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Despite the best of intentions, anniversaries often slip one’s mind, with the cares and concerns of everyday life taking precedence.

There is one anniversary that former Bedford Police Chief David C. Bailey will never forget, in part because he is reminded of it in his daily routines.

The date in question is Oct. 6, 1971, when the body of a woman in her 30s was discovered in the woods near what is now the Kilton Road exit and onramp on Route 101 West.

“I think of it every time I drive up that ramp,” Bailey said.

Although Bailey had been a police officer for less than six months when the Jane Doe was found, his memories of visiting the site remain vivid. It had been a very hot September, which speeded the decomposition of the body.

“When I look at those pictures, I can still smell it,” Bailey said of the photographs of the crime scene. “I’ll never forget that smell.”

Though he was not a main investigator in the case, Bailey said he followed its progress. Forty-one years later and into his retirement, it continues to hold his attention.

“It’s one of the two cases that until I make some progress on, I won’t consider myself actively retired,” he said, noting that he still works as a special police officer.

The driving force behind his focus on the oldest Jane Doe case in the state, Bailey said, is forensic genealogist and Bedford resident Melinde Byrne.

Byrne began working on the case in November 2008, when she was asked to teach a class on forensic genealogy at Boston University.

Forensic genealogy, she said, is “the study of kinship and identity as it pertains to the law.”

Byrne selected three cases to present to her students, one of which she wanted to be an unresolved case. She chose the Bedford Jane Doe because, living a few miles away from where the body was discovered, it literally hit close to home.

Byrne said she was horrified that this woman “could vanish and no one could come forward to claim her.”

The next step, she said, was contacting Bailey, who was Bedford’s police chief at the time, to obtain additional information and to offer her assistance as a forensic genealogist.

“It took me months, literally, to approach Chief Bailey,” Byrne said, explaining that she wanted to be particularly respectful since she wasn’t affiliated with the law enforcement or military communities.

Given how well her partnership with Bailey has worked out, she said, “I must have done something right.”

Since teaching her first forensic genealogy class in 2008, Byrne has presented the mystery of the Bedford Jane Doe to about 500 students. She will share the case with a new class in November.

“The students come up with something new every time,” she said.

There are many fascinating details that can’t be revealed publicly without jeopardizing the outcome of the case, she said, and they have a good amount of information to go on.

Because they do not have a good sample of Jane Doe’s DNA just yet, much of the investigatory work they have done so far depends upon reverse engineering, Byrne explained.

“The most common use of forensic genealogy is to locate missing heirs to estates,” she said. “These are cases where you know somebody’s name and you determine who that name actually belongs to.”

In other cases, “you may not know the person’s last name, but you know what their place in a kinship group is,” Byrne said. “It’s sort of like an algebra problem. You know two pieces of the formula, and you get the answer by using those two pieces.”

Since at this time, Jane Doe lacks both a family name and a designated place in a kinship group, the equation is more challenging.

“What I’m trying to reverse-engineer is sort of like the dog that didn’t bark in the night,” Byrne said. “I’m going to use the clues we have in a different way.”

One example Byrne was able to discuss was Jane Doe’s clothing.

“There are a lot of things that point to Canada as an origin,” she said. “She’s wearing a Wonderbra, which was not sold in the United States in 1971. She also has Gossard panties on.”

Then, there are the heels on Jane Doe’s sandals, Byrne noted, the height of which is marked in centimeters.

Byrne cautioned against using Jane Doe’s clothing as the entire basis for her place of origin, as the woman could have borrowed the clothing from someone else or gone shopping in Canada. Such clues, however, can provide a jumping-off point for further investigation.

Another important piece of the equation is why Jane Doe was never reported missing.

“There’s a whole series of obligations,” Byrne said, from personal and work relationships to missed medical or dental appointments, that would result in someone knowing if a person had gone missing.

“It is a pretty baffling dead-end kind of thing,” she said of the case, noting that being able to narrow it down geographically will help their progress.

At this time, Bailey said, the Bedford Police Department does not have an active investigation on the Jane Doe case.

“You go by solvability,” he said of cold cases. “They review them on occasion,” and if additional information surfaces regarding a case, they’ll work on it.

In the meantime, Bailey and Byrne will continue to dig, hoping to find a new interpretation of a clue or a new connection that will lead them closer to the identity of Jane Doe.

The nature of her demise is not the main focus here, Bailey explained.

“This is about giving this person closure,” he said. “It just boggles the mind that no one knows who she is.”

– Teresa Santoski

www.teresasantoski.com

Originally published Sept. 28, 2012 in the Bedford (NH) Journal.

The worktable in Victoria Tane’s home studio could easily be mistaken for a vendor’s table at a flea market. Plastic ziplock bags hold beads of various shapes and sizes, bits of broken costume jewelry and metal pencil tops. Wine collar wrappers and cardstock paint swatches are carefully stored in multi-compartment boxes.

From these disparate, cast-off items, the 61-year-old Nashua artist creates beautiful upcycled jewelry, which she sells through her website, www.victoriatane.com. No two pieces are exactly alike.

“I call what I do ‘ten thousand decisions,’” Tane said.

Though she has limited amounts of some supplies, she sees no need to panic when the contents of a bag or box start to dwindle.

“Running out of something is the best thing that can happen to me as an artist, because it forces me to come up with the next iteration,” Tane said.

Her approach to her art has influenced her approach to Parkinson’s disease. She began experiencing the symptoms 10 or more years ago, but was only diagnosed with the movement disorder within the past three or four years.

“I run out of something and I have to replace it,” Tane said, referring to her jewelry supplies. “Well, it turns out I’ve run out of dopamine and I have to replace it.”

According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, Parkinson’s involves the malfunction and death of nerve cells, or neurons, in the substantia nigra, the part of the brain that handles movement and coordination. Some of these neurons produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control movement.

As Parkinson’s progresses and more neurons are destroyed, less dopamine is produced, leaving the individual increasingly less able to control movement normally.

At this time, there is no cure for Parkinson’s. Though experts are unsure as to the cause of the movement disorder, some believe genetics and environmental factors may play a role.

The path to Tane’s diagnosis began when she scheduled a doctor’s appointment to address a nagging pain in her shoulder.

“I had this feeling inside, like I was shaking,” she said.

She later followed up with her doctor about a tremor that had developed in her right hand, which is also her dominant hand.

Though tremors are a classic symptom of Parkinson’s, they can have a number of other causes.

“My husband has a tremor, but he doesn’t have Parkinson’s,” Tane said.

Her doctor did not think Tane had the movement disorder, but Tane felt differently.

“I know my own body. I know things before they’re diagnosed,” she said, adding that her father passed away from complications due to Parkinson’s about two years ago.

Tane arranged for a consultation with a neurologist, who said she might be in the early stages of the movement disorder. Over the next year, her symptoms progressed, cementing the diagnosis.

As she learned more about Parkinson’s, Tane realized she may have been experiencing symptoms of the movement disorder long before the tremor manifested itself.

As far back as the ’90s, “I had had a hard time with smell,” she said.

Many researchers believe the loss or impairment of the sense of smell – as well as other symptoms like sleep or mood disorders or low blood pressure when standing up – can precede movement-related symptoms of Parkinson’s by years.

Tane said she can smell very high notes and very low notes when it comes to aromas, but that she’s “lost the mid-range of the keyboard.”

Her deteriorating sense of smell has in turn affected her sense of taste. Once again, flavors at the ends of the spectrum are easier to taste than those in the middle.

“I kind of have to interpret via texture,” Tane said. “Sometimes, I don’t know if I’m tasting something or remembering tasting something.”

In spite of having struggled with Parkinson’s for several years, she resisted taking medication for her movement-related symptoms until just a few months ago.

“I was trying to be a hero and tough it out about not taking medication, but it was ridiculous,” Tane said, noting that people who have seen her before and after medication say there has been a definite improvement.

Regular exercise has also helped her movement-related symptoms.

“It’s kind of a cocktail disease,” she said of Parkinson’s. “You have to establish a regimen that works for you.”

Tane continues to create and sell jewelry, though the movement disorder means it takes her longer to finish a piece.

“My hands shake,” she said. “But I’m still able to design, and I still have my sense of humor, which I think comes through in my art.”

Making jewelry, Tane has found, also makes her hand less apt to tremor.

“Busy hands are happy hands, so the idea is to keep those hands engaged as much as possible,” she said.

One of Tane’s bracelets is featured in the 2013 Creativity & Parkinson’s Calendar, published by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, as the art for February.

Tane had been looking for artists with Parkinson’s to blog about for Parkinson’s Awareness Month. Her assistant came across the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation’s website, www.pdf.org, with its gallery of 300 such artists.

At her assistant’s suggestion, Tane submitted photos of her own work for the online gallery.

The next thing Tane knew, the foundation contacted her and told her she was a finalist to be in the calendar for February.

“It was really an honor. I was thrilled,” she said.

Like many people with Parkinson’s, Tane has battled her share of depression and anxiety in connection with the movement disorder.

“You struggle with the disease. It’s personal,” she said. “You’re not always up to seeing other people.”

She does feel, however, that she has made peace with her condition.

“I call it the squatter in my apartment building. It’s here to stay, and it’s not going to leave,” Tane said.

Though Parkinson’s has impacted the way she lives her life, she refuses to give in to concerns as to how the movement disorder will progress.

“My biggest fear is where my next idea is going to come from, as a creative person,” Tane said.

Instead of allowing Parkinson’s to define her, she has chosen to define Parkinson’s. In addition to participating in a study for a new medication and contributing financially to research efforts, she has designed a line of jewelry inspired by the tulip, the symbol for Parkinson’s.

“I do feel very fortunate to still have the creative spirit,” Tane said.

– Teresa Santoski

www.teresasantoski.com

Originally published Feb. 26, 2013 in The Telegraph, Nashua, NH.

When a son reaches a certain age, it isn’t unusual for him to follow his father into the family business. It’s a little more unusual, however, if your father is iconic musician Max Cavalera and the family business is heavy metal.

Cavalera, renowned for his work as the former frontman of groundbreaking groove metal band Sepultura and as the current leader of Soulfly, is seeing a whole new chapter of his career open up as his sons make their own forays into the music industry.

Stepson Richie, 25, is the lead singer of Incite, which Cavalera described as a new version of Pantera. Sons Igor, 17, and Zyon, 19, handle vocals and drums respectively for the yet-unsigned Lody Kong – “grunge and metal combined together, which is kind of unique,” Cavalera said.

All three bands are performing together as part of the “Maximum Cavalera” tour, which will make a stop at the Arena Sportsbar and Nightclub, 53 High St. in Nashua on Tuesday, March 12. Doors will open at 5 p.m., with the show starting at 5:30.

The show is for ages 18 and older. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit arenanh.com.

The inspiration for the tour came not from the patriarch, but from another family member with close ties to the business.

“It was actually my wife’s idea,” Cavalera said, adding that Gloria is his general manager.

Cavalera seconded her suggestion, and hasn’t regretted it.

“It’s really fun to be on tour with the whole family,” he said. “It’s really cool.”

“I think it’s great when you can be a part of something with your family,” Richie said. “It’s not often that you get to be with your family when you’re in a band.”

Touring with other bands can be challenging, Cavalera said, because everyone doesn’t always get along.

“With the family, none of that happens,” he said. “I think it’s a little bit easier, because we’ve known each other for a long time.”

“You don’t have to deal with anybody’s ego or anything,” Richie said.

And with everyone in the same tour bus – with the exception of Incite, which has its own van – the adult members of the group are careful to look out for the best interests of the teenagers.

“We have to hide the beer from the young ones,” Cavalera said.

“We hide the party and make them go to bed early, and then let the adults enjoy themselves at night,” Richie said.

There’s also a lot of mentoring going back and forth on the tour.

“You always look out for your little ones and try to point them in the right direction,” Richie said.

Since Igor is also a vocalist, Richie explained, he’ll give him tips on how to maintain his voice during a tour. With Zyon, it might be as simple as letting him know “he just rocked it on drums.”

“They’re young, they’re working hard,” Richie said. “Keeping Incite on our toes every night, for sure.”

Zyon is also playing drums for Soulfly on this tour, an arrangement that initially raised some concerns for Cavalera because of how much stamina is required to drum in two bands.

By all accounts, Zyon has risen to the challenge.

“He’s doing great. A lot of people really like him,” Cavalera said. “The band really likes to play with him.”

“I don’t know how he has the energy to do both bands. I couldn’t be more proud and happier to have him playing drums for me.”

Cavalera has had a significant influence on Richie, as well.

Music has always been a part of Richie’s life, as his mother, Gloria, has worked with bands since he was born. Cavalera came into their lives when Richie was 8 or 9, offering him an even deeper connection to the music world.

“Max was big on pushing me out onto the stage,” Richie said, noting that he’s performed with Sepultura and Nailbomb, one of Cavalera’s former side projects.

Richie said he learned a lot from watching Cavalera, from the essentials of stage presence and how to control a crowd to how to deal with musicians joining and leaving the band.

Seeing Cavalera’s success as a professional musician “definitely got me believing that it’s something possible to achieve,” Richie said.

Audiences will have an opportunity to see all four Cavaleras perform together during Soulfly’s “Revengeance.”

“A lot of people want to take pictures of the moment,” Cavalera said, adding that he has noticed a lot of audience members breaking out their cameras for that song.

This show will mark the first time the bands perform in New Hampshire.

“Thirty years of career, and I’m still playing places I’ve never played before,” Cavalera said. “I think it’s pretty exciting.”

Audiences can expect “a bomb going off from beginning to end,” Richie said. “It’s got a little minifestival feeling to it.”

The show will kick off with a few independent or unsigned bands – “I expect some good local talent from New Hampshire,” Richie said – followed by Lody Kong, Incite and Soulfly.

“In the end, you have Max,” Richie said. “You don’t get artists like Max every day of your life.”

And the family connections will only serve to make the show that much more powerful.

“I think we all kind of feed off each other and embrace the bond that we have, and cherish it all,” Richie said.

– Teresa Santoski

www.teresasantoski.com

Originally published March 7, 2013 in The Telegraph, Nashua, NH.

For many people of a certain age, their introduction to opera came not through a music teacher, but an animated bunny brandishing an electric shaver.

“Rabbit of Seville,” released in 1950 and featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, has stood the test of time, ranking 12th in a 1994 survey of animation professionals of the greatest cartoons ever made.

The staying power of this cartoon, however, isn’t nearly as impressive as that of the comedic opera from which it drew its gags and music. Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” first performed in 1816, has been an audience favorite for almost two centuries and is one of the most frequently staged operas worldwide.

Thanks to the efforts of Opera New Hampshire, Granite State audiences will have the chance to experience this crowd-pleasing classic, performed by European touring company Teatro Lirico D’Europa, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3, at the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester.

For more information, visit www.operanh.org. For tickets, visit www.palacetheatretickets.org or call 668-5588.

Faith A. Wilson, executive director of Opera New Hampshire, said many people mistakenly believe opera to be boring and difficult to understand.

“The story that is told comes out through the body language, costumes and actors,” she said.

To further facilitate comprehension, attendees are invited to arrive an hour before the performance for a prelude, in which William Carey, a voice coach and Opera New Hampshire board member, will set the stage for the audience.

“He’s just extremely knowledgeable and a wealth of information, not just about this particular show, but about opera in general,” Wilson said.

Several of the principal performers will be present to answer questions, particularly those from students, who have the opportunity to attend a free performance through Opera New Hampshire’s children’s opera program.

During the performance, English supertitles will be projected above the stage’s curtain to help audiences understand the opera’s Italian lyrics.

Eyes will likely be glued to the stage itself, however, with audiences captivated by the chaos that ensues when Figaro, the barber of Seville, tries to help his former employer, Count Almaviva, outsmart Dr. Bartolo and woo the doctor’s ward, the lovely Rosina.

Highlights of the opera include Figaro’s fast-paced aria “Largo al factotum” (more commonly known as “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro”) and an onstage shaving scene just as wacky as Bugs and Elmer’s.

After the performance, a reception with light refreshments will be held, followed by a post-reception event at which audience members can meet the performers, who will be in full costume.

Opera New Hampshire aims to provide the complete operatic experience not only for the adults and older students who attend the performances, but to elementary school students who are too young to sit through an entire production.

Founded in 1974, 11 years after the founding of Opera New Hampshire, the children’s opera program offers a scaled-down performance that travels to local elementary schools.

This service is currently provided by Just Love to Sing, a New Hampshire-based educational opera and musical theater company under the direction of Jane Cormier.

“Rather than having a whole entourage, they have one or two characters,” Wilson said.

The performers do appear in costume, which the students find “spellbinding,” she said.

Unlike a traditional opera production, this performance is fully interactive.

“When Jane brings it into the schools, she definitely gives them an opportunity to have participation,” Wilson said. “She also gets the teachers involved, which the kids get a huge kick out of.”

Feedback from those who have participated in the program has been quite positive.

“I love getting the letters from the kids,” Wilson said. “And sometimes, they actually draw little characters from the performance.”

A limited number of slots are available each year. Interested schools are encouraged to email Wilson at info@operanh.org.

Those who enjoy “The Barber of Seville” will be pleased to know that the final production of Opera New Hampshire’s 2012-13 season will be Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 3, also at the Palace Theatre.

“The Marriage of Figaro,” another frequently performed opera and a comedic success in its own right, is also the sequel to “The Barber of Seville,” focusing on the commotion that ensues when Count Almaviva, now wedded to Rosina, decides to pursue Figaro’s fiance, Susanna, and prevent her from marrying Figaro.

“A lot of folks don’t realize that, so we thought it was a great way to continue the plot,” said Wilson, who named these operas as her favorites. “The two of them being performed within a month of each other is something very special for our patrons.”

The attendance at Opera New Hampshire’s performances suggests many Granite Staters consider opera in general to be special, and Wilson hopes more and more people will take advantage of the organization’s offerings.

“I personally feel that, in an age where social media and the land of the virtual is ever-present, that live arts are a vital piece to the community,” she said. “It brings a culture and social aspect to the community that cannot be replaced by video.”

– Teresa Santoski

www.teresasantoski.com

Originally published Jan. 31, 2013 in The Telegraph, Nashua, NH.

For an adult without children, figuring out how to engage and entertain a 9-year-old is a daunting task indeed. Just ask Manchester resident Dan Szczesny, who, along with his wife, Meena Gyawali, reached out to the now-10-year-old twins who live next door to them after their grandfather died in February 2011.

“Meena and I don’t have any kids of our own just yet, so we don’t really know what to do with kids,” Szczesny said. “So we just did what we like to do.”

The couple are avid hikers and decided to take the twins, Janelle and Aaron Mylott, up to Bald Peak in Franconia Notch with their niece Meg, 8, and nephew Ian, 11.

“It was a good place to take kids, especially for their first time,” Szczesny said.

Of the four kids, Janelle enjoyed the experience the most and asked Szczesny if the two of them could do more hiking together. He was happy to oblige.

“It was like, phew, at least I know what to do with one of them,” he said with a laugh.

Their resulting journeys are chronicled on Szczesny’s blog, www.52withaview.com, and in “The Adventures of Buffalo and Tough Cookie,” a combination narrative and trail guide penned by Szczesny with input from Janelle, slated for release in May.

Buffalo and Tough Cookie are the trail names of Szczesny and Janelle, respectively.

“You can’t make your own trail name up. Someone has to give it to you,” Szczesny said.

He earned his on a hike in Wind Cave National Park, S.D., with Gyawali, after fleeing from what he thought was a herd of buffalo.

“It was only two, but they were loud, trust me,” Szczesny said. “I ran away like a big tough hiker.”

“I got mine from my brother,” Janelle said. “We were arguing, and he said, ‘You think you’re such a tough cookie.’ ”

“Both of our trail names came about through irony,” Szczesny said.

The duo began their adventures intending to train Janelle to hike a 4,000-footer. Their goals shifted, however, once Janelle pointed out that several of the hikes they had done were on the 52 With a View list.

“Everybody climbs the 4,000-footers, but not everyone does the 52 With a View,” Szczesny said. “It was her suggestion that we just follow that list and see where it went.”

“It was originally for senior citizens,” Janelle said, adding that most of the climbs are easy and all of them have amazing views.

Those hikes on the list that are more demanding, however, are on par with the 4,000-footers, Szczesny said.

“Her longest day was a 14-mile day hike,” he said, noting that this is difficult even for an adult.

Some of the challenges the duo faced had nothing to do with hiking itself, but with the fact that they’re an adult male and a female child who are not related.

During one of their first hikes, someone called the police to report a grown man in the woods with a little girl. The police responded quickly.

“It was touch and go for a minute there, because I didn’t have any ID on me,” Szczesny said, adding that he now carries a permission slip from Janelle’s grandmother to avoid such misunderstandings. “In a sad way, that sort of speaks to the age that we live in. Lessons we had to learn along the way, if we were going to do this.”

Szczesny decided to include this incident in the book.

“Part of our story is that we’re not related,” he said. “That’s crucial to what we’re doing here.”

Szczesny and Janelle agree that, in spite of not being blood relatives, they’ve been able to bond through hiking.

And with Janelle at an age where most kids are complaining about having to walk around a mall or a museum, her dedication to hiking makes the story even more compelling.

The duo logged 225 miles in 371 days, from Nov. 5, 2011 to Nov. 11, 2013.

“There’s not a lot of 8- and 9- and 10-year-olds out there who can put that kind of mileage in,” Szczesny said.

Hiking the 52 With a View has been a growing experience for Janelle – in more ways than one.

“From when we started to when we ended, her foot size changed a whole size and a half,” Szczesny said, noting that Janelle has outgrown his wife’s hiking gear.

“On those first two hikes, she didn’t know how to read blazes, she didn’t know what a cairn was,” he said. “But by the end of our journey, she was leading me up those mountains.”

With all the time and energy they’ve been putting into the book and its promotion, the duo has yet to decide which list to hike next.

“You’re the leader,” Szczesny said to Janelle. “What’s our next adventure going to be?”

“The Terrifying 25,” she said, referring to a list of 25 of the hardest trails in the White Mountains, “or the 4,000-footers.”

Szczesny anticipates that Janelle will soon outpace him and joked that he’ll eventually become a taxi service, dropping her off at the trailheads.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Janelle said. “I’ll always be your hiking buddy.”

– Teresa Santoski

www.teresasantoski.com

Originally published March 10, 2013 in The Telegraph, Nashua, NH.

The Granite State, it must be said, isn’t exactly a nexus of Japanese culture. The last time such a large group of Japanese items were present in New Hampshire may well have been 1905, when Japan’s envoys arrived with their luggage to negotiate the Treaty of Portsmouth and put an end to the Russo-Japanese War.

Understandably, art from this part of the world is not the Currier Museum of Art’s typical focus.

“The Currier’s collection is Western art. We do not have a collection of Asian art at all,” curator Dr. Kurt Sundstrom said.

There are also no collectors of Japanese art in New Hampshire, he said, which means the museum has no local resources to help mount an exhibition.

When International Arts and Artists, the nonprofit arts service handling “Lethal Beauty: Samurai Weapons and Armor,” contacted the Currier about the availability of this exhibit orchestrated by the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Sundstrom and the rest of the staff knew it was an offer they wanted to pursue.

It helped that Willard “Bill” Clark, the founder of the Clark Center, and the Currier’s director, Susan Strickler, have known each other for more than 25 years.

“There’s a very small community of dedicated collectors,” Sundstrom said, explaining that everyone in the museum industry knows who are the top collectors of every type of art.

Because of that familiarity with Clark’s work and the caliber of his collection and his connections, the staff knew “Lethal Beauty” would be a high-quality exhibit worth hosting.

“Our educational mission is really to bring the best of the world here,” Sundstrom said.

For some New Hampshire residents, it may be their only opportunity to view samurai armor and weaponry up close.

“Many people in this state never leave New England,” Sundstrom said, noting that the Currier is the only major arts center in New Hampshire.

“This is almost virgin territory,” Clark said. “There is not access for the local people to this kind of very exotic art.”

Bringing Japanese art to those who otherwise might not experience it is part of the essence of the Clark Center. Clark’s collection was originally kept in his home in Hanford, Calif., but the number of pieces he had and the number of people who wanted to see them eventually exceeded the space he had available.

The center was established in 1995, and a proper gallery was constructed near the Clarks’ home to accommodate the burgeoning collection.

Now an unexpected patch of Japanese tranquility in the midst of the agriculturally oriented San Joaquin Valley, the compound is basically located in the West Coast equivalent of small-town New Hampshire.

After closing at the Currier on May 5, “Lethal Beauty” is traveling to only five other locations, including the Birmingham Museum of Arts in Alabama and the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, N.Y. These two museums are similar to the Currier in that they also serve populations that do not have regular access to Japanese art.

And with the broad appeal of an exhibit of samurai armor and weapons, the Currier hopes all kinds of people – especially those who might not normally visit a museum – will come to see it.

There’s one such individual whose visit Sundstrom is happily anticipating.

“It’s the first time my son, who’s 10, has actually said, ‘I want to come to the museum,’ ” Sundstrom said.

“Lethal Beauty” seems to have piqued the interest of New Hampshire residents even before it opened to the public. About 300 people attended the opening Jan. 31, and the exhibit saw a steady stream of visitors during the Currier’s members-only first look.

As Sundstrom predicted, people are drawn to “Lethal Beauty” for different reasons.

Tre Nabstedt, of Concord, is the son of a fencing instructor and has visited a number of armory exhibits. Coming to see “Lethal Beauty” was therefore a natural step for him.

Though he really liked the pieces on display at the Currier and considered the exhibit aptly named, there was more to the experience for Nabstedt than mere swords and helmets.

“The warriors’ lifestyle is really fascinating, I think, beyond just their weapons and armor,” he said.

For Connie Lanseigne-Case, of Pelham, the exhibit is a continuation of a journey she made many years ago.

“Back in ’61, I had the good fortune of visiting Japan. I’ve always appreciated the arts and culture of Japan,” she said.

Lanseigne-Case described how during her stay, various artists, including a ceramicist and a woodblock printer, took the time to explain their work to her.

“From that time on, Japan had a special place in my appreciation of other countries,” she said.

The generous artists Lanseigne-Case encountered likely had a similar philosophy to Clark’s.

“If there’s something that really excites you, you want to try to excite other people,” he said. “It’s a ripple effect.”

For Clark, sharing his love of Japanese art and culture with others is one of two great pleasures in his life.

The other, he said, is when his wife prepares him a pitcher of martinis and a tray of snacks and he takes them into the gallery at night. He turns on Bach’s Brandenburg concertos and spends the evening enjoying the art.

“I just move the martinis and my chair from place to place and think, ‘I’m the luckiest guy in the world,’ ” Clark said, “and I am.”

– Teresa Santoski

www.teresasantoski.com

Originally published Feb. 17, 2013 in The Telegraph, Nashua, NH.

When the Currier Museum of Art tells you not to touch the art in “Lethal Beauty: Samurai Weapons and Armor,” it’s not just for preservation – it’s for your own safety.

With five complete suits of armor, nearly a dozen helmets and masks and numerous swords, sword fittings and battle accessories – all in pristine condition – there are plenty of deadly details to take in.

“Beauty comes in many aspects,” Dr. Kurt Sundstrom, the Currier’s curator, said of the exhibit. “When you look at it, the craftsmanship is so superior to anything that is made today.”

In spite of their aesthetic appeal, the items on display are, essentially, weapons. This combination of beauty and deadliness can result in an odd experience for viewers.

Even though people know these items are dangerous, “you want to get close and look at how beautiful they are,” Sundstrom said.

“It’s a sort of weird sensation that you have,” he added. “You kind of waffle back and forth.”

Sundstrom and the rest of the curatorial staff experienced these mixed emotions while helping Dr. Andreas Marks, director and chief curator at the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in Hanford, Calif., and curator of “Lethal Beauty,” install the exhibit at the Currier.

He recalled the moment when Marks unpacked a katana – a sword about 3 feet in length – and held it up for them to see.

Everyone backed away, Sundstrom said. “It was almost like someone pulled out a loaded pistol.”

Sundstrom worked up his courage and asked Marks if he could hold the katana. Marks agreed. Even though he was now the one in control of the blade, “I was still scared to death,” Sundstrom said.

Willard “Bill” Clark, founder of the Clark Center, agreed with Sundstrom’s assessment.

“They have made something very beautiful out of a weapon,” Clark said.

“These swordmakers go through years and years of training,” Sundstrom said. “Some of these swords take months to make.”

Even the helmets in the exhibit have been created with care and scrupulous attention to detail. One example from the Edo period (1603-1868) incorporates three functional items into its decorations: a pair of sickles, a sake cup, and a pair of hollow chopsticks that can be filled with gokozui, or scented Buddhist holy water.

The centerpiece of “Lethal Beauty” is a pair of painted screens, also dating from the Edo period, from Clark’s personal collection. The screens portray a number of scenes from “Heike Monogatari,” or “The Tale of the Heike,” a warrior epic chronicling the events of the Genpei War (1180-1185).

Fought between the Minamoto and Taira clans – also known as the Genji and Heike clans – the Genpei War ushered in the samurai era, in which warriors reigned supreme.

The screens are Clark’s main contribution to the exhibit – “I have not been a serious collector of military things,” he said – and, in addition to illustrating an important turning point in Japanese history, afford visitors the opportunity to see how all of the armor and weapons come together and are put to use on the battlefield.

“Lethal Beauty” also shows how after the samurai were officially disbanded in 1876 by Emperor Meiji, swords and other weaponry were recycled and integrated into other items. Two highlights include a flower basin made from pieces of 40 scabbards and a bamboo basket that incorporates arrow shafts.

“The Japanese, I think, are incapable of making something ugly,” Clark said. “They could take the simplest things – a piece of silk, a piece of bamboo – and make the most beautiful things in the world.”

Visitors can reflect on their experience in the discovery gallery just outside the exhibit. Scrolls on the wall explain bushido – “the way of the warrior” – and visitors are encouraged to have a seat on the cushions surrounding the low tables and write their reactions to the bushido code, to be posted on the response wall.

Photography is not permitted in the exhibit proper, but the Currier has made sure people will have an opportunity to snag that perfect commemorative shot. A photo board featuring one of the suits of armor from the exhibit – with the face cut out – sits in the museum entrance.

“The armor was customized to reflect the individual,” Sundstrom said, noting that each samurai’s armor was considered an expression of himself.

The Currier hopes to see many visitors customizing this particular suit of armor and sharing their pictures on social media to spread the word about this rare opportunity to get up close and personal with samurai culture.

The exhibit, which originated at the Clark Center, will be on display through May 5. In addition to museum admission, there is a $5 special exhibition charge for adults to view the exhibit. Children 17 and younger get in free to the museum and to “Lethal Beauty.”

For more information, visit www.currier.org or call 669-6144. To learn more about the Clark Center, visit www.ccjac.org.

– Teresa Santoski

www.teresasantoski.com

Originally published Feb. 17, 2013 in The Telegraph, Nashua, NH.