Artworks This Week; 211; Elmo & Kevin Clash, Air Dance & Kate Jones

Artworks this week is made possible by the members of NPT. Thank you for your generous support. These lovely furry monster that is farmed its way into millions of hearts around the world. And where he is the man behind the monster who gives Elmo is life and levity. Then. Sawyer gently. Gently with your dance burn Isco me. It's all coming up next dawn works this week. Hello and welcome to Artworks this week. We have some very special guests this week special

primarily because they are artists whose work appeals to young and old alike and that appeals to us. Our salon art this week is by Kristin Helberg of Baltimore who's intriguing folk art has been displayed at the fine wares gallery in Tacoma Park. We'll take a more detailed look at the work later in our show. Now it's time to meet the man behind. It. One of public television's most endearing Elmo from the legendary Sesame Street series His name is Kevin Clash and he got his start right here in Baltimore. And since both of our careers have involved puppets I was really excited when I was able to talk to him recently. I want to talk to you about when you were a kid in Baltimore what kind of a kid were you. I was a very shy kid very very shy. I mean if I went to the grocery store if my mom asked me my father asked me to go to a grocery store I would

I would go but if I seen anybody coming towards me I'd go around so I wouldn't have to say hello I was very shy. Do you think that being shy had something to do with your wanting to be a puppet here. I think it it appealed to me in the way that I observe people a lot. Very quietly observe people and knowing that incorporated that into the puppets were there any programs you watch when you were a kid that inspired you. Well I watched you and Jamie. Oh well one day you're going to think one day that all the beautiful changing people will leave the military or the war and then of course Cooper Fran and Ali was was one of my favorites. And then of course in the late 60s early 70s Sesame Street started. Kevin how do you make the transition from being a puppeteer in Baltimore to being a big time public here on Sesame Street. I used to do local shows in the harbor you know just you know like a half an hour show on on

Sundays. I think Stu saw me actually at the harbor and also there was a heritage fair that he would do every year. Of course he would do Professor cool and his fun school he would do it live there and he also saw what I did my shows and he saw me then asked me to come in and audition for him. I don't I just loosen the same should give him a plate a rest and wait for Chel Yeah yeah just me. What room do you. Mean you know he's going to loosen his collar. And he's going to read rating poor his partner so. That you know I really like you he was my my first mentor sure. What about Jim Henson. Jim I you know I just I admired him from afar at that point because I really

didn't know how to contact him or get in contact with him. So really I like I said Stu I did a lot of shows with Stu around the Baltimore you know and Washington area. How did Elmo come to be. Each of our characters that we do is a part of us totally and definitely where Elmo comes from is the child in me. Of course you know my mom was a daycare mother and so I picked up from the kids that she watched. But it's definitely as far as in me it's the child like you know that the Peter Pan syndrome in certain ways I call it all the Elmo syndrome but it's it's definitely the child in you know three and a half year old. Just I mean it's just unbelievable you know how popular this character is and you know you just don't know you. You know you know we work in a box. And when you step out of that box you know you just think that you're just doing your job but you go when you see you know people meet

you and I mean you know after I've gone all around the world with this little red Ferrari thing. And it's been amazing it's been totally totally a fairly amazing. When you were a kid in Baltimore just working really hard to get gigs Did you ever in your wildest dreams think you'd be where you are now. No no I had no idea where it would take me. But you know I didn't really care about that I didn't I didn't I didn't really care about the future I was just having such a great time. And that's why I care about it now because I'm 42 years old but but I'm still having a great time. I think that's what. You know it wasn't. And I think you know because I was living at home I really wasn't. You know I really have to worry about money at that point. Luckily I came upon something that I really thoroughly enjoyed and wanted to do. And fortunately I did it at a young age so I didn't have all of the what I got to get a job i love this. You know I love what I want to do this but I got to I got to earn a living. Well I was at home you know I was still with mom and dad and everything and so I learned my craft without having to worry about all of the

stuff you know and and with of course you know because of of Stu Kerr You know my father would drop me off at the studio and pick me up you know. I mean I was I was very lucky that way and that I had parents that just said Listen whatever my kids want to do that makes them happy then and you know and it's not hurting anybody let them do it if it's different. What what's you know what's the big deal. Kevin you are enormously talented and it's so much fun to talk to you. Everybody loves hearing what you had to say. But yeah here's how this Here Comes Everybody really want to talk a little bit and you know I was all about I don't know which you are which is you're definitely right. He is one of action. Just react.

To this. It's very good to see and I never thought I'd get kissed by you that's really special. I have a lot of questions to ask you first of all. Yeah. Can you really say you know I've read yet. Oh yes she did she she did. Well you have to tell everyone I saw you on line I thought I liked you. I do but I want you to be sweet I want to tell everybody I'm getting lucky OK. I'm alone I like your microphone not you know now you know Marlene put that on you but you. Don't know. Do you mind my telling you that you're just absolutely adorable you know mind I do. Thank you. I want to tell you that a lot of the kids who watch Maryland Public Television Went to something that we call the bash. And we ask them very much abashed. Yes. And we asked them if they had some questions that they wanted you to answer. And I did so they want to know what your favorite color of cool as some course you had to be yeah good idea how to light saying that I wasn't sure. I asked them. About. It and they

want to know what you like to eat what your favorite food. What savvy what. You. Might be. Doesn't it burn your tongue. Does it have any eyelids. Or I might say your mother tongue you don't get caught by your kids. Or your tongue if you don't have a timeline I don't see an expert study or ice cream. Ah so just real like pistachio ice cream yet maybe you could have a date we could eat ice cream together. This had one other thing they really want to know is what makes Elmo laugh hidden. Man I love making people who have family fun home like like you happy when I get my name drop back. Yeah I'd like to make some money. He does. What else are there any things that happened. Elmo that makes some. Mystery Yeah.

Why you going to get. Well I thought maybe I guess my grandmother laughed. That really makes them laugh the most. Not a certain not yet kind of yeah. Well what is there one special place that makes Elmo get tickled the most. Tell me what I think I could I do that. Just just talk a little bit. A little more. Just kicking the spat Yeah savvy. Now do. Part one and I'll wait a minute. And we're going we're going to get to some serious stuff to ask you get me. Now. I don't want to know really and really and truly. Yeah. Isn't this picky stuck up. Why did you turn it into how he put it back on them. Oh you mean your microphones are off. Oh yeah. OK. You know just kidding just kidding.

I don't know I thought I really. OK. I don't think I can get it on. I keep thinking to ask the Bafokeng. No no no don't stop thinking. What will the stamp. OK I know you're trying you say. You know I think what you were trying to do was to make me forget what I was saying which was I wonder you know whether Miss Piggy was stuck up. Yeah. Yeah. It's wonderful. How. Out of date she's have. To take. And what does Elmo think about Burton earning. 30 nannies. When it. Is well to have Elmo's favorite friend did yesterday because she did that. I mean I'm. Not big but but. Let's not play with this battle cap collection. Instead Jack Sparrow delights and. Play with is that ducky. Oh I think that's because everybody likes Elmo that they share those things with you. Maybe. Yeah well let me ask you another question. What do you think of Kevin Clash who. Have a show.

Yeah. The guy down there what are you going to tell the truth. He's OK. Oh ok just OK. Yeah well he had a sound though so it's very he's a very point. Pretty proud of them all so yes I don't think he likes him and he's diced you always oh yeah Ali always he never takes good care of him. Well that's a really good. OK well I want to ask you some more questions I want to know what you watch on TV. Well. You know I am Mr. Ratsch carries a Harley as Mr. Matthews and manner that's OK. And Emily have to ask. Yeah. Yeah my last Kirky. Really and I and I just haven't let you cook yet. Why what did I say that there is instead o I see cause you got to give your for your father is very beautiful. Keep looking good on Sesame Street and I can't write well you look lovely on camera when you want to be when you grow up. To be a teacher. Yes. That is that's kind of. My gift. Must be very important Jack.

Ah we do want to teach little kids or big kids. And what do you want to teach them. What does everybody have to learn Elmo. We have had to respect each other and say that's really important. Do you always respect everybody. Yes especially. Especially our doubts. I hope what you are doing now. Yes. Because maybe they help Elmo learn things. Yes good idea. And it is certainly not what you know how nice and bad for them. Well most been around for a while too now but three and a half yeah. That's not good. No no for three and a half year old kid you are really smart you know that. I live by phone I so you know I'm a little taken I should go now with donuts at the table. Well is there anything that Elmo would like to tell all the people who are out there watching you on Maryland Public Television armless so glad to hear it. Good to see you again.

You know how many have I have you and Elmo. We want to thank you. I would love really. I'd love to give you a kiss. Thank you. Wow thank you very much. Elmo you have really made my day. You are just adorable. One last hug. Thanks a lot. We want to thank our friends at the Black Cherry puppet theater for the kind use of their facilities with Elmo and Kevin and by the way this Saturday October the 12th. You can meet Kevin Clash and Elmo as they're honored at the first annual Maryland heritage celebration. The festivities are free and begin at 11 o'clock and last till 2 p.m. at Ravens Stadium and there are other events as well so go to our website for more information and we're going to be right back.

It's. Ariel dances a modern dance phenomenon created over the past 30 years that combines the

athleticism of a circus trapeze act with the beauty of ballet. It is stunningly lovely to watch and we are fortunate to have an aerial dance troupe at the house in university known as Air Dance burnous County. I would like to welcome its director Jane Byrne a scottie welcome. Thank you first of all tell us a little bit about the elements of air dance What does it incorporate their dance incorporates elements of moving through space with various apparatuses such as low flying trapeze aerial fabric hoops and bungee aerial steel hoops harness and bungee and then we incorporate the elements of dance time space and energy into the air and we choreograph you know the human variation on that. Now for our viewers who may be familiar with the traditional trapeze act at the circus you kind of swing back and forth how does this differ from. That it differs because well for one low flying trapeze is lower we rig the trapezes about five and a half feet from the ground

and the trapeze is a rig from one point of attachment as opposed to two points two points. You can swing back and forth. So basically they go and then they are caught. They do these various feats and then they're caught low flying trapeze the point of attachment is one so that the physics are different. You can spin on the trapeze you can make big conical shapes big circling and you can also fly back and forth. Let's take a look at some of the performers at work and kind of tell us a little bit about the choreography. This is relatively new is this all original choreography. Come up with it. It's all original choreography I come up with it based on the dancers improvising. I hear what we're looking at is space craft. It's done with aerial hoops and we play with the physics of the HU and we see what we can do in terms of defying gravity hoops I think are statically beautiful to to

watch because you put a human body inside a circle and you have that brain. And then we incorporate the ground with the air there's a whole underworld of dancing underneath. The apparatus and then there's the overworld and then the in-between. And with spacecraft the hoops are orbiting through space. I like to give a nice burial feeling just defying gravity and a seamless flow of movement. Now if you take the traditionally trained dancer who is used to you know leaps and bounds right to flying through the air how do you make that transition. I feel like it's a very easy transition because as dancers we want to soar through space. And when you grab onto an apparatus you can just fly up and keep staying up there and defy gravity. Yeah. That's our men and women equally able to do the type of performance that you see here oh yeah yeah men and women are equally although men you know tend to muscle a little more. I try and go with the flow of the lines the trapeze

lines so that you don't muscle it but you get a momentum going and you play off of that momentum you've got a pendulum swing going and once you're off the ground you really can't control the apparatus I mean you can with your weight shifts. But yeah I like to get that seamless flow ground to air that tension between the Earth and the sky. You know the ground with the air constantly shifting back and forth a different a statics going on how the audience reaction like. I hear you hear breaths. I mean it's very magical it's very whimsical and it's really a dream of flying I think everybody has dreams about flying and I think aerial dance is the closest you're going to come to actually dreaming I hope when the audience leaves they'll go home and they'll dream about flying through space. Wonderful. Thank you so much thank you. You can see Air Dance minus going for yourself as they perform their newest dance flight patterns October 18 through the 20th at Telson University's

Stevens hall. Go to our website NPT dot org for more information. We'll be right back. Next time on. A masterpiece. Of course shocked shocked. But I agree a price was part of the mission. I'm sure you do not love your husband. Can't you see what I feel. Are you blind. He could. Be Thinking Egyptians next. Sunday night at 9:00 a.m.. Artworks this week is proud to talk about people and places in our chat with us are one of our favorite people do you remember Conny MBO Yes a London full photographer she was on one of our earliest programmes. Yes she was let's remind our viewers of how fantastic a photographer she really is. Conny uses a light reflection and water and she really gets some amazing results. Plus she also made a great impression on the producer of the producers of the national PBS arts program

eg. She will be featured this Friday October 11th at 11:30 p.m. and repeats again next week October 18th at 11:00 p.m. so well mentally really proud of her and I'm glad the whole world is going to get to see her she's so talented it truly is. Also the Maryland Historical Society's antique show will be on exhibit from October 11th through the 13th. It features some of the finest collectibles in the nation all on display at Rainbow Hill which by the way was General Douglas MacArthur is former State and Baltimore's Green Spring Valley. Boy what a wonderful opportunity to see these great antiques and also in such a wonderful setting and bring your checkbook. Oh absolutely. Artworks caught up with Maryland native and Red Dragon star Edward Norton on the red carpet of the senator theater this week. He was at a special screening to benefit the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurology brain tumor research and here's what he had to say. I think I mean I think what's interesting about the character I play sometimes the heroes are depicted as people who are kind of charging in ahead of everybody else but he's he's doing something that he really doesn't want to be doing.

I thought you might enjoy the challenge. I know that you're smarter than the person I'm looking for. And by implication you think yes. It's a it's interesting to try to portray the tension in somebody between trying to do a job that you don't really want to be doing. While you're doing it. Too much attention gets paid to the movies and I always feel that. If we can take some of that and. You know use it to bring some attention to very important and heroic work that people are doing more quietly. It's it's almost essential to do that. Thank you Red Dragon is the third installment of that thrilling Hannibal the Cannibal. You know Art can be found in many aspects of life from the obvious beauty in nature to the less obvious examples in the field of mathematics. Now here's one woman who can see the beauty in mathematical patterns.

Patterns are all around us everywhere. It is the way nature is from the hexagons of snowflakes make. To the beehives. If you were not you numbers. In a way the branches come out of a tree trunk. These are patterns all around us I just happened to notice so they are of recurrences and rhythms in life in the world. It is how it works. We have become sensitive to it you start to see it everywhere. I read a book by Arthur C. Clarke. Imperial Earth as a science fiction story and in it he described shapes made of five squares new 12 unknown mathematicians and. The allure is that there are only twelve shapes so they are easy enough for the mind. To encompass. They fit together in virtually infinite numbers of ways. The puzzles I had made. They are recreational mathematics. They each embody a certain fundamental truth. Of how the universe

works. I'm not a. Trained mathematician but mathematicians will swear to how beautiful mathematics is. What I want is to have it show in a geometric way. They can be combined and recombined. And each time you will see beauty emerging. Now until you physically handle two pieces and put them together. Your brain will not fully connect. You have an abstract knowledge but once you touch it you have a tactile visceral knowledge. So this is what happens when you take a set of puzzle set. That is all the combinations of a certain mathematical principle and you're basically playing with nature's moods. These are universal concepts and they deserve to be embodied in a form that will last. For as long as you want them to. So I want them to last forever. The next generation and the generation after that. This is the heritage of humanity which no

other life form had. Whales can't write even though they may be very intelligent dolphins can communicate but they can't preserve knowledge for generations to come. And so the most precious thing we have is our minds with which we can use and collect knowledge and use it to make the world better. There is something inherent in the human mind that wants to see things come together. This. Going back to the center of this collecting back. Getting it all together. And these pieces will do so. In infinite ways. And so you have a sense of interacting with a fundamental law of nature. Much of the work I do generates symmetry. Symmetry we instinctively see as attractive. Once you have a universal concept captured in a box you see you have a treasured

friend forever infinite. Infinite and forever. You can see the art of Kate Jones at the Marilyn Renaissance Festival in crowns Ville Maryland at its final two weekends. Or go to our website dot org for more information. That's all the time we have. I hope it was as much fun for you as it was for us. Next week will be two Baltimore musicians who are making their mark lab tech one who is an unusual and interesting rapper and Mesa Leake a phenomenal jazz styles Plus will take you to one strange museum that's dedicated to the art of the carnival side shows. Believe me it is strange and it's all next week on artworks this week.

Goodbye. If you would like more information on something you've seen on artworks this week. Go to our website at the NPT dot org or send us an e-mail at NPT artworks at NPT dot org. Our course this week is made possible by the members of the PTA. Thank you for your support.