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Finding a calm environment and consistent motivation from which to write can be tricky, so let’s share our presence and creativity with each other. Every writer needs to get quiet with their work, and we can do that, together, in a beautiful place. Join us in holding THE 222 as a space for writers; 4-6 PM on second Thursdays every month. September, 2024 – June, 2025.

Why do we dance? To express emotion; to share tacit understanding with each other; to permit soul a fresh embodiment of meaning. Dance affirms and celebrates being alive, creative, and connected. It is a long-hoped-for dream to invoke the spirit of dance at THE 222 by hosting an event intended for all ages, dance backgrounds, and experience levels.

Poetry gets to the heart of human experience in a way that few other written forms do. During this “open-mic” poetry reading, we invite you to share poems that speak both to and from your heart. Bring a poem you love, or an original work authored by yourself, and share in a brief exchange with the audience how the poem speaks to you. All are welcome to attend. Please indicate in your RSVP if you plan to share a poem.

“Few artists in any medium have achieved such mastery of technique, mastery of experience, mastery of self (three aspects of the same process). It is the greatest movie I have ever seen.”

Trumpet master, composer and inventive arranger David Weiss brings his outstanding New York sextet to the West coast to promote his newly released recording, Auteur. The recording spotlights original music, never-before-recorded compositions from Freddie Hubbard and Slide Hampton. Praised by The New York Times and the Village Voice for his bold inventions over the years, Weiss’ music evokes emotional complexity — abundance and loss, the collateral beauty of pain — and transmits a deeply personal sound informed by his strong connection to hard bop, swing, and free improvisation traditions.

Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus presents Norden: A Scandinavian Holiday, a program of beautiful sacred and secular music, perfect for the season, from the five Scandinavian countries – Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. The choir’s varied program will feature reimagined traditional classics and contemporary gems in several languages and musical styles. They look forward to returning to THE 222 for this warm and festive offering!

Megumi Inouye is a gift-wrapping and packaging artist. Known for her sustainable wrapping designs and creative innovations, she encourages repurposing, utilizing everyday things around us and using organic and recyclable items. She attributes her passion for gift wrapping to her Japanese heritage and the cultural values that underlie the meaning behind the art of giving. She will intersperse short readings that illuminate these relationships with intervals of audience participation. Her work has been featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and in Yahoo! Lifestyle, American Craft Magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

A good storyteller can show us a whole world: a new version of our own or an otherworld offering a mirror for reflection. For this “open-mic” reading, we invite you to bring an original short story that can be read in ten minutes (or a ten-minute portion of a longer story that can stand alone). Eight readers will be able to sign up as they arrive; the moderator will hold each to the ten-minute limit. All are welcome to attend. Please indicate in your RSVP if you plan to share a story, and of what length.

Anna Magnani, the commedia dell’arte, and the music of Vivaldi are the highlights of this magnificent color film, called by Eric Rohmer “the Open Sesame of all Renoir’s work.” A movie about stage comedy, in which all activity and all space becomes theater. The story of Le Carrosse d’Or takes place in the 18th Century and centers around the coach which the Viceroy of Peru has had sent from Europe. His official mistress hopes that this will be among her prerequisites, but the Viceroy has fallen for the star of a traveling commedia dell’arte company.

Revel in selections from Delibes’ Lakme, Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Verdi’s La Traviata, and Bizet’s Carmen. Savor the music of Clara Schumann, Gustav Mahler, Charles T. Griffes, and more! Allow opera jewels, cabaret gems, and art song treasures to transport you on passionate, amusing, poignant journeys of life and love.