Programs for 2009-2010

All events are offered free of charge by the Dorothea van Dyke McLane Association to anyone in the community with an interest in Italian culture. Programs are followed by informal get-togethers where one can chat with old and new friends, and taste dishes and offerings brought by participants.

In case of cancellation of a program due to inclement weather or unexpected reasons, please check this Web site or call Dorothea's House for information.

click here for a pdf version, which includes an Italian translation.

Programs 2009 - 2010

* Sunday, October 11, 2009 5:00 pm
A Futuristic Culinary Experience: Actors from Sicily’s Piccolo Teatro di Catania will offer a playful, thespian version of “futuristic recipes,” an experience not to exalt the palate but where spontaneous expressions and movement become a single body. Text of Marinetti and others with the actors of the Piccolo Teatro di Catania: Nicola Alberto Orofino, Anna Passanisi, Gianni Salvo; music by Pietro Cavalieri; directed by Gianni Salvo.

Sunday, November 1, 2009 5:00 pm

A Puccini Retrospective: Joseph Pucciatti, artistic director and conductor of Boheme Opera New Jersey will describe the life and operas of Giacomo Puccini, the last of the great Italian composers from the golden age of Italian opera.

Sunday, December 6, 2009 5:00 pm
Polenta Festa: It’s that time of year again to party with polenta. Bring your favorite cornmeal-based dish to Dorothea’s House and share in the fun.  Enjoy the food accompanied by lively music.

* Sunday, January 10, 2010 5:00 pm
Liguria Lost and Found: Laura Schenone, James Beard award-winning author of The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken, will discuss her travels to Italy and share photographs and stories of her quest to find long-lost family recipes. Copies of her book will be available for sale.

* Sunday, February 14, 2010 5:00 pm (Change in program)
The life, art and poetry of Renaissance painter Agnolo Bronzino: Elizabeth Pilliod, an authority on 16th century Florentine art, will offer the program on Bronzino, a court artist of the Medici family in Florence. Bronzino has been considered the consummate Mannerist painter by virtue of the elegant, glacial mystery of works. He is  currently the subject of an exhibition of drawings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Dr. Pilliod is a former fellow of I Tatti (the Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies), the author of several books on Florentine art, a co-author of the Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogue, and a lecturer at Rutgers University, Camden. She is currently completing a monograph on Pontormo.

Sunday, March 7, 2010 5:00 pm
The Italian Civil War: Paolo Mastrolilli, foreign news editor of RAI 1 News and former correspondent for the Italian dailies La Stampa and Avvenire, as well as Vatican Radio, will discuss his latest book about how World War II and the end of Facism divided not only Italy but also his family. This is the real story of two brothers who found themselves on opposite sides without knowing it; one fighting the Nazis in Rome, the other refusing to give up his loyalty to Fascism.

* Sunday, April 11, 6:00 pm
From Ararat to the Italian peninsula: What made Armenians settled in Italy? Why is there an Armenian island in Venice? Answers to these questions and more will be given by Dr. Chiara Megighian Zenati, member of the Society of Armenian Studies.
This event is preceded  by the showing of the movie La masseria delle allodole on March 21.

Sunday, May 2, 2010 6:00 pm
The Galilean Telescope and Its Rivals: Eileen Reeves, professor of comparative literature at Princeton University, and specialist in early modern scientific literature, will look back 400 years to the anniversary of Galileo’s first telescopic discoveries, putting them in the larger context of similar scientific breakthroughs in the same century.

* Please note that programs preceded by asterisks will take place on the second Sunday of the month instead of the first.

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Let’s Go to The Movies! Do you love Italian Films?

We will show the following films in Italian with English subtitles. Come and enjoy!

Vi piace il cinema italiano? Questi sono i film che verranno proiettati in italiano con i sottotitoli in inglese. Venite e divertitevi!

Click on the Italian film title to link to the description and trailer in Italian, and on the English title for the description and reviews in English.

Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 3 pm:
Solo un padre (Only a father) (2008)
directed by Luca Lucini

Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 3 pm:
Il vento fa il suo giro (The Wind Blows Around), (2005)
directed by Giorgio Diritti

Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 3 pm:
Pranzo di Ferragosto (Mid-August Lunch), (2008)
directed by Gianni di Gregorio

Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 3 pm:
Il ladro di merendine (The snack thief), (1999)
First episode of the series "Il commissario Montalbano" based on the best sellers by Andrea Camilleri

Some of his books, including this are available in Italian and in English at the Princeton Public Library.

Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 3 pm:
La masseria delle allodole (The Lark Farm), (2007)
directed by Vittorio Taviani and Paolo Taviani

Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 3 pm:
Il ladro di merendine (The snack thief), (1999)
First episode of the series "Il commissario Montalbano" based on the best sellers by Andrea Camilleri

Il Commissario Montalbano

Some of his books, including this are available in Italian and in English at the Princeton Public Library.

Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 3 pm:

Baaria (2009) directed by Giuseppe Tornatore original version in Sicilian with Italian Subtitles (no English)

Trailer

You can see these events in a Google calendar and download them to yours: Click the link below:

Dorothea's House Google Calendar

Past Programs at Dorothea's House   PDF Versions of past programs: 2009-2010 Programs 2008-2009 Programs 2007-2008 Programs 2006-2007 Programs 2005-2006 Programs 2004-2005 Programs   2004 Feb. - Dreyden Ensemble performs Italian baroque music on period instruments April - Anne Leader talks about the Orange Cloister at the Badia Fiorentina May - A Pirandellian evening with students from Princeton University	Lidia Bastianich
2003 Feb. - Fundraiser with restaurateur and cookbook author Lidia Bastianich Click here for Princeton Packet article April - Evening of poetry from Loretta Casalaina and Maria Fama May - Wine tasting from Tony Prospero of Prospero Winery in Pleasantville, N.Y. 2002 Feb. - Chemist Felix Buccellato lectures on Italian citrus oils used in perfume May - Metropolitan Opera conductor Gildo DiNunzio on backstage musical effects Oct. - Bloomfield mandolin orchestra presents Italian music and sing-along Philadelphia folk dance group "Ballerini e Voci d'Italia"	Tony Prospero of Prospero Winery 2001 April - Metropolitan Opera prompter Jane Klaviter on secrets below the stage May - Local artists display paintings, sculpture Dec. - Folkdance group from Philadelphia "Ballerini e Voci d'Italia" 2000 March - Concert by flutist Claire Durand Racamato and pianist Marianne Lauffer May - Photographer Holly Smith Pedlosky captures intimacies in Venice Nov. - Lecture on paper making in Fabriano by Raffaele Roncalli
1999 April - Italian author Gina Lagorio recounts her experiences as a writer Nov. - 15th Century Florence lecture by art historian Elena Welm Dec. - A portrait of Verdi's Violetta by Metropolitan Opera conductor Joseph Colaneri	1998 April - Mozzarella making demonstration Nov. - Maria LoBiondo upholds tradition of Italian story-telling Dec. - Lecture on Leonardo Sciascia by Strathclyde University's Professor Joseph Farrell
1997 Jan. - Sister Margherita Marchione introduces her book "Yours is a Precious Witness" April - Facts and fiction about olives and olive oil by Clo Treves and Milena Troiano Nov. - Lecture on Trevi Fountain history by Professor John Pinto	1996 Feb. - A Dante evening with Professor Robert Hollander April - Robert Browning in Italy - lecture by Lillian Mariano Chance Oct. - Inspired by Italy watercolors by Marge Chavooshian
Chris Tamasi giving a cooking demonstration in 1994 1993 March - Italian general consul and lawyer from Stark & Stark on legal issues Oct. - Lecture on Italians in New Jersey by Professor Remigio Pane Nov. - Lecture on Italians in Princeton by Robert Immordino and Ciro Poppiti	1995 Feb. - Venice during Carnevale lecture and slides by Carla Olsen March - Giuseppe Verdi comes to Dorothea's House by way of Eduardo Mangella Nov. - Gardens of Villa Lante slide show and lecture by architect Kevin Wilkes 1994 Jan. - Lecture by Professor Pietro Frassica on letters to Pirandello by Marta Abba Feb. - Boheme Opera Company's Sandra Pucciatti on insider's guide to opera Nov. - Italian baroque music by Westminster choir group and Nancy Perella
1992 Jan. - Architect Michael Mostoller lectures on Palladio April - Traditional pig roast May - Professor Lucy Nardella talks about Siena's Palio	1991 Feb. - Operatic performance by singers of the Boheme Opera Company March - An armchair tour of the Dolomite region Oct. - DeFranco family and Calabrian folk music and dancing
1990 Jan. - Lecture on the Etruscans by Professor Maria Teresa Moevs April - Slide show and talk on Molise and Pettoranello by Antonio Pirone May - Italian folkdancing with the Montclair Folk Group	1989 Oct. - Dorothea's House 75th Anniversary Celebration March - Renaissance Rome lecture by Professor Laurie Nussdorfer Nov. - Lecture on operas of Mascagni by Alan Mallach
1988 Jan. - Lecture on Sicily by Professor Pietro Frassica and Dr. Frank Campo Feb. - Carnevale celebration Oct. - Italian Fashion show and historical lecture by Rene Battaglia	1987 Jan. - Architect Fred Travisano gives lecture on Italian hill town architecture May - Concert by cellist Gino Treves and string quartet Oct. - Villa Banfi wine-tasting; Bob Freda demonstrates home wine-making
1986 Oct. - Wine tasting program Nov. - Italian movie "Tre Fratelli" Dec. - Prosciutto making demonstration by Dominic Tamasi