Arts & Culture in Brighton

The Little Theatre brings a roster of reel wonders to Rochester, with a slate of films running the gamut from quirkily mainstream to accessibly indie. Cinephiles can nab tickets (evening showings: $8, weekend matinees: $6, seniors: $5, children 5–12: $5, and students on Sun.–Thurs.: $5) to any number of upcoming features appearing on The Little's five flickering screens, such as the risqué Ewan McGregor dramedy Beginners or the sardonic sojourn documented in acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom's The Trip. A slew of other silver-screen selections are sure to satisfy moviegoers from all walks of taste. The Little's 70-seat, jazz-infused café pitches in to delight the less movie-centric senses of taste, spidey, and smell, with its eye-fetching collection of local artwork and appetizing menu of rich quiches ($8) and grilled paninis ($9). A fluid fleet of specialty coffees ($1.50–$3.75), globetrotting vinos ($6/glass, $18.50/bottle), and sudsy brews ($3.50–$4.50) lithely impart an impressive cineaste vocabulary sure to impress neighboring critics and wide-eyed ushers.

Dipson Theatres celebrates a reputation as a regional movie institution with a network of 12 locations lighting 57 silver screens across Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania. Though the company now spreads across the northeast United States, it began in the small city of Batavia, NY, in 1939—a time when movies were called “picture shows,” Roosevelt was in the White House, and everybody could only see in black and white. Today that tradition underlies the cinematic experience as patrons chomp popcorn and sip sodas, marveling at modern 3-D visual adventures, summer action movies, family-friendly features, or even indie art flicks and footage from world-renowned opera performances.

SCREENS Restaurant & Sports Lounge captivates casual moviegoers and cinephiles alike with its array of daily scheduled films and private group screenings in three high-definition theaters. In addition to a variety of cult and foreign flicks, towering high-definition screens broadcast the latest NFL Sunday Ticket games, X-Box and Playstation 3 tournaments, and national flossing championships to viewers nestled in comfy lounge chairs. Servers bustle from room to room, placing the menu's selection of gourmet pizzas, pasta dinners, and burgers on tables flanked by portraits of iconic Hollywood stars.

The Historic Palace Theatre's own in-house production company, Curtain Up Productions, performs beneath the gilded proscenium of a venerable historic auditorium. The playhouse and movie theater was considered the jewel of downtown Lockport on its 1925 opening and still bustles today under the watch of volunteers committed to its preservation.

When the instructors at MGOS Academy of Irish Dance—certified by the Ireland’s An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha to teach Irish dance—wanted to branch out, they created Ashford Ballet Company. Today, the two studios partner up to cover a diversity of dance styles to children, with Ashford Ballet Company’s New York State–certified staff tutoring tykes in the intricate steps of ballet, tap, and jazz.

The family-friendly studio makes the kid-centric space amicable for parents—who can sit in and watch their children's classes or cheer silently from behind the observation window—as a way to put kids at ease. When designing the curriculum, co-director Caitlyn Redmond and her fellow instructors swapped tales about their own childhood dance experiences (both good and bad), and from those stories settled on a philosophy based on nurturing individual progress, rather than adhering to a strict curriculum. "When you have a cookie-cutter approach to teaching dance, some kids don't fit the mold," she said. But at Ashford Ballet Company, "they all have a place to dance and feel included."

That includes the kids in her Movement for Dancers with Special Needs classes, which Caitlyn, who is also a special education teacher, began teaching to combine her two passions. "It increases their level of self-confidence. It gives them an opportunity to express themselves in a different way," she said.

She believes all their dancers—who range from toddlers to teenagers—reap those same benefits as they work together in a non-competitive atmosphere. At the end of the year, students perform in a one-hour recital designed to highlight each student's growth and show off their skills with plenty of solos, offering a departure from traditional dance studios' four-hour Macarena marathons.