Garth Fagan Dance

The late, great Mae G. Banner once wrote in these pages that “Garth Fagan’s dancers move in startling and satisfying ways. They can do a jagged leap and land like velvet, or balance endlessly on one long leg till they leave you gasping for breath, then erupt in a burst of speed that carries them off the stage.”

They’re back in town tomorrow night at the Egg, presenting their latest work Life: Dark/Light. With a score by jazz violinist Billy Bang, Life: Dark/Light mixes “modern dance, Afro-Caribbean forms, ballet and jazz.” The balance of the program will include Prelude, an excerpt from Senku Talking Drums and two more works.

Garth Fagan Dance will perform tomorrow (Friday, March 28) at 8 PM at the Egg (Empire State Plaza, Albany). Tickets are $26 general, $22 seniors and $13 children. For more info, call 473-1845.

Capitol Chamber Artists

They’re best known for superb performances of baroque works, but Capitol Chamber Artists can play a much wider variety of music. (We still remember their impressive performance of a chamber-music arrangement of a Beethoven symphony a few years back.)

This Saturday, they’ll present a program titled A Celtic Fantasy. There will be Irish and Scottish jigs and reels; Vaughn Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Fantasy on Greensleeves, Four Hymns and Blake Songs; and a selection of reels and songs by Cyril Scott. It sounds like a lovely program.

Capitol Chamber Artists will perform Saturday (March 29) at 8 PM at the First Congregational Church (405 Quail St., Albany). Tickets are $16 general, $8 students. There is a preconcert recital at 7 PM. For more info, call 458-9231.

Buffy Sainte-Marie

During President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, a list was released—on White House stationary—of performers whose music “deserved to be suppressed.” Singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie was on that list, and her music abruptly disappeared from mainstream American airwaves.

Despite the heavy-handed attempts to censor Sainte-Marie’s politically charged music, her fame continued to grow. She became an icon of the folk explosion.

Born on the Piapot Chee reservation in Saskatchewan, Sainte-Marie was orphaned and raised in New England. According to Sainte-Marie, people loved “the Pocahontas-with-a-guitar image.” And Sainte-Marie has 17 albums, an Academy Award, a Billboard’s Best New Artist title, a spot in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and even a long run of Sesame Street visits to prove it.

Her classic “Until It’s Time for You to Go” was recorded by Elvis, Streisand and Cher. “Universal Soldier” became the anthem of the Vietnam-era peace movement. And “Up Where We Belong” has served as the soundtrack for innumerable tear-jerking moments.

Sainte-Marie has remained in the forefront of arts activism for over 40 years, and her music continues to challenge social and political ideals.

Now, thanks to the folks at Eighth Step, Sainte-Marie and her band are coming to GE Theatre at Proctors (432 State St., Schenectady) on Saturday (March 29) at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $25. For more info, call 346-6204.