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DIGBOSTON.COM

VOL 18 + ISSUE 34

AUGUST 25, 2016 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 EDITORIAL PUBLISHER + EDITOR Jeff lawrence NEWS + FEATURES EDITOR Chris Faraone ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR Nina Corcoran ASSOCIATE FILM EDITOR Jake Mulligan ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR Christopher Ehlers COPY EDITOR Mitchell Dewar CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Emily Hopkins, Jason Pramas CONTRIBUTORS Nate Boroyan, Renan Fontes, Bill Hayduke, Emily Hopkins, Micaela Kimball, Jason Pramas, Dave Wedge INTERNS Becca DeGregorio, Anna Marketti

DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tak Toyoshima COMICS Tim Chamberlain Pat Falco Patt Kelley

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DEAR READER I have this crazy idea. It’s that all of the small and independent publications around Greater Boston, or at least most of them—plus the cable access television and college radio stations, as well as many of the tiny blogs no matter how obscure—can together drive the narrative on critical issues around here. At least some of the time. As mentioned in this space before, that’s why I co-founded the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, which helps outlets including DigBoston generate coverage, sometimes addressing issues across publications.

On that note, this week’s news and features section touches two essential topics in particular that need as much grassroots media focus as possible— homelessness, and cultural diversity in local arts.

Only when outlets like the Dig, and other various community newspapers cover such items en masse will we ever see them surface with impactful regularity on major airwaves. We also need your help to spread the word, and our work, so when you finish reading, we kindly ask that you start tweeting.

CHRIS FARAONE, NEWS + FEATURES EDITOR

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BUSINESS ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Marc Shepard SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Jesse Weiss ADVISOR Joseph B. Darby III DigBoston, 242 East Berkeley St. 5th Floor Boston, MA 02118 Fax 617.849.5990 Phone 617.426.8942 digboston.com

ON THE COVER

Read about the healing powers of Haitian dance on page 10. Cover photo by Jason Pramas. ©2016 DIGBOSTON IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY DIG PUBLISHING LLC. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION CAN BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT. DIG PUBLISHING LLC CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. ONE COPY OF DIGBOSTON IS AVAILABLE FREE TO MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS AND VISITORS EACH WEEK. ANYONE REMOVING PAPERS IN BULK WILL BE PROSECUTED ON THEFT CHARGES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.

Dear Trump-Sucking Cock Monkey, Monday morning I walked into the downtown McDonalds to find it literally 95-100 degrees in there for the third time in two weeks. Outraged for the poor employees melting inside, I complained to the manager on their behalf and told the girl behind the register that everyone should go home if this keeps up. Looking around the room for more support for these kids, I see you waiting for your order, so I ask if you would work under these circumstances. Smirking you replied, “If I had to … ” Disgustedly I said, “No. No, you wouldn’t.” To which you replied, “Don’t tell me what I would do …” Then your order came and you bolted before I could properly dress you down for defending sweatshop conditions. I can’t wait for this election, and Tangerine Mussolini, to finally be over so this mass hysteria can be shoved way back into the closet of id where such selfishness belongs.

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NEWS US

LONG ISLAND, LONGER STRUGGLE NEWS TO US

“I hope you’re listening Marty”

BY CHRIS FARAONE @FARA1

It’s a story that Bostonians need to remember. And that people who have moved here in the past two years should hear, however uncomfortable it makes us all.

In October 2014, more than 700 people were ordered to evacuate the shelters and facilities on Long Island, a relative humble oasis that was home for many on the margins of society. Though hardly a vacation destination, the picturesque stretch in the heart of Boston Harbor was more than the simple sum of several rehabilitation centers and halfway houses, and served as a critical hub for those services, which frequently coordinated in both unofficial and prescribed capacities. With the bridge between the mainland and Long Island condemned, that network was splintered, with some components disappearing altogether, and others surfacing beyond the reach of Boston’s homeless population. To quote a Boston University medical student who volunteered in the clinic on Long Island: “We saw how the city did not replace the services lost for these people in the time that it should have happened, and how it really unnerved a lot of the injustice that was already occurring.”

The insult was compounded last month, with a development perhaps best summarized by a July 25 Boston Globe headline: “Farm that once benefited the 4

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homeless now run by fast-food chain.” Straight out of the You Have Got To Be Kidding Me handbook, Boston officials gifted a city-owned farm on Long Island, which was formerly used to train and feed the city’s homeless, to the burger outfit b.good for two years. The local press appeared to notice, some threw shade on social media, but for the most part people then forgot again. This comes as no surprise, as there is certainly a grab bag of injustices—even locally—that deserve attention. But in the interest of reminding readers that the promise of Long Island is still a life or death issue for many who were sent packing, here are some cogent testimonies from advocates who spoke at Monday’s Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee speakout at City Hall, where the group asked for “Mayor Walsh [to] return vital health and healing human services on Long Island including the Serving Ourselves farm and substance abuse recovery services,” and for “Long Island’s legacy [to] continue to be for the health and wellbeing of the people of Greater Boston, not for the use or profit of private companies.”

Sara Riegler (former manager at Serving Ourselves farm) I’m going to give you just a little bit of background on what the farm was, and on what was lost. It was a 2.5-acre

certified organic vegetable farm. We grew about 25,000 pounds of vegetables each year and distributed them throughout the city. About 50 percent of the vegetables went right back into the city’s shelter system and were prepared into meals, and the other 50 percent was divided … between two different farmer’s markets …

At any given time we employed between five and ten homeless adults in a full-time paid position. They were given a permanent bed out on Long Island and all their meals, and the idea was that it was a jobs training program. It gave participants a few months of their lives to take a breather and recover from the stress of living on the streets, or from addiction, or from coming out of incarceration, whatever their particular story was … They were given a caseworker to work on getting permanent housing …

That’s what we did year to year—the farm was out there since the late-’90s and it grew steadily. We had three greenhouses, a tractor, and a bunch of equipment that was paid for by the Boston Public Health Commission and by fundraising from private donors. All that came to a halt in October 2014 and hasn’t been replaced …

The last almost two years there has been talk about maybe re-opening the farm on the mainland, and about LONG ISLAND continued on pg. 6

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LONG ISLAND continued from pg. 4 how it’s valuable to the city, and has to re-start at some point, and then fastforward to this year and suddenly the b.good fast food chain is out there with free access to all of that infrastructure and farmland …

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Michael Kane (organizer with Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee) The city made the decision to evacuate 265 people in recovery. They had food, there was a farm out there, they didn’t have to leave instantly. What did the mayor do? He put them on buses and took them over the bridge that had just been condemned. People left their meds, their ID papers, their clothing, and the city didn’t even realize that was a problem until agitation by the Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee six weeks later …

We know people died … Don’t tell me [the closing of Long Island] wasn’t related to the jump in opioid-related deaths in Boston dating from October 2014 …

There is no excuse to not reopen these [Long Island facilities] now. They have these things called boats, they’ve been around for thousands of years. We asked the mayor’s people why not reopen with a boat, and there was a series of excuses.

One was, ‘What about emergencies?’ Well, there are two ambulance boats. And there was a medical clinic out on Long Island. They said, ‘What about fires?’ Well, there’s a fire station. They said all of these excuses. The last one was, ‘The state won’t let them do it.’ Well, that turned out to be as big a lie as the lie that the state made them tear the bridge down. We talked to people at the state. Senator [Jamie] Eldridge said flat-out that was not true, and that the state never said to not re-open the facilities on Long Island. The city never submitted a plan like the one we are demanding today to reopen these facilities.

John Lerner (former Long Island resident, organizer with Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee) [Speaking of the particular program on Long Island that helped him] You go in there, you get clean and sober, you pay 30 percent of your income to rent. After you get out of housing you get 100 percent of your money back that you put into it … So I got into that program, and not only did I do all that, but I decided there was another step—I went back to college, because I knew that if I was going to get clean and sober and get housing I wasn’t just going to sit around on the couch all day. That wasn’t me … I graduated and technically I’m a chef today …

That’s my good news, and I’m happy about that. What I’m not happy about is that the program that was available to me on Long Island … is no longer there for the next person walking in my shoes. It was taken away. It’s not right. I had a friend on the island who disappeared after it was shut down. February 19 of this year I found her—she died on the street …

This is not what we expect and are looking for from government officials.

Housing and food are a birthright—it shouldn’t be about how much money you have in your pocket and the paycheck that you get every week. Housing is for everybody, not just the rich. I hope you’re listening Marty, because that’s what was taken from us and we need it back.

Aubrey Esthers (former Long Island resident, organizer with Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee) People die left and right. My friends are passing away. It’s awful walking down Mass Ave and seeing people who aren’t able to get into a detox, and who aren’t able to get into a long-term program because Long Island was shut down. I personally benefitted from Long Island and I hate to think that these folks aren’t going to be able to receive the same benefits that I did … We need to keep fighting, we need to keep speaking up. If we don’t, who will?

Nino Brown (teacher, member of Mass Action Against Police Brutality) When I’m not organizing I work with second graders, and many of my students are homeless, many are houseless, and many are housing insecure. The issues and problems that come along with that, the trauma is brought into the classroom.

So I stand in solidarity with all those who put their bodies and their spirits on the front lines fighting against what we know to be neoliberalism—the privatization of public resources and land …

We need solidarity because that’s the only weapon we have. Injury to one is an injury to all … The fight against homelessness is one in the same with the fight against police brutality because the majority of the people who the police brutalize are poor people, working people, homeless people, houseless people. If they can do this to the people at the bottom, they can do this to anybody.

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MEDIA FARM

THE BOSTON GLOBE AND JOHN OLIVER

Guess which one is full of crap about charter schools

BY CHRIS FARAONE @FARA1 As one of the few reporters in the Commonwealth who has sounded alarms about charter schools and their nefarious corporate boosters since Mitt Romney was governor, I thought the fight was over long ago, and that those who think that tycoons should run schools had won. Like I wrote in a recent feature for Alternet titled “How Massachusetts Became Ground-Zero for Corporate Education Privatization”—intended to inform those outside of Mass about the subterfuge underway here for more than two decades—“among the nonstop headlines and op-eds touching all the various tangents of Boston’s current education debacle, one recurring theme is a blurring of political lines; when it comes to the charter school debate, the only color that seems to matter is green.”

Said ongoing charter ploy is among the sickest money grabs or power plays imaginable, and it’s coming to a head in Mass as voters face an onslaught of political advertising on both sides of an upcoming ballot question that, if passed, would significantly grow the charter network statewide at the expense of traditional schools. Charter institutions, which next year will drain roughly $135 million from those schools in Boston alone, have benefited endlessly from bipartisan backing—both here and elsewhere. As John Oliver, host of the prophetic HBO show “Last Week Tonight,” said in his latest excellent monologue, “Charter schools unite both sides of the aisle more quickly than when a wedding DJ plays ‘Hey Ya!’” But before getting to Oliver, it’s critical to show how these issues absolutely should not be covered.

Exhibit A: Monday’s Boston Globe article about contract negotiations between Boston Public Schools and the Boston Teachers Union. Titled “Teachers, city schools urged to overhaul policies,” the piece is a glaring example of pro-charter propaganda masquerading as objective journalism. Rather than simply quoting spokespeople from BPS and BTU and filling in the factual blanks, Globe reporter James Vaznis instead looked to an apparent outside observer, Samuel Tyler of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau (BMRB), to pitch in his two cents. According to Tyler, the warring factions should agree to “lengthen school days, overhaul the teacher evaluation and job-assignment systems, and replace guaranteed pay raises with merit increases”—all positions favored by charter school advocates.

There’s a major problem with giving Tyler this much power though, and it’s that he’s a shameless mouthpiece for the businesspeople aiming to shift more public dollars toward institutions that are not accountable to taxpayers. Though you’ll never read about Tyler’s longstanding role as a regional policy whore in their pages—this latest article simply calls his bureau “a government watchdog funded by businesses and nonprofits,” though fails to mention exactly who Tyler is watching for—it wouldn’t take the Globe’s award-winning Spotlight team to see that BMRB’s board of directors boasts members from such companies as State Street Corporation, Suffolk Construction, Fidelity Investments, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Citizens Bank, Boston Properties, and John Hancock, among others in the corporate class whose money drives the pro- side of the charter war.

While you have to get to the ninth paragraph of the aforementioned Globe piece to learn that BMRB “has been supportive of charter schools,” elsewhere major news outlets have caught on to the scam, and are helping turn the tide with bold coverage and headlines (which, I suppose to my discredit, I never thought would happen since most politicians, their Big Media echo chambers, and their wealthy corporate donors support privatization at some level or another). On the West Coast, the Los Angeles Times has vividly portrayed an LAUSD that’s suffering from money being siphoned off by charter programs; on the East Coast, even the neoliberal New York Times is good for occasional coverage along the lines of, “Condemnation of Charter Schools Exposes a Rift Over Black Students,” which appeared this past weekend.

Most important of the bunch, however, is Oliver, who took to HBO on Sunday with a researched 18-minute rant on charters and accountability. It’s the type of warning that government watchdogs—real government watchdogs, not Sam Tyler and his pinstriped posse of plutocratic power lunchers—have been warning folks about for years, only funnier. With a corporate-flanked measure to expand charters in Mass on the ballot in November, it’s about time that word got out, too.

To quote Oliver, “The problem when it comes to letting the free market decide when it comes to kids is that kids change faster than the market. By the time it becomes obvious that a school is failing, futures may have been ruined.”

“Charter schools unite both sides of the aisle more quickly than when a wedding DJ plays ‘Hey Ya!’”

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ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE FEATURE

Haiti, dance, and healing with Jean Appolon

BY MICAELA KIMBALL | PHOTOS BY JASON PRAMAS

When dancer Jean Appolon was 14 and living in Port au Prince, Haiti, his father, a detective with the government there, was targeted and killed in the midst of a violent coup. He was burned, his arms and legs cut from his body. The group responsible for the slaying brought the severed limbs to Appolon’s doorstep and threatened to kill his whole family. At that point his mother arranged for the family to flee the country. In 1993, they settled in Cambridge.

“Dance was the only therapy I had during this time,” Appolon says. “I felt that if I couldn’t dance I would have shut down. Dance really saved my life.”

Looking back on the pain and suffering of his youth, the respected Greater Boston dance instructor recalls a powerful statement from his teacher in his native country: “This situation can destroy your life or it can make you a better person. What happened to your father was traumatic, but you can find a way to heal yourself through dance.”

While movement has deep therapeutic roots and uses in innumerable cultures, Appolon notes that dance—and 10

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particularly Haitian folkloric dance, which he teaches, performs and choreographs with his company, Jean Appolon Expressions—is common alternative medicine among Haitians and Haitian Americans.

“A lot Haitians can’t afford therapy,” he explains, referring to couch-style psychotherapy. “We never had a society in Haiti that believes in therapy. We tend to do therapy through family or church. A lot of people will also go to a Vodou priest or pastor, but we have never had a practice of going to a doctor or shrink.”

As Appolon’s dedicated students learn in time, his country’s folkloric dances are rooted in the Haitian Kreyòl tradition, which he notes is increasingly marginalized in both language and culture, as well as in taboo spiritual practices like Vodou. As a result, dances with demonstrable healing powers have been historically devalued and driven underground. Another significant cultural barrier, explains Appolon, is the stigma against men who dance as a result of negative stereotypes associated with male homosexuality and movements that are considered flamboyant. Through it all, he persevered, finding peace in the process.

“When I started dancing and listening to drums and connecting to it, I understood how dance can be therapeutic,” Appolon says. “It’s been 25 years and I feel like I never made peace with my dad’s tragedy, but somehow my soul got healed through dance. Because of

dance I became social and engaged and understood that it’s not only me that this happened to—other kids in Haiti have [also] been traumatized a lot.”

Though people outside of the dance community at large may not make the link, traditions like those practiced and taught by Appolon are often deeply political. He continues, referring to everything from the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010 to longstanding injustices like poverty and political corruption: “A lot of Haitians have suffered violence happening in Haiti indirectly or directly.” For some, he adds, “dance [is] a very big part of the healing process,” but Appolon still wishes that more folks took a similar approach.

THE COMPLEXITIES OF DANCE

Every Saturday afternoon, more than 60 dancers of all ages, levels, and backgrounds—from toddlers to adults, pro dancers to newbies, citizens of the world to local white dudes—pack in tightly in a studio at the Dance Complex in Central Square in Cambridge. Typically six drummers, most of whom hail from Haiti, take center stage, often accompanied by a saxophonist who adds a fresh jazzy edge to the traditional drum-heavy AfroHaitian rhythms.

Following a warmup that blends ballet with modern and Afro-Haitian styles of dance, Appolon leads the room in lines of four to shake, stomp, and flow across MEDICINE continued on pg. 12

PHOTOS BY JASON PRAMAS

“It’s been 25 years and I feel like I never made peace with my dad’s tragedy, but somehow my soul got healed through dance.”

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MEDICINE continued from pg. 10 the floor toward the drummers. The movements are intricate, complicated, and highly technical—yet loose and expressive at the same time. Bodies pulse in harmony to robust sounds; kids of all ages fearlessly circle the dancers, their nimble bodies hyper and free from the far less natural stimulation of their regular environments. All things considered, the place feels more like an enormous party than instruction.

Appolon dedicants and Dance Complex regulars at the class maintain that they are there for more than merely exercise and entertainment. Many say the weekly routine is vital to their health, happiness, and even survival.

Some say the class is like “going to church,” or that when they dance in this particular space with this group they become their “higher selves.” One Haitian regular says the meetup allows her to “leave all of her junk outside— whatever it is you do, your family life, you drop it at the door and leave it there; you go in and work it out.”

Another frequent participant, Lala Roberts, takes Appolon’s class nearly every Saturday and describes the sessions as “a prescription drug.” Referring to her Dance Complex routine, which also includes West African classes that have strong musical and other similarities to the Haitian class, Roberts adds: “African dance and the drum … brought me inner peace.” The student says she even discontinued taking antidepressants, which she was formerly prescribed. “I don’t need meds,” she says, “this can be my medication.”

Students aren’t alone in relying on these sessions.

The class is also a necessity for the instructor. Echoing Roberts and a number of others interviewed for this story, Appolon says the experience is “like medicine … Every time I teach this class I feel that there is some sort of healing process happening.”

CONNECTIONS

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DeGraff goes on to extol folkloric dancing for its social justice purpose and the possibilities for larger healing opportunities in his native country: “In a way it would be an anomaly in Haiti to have the kind of respect [found in Jean’s class] not only for Afro-Haitian dance, but for what it represents to people, namely Haiti’s African heritage. Dance traditions rooted in Vodou are not valued by the government and by élite society—and campaigns against vodou by the Catholic Church have tried, in vain, to destroy Vodou. The Bois Caiman woods where the Haitian revolution started with a Vodou ceremony in 1791 are left in derelict in near total abandon, except for the care of a few local activists. Recently a group of Protestant missionaries burned down, with immunity, the sacred tree where the ceremony was hosted.”

Adds DeGraff: “Looking at Afro-Haitian drumming and dance, you cannot contest that Kreyòl is important.

Yet in formal spaces like schools, government and the courts, Kreyòl is put down, Vodou is put down. Jean’s class shows us that we can value these aspects of our culture, and we should take these cultural assets and incorporate them into education, government, and other formal spheres where knowledge and power are created and transmitted.”

FAITH IN HEALING

Appolon brings his gift back to Haiti each summer, when he leads a two-month program that offers free classes to talented young people who have the potential to be professional dancers but lack the means or support to achieve their dreams. Program participants are given free food and compensation for their hard work, which includes up to eight hours of practice a day plus a performance showcase at the end.

Make no mistake about it—bringing dance to Haiti is a revolutionary act, since dance is hardly considered essential among the middle class in which Appolon was raised. At the same time, the roots of this part of the culture are too deep to deny.

“Haiti was built on dance,” Appolon says.

Acknowledging the country’s history in which dance was used in ceremonies to revolt against slavery, he adds, “We got our freedom through dance, [and] people still want to dance this part of their pain [away].”

Though the stakes are considerably lower in his current home of Cambridge, Appolon brings the same powerful message in his work. In a way, his class in Central Square has become a home base from which he can confidently reach people abroad. Speaking of his coming-of-age in the area and current popular class, Appolon says, “Because of the Dance Complex I feel like I can touch other places in the world … I felt like I was given a chance there.”

Because of that support, Appolon proudly remembers, “I was determined, I wasn’t gonna let anything stop me.

Even now, with challenges I face with my dance company and going back to Haiti, there are lots of hurdles … but I’m not gonna give up, because if I give up then Haiti’s not gonna have a voice.”

This feature was produced by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and is the first installment of ‘Bailemos: Movement and the immigrant Experience,’ a series by BINJ funded with a $2,000 crowdfunding campaign on Beacon Reader. Copyright 2016 Micaela Kimball. Licensed for use by BINJ and outlets in its network.

PHOTOS BY JASON PRAMAS

Appolon’s talent has brought success as well as hope, including professional stints in New York. Before starting his own company, he performed with Alvin Ailey and taught with the Boston Ballet. But it’s his work in the community that has seemingly brought the most impact.

There’s a “special energy about this class,” he says, “an organic, healing feeling that I don’t even understand that keeps me here.”

During the 11 years that he lived and worked in New York, Appolon traveled back to Boston every weekend just to teach. Other times, the situation is reversed—students who have left the Hub have told him they’ve considered moving back just for his class. A few fans who have left the country still come back and visit.

Michel DeGraff, an MIT linguist from Haiti whose work advocates for teaching and learning Kreyòl in Haitian schools, has been coming to Appolon’s class for more than 10 years with his wife and son. For DeGraff, it’s an opportunity to revitalize at the individual level, but also a way to connect in the social and cultural realms, as the class, in and of itself, serves as resistance to negative stereotypes about Haiti in the mainstream media and society.

“There is this dominant culture in the US, but also in Haiti, that values European norms over their nonEuropean, especially African, counterparts,” DeGraff says. “In Haiti it’s French and Christianity over Kreyòl and Vodou; in the US, it’s W.A.S.P. over everything else, but Jean’s class shows it doesn’t have to be this way.

Through dance, you can invert those hierarchies and include everyone’s cultural assets, to the benefit of each individual and of society at large.”

DeGraff goes on to discuss how the class has assisted his son, saying it has helped expose the next generation to Haiti from afar. Appolon, according to DeGraff and others, speaks for marginalized aspects of the Haitian identity which, because of discriminatory practices and policies against Kreyòl culture, isn’t always accessible in dominant realms of Haitian society: “Through Jean’s class I’ve learned so much about who I am as a Haitian. It puts you in a space where you get to practice, understand and value important cultural patterns that people in Haiti are often excluded from because of all kinds of ugly prejudices there.”

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HONEST PINT

7th ANNUAL MASS BREWERS FEST Locals Only

BY JEFF LAWRENCE @29THOUSAND

Certified Beer Sniffers 9 2 H A MP S HIR E S T, CA MB R ID G E, M A | 6 1 7-2 5 0 - 8 4 5 4 | L O R D H O B O.C O M

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In 2007, the Massachusetts Brewers Guild was formed to help promote the explosive growth of the craft beer industry in the state. At the time, according to the guild’s website, there were 34 licensed brewers, but that number was increasing every month. There are now well over 100 in 2016, and that number is growing seemingly by the week. In an effort to promote these brewers and their beers, the Guild created an annual festival. Now in its seventh year, the Mass Brewers Fest is a must-attend event for anyone interested in local brews.

It’s obvious that all beer brands are good business for the Bay State, as we’ve long embraced our beer culture, but unlike other beer festivals that now dot the Commonwealth, the guild has created a festival that only promotes and invites homegrown offerings. That’s unique, but more importantly, it’s central to the Guild’s core mission of promoting local brewers, local people, and local beer.

The beer I prefer to drink on a day-to-day basis is not always local, I’ll be the first to admit, but I go out of my way to find local brewers that are challenging the notion of styles and brewing that I want and like, and lately I’ve been impressed more often than not at the quality and integrity of the beers.

Like many people, my first local beer was a Samuel Adams Boston Lager, but almost immediately I was also drinking a Harpoon, or a CBC, Commonwealth, Berkshire, Northampton brew. While some of those beers still exist, the variety and commitment from new brewers such as Tree House, Notch, Jack’s Abby, Castle Island, Riverwalk, Lord Hobo, Night Shift, Mystic, and so so many more are astounding and make me realize how small the local options were. To steal a quote, we’ve come a long way, baby.

This Friday, you’ll have a chance to see exactly how far. While there won’t be all 100+ brands from the Bay State present, you’ll be able to sample over 100 beers from more than 30 local brewers during the fest. The event is open to the public and a majority of the attendees are just beer fans, but you won’t find a more concentrated gathering of local owners, brewers, and passionate local beer folk anywhere else under one roof. >> MASS BREWERS FEST. 200 SEAPORT BLVD., BOSTON. FRI 8.26. $40.

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261 MAIN ST., WORCESTER, MA

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15

SCHOOL OF ROCK

Lessons from locals Pile and Wild Paintings

BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN We all need role models. Depending on what we’re introduced to early on in life, we find our heroes in unusual places. Sometimes it’s family members who defeat struggles with brave confidence. Other times it’s classmates who go about school in a way you’ve never witnessed before. Usually it’s celebrities in the media, folks who grab our attention through a TV set, cinema screen, or magazine page, their words speaking volumes.

Luckily for Boston musicians, there are plenty of creative geniuses to look up to.

In a selfless act of bridging old and new, East Boston youth nonprofit ZUMIX hosts a series of concerts aimed at introducing Boston acts with some of its own after school bands. Naturally, it opens space for a younger generation of musicians to play alongside, talk with, and learn from local musicians who, more often than not, are role models of their own.

On Friday, Aug 26, ZUMIX will host a performance by Allston rock staple Pile. There to open are three of ZUMIX’s own bands: the emotionally intricate Wild Paintings and two of its current Rock Ed class groups, Submarine and Generic Dogg.

At the start of this year, 17-year-old guitarist Mario Duenas and 17-year-old bassist Juan Gutierrez approached 15-year-old singer and synth player Angelina Botticelli to ask if she was interested in forming a band.

With 16-year-old drummer Mario Jarjour at their side, the four formed Wild Paintings, a synthpop band full of surprisingly powerful soul and intricate melodies. As the group comes to a close on its mixing sessions for its

debut EP, Emotions, Wild Paintings looks to the future and all that it holds, especially for a band still in its formative stage.

Initially, its encouragement stemmed from ZUMIX, given that’s where it formed. “There’s an undeniable sense of love, friendship, and family at ZUMIX since I’ve been coming here for nearly nine years,” says Botticelli.

“It’s like when you dream of somewhere that has everything you love and lets you do what you want to do in life and supports you. That for me would be ZUMIX. My first instrument was drums, and my teacher at the time, Mike Calabrese of Lake Street Dive, was someone who didn’t really allow me to say I couldn’t do something.

There were many obstacles, of course, but he would never let me leave them as obstacles.”

Now the band is breaking down those barriers, including the fear of opening for a band the members look up to. “Since we’re a pretty fetus band and this will only be like our fifth gig, we want to make a good first impression and show people what we’ve created,” Botticelli explains. “Our drummer, Mario Jarjour, is seriously obsessed with Pile, so getting this gig is a really big deal for him. I don’t think we want to say we’re nervous, but we all secretly are. I mean, we aspire to be where Pile is in the Boston music scene right now, so this is crazy.”

As easy as it is to look up to Pile, the band itself doesn’t struggle to recall its early days. Back then, it accepted the safety of modesty, and now, as it becomes a musical role model for many, Pile still takes the modest route.

“It was difficult to convince people to come out to shows when I first started playing out,” says frontman Rick Maguire. “Somebody saying, ‘Maybe I’ll go’ translated to ‘I’m definitely not going’ and ‘I’m definitely going’ translated to ‘Maybe I’ll go.’ But acknowledging that it’s a privilege to be able to play music in front of anybody at all helped me to realize that I’m not entitled to anyone’s attention, and it allowed me to just be grateful that I can express myself by playing music with my friends.”

As it prepares to begin playing around the Boston area, Wild Paintings breaks down the pros and cons of the city (“I think what separates the Boston music scene from those in other cities is how eclectic it is and how inviting, exciting, and accepting it is to all people and music tastes,” says Botticelli). Pile naturally has advice as a veteran of our area. The words are simple and effective, the type that bear repeating: “Enjoy yourself, be respectful, pay attention, and don’t try to be famous.”

Pile and Wild Paintings exchange information, suggestions, and advice before the show arrives, and as they do, one thing becomes clear: The line between young and old isn’t one that matters, nor is it much of a line at all. “Both the community and industry of music are chock full of people who either are children or who act like children,” explains Maguire. “They remind us to do or not to do all kinds of things.”

Some things need to be asked, though, and for Wild Paintings, the question on the tip of its tongue is simple: What does Pile do before and after gigs?

“Before we play, I usually set up all the stuff we have for sale and wander around with a gallon of water, compulsively drinking as much as I can,” says Maguire.

“After we play, I usually try to peddle some merchandise and then start packing up.”

Not the usual advice, but then again, Boston isn’t a city of usual musicians. That’s what makes shared advice all the more special, not to mention a shared bill.

>> PILE + WILD PAINTINGS + SUBMARINE + GENERIC DOGG. FRI 8.26. ZUMIX, 260 SUMNER ST., EAST BOSTON. 5:30PM/ALL AGES/$10. ZUMIX.ORG

MUSIC EVENTS FRI 8.26

A VAUDEVILLIAN SPECTACULAR DOOM LOVER + ALOUD + ETERNALS + SO SOL + SPECIAL GUESTS [Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave., Allston. 8pm/18+/$12. crossroadspresents.com]

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FRI 8.26

AVANT ART ROCK BENT KNEE + ALTOPALO + OH MALO

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm.

Ave., Allston. 10pm/21+/$10. greatscottboston.com]

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SAT 8.27

LEGENDARY BOSTON SKA PUNKS THE NEW DARKBUSTER + CJ RAMONE + THE WARNING SHOTS + STOP CALLING ME FRANK

[The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge. 8pm/18+/$20. sinclaircambridge.com]

TUE 8.30

DOOM AND GLOOM MONOLORD + BEASTMAKER + SWEAT LODGE + PHANTOM GLUE

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm.

Ave., Allston. 8pm/18+/$12. greatscottboston.com]

WED 8.31

NEO-SOUL PUNK POP XENIA RUBINOS + THE SHILLS + JILL MCCRACKEN & THE MISADVENTURES

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm.

Ave., Allston. 9pm/18+/$10.

Greatscottboston.com]

WED 8.31

FEEL GOOD GENRE GRAB BAG CHERRY GLAZERR + GYMSHORTS

[Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.

7:30pm/all ages/$10. mideastoffers.com]

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FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

17

FILM

BRIGHT SCREENS, BIG CITY

On Films at the Gate and Boston’s many other outdoor movie programs

BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN Maybe you haven’t heard about Films at the Gate, but you’ve probably walked through its space. The annual outdoor film program makes its home just a few blocks away from our city’s most prominent multiplex, with screenings held at the Chinatown Park on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, right past the gate itself. This weekend brings the 11th iteration of the film fest—events are scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, all at 7 pm—which has made its reputation by exhibiting Chinese-language films to a primarily Chinatown-based audience. The movies themselves are hardly obscure, as past choices have featured stars like Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan. But if you’ll indulge an anecdotal observation, it seems that much of the Boston moviegoing scene has yet to hear much about Films at the Gate. It’s hiding in plain sight.

The series was founded back in 2006, when it was hosted at an empty lot on Hudson Street. Its creators were representatives of the Boston Street Labs (whose project has since relocated to New York), the Asian Community Development Corporation (who still present the screenings), and curator Jean Lukitsch, who continues to program the events themselves. Lukitsch has long studied and worked at the intersecting point between martial arts and cinema: She is a film scholar who has written prolifically about the martial arts genre; she is a former projectionist who worked at two Chinatown theaters back when they were open; and she is a tai chi teacher at the famed Bow Sim Mark Tai Chi Arts Association, which has a cinematic tradition of its own (Bow Sim Mark is the mother of Donnie Yen). Her programming has been remarkably diverse throughout the years, featuring everything from forgotten silent films to contemporary blockbuster comedies, with the one common point

being that the chosen films are usually representative of the cultural value of martial arts training. Lukitsch has written often about the development of kung fu cinema—and her past decade of programming has put that same history on display.

The trio of feature-length films playing this year continue that study. One is a documentary about a martial arts grandmaster, another is a period piece with numerous martial arts sequences, and the finale is an underseen favorite from a golden age of kung fu cinema. Pui Chan: Kung Fu Pioneer [2012] is the leadoff, and it profiles the current grandmaster of the Wah Lum Kung Fu Association, a Chinese immigrant who helped to popularize martial arts in the United States, in part by starting a school in Boston during the 1960s. His influence will be on display before the movie begins—Friday’s event will begin with a performance by a team from Wah Lum Kung Fu, who will stage a traditional Chinese lion dance as part of its demonstration. Saturday’s event features The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake [2011], which dramatizes the historical record of Chinese revolutionary and proto-feminist Qiu Jin. And Sunday concludes the weekend on a lighter note,

via The Kid with a Tattoo [1980], a lesser-known entry from the legendary Shaw Brothers catalogue, which reveals itself to be one of the genre’s more formally exuberant and exquisitely choreographed comedies.

That these films are being screened under the stars is not necessarily the main attraction, because you can barely walk through a park in Boston without finding an advertisement for a different free-to-the-public outdoor film screening program. Another notable standout of this format is the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s nearby Coolidge at the Greenway program, which screens at the Wharf District Park and distinguishes itself by managing the herculean task of exhibiting high-quality 35mm projection (all other programs rely on digital formats) in a space that’s surrounded by neon lights and honking cars (it’s got one more screening set for this season, Vertigo [1958], which is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept 14).

Ambitious programming and emphatic presentations make Films at the Gate and Coolidge at the Greenway into exceptions. The films they play indeed must be family-friendly and suited to the environments—Lukitsch recalls a moment where she realized Films at the Gate couldn’t play John Woo’s films, because doing so would result in high-volume gunshots ringing out through downtown Boston for two straight hours—but most of their peers program from a much narrower canon, relying on the sort of movie that’s presold to the preteen crowd.

“Family Film Festival at the Prudential Center” screened Minions [2015], The Good Dinosaur [2015], and Inside Out [2015] this summer, and will continue with Mary Poppins [1964] this Saturday. “Free Friday Flicks at the Hatch Shell” screened Minions, The Good Dinosaur, and Inside Out, and will continue with Ant-Man [2015] this Friday. “Summer Movie Series at Assembly Row” screened Minions, The Good Dinosaur, and Inside Out, and will continue with Ant-Man this Saturday. “Mayor Walsh’s Movie Nights” played host to Minions and The Good Dinosaur, and will play Monsters University [2013] at Harambee Park in Dorchester on Monday. And this list is barely complete, as it leaves out various other public screening programs in nearby municipalities, most of which also have schedules that function as Dreamworks/ Pixar box sets. One such program is “Movies on the Common,” which will kick off a three-week run on Sept 9 with—you fucking guessed it—a screening of Minions.

Meanwhile, Films at the Gate features curation that stretches beyond the features, with short films and martial arts demonstrations scheduled for each night of the weekend. After Wah Lum on Friday, the Daoist Gate Wudang Arts team will perform on Saturday, followed by the Bow Sim Mark Tai Chi Arts Association on Sunday. And this all contributes toward the stated goal for the series— to recapture the communal moviegoing quality once created by Boston’s long-gone Chinatown movie theaters.

“I know a lot of people would come every week to see the movies,” Lukitsch remembers from her projectionist days, “to be at a social gathering where their culture was celebrated.” What she’s recalling is another hidden corner of film culture, one that’s entirely separate from what’s represented by the multiplex down the street—and one which Films at the Gate aspires to bring back, if only for one weekend per year.

>> FILMS AT THE GATE RUNS FROM FRI 8.26 THROUGH SUN 8.28. ALL EVENTS BEGIN AT 7PM. CHINATOWN PARK ON THE ROSE KENNEDY GREENWAY, BOSTON.

FILM EVENTS THU 8.25

FRI 8.26

FRI 8.26

[Coolidge Corner Theatre.

290 Harvard St., Brookline.

10pm/X/$11.25. coolidge. org]

[Harvard Film Archive.

24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 7pm/NR/$7-9.

35mm. hcl.harvard.edu/ hfa]

[Coolidge Corner Theatre.

290 Harvard St., Brookline.

Midnight/R/$11.25. 35mm. coolidge.org]

LAST SHOWING OF JOHN WATERS’ MULTIPLE MANIACS [1970]

18

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ANOTHER WEEKEND OF MAMOULIAN MOVIES AT THE HFA STARTS WITH GOLDEN BOY [1939]

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COOLIDGE AFTER MIDNIGHT PRESENTS PIRANHA PART TWO: THE SPAWNING [1981]

SAT 8.27

‘STARRING JACKIE CHAN’ CONCLUDES WITH A DOUBLE FEATURE POLICE STORY 2 [1988] and SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW [1978]

[Brattle Theatre. 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge.

9:30 and 11:30pm/PG-13 and PG/$13 for both. 35mm and digital projection, respectively. brattlefilm.org.]

MON 8.29

BIG SCREEN CLASSICS PRESENTS ALIEN [1979]

[Coolidge Corner Theatre.

290 Harvard St., Brookline.

7pm/R/$11.25.]

WED 8.31

‘UNDER THE INFLUENCE’ DOUBLE FEATURE THE HATEFUL EIGHT [2015] and CUT-THROATS NINE [1972] [Brattle Theatre. 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge.

6:30pm (The Hateful Eight), 4:30 and 9:45pm (Cut-Throats Nine)/both rated R/$13. 35mm.]

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APPLE CINEMAS FRESHPOND 10

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

19

IN COMES COMPANY ARTS

A Lyric Stage’s revival gets lyrical

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In celebration of Lyric Stage artistic director Spiro Veloudos’ 20th anniversary season, he will be kicking off the new season with a new production of Company, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s 1970 masterwork about love and connection.

“There are so many theories about what Company is about,” said Veloudos. “Is it about the disillusionment of marriage? Is it about a person who can’t find the means to commit? Is it sexual orientation? For me, it’s about a person coming to a point in his life and saying ‘What’s next for me? I’ve done all this, but what’s next?’”

Here, members of the company share their favorite lyrics from the show.

John Ambrosino, Bobby: But alone is alone, not alive.

To me, this is the basis of the entire show. In a world spinning and catapulting through space, it’s human connection—and ultimately love— that make the experience of living real.

Leigh Barrett, Joanne: Everybody tries.

Because I’m reexamining “Ladies Who Lunch” and Joanne, this lyric always gets me. I think that people think they know who Joanne is, [but] I think this lyric is the one that says who she really is.

Rachel Bertone, choreographer: You always are what you always were, which has nothing to do with, all to do with her.

Inevitably, people change, for better or for worse, from being in relationships.

Hopefully our partners challenge us so that we can continue to grow and better ourselves. With that said, it is really special when someone can love and respect you for who you are now and doesn’t need you to change a thing about yourself.

Adrianne Hick, April: You’ll always be what you always were, which has nothing to do with, all to do with her.

I think it’s a perfect explanation of how sometimes you can feel like you lose yourself in a relationship, or you become someone else. But if it’s a good relationship, you realize that the other person just makes you a better version of yourself.

Will McGarrahan, Larry: We’ll build a cocoon of love and respect, you promise whatever you like, I’ll never collect.

It perfectly sums of my ideal of a relationship; where you’re free to offer and give, but don’t live in the world of expectations and disappointment.

Erica Spyres, Amy: Make me confused. Mock me with praise. Let me be used. Vary my days.

Sondheim captures true love’s complexities—that we love someone not in spite of love’s difficulties, but because of them. You can’t vary your days if you’re living in eternal comfort.

Kerri Wilson, Sara: Someone to need you too much, someone to know you too well.

I love what it says about being in a true relationship.

Todd Yard, David: She’s tall enough to be your mother.

Goliath.

No, it doesn’t have Sondheim’s rhyming pyrotechnics, but I think it’s the funniest lyric in the show, and is SO Joanne.

Matthew Zahnzinger, Peter: Somebody hold me too close. Somebody hurt me too deep. Somebody sit in my chair, and ruin my sleep, and make me aware of being alive.

I think that Sondheim really isolates what it means to want someone, to want to love someone, and all the fragility and vulnerability and contradictions that come with those feelings. There’s a braveness to Bobby in that moment that we can all relate to when we decide to take that first step and approach someone we care about and welcome them into our lives. It’s one of the most human moments in the play—no pretense, no social facades or contrivances—and, I think, one of the most beautiful.

>> COMPANY. 9.2–10.7 AT THE LYRIC STAGE COMPANY, 140 CLARENDON ST., BOSTON. LYRICSTAGE.COM

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FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

21

SAVAGE LOVE

HAD TO GET AWAY

WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST

BY PATT KELLEY WHATS4BREAKFAST.COM

BY DAN SAVAGE @FAKEDANSAVAGE | MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET

DEAR READERS: This is the final week of my summer vacation—but you’ve been getting a new column every week I’ve been gone, all of them written by Dan Savage, none of them written by me.

Our final guest Dan Savage is an independent designer, illustrator, and animation director based in Brooklyn, New York.

He created Yule Log 2.0 (watchyulelog.com), a collaborative art project where animators around the world reimagine the famous Yule log fireplace. He has worked with the New York Times, Herman Miller, and Google, he’s taught design and animation at NYU and SVA, and he’s won a bunch of design industry awards you probably haven’t heard of.

“I was excited to do this, even though I have no authority on the topic,” said Daniel Savage, award-winning independent designer. “But I surprisingly felt pretty confident in my answers, as ridiculous as they may be.”

My girl and I are both 26, and we opened up our marriage. Now I’ve got a girlfriend with whom I am getting to have some of the kinky fun that was lacking at home. Here is my question: Things are really casual between me and this new girl. I want to do some pegging, but I don’t know who should buy the strap-on? Me, because it’s my ass and my idea? Or her, because she would wear it and would also think it was super hot? Should I buy the dildo and she buys the harness? Going halfsies on the whole rig? What is the equitable way of doing this?

Purchasing Erotic Gear Good Etiquette, Dan? You’re 26 years old, PEGGED, buy the damn thing. How much could it possibly cost? I know if I were in your situation, I would want full control over what goes up my ass. If she owns it, would she use it while you weren’t around?

With strangers? No thanks. Plus if you split the cost, who gets to keep it when you break up? Just buy it and enjoy. If you struggle with picking it out, might I suggest starting small?

savagelovecast.com On the Lovecast, a special guest rant by writer Sherman Alexie: savagelovecast.com.

THE STRANGERER

BY PAT FALCO ILLFALCO.COM

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NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

23

BOWERY BOSTON

For show announcements, giveaways, contests, and more, follow us on:

WWW.BOWERYBOSTON.COM • • • • LIVE MUSIC IN AND AROUND BOSTON • • • •

ROYALE 279 Tremont St. Boston, MA • royaleboston.com/concerts BAND OF SKULLS W/ MOTHERS

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Peter Bjorn and John

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T H U RSDAY. M AY 2 6T H 2 0 1 6 MAYAN THEATER

Thu. 19-May - Razzmatazz, Barcelona Fri. 20-May - Chango, Madrid Sat. 21-May - Territorios Sevilla Festival, Sevilla

L O S A N G E L E S , C A www.buzzcocks.com

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

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ANGEL OLSEN W/ ALEX CAMERON (9/20), RODRIGO AMARANTE (9/21)

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THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 28

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WALTER SICKERT & THE RUBY ARMY OF BROKEN TOYS ROSE FOX

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W/ NUMENOREAN, FROSTHELM, ASTRONOID TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27

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≠ 8/26 & 8/27 (EARLY) EMILY RUSKOWSKI ALBUM RECORDING ≠ 8/26 (LATE) BENT KNEE ≠ 8/29 BIG EYES ≠ 8/30 MONOLORD ≠ 9/1 THALIA ZEDEK BAND ≠ 9/2 LORD DYING

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C.W. STONEKING FRI. SEPTEMBER 9 RED ROOM AT CAFE 939

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COPELAND W/ RAE CASSIDY WED. NOVEMBER 16 MIDDLE EAST DOWN

Tickets for Royale, The Sinclair, and Great Scott can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000.

No fee tickets available at The Sinclair box office Wednesdays - Saturdays 12:00 - 7:00PM

MON. DECEMBER 5 MIDDLE EAST DOWN

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND A COMPLETE LIST OF SHOWS, VISIT BOWERYBOSTON.COM