NORTHAMPTON — Despite bitter temperatures that kept many off the streets for this year’s First Night celebration, performance artists at several venues were getting hot and sweaty indoors, entertaining those who braved the cold for some holiday cheer.
The 2018 First Night celebration — sponsored by Peoples Bank and produced by the Northampton Arts Council — featured acrobats, dancers, puppeteers, musicians and fireworks at 23 locations across the city.
Just before noon, lines started to form outside of the Academy of Music Theatre at 247 Main St. The weather was at its warmest, around 11 degrees, drawing a full crowd for one of the day’s first and premier events, a circus performance called “Galaxy of Stars.”
The performance showcased dozens of acrobats from the SHOW Circus Studio in Easthampton. It was a space-themed show, accompanied by a mainly synthesizer-infused selection of music. Children, adults, students and professionals from the studio wore metallic costumes during their athletic feats.
Each act drew cheers and heavy applause from the crowd as contortionists, unicyclists and aerial silk acrobats seemed to defy gravity.
During Rebecca Buehler’s solo act, she ascended a piece of fabric far above the ground, then pulled the fabric remaining beneath her up to her body. Leaving herself nothing to climb down on, she then appeared to fall. The crowd gasped, but erupted with applause when they realized it was part of the act; Buehler purposely fell, having arranged an elaborate knot with the fabric that unraveled and then caught her above the ground.
Professional performers Naomi Ullian, 34, of Brattleboro, Vermont, and Catherine Jett, 33, of Northampton, also impressed the crowd with their partner acrobatics and duo trapeze acts. Jett was the “base” and her job was to support Ullian, the “flyer.” This included Jett lying on her back, feet in the air, while Ullian stood on her feet above her.
“With adrenaline, and at least in that moment on the stage, you are trying to be steady,” Jett said of her act with Ullian. “The lights blared up so I just focused on her leg.”
“It’s exhilarating working with somebody else and exciting to give that to the audience,” Ullian said.
The pair has been working together since the summer, and “Galaxy of Stars” was their debut. To them, a debut on New Year’s Eve was symbolic, as they anticipate a high-flying 2018. Currently, they are working on their own monster-themed production with a couple of other female performers, which Ullian described as “humor and noir.”
After “Galaxy of Stars” concluded, the theater hosted “Festival of Dance.” The dancers were well received by the audience, and the groups displayed a variety of dance genres: WOFA African Drum and Dance Company performed an African-inspired dance, North County Line Dancers line-danced, and the Crescent Dancers belly-danced. Pineapple Dance, Northampton School of Dance, Meridian Performance Company and Catalyst Dancers performed a variety of modern dances.
The theater was mostly full for the dance performances, but as the temperatures outside approached zero, the crowds inside thinned.
Edwards Church, however, was an exception, and the band Klezamir drew an audience that packed the 297 Main St. church, with many having to stand in the back. For many standing, it wasn’t an issue; by the end of the band’s performance people were dancing up and down the aisles.
The sounds of the mandolin, guitar, stand-up bass, drums, piano and flute filled the church as Klezamir played their blend of klezmer, a traditional music among Yiddish-speaking Jews, jazz and blues.
“It’s a wonderful place and time to play. It’s our biggest audience of the year now everyone is hiring DJs for weddings,” Klezamir bassist Joe Blumenthal said.
Felicia Sloin, a singer from Northampton who joined the band for several songs, said she loved the spirit of the event, especially given it was New Year’s Eve.
“It’s my favorite gig of the year in a wonderful way,” Sloin said. “It’s good to see friends and it’s good to see people I don’t know enjoying.”
Another event that drew a crowd was the Tom Knight Puppets Show. Knight, the puppeteer, interacted with the dozens of children and their families who came to see his performance at the Unitarian Society at 220 Main St. The children sang, clapped, laughed and participated through Knight’s many skits, lots of which were educational.
Knight had the audience guffawing during his own version of “Three Billy Goats Gruff” called “Rockabilly Goats Gruff,” at the end of which the troll of the story joins the goats’ rockabilly band.
“I love First Night,” Knight said after the show. “I love the idea of being able to go see all of these performances across the town. It speaks to how wonderful this event is that people are coming out. Despite the cold, you can’t keep them away.”
During the fireworks, however, many observed that the crowd was smaller than in previous years. Longtime Northampton resident Debra Horton, 59, said she goes to the fireworks every year, irrespective of the weather, and noticed that there were far fewer people out than she is used to.
“The cold kept them all away and it’s certainly a shame on New Year’s Eve,” Horton said, wearing a colorful collection of buttons on her jacket for the occasion. “I like the cold. If you wear the right clothes you’re fine.”
Still, those who were outside for the fireworks display hooted and hollered at the colorful barrage, and cold breath was finally hidden by the smoke of pyrotechnics.