THE EVENING of Wednesday, Feb. 10 started with a buzz of of anticipation. Outside, the sidewalk was overflowing. Inside, the Sottile Theatre was filling to the brim—a first for the International Piano Series this season. On the stage, a solitary grand piano stood passively in front of a large sound board. The much awaited... Read »

THE GHOST OF THE BELOVED ballet master, George Balanchine, comes to Charleston this weekend as CBT presents Masterpieces of Dance at the Sottile Theatre on Saturday, Feb 13 at 7:30 PM. They will be breathing life into one of Balanchine’s first big successes, Serenade, as well as Rubies. Rubies is new to the CBT... Read »

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT about what red Bordeaux sounds like? Did you know that Madeira was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite wine, or that it was used to toast the signing of The Declaration of Independence? How about a Charleston Madeira party with 6 men and 6 bottles? Ever been to one of those? And speaking... Read »

ANY FAN OF THE PERFORMING ARTS is fascinated by a “prodigy”—a word that my dictionary defines as “a person endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities, especially a precocious child.” Close enough, I suppose—but I think the Germans have a better word for it, namely “Wunderkind,” translatable as “wonder-child.” This term implies a miraculous level... Read »

IN THE AFTERMATH of World War II, Germany was divided and the Soviet Union quickly isolated East Germany from the west. Supplies were scarce, so under direction of President Harry Truman, the Allied Forces began the Berlin Airlift. For 15 months, British and American pilots flew more than 277,000 missions to drop more than 2.3... Read »