A Light Conversation

The ·light· referred to in the title of this dance piece by performers Wally Cardona & Rahel Vonmoss doesn·t reference the subject matter. A Light Conversation is a reflection on ·life being lived: choice, commitment, pleasure, sacrifice, boredom, aesthetics vs. ethics, the uncertainty of the future, and love·first love, erotic love, marital love, mature love, and friendship.·

That, friends, is the artistic equivalent of big-game hunting.

No, ·light· refers to, well, light, as in the opposite of dark: ·The dancers [will] inhabit a shifting environment of darkness and light . . . and the audience, seated on three sides of the stage, [will share] this intimate landscape.· And they dance to a kind of music·the music of human conversation, as recorded for a radio discussion program by the BBC.

The Village Voice raved about this piece, deeming it ·mysteriously stirring· and praising its adult nature·adult, that is, as defined in terms of maturity and thoughtfulness.

Wally Cardona & Rahel Vonmoss will perform A Light Conversation tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 17) and Saturday (Sept. 18) at 8 PM in EMPAC·s Studio 2 (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy). Tickets are $15. For more info, visit empac.rpi.edu or call the box office at 276-3921.

Local Harvest Festival

September 19th marks the final day of the Eat Local Challenge, a three-week-long celebration of local food spearheaded by food co-ops nationwide. Here in our neck of the woods, the folks at the Honest Weight Food Coop encouraged participants to pledge at least a portion of their diet to the local farmscape. And just in case you needed more proof that eating local can be as delicious, economical and fun as it is good for your health and community, the challenge concludes this weekend with Honest Weight·s second annual Local Harvest Festival in Washington Park.

Local farmers, restaurateurs and artisans will converge lakeside to celebrate and share the region·s bounty. There will be farm animals and fun for the whole family, plus, a locally-grown music lineup as palate-pleasing as the edible offerings.

Cupcakes, beancakes, herbs, butters, sauces, sausages, cheese, ice cream, Matthew Carefully, Ashley Pond, Ben Karis-Nix, Eric Margan and more. It·s a veritable smorgasbord of the very best tastes and talents the area has to offer. So dig in!

The 2nd Annual Harvest Festival kicks off at 1 PM at the Washington Park Lakehouse (Washington Park, Albany) and the festivities continue until 6 PM. Admission to the whole shebang is free·but be sure to bring some cash so you can indulge in the local delicacies. For more info, including a complete list of vendors, visit flipoverthe518.com.

Trainwreck

The pick of destiny has been passed. Kyle never exactly quit the band, but while Jack Black is busy doing voice acting for Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom (really), the other half of the greatest comedy music duo since the Captain and Tennille·Tenacious D·has gone solo.

With Trainwreck, Kyle Gass· ·cornucopia of rock . . . five-headed hydra of pleasure,· Gass goes by the name of Klip Calhoun, a blueblooded, ferret-breeding, flute-a-phone playing, Appalachian guitar picker. And the rest of Trainwreck·s résumé is equally storied, equally fake, equally ass-kicking. Lead vocalist Darryl Lee Donald is a licensed beautician who ·refuses to cut any style above the lower neckline,· and guitarist John Bartholomew Shredman got his start as the number-one acrylic-wall-paint namer in the biz.

Together, the band plays a guitar-heavy brand of Southern rock celebrating beer-pong brodeos, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and getting laid in a Camaro Z28.

Trainwreck will play Jillian·s (59 N. Pearl St., Albany) on Saturday (Sept. 18). Tickets are $15. Call 432-1997 for more info.