Arts ‘ConneXion’
For West Windsor resident Jenna Fields, a student at Community Middle School and aspiring Broadway star, the Arts Connexion is an opportunity to sing her favorite gospel song in front of 400 appreciative audience members. For Michele Thompson, a martial arts performer who works by day as a financial manager in West Windsor, it will be a chance to conquer stage fright and show what she can do for the first time, alone, on a stage.
“Arts Connexion comes with a dual purpose,” says Paul Cerna, president of the West Windsor Arts Council, sponsor of the event. “One is to create a feel-good situation for people who have never performed before to get up there and brave it. Another is for artists to meet up with one another — one art form meeting another art form — and finding out just who is out there.”
The third annual Arts Connexion will be held on Saturday, January 22, at 6:30 p.m. at 745 Alexander Road, University Park Plaza, in West Windsor. It will present a vast array of performers — including musicians, dancers, poets and writers — as well as visual arts, wine tasting, massage, food and refreshment donated by area restaurants. It is free for members of the West Windsor Arts Council and $5 for non-members.
“It is in the spirit of the event that we want people to come out and do something that they have never done before,” says Cerna. “If people have gotten a massage before, we ask them try something else this time and let someone who has never experienced a massage have a chance.”
Last year Fields sang at Arts Connexion for the first time. “Looking at all the faces looking at me made me a little nervous,” she says. “Following so many amazingly talented people was a little intimidating but when the audience clapped for me after I finished I felt so good.”
The song she sang last year was an original composition Jenna wrote with her twin sister Erica. She also performed a poem she had written. “My sister doesn’t really have any ambitions to get up on stage,” says Jenna, who also takes dance lessons. “Someday I want to perform on Broadway.”
A West Windsor resident since she was in the first grade, Jenna says that she has been singing since she could talk. “I’ve always been humming or babbling little tunes since I can remember.” The Fields family includes father Jerry, a graphic designer, mother Dawn, a textile designer, and older sister Hailey, a sophomore at High School North. “It’s a great event,” says Jerry Fields, who is also a member of the West Windsor Arts Council. “There’s an element of surprise that always gives it some edge.”
The Filipino martial art of shadow sparring called Karenza is something that has interested Michele Thompson since she was a child. “When I was little I wanted to take martial arts lessons but my parents sent me to dance lessons instead,” she says. “I’ve been studying martial arts now for about 12 years.”
While she says her dance experience has helped her with her martial arts, Thompson is a dedicated now to her first love. “It is a very beautiful dance and well-rounded art that combines weaponry and forms of kicking and boxing,” she says. Initially developed in the Philippines, Karenza was outlawed by the invading Spanish in the 19th century. But its practitioners continued to perform its beautiful motions in the form of a dance.
While Thompson has performed before an audience with other dancers and is also a kick boxer, her first solo stint at Arts Connexion has her battling a bit of stage fright. “I’m excited in one sense and a bit scared in the other,” she says. “But I look at it as the same as facing a boxer in the ring. I focus on what I am doing and nothing else matters. Besides, I am doing what I love.”
Such risk taking is music to organizer Paul Cerna’s ears. “I especially want to encourage the talented artists who would consider braving the stage or the display of their artwork publicly for the first time,” says Cerna. “If any one person achieves this, I would consider the evening an inspiring success.”
— Jack Florek
Arts Connexion, Saturday, January 22, Kickstart Mailing Services, 745 Alexander Road, University Park Plaza, West Windsor. BYOB. 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Free for members of the West Windsor Arts Council and $5 for non-members. Call 609-919-1982 or check www.westwindsorarts.org.
Performances are on a first come-first served basis and performers are encouraged to pre-register by calling 609-919-1982. Visual artists may display one work of a art by bringing it to Kickstart on Friday, January 21, from 2 to 5 p.m. or Saturday, January 22, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Two-dimensional art must be ready to hang and no larger than 30” by 40.” Three-dimensional work must have a base or pedestal, be movable by two people and no larger than 6’ high by 2’ deep by 3’ wide. All artwork will be accepted if requirements for display are met.
Wine tasting ($3) and massage ($10) will be offered between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. for an additional fee. Snacks have been donated by area restaurants and food markets.
University Park Plaza donated space for the event and Ellen Calman of Century 21 Carnegie Realty is sponsoring the event.
