CBT donors offer $100,000

The Charleston Ballet Theatre is winding down its season after receiving inspiring news.

CBT board President Charles W. Patrick has announced that he will match dollar for dollar up to $100,000 in donations to the ballet to celebrate its 20th anniversary as a professional company during its 2007-08 season.

Patrick, an attorney, and his wife, Celeste, a physician, are known for their support of local arts groups and for preserving buildings with historic significance.

'I, as well as many others, consider Charleston Ballet Theatre to be an artistic treasure,' Patrick says in a letter to the CBT Board of Directors and major supporters. 'The company has made great strides as a performing arts organization while maintaining its commitment to educate and enrich the Charleston community.'

Don and Patricia Cantwell, co-founders and co-artistic directors of the ballet, expressed their deep gratitude to Patrick.

Resident choreographer Jill Eathorne Bahr says, 'Charles Patrick is a true visionary and sees big things coming for the CBT. This financial shot in the arm will allow us to bring dance to lots of different areas of the Lowcountry.'

Bahr adds that Jon Teeuwissen, executive director of the internationally known Joffrey Ballet, will be coming in soon to help the CBT board strategize.

'We hope to skyrocket to a different level,' she says. 'Our goal is to be in the black before the end of our fiscal year June 30, which we can do if Charles Patrick's challenge is met.

'Also, the Donnelley Foundation of Chicago has awarded us a $50,000 strategic plan grant to look into our long-term plans for a (permanent) home on the peninsula.'

Because of the lack of money, Bahr says, she calls on her longtime artistic associations with New York artists such as

Dave Hearn of Flying by Foy, which furnished the flying apparatus in 'Camelot,' and costume and set designer Campbell Baird, among others.

'We are able to have beautiful sets and costumes because my friends in the industry give me significant discounts on their normal fees as they recognize the good work we are doing, and that we are a smaller ballet with a budget to match,' explains Bahr.

The CBT will present 17 performances during the 2007 Piccolo Spoleto Festival, including performances at the Angel Oak on Johns Island.

Halsey Institute Hovering between painting and sculpture, 'Surface Tension: Multimedia Abstractions by Cindy Neuschwander and Hiroyuki Hamada' will open Friday at the College of Charleston's Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art.

Katie Lee, assistant director of the Halsey and curator of the exhibit, says, 'The artists both create layered multimedia objects. The surfaces of their works consist of curious, unspecified materials, creating a sense of tension between what (the objects) actually are and what they seem to be.'

Neuschwander, who is based in Virginia, has her work in collections at the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, the Neiman Marcus Collection and the Chrysler Museum, among others.

Born in Tokyo, Hamada lives in East Hampton, N.Y. He earned his MFA from the University of Maryland and has exhibited extensively in the Northeast. He was the recipient of a MacDowell Colony fellowship and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, among numerous other fellowships.

An opening reception honoring the artists will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, when Neuschwander will give a brief talk at the gallery. Prior to the reception, Hamada will speak from 4 to 5 p.m. in Room 309. All activities are free to the public. The exhibit will be on view through June 9.

The gallery is in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St., at the College of Charleston. Regular hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Tidwell Art Center

For 27 years, the Tidwell Art Center and Gallery on King Street has remained in the forefront of the visual arts community and often brought in well-known artists to teach classes.

The gallery also was known as the place to procure hard-to-get arts supplies and in 1979 was designated as the official merchandise store of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival by the city's Office of Cultural Affairs. It also has been a major venue for the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition.

However, owner

Patsy Tidwell-Painton

recently suffered a severe stroke, according to

Gino Calejo, gallery business manager and designated spokesman, who is a broker at Sunbelt Business Brokers. 'Although Patsy is slowly recovering, she and her husband,

Fred Painton, along with Patsy's family, have decided to sell the business,' says Calejo.

Those interested in purchasing the gallery at 343 King St. may reach Calejo at 343-4555.

‘Mystery Theater'

Using Broadway themes, the Fred Astaire Dance Studios of Charleston will present an evening of music and dance in the production 'Mystery Theater' at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St.

The story opens with a museum gala that features the Hope Diamond and ends in a courtroom battle where attorney Billy Flynn of 'Chicago' fame defends his beautiful client accused of stealing the gem.

The event, described as 'Dancing With the Stars' meets 'Murder She Wrote,' is choreographed by Linda Dean and stars Fred Astaire dance professionals

Andrey and Elena Gergel and Elena Ivanchenko and members of the Fred Astaire Studio.

Tickets are $25-$35 and may be purchased online at etix.com or by calling 800-514-3849.

Reach Dottie Ashley at 937-5704 or dashley@postandcourier.com.

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