weekender: fine arts edition

Starting this week in Charleston, SC, the 32nd annual Spoleto Arts Festival will be taking over the streets. This year's events include a racy theatrical performance inspired by Mozart's "Don Giovanni," a punk operetta "Addicted to Bad Ideas," and a one-man dance performance to a choreographed light show and soundtrack by the highly acclaimed Japanese Hiroaki Umeda.



Ticket prices for these and other performances are fairly steep for the average Charleston resident, so there's also the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. This arts festival caters more to families and children, and really takes advantage of all Charleston has to offer by utilizing the arts community and its venues. If you've never been to Charleston, this is certainly a great time to visit. And if you can't make it to the festival this year, allthingscottage will feature a detailed re-cap of some of the top acts. Stay tuned.

For anyone in the district, this is a great weekend for jazz. The National Gallery of Art begins its free "Jazz in the Garden" concert series, featuring R & B jazz vocalist Lady A on Friday at 5pm. If you're more interested in jazz instruments and have some cash to contribute, head over to Twins Jazz. Cuban saxophonist Luis Faife will be exhibiting a blend of latin jazz on Friday and Saturday at 9pm.

Speaking of jazz, there will be no jazz festival this year for New Yorkers. Festival Network, the company responsible for hosting the acclaimed festival has lost some big sponsors amid the financial crisis. On the other hand, this may mean that all the big jazz acts will be touring more this summer in a city near you, so don't get down about it.