A fter a scare from Henri, positive vibes blow through.
Monday, August 23
If the rain goes away, the next Salsa in Ninth Square, on Orange Street south of Center, promises an open-air salsa lesson at 6:30 p.m. followed by a community dance until 9:30. Free; donations encouraged.
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Wednesday, August 25
At 12:30 p.m., Armand Morgan, Senior Museum Instructor at Yale’s Peabody Museum, leads the public on a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of “one of the most important vertebrate fossil collections in North America, including many of the first dinosaurs ever discovered and named.” Along the way, Morgan will “share specimens from the Peabody’s most recent field collecting expeditions to Arizona, the largest dinosaur bones in the collection, and some extremely rare Connecticut dinosaur fossils.” Free; registration required.
At 6 p.m. on the grounds of the former American Festival Shakespeare Theatre (1850 Elm St, Stratford), which tragically burned down in 2019, the Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford presents As We Like It, a one-night-only “reimagined workshop edition” of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Ensuing are “conversations about identity and gender, the nature of wit and sense, our understanding of our environment, how and where we choose to live our lives, how we negotiate our relationships, and all the different kinds of love.” $8 suggested donation.
Thursday, August 26
Now that cannabis is more widely legal to possess and consume in Connecticut, Luis Angel Vega III, owner of ¡WEPA! Hemp Farms and a longtime beneficiary of medical marijuana treatment, is offering “Cooking with Cannabis,” a 6 p.m., $150 class that justifies its price tag with a curriculum that covers, among other topics, “sauces, drinks, oils and more”; “tinctures, salves, lotions and creams”; “potency, dosing and calculating ratios”; “decarboxylation”; and even advice for starting your own cannabis enterprise. Held at CannaHealth (178 Temple St, New Haven), which aims to educate the public about cannabis and evaluate patients for medical marijuana eligibility, the class promises a “light dinner” to boot.
Tonight, three comedy shows each walk into a bar: a 7:30 Comedy Craft Beer Tour stop at Counter Weight Brewing (23 Raccio Park Rd, Hamden; $30; first beer included), a 7:30 Let Loose bill at Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ (470 James St, New Haven; $15) and an 8 o’clock Comedy in the Back Room show at The Trinity Bar & Restaurant (157 Orange St, New Haven; $10).
Saturday, August 28
Starting at 4 p.m. in Hamden Town Center Park (2761 Dixwell Ave, Hamden), the Hamden Symphony Orchestra promises an “afternoon of peace, music…and community” for attendees of Hamstock, the symphony’s “first in-person performance since 2019,” featuring vocalists and choreography among a program spanning “1744 all the way to the current pop charts.” Blankets and picnics encouraged.
Not far away, a dancier, perhaps euphoric kind of peace is on an 8 p.m. bill at Space Ballroom (295 Treadwell St, Hamden), where funky “future jam quartet” Space Bacon advance their mission to “challenge conventions and pave the way in the modern era of improvisational music.” New Haven band The Mushroom Cloud, “blending heavy rock riffs with funk, electronica, and extended improvisation,” open things up. $15 in advance or $20 at the door. (Note: Either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test is required to attend.)
Sunday, August 29
At 2 p.m., local painter Chris Ferguson leads a three-hour plein air oil painting workshop in Edgewood Park. Meeting at the gazebo near Whalley Avenue and West Rock Avenue, attendees will be provided with a small canvas and other tools of the trade but will need to supply their own brushes, among other accessories. $40; all skill levels welcome.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
