tickets.duke.edu.

Lauren Sims is a former Young Artist with Opera Carolina. She is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Duke Divinity School.

October events at Duke Gardens

Here's our October roundup:

Opera Express/photo by Gregory Cable

Arts in the Garden
Opera Express presents “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m.
Arts in the Garden opens its 2009-10 season with "Jack and the Beanstalk." Opera Carolina's educational touring company, Opera Express engages children and families throughout the Carolinas with professional performances of opera for young people. These delightful productions help students understand and appreciate opera as an art form that integrates all of the fine arts and humanities. Performances are tailored to children in kindergarten through fifth grade, and the children are encouraged to be vocal and interact with the performers.
The show will in the Doris Duke Center. Admission is $8, and tickets are available at http://tickets.duke.edu or by calling (919) 684-4444.

Free tours
Autumn in the Arboretum tour with Paul Jones, curator of the Culberson Asiatic Arboretum. Oct. 9, 23 (also Nov. 6 & 20), 10 a.m. Meet at the Doris Duke Center.
Walk on the Wild Side tour with Stefan Bloodworth, curator of the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, Oct. 1, 11 a.m.-noon. Rain or shine. Meet at the Blomquist gatehouse. This tour will recur throughout the year on the first Thursday of every month.
Bird Walk with Cynthia Fox, of Chapel Hill's Wild Bird Center, Oct. 3, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Please bring binoculars. Children welcome if they are 8 years old or older. Meet at the Doris Duke Center. If the weather is iffy, call Alice Le Duc at 730-2503 to check the status of the walk.
Please pre-register for the free tours at 668-1707.

Nature Rangers/Photo by Orla Swift

Free Children’s Programs
Sunday Science free drop-in program. Fairy Houses, Oct. 4; Germ Experiment, Oct. 11 (don’t wash your hands in advance); Build a Pine Cone Bird Feeder, Oct. 18; Make Sand Paintings in a Jar, Oct. 25.
Nature Ranger Cart every Friday from 10 a.m.-noon. Nature-focused activities.
Both programs are at the Dawn Redwood near the foot of the Terrace Gardens.
(Update: sorry, but the Nov. 1 Family Fun Day has been canceled; please mark your calendar for the next one, May 30, 2010)

More Children’s Programs
Nature for Sprouts: Sensory Walk (Oct. 9); Story Time (Oct. 10); Nature for Sprouts: Roots, Shoots, Flowers, Stems & Leaves (Oct. 16); Nature for Sprouts: Super Seeds (Oct. 23); Nature for Sprouts: How Does Your Garden Grow? (Oct. 30). Also, ask about children’s activity backpack rentals and Tues.-Thurs. morning school programs. Information: 668-1708.

Japanese Tea Gathering/Photo by Jon Gardiner/Duke Photography

Adult Classes & events
Landscape Design Study Course (Oct. 1-2); Sharing Your House with Plants: A Cohabitation Primer (Oct. 8); Triangle Orchid Society meeting (Oct. 12; open to the public); Advanced Ikebana (Oct. 14, 21, 28); Japanese Tea Gatherings (Oct. 21); Master Naturalist Program Summary (Oct. 26-27 & 30).
Pre-registration is required, even for free courses. Call 668-1707.


Looking ahead:
Please mark your calendars for the Garden Guild Craft Sale Nov. 14-15. The sale will feature holiday ornaments, knitted items, bird houses, fabric microwave bags, wine bags, stationery, framed cross-stitch, jewelry and hair accessories, photographs and other gift items.