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Music on Mondays: Volume 11

by Jennifer Springer

This won’t be my normal type of Music on Mondays post because, sadly, there aren’t any scheduled concerts for October. However, the Sacramento Ballet is putting on A Woman’s Journey: The Tamsen Donner Story which I think is quite fitting for the Halloween season.

The show is a special brain child of the Sacramento Ballet’s Art Director for the past twenty years–Ron Cunningham. The ballet has been a work in progress for the past thirty years and Sacramento is to be treated with it’s world premiere on Thursday October 25th at 7:30PM. It tells the story of the infamous Donner family as told through the journal entries of Tamsen Donner.Their infamy stems from centuries of accusations suggesting that the family resorted to cannibalism while they were trapped in the mountains on their way to California. The sheer gruesomeness of such a deed makes it ample “entertainment” of the Halloween sort–especially when considering that the characters involved are real.

In the same token, scientists have reently begun debating the validity of these accusations. Thus, it will be extremely interesting to see which direction Cunningham takes with his ballet. My personal opinion is that the cannibalism will have to be dealt with since his inspiration was from the diary of Tamsen Donner. The allegations of cannibalism stem from letters and diaries from the party so to base a ballet and completely omit it would be absurd at best. In any case, it is efinitely worth checking out just on the chance that cannibalism will be an issue. There is little else in the world that can so readily remind us that human beings are also animals and can be just as barbaric and inhuman as any other creature. In short, it is a perfect Halloween activity for those of us who want something a little bit more frightening than pumpkin patches and corn mazes…

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One Response to “Music on Mondays: Volume 11”

  1. Sacramento, CA » Blog Archive » Music on Mondays: Volume 12 Says:

    [...] on Mondays: Volume 12 by Jennifer Springer After a rather dry October, there are *gasp* actually a few concerts scheduled for November. Sadly, due to the weather, none [...]

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About Sacramento, CA

When Sacramento was founded in 1849, I don't think anyone bothered to notice that it means "Holy Sacrament" in Spanish. After all, it wasn't a very apt name for a lively, growing mining town where gambling and saloons where the status quo. Perhaps to gain a modicum of respect, they paid California $1 million in 1854 in order to become the State Capitol. In the years since, it has evolved from a little mining town into a bustling city full of people from every culture and every walk of life. In addition, our status as the most ethically diverse city in America also means that we have something for everyone to do. There are numerous ethnic restaurants, tons of museums, and countess festivals in historic Old Sacramento that make the city an excellent place to visit and an even better place to live...

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