Events: Riverviews opening new screening room

Riverviews Artspace is opening its new screening room with a free showing of “Sita Sings the Blues” at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The room, finished in late November, is equipped with new risers, upholstered seating and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment.

First screened at Riverviews’ CINEviews Film Festival, “Sita” is the autobiographical tale of director Nina Paley, a self-taught comic strip artist and filmmaker who moved to India in 2002 and discovered the Indian epic “Ramayana” as her marriage was ending. In the film, she uses four distinct styles of animation and Bollywood-inspired musical numbers to tell the story of the goddess Sita, while three shadow puppets narrate the ancient tragedy from a modern perspective.

Riverviews’ film series will pick back up with a new slate of films in February. For more information on the screening, call (434) 847-7277 or visit www.riverviews.net.

The Big Read Lynchburg kicks off

A reading initiative sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) — aimed at bringing communities together to read and discuss a single novel — will start in Lynchburg next week.

Beginning Jan. 16, copies of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon” will be available at Amazement Square and the Lynchburg College Library as part of The Big Read Lynchburg.

Both organizations will also present a series of activities — starting with Amazement Square’s Maltese Mystery Day on Jan. 16 — related to the book. The keynote event will be a presentation by Hammett’s granddaughter, Julie Rivett, at Lynchburg College, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1. Events continue through Feb. 28 and include Feature Film Noir Fridays, book discussions, an art contest and a murder mystery game at the Lynchburg College Library.

For more information, visit www.bigreadlynchburg.org.

Africa House to host exhibit

Africa House’s latest exhibit, “Blue Skies,” will feature the landscape paintings of George Barclay from Jan. 10 through Feb. 7. A reception will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, with a gallery talk at 3. Africa House is located at 2238 Garfield Ave., near Virginia University of Lynchburg (VUL).

Barclay, a retired government attorney who has degrees from Brown University and Boston University School of Law, has been painting since 1980.

Regular gallery hours are Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. and other days by appointment; it will also open on Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 18, from 9 a.m. until noon, following the Martin Luther King Jr., breakfast at VUL. For more information, call (434) 238-3328.

Auditions for Joffrey School

The New York City-based Joffrey Ballet School is holding auditions for its summer school later this month at Virginia School of the Arts.

Ballet auditions are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jan. 23, and jazz auditions are from 1 to 2:30 p.m. — both for ages 12 to 21. Fees are $30 for advance online registration, $35 in person (from 10 to 11 a.m. that morning) and $40 for videos accepted in lieu of personal appearance.

Candidates are asked to bring a 5 by 7 dance picture of any pose, preferably a jump, and make certain their face can be seen clearly. They must also wear proper class attire, like leotards, tights, ballet slippers and jazz sneakers; colored leotards and tights are permitted. Pointe shoes are not needed.

For more information, call (212) 254-8520, visit www.joffreyballetschool.com or e-mail amaksym@joffreyballetschool.com.

Academy of Fine Arts reschedules event

The Academy of Fine Arts’ latest show, “Mutts Gone Nuts,” originally set for Saturday, has been postponed due to a performer’s illness. It has been rescheduled for 1 and 5 p.m. April 24. All purchased tickets will be honored for the same time and seats. For more information, call (434) 846-8499.