The annual two-day Sakura Matsuri will beautify Brooklyn this weekend (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Ave. at Eastern Parkway
Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1, $10-$15
718-623-7200
www.bbg.org
For many New Yorkers, it isn’t really spring until the cherry blossoms are in bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The spectacular trees should be gushing this weekend for the annual Sakura Matsuri, two days of Japanese art, food, and culture that usually is jam-packed with families, photographers, and other celebrants. The weather is currently forecast as partly cloudy with a high of sixty-seven, perhaps not ideal but a whole lot better than rain. There will be special events held throughout the beautiful botanic garden, including a children’s Suzuki recital, anime stand-up comedy, Butoh dance, cosplay cabaret, origami workshops, an ikebana flower exhibit, an interactive tea installation, a vintage kimono display, fish-printing demos, enka poetry, manga and anime artist and book signings, logic puzzles and other games, numerous bonsai events, garden tours, Japanese karate demonstrations, and much more, with such special guests as April Vollmer, Godfather of Sudoku Maki Kaji, Jack Schwartz, Fumiko Allinder, Michele Brody, Grandmaster Kaicho T. Nakamura, and Pokémon voice artist Veronica Taylor; below are some of the recommended highlights.
Saturday
Hanagasa Odori: Flower Hat Dance Procession, Japanese Folk Dance Institute of NY, Osborne Garden North, 1:00
Nihon Buyo Classical & Ryukyu Buyo Okinawan Dance, Dancejapan with Sachiyo Ito, Cherry Esplanade Stage, 1:15
BBG Parasol Society Promenade, with live music by happyfunsmile, registration 11 a.m.–1 p.m. behind Cherry Esplanade Stage, parade from Cherry Esplanade Stage to Osborne Garden, 3:00
Traditional Tea Ceremony, Urasenke Chanoyu Center, A.T. White Amphitheater, 3:30
Split Spirits/Spirit Splits: A Samurai Drama, Samurai Sword Soul, Cherry Esplanade Stage, 4:15
Sunday
Taiko Drumming, Soh Daiko, Cherry Esplanade Stage, 12 noon
Origami Paper Folding with Jeremy Aaron Horland, Lily Pool Terrace, 1:00
Butoh Dance, Dean Street FOO Dance, Osborne Garden North, 2:00
Cooking Demonstration: Authentic Dashi Making, with Momo Sushi Shack’s Chef Makoto Suzuki and Phillip Gilmour, A.T. White Amphitheater, 3:00
Cosplay Fashion Show, hosted by Uncle Yo, with live music by Morning Musuko, Cherry Esplanade Stage, 6:15
After the breakout success of Born to Run in 1975, Bruce Springsteen became embroiled in a lawsuit over control of his music that prevented him from going into the studio to make the highly anticipated follow-up. Springsteen found himself at a crossroads; “You didn’t know if this would be the last record you’d ever make,” he says in the revealing behind-the-scenes documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. Combining archival footage of the Darkness sessions shot by Barry Rebo with new interviews with all the members of the E Street Band in addition to producers Jimmy Iovine, Jon Landau, and others, editor and director Thom Zimny melds Bruce’s past with the present, delving deep into Springsteen’s complex, infuriating, and fiercely dedicated creative process. “I had to disregard my own mutation,” Springsteen says at one point, regarding his battle to avoid getting caught up in the hype that came with Born to Run, so he decided that his next album would be “a meditation on where are you going to stand.” Rebo captures Springsteen and the E Street Band — from a bare-chested Bruce to a bandanna-less Steve Van Zandt — rehearsing and recording alternate takes of familiar songs as well as tunes that would later wind up on such albums as The River and Tracks, opening up Bruce’s famous notebooks and examining his intense creative process, which included throwing away dozens and dozens of songs that he believed just didn’t fit within his vision of what Darkness should be. Two of the most fascinating parts of the The Promise involve Patti Smith discussing “Because the Night,” which is about her waiting for her boyfriend at the time, Fred “Sonic” Smith, to call her, and Toby Scott talking about mixing the Darkness record to get the sound pictures in Bruce’s head onto vinyl. The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town is screening April 25 at 8:00 at City Winery as a benefit for the American Red Cross, with all proceeds going to Japanese tsunami and earthquake relief; the screening is just one of many being held around the country over the coming week, all of which will include special giveaways.
