DAN'S PAPERS, September 3, 2010 Page 92 www.danshamptons.com
Night Beach
Stravinsky on Film
(continued from page 89)
muted conversation around your own blankets and beach chairs. Any noise beyond that sticks out like a dripping faucet in a silent night. The nighttime beach doesn’t live by the daytime beach rules. It’s a live and let live atmosphere, where the groups stick to themselves, do as they please, and basically leave each other to their privacy and allow wide berth and plenty of space. At Sagg Main and other beaches with a ‘cut,’ some beachgoers, especially groups that include kids, tend to migrate to the same general spot. The kids can crab away at the pond in relative safety while the adults can sit nearby, eating and chatting, away from the fray. There’s no need to fraternize with others unless you, and they, want to. Otherwise, everyone is happy to keep to themselves. That’s because at night people go to the beach for different reasons. Our group goes to hang out, let the kids crab, chat and unwind. We’re minimalist—no fire pits, no cars, no refrigerator-size coolers on wheels. By nighttime beach standards, we travel light. Last week, our group of six adults and five kids went to Sagg/Main on the night of the full moon. The big crowd had dissipated. Night crawlers, some in their trucks, some on foot, made their way toward the cut. All the groups were well spaced out, then two trucks pulled up: one a politically incorrect Hummer with a family unit of sorts to the west of us, and a pickup with a 40ish couple just to the east of us.
The Hummer people, to our disbelief, set up their towels and blankets right next to their truck. How odd. Come to the ocean and sit next to a car. Then we heard music. Bad ‘80s rock ballads, so loud that, even at the edge of the raging Atlantic, you could feel the bass in your bones. We were aghast. What? Do they think this is Coney Island? Would they really rather listen to “Tempted by the Fruit of Another” instead of the symphony of the waves hitting the beach? Are they kidding? Philistines! Meanwhile, the pickup truck people had cooked up some burgers on a little grill, ate quietly and started a bonfire on the beach. We never heard these people, we only smelled them—their grill and then their fire. We felt lucky. Imagine, the beauty of a bonfire on the beach, with that great smell, with none of the mess, risk of personal injury or heavy lifting. The irony of this tale of two trucks is that, by day, both of these activities (bon fires and playing amplified music) are illegal. But by night, anything goes. It’s the Wild West, where no one and everyone is the sheriff. You have an issue? There’s no lifeguard to complain to, no cops on wheels to flag down. Ignore it, or it up with the other cowboy, if you dare. The beach at nighttime is a mixed bag. You may have to endure the incongruity of a boom box on wheels; or enjoy the pleasure of a distant bonfire. Sometimes you gladly borrow from Peter and resentfully pay for Paul.
Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes, a film of three one-act ballets performed by the Mariinsky Theatre with music by Igor Stravinsky, will be presented at the Parrish Art Museum as part of its ongoing Opera and Ballet in Cinema series. Stravinsky wascommissioned to compose a work inspired by the legend of the Firebird. Choreographed by Michel Fokine, The Firebird premiered in Paris in 1910 and was an immediate success. The Rite of Spring, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, premiered in Paris three years later to almost unanimous disapproval. The audience was shocked by the primitive violence of the ballet and the complex rhythmic structures and dissonance of Stravinsky’s music. The Wedding was based on texts adapted to relate the story of a Russian peasant wedding. Stravinsky and the Ballet Russes on Thursday, September 2, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, September 5, at 2 p.m., at Parrish Art Museum, 25 Jobs Ln., Southampton. Tickets: $15/$12 (members); 631-283-2118, parrishart.org.
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