The joy and buoyancy of "Frances Ha"

Posted at 6:00 AM on May 22, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Film, Media, People

Noah Baumbach says his films often end up sadder than he wants, but his latest "Frances Ha" is different. (MPR photo/Euan Kerr)

"I don't know. I try not to describe it," laughed Noah Baumbach when asked to about his latest film. Nonetheless the director and writer of such cinematic depictions of modern angst as "The Squid and the Whale," "Margot at the Wedding" and "Greenberg" sits in a room in his Minneapolis hotel and considers.

"Frances Ha" is the critically acclaimed movie he co-wrote with Greta Gerwig who also plays the title role. Baumbach was in town for "Visibly Human" a retrospective and dialog at the Walker Art Center recently. Now "Frances Ha" opens this weekend theatrically in the Twin Cities.

"I think the movie for me in many ways was dictated by the character and by Greta," Baumbach said. "And as the character was formed in our writing process it was very clear to me that the movie should celebrate her and I also felt like the movie should reward her too."

"Frances Ha" follows a few months in the life of a 27 year old woman living in New York who is coming to terms that she is on the cusp of adulthood. It's not easy for her. She believes she is a dancer, despite strong evidence to the contrary available just by looking at the other members of her company. She is so close to her best friend Sophie that she breaks up with her boyfriend rather than risk damaging the platonic love she has for her friend. Then Sophie ditches her. Frances is also beset by money problems. Yet throughout it all she remains happy, and optimistic.

Greta Gerwig as the ever optimistic title character in "Frances Ha" (Image courtesy IFC Films)

The film shows Frances soldiering on despite an ongoing series of humiliations both minor and major. Baumbach says the spirit, the buoyancy and the joy of the movie really was inspired by Gerwig initially and then by Frances. Audiences tend to leave the theater in a good mood.

This feeling of contentment may be unsettling to Baumbach fans who appreciate the way the director's past work dwelt on the troubling sides of life. Another surprising thing is the movie seemed to appear as if by magic last year at the Telluride Festival.

Baumbach says he never meant to keep the production hidden. He says the reason no-one knew about it is simple.

"Nobody asked." he said. "We were there. We were making it. It was not as if we were setting out to make a secret movie."

He did however have some goals in how he made the film and says that could have played into the fact that people missed he was shooting a movie on the streets of Manhattan.

"I wanted to do something somewhat intimate." he said. "I wanted it to be a smaller production. I wanted to have a production that was fleet-footed; something we could take on the subway and shoot. Something where we could take our time."

While the film looks almost laid-back, it was shot with such a stripped down crew everything had to be carefully planned.

"There is a lot of work goes into making it seem so informal,' he said. "We did a lot of takes. All those scenes and all those shots I spent a lot of time getting them as close to what I have in my head as possible. It's some level of chaos and control that you are always working with on a movie. When it happens, when you hit it, it creates this great moment."

"It was all scripted, there was no improvisation," insisted Baumbach. "I have always really believed in getting the script as good as I can get it, then going to war with the army you have. Lets make this material work. But I am interested in a kind of informal feeling dialog."

Baumbach says the project was born out of a desire to work with Gerwig, who also starred in "Greenberg." He says as they developed the character, sending ideas and possibilities back abd forth, he quickly got a feeling of Frances, and how Gerwig would appear as her in the film.

"Greta is nothing like Frances," he recalled, "But I had a sense of how she would play it. She just seemed clear to us."

He says characters have always dictated how his films go.

"For instance like the last movie I made 'Greenberg' was about a 40 year old guy who hasn't been able to get out of his own way, and whose ideas of himself and his ideas of how his life would turn out have not come to fruition. And he's having a hard time with that and he's not able to fully acknowledge that. And when he does acknowledge it he becomes angry," he said.

"You know, I love that character but maybe it was a pricklier character to some people than a 27 year old girl who can't get out of her own way, and has ideas of how her life should be, and doesn't know how to maneuver herself in the world. But the character of Frances produced the joy and the hopefulness of the Frances Ha movie. I think that Greenberg got the movie that he should have too. I mean I think Greenberg is ultimately a hopeful movie but it's a different path."

'Frances Ha' represents something different of a different path for Baumbach: the film turned out the way he expected.

"Sometimes I'm not totally aware of the tone. I think this is going to be funnier than it turns out to be. They often feel sadder than I intend them to. But Frances, the final product, is the closest to what I envisioned going into it than anything else I have made."

Frances (Greta Gerwig) and Sophie (Mickey Sumner) playfight in Noah Baumbach's "Frances Ha" (Image courtesy IFC Films)

He says the decision to shoot the film in black and white was intuitive.

"I have always loved black and white movies, contemporary movies as opposed to black and white evoking a period because there is something that is already past tense about it once it is in black and white,' he said. "And I think maybe it was my approach to the material because I am no longer 27 and at that point in my life so that the black and white in some ways for me made it past tense. But at the same time the movie is very of the moment, not that it is topical, but I feel like it is very active movie, it doesn't feel like an artifact, it feels very alive and so I like that kind of contrast."

When asked who "Frances Ha" might be for Noah Baumbach says he made it for everybody.

"I didn't do this movie to take on the current generation and tell their story. I really did it because I felt the characters were interesting and funny and charming, and I wanted to work with Greta."

"These are the things that interested me and the hope is that they interest as many other people as possible."

Next Walker Performing Arts season takes collaborations to new heights

Posted at 12:01 AM on May 17, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Jazz, Museums, Music, Theater

Philip Bither may have done the unforgivable in announcing the Walker's 2013-2014 performing arts season - he's named a favorite.

"Uh-oh, you caught me on that - don't tell any of the other artists" he laughs.

Perhaps luckily the curator's top pick comes up first in the new season announced today. The Nature Theater of Oklahoma -- "They actually took their name from a Kafka novel," said Bither -- will perform "Life and Times," a multi-part show based on a mammoth phone call with an ordinary American woman.

Nature Theater of Oklahoma performing "Life and Times" (All images courtesy Walker Art Center)

Bither says that when they began talking, they thought they would just chat for about 60 minutes.

"They ended up with 11 hours of her life," which they took, "ums" and all, and created a musical theater piece about everything the woman could remember, he says. The final show lasts eight hours. Bither saw it in Europe and was enthralled.

"I found myself remembering my earlier childhood memories while watching this woman's struggle to bring to life her earliest memories:The neighbor who scared her next door; What her dad smelled like when he came home from work. And I sense that the entire audience was going through a similar process," he said.

Bither isn't bringing the full "Life and Times" to the Walker, just the early part, which runs three hours.

"And it takes you from the earliest baby memories to the third grade. And you end at the third grade," he said.

Bither clearly takes great joy from his work, and delights in describing it all. He points out the way performance has changed in recent years, and how the convergence of disciplines is apparent in the season.

"I think the age we live in is an age of intense content and the digital era allows people to draw from many sources, and the notions of a defined type of artform just called dance or just called theater is going away," he said. "Younger artists and I think very contemporary artists are thinking about just creating performances, and it draws from many disciplines that we used to think of as separate, including visual art, and architecture, and literature and movement."

Another element which is great to see in the season is the number of performances which feature national or international figures collaborating with Minnesota artists.

"If there's opportunities for leading forces in our community to collaborate with someone nationally or internationally and the Walker can help play a role of bringing people together, we think it's a fabulous thing for us to be able to do," said Bither.

Thus Minnesota composer and director Aparna Ramaswamy, and her choreographic partner and co-artistic director, Ranee will work with award-winning jazz saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa to create a new piece called "Song of the Jasmine."

Also several local musicians including Polica lead singer Channy Leaneagh will collaborate with Seattle-based songwriter Jherek Bischoff for a piece called "Composed"

One of photographer Mitch Epstein's images for "American Power"

Cellist Erik Friedlander will perform a piece "American Power" using photographs and videos by Mitch Epstein to explore American's relationship with energy.

And in January there will be the 26th year of the Walker's exploration of the cutting edge of theater in "Out There."

"What we love about 'Out there ' is it gives people a passport to try the unexpected," Bither said. "Our audiences usually have never heard of these companies, but they know that January is a month of great adventure and great fun at the Walker."

Bither also highlights the visit by the Trisha Brown Dance Company which will disband soon, and will perform its final midwestern concert at the Walker in March. There will also be a 20th anniversary celebration of Twin Cities choreographers Kristin Van Loon and Arwen Wilder, known as HIJACK (seen left.)

And there is the latest visit by French performer Jerome Bel who will come with Theater Hora, a Swiss company featuring actors with disabilities, who don't play characters in the production, but instread, themselves.

"And it makes I think in some ways the audience both feel quiet voyeuristic and uncomfortable and at other times you realize that the company are the voyeurs and they are all lined up looking at us," said Bither.

Bither will explain it all and provide more than a few clips at a season preview on Thursday Sept. 5.

OCTOBER

THEATER: Nature Theater of Oklahoma Life and Times, Episode 1.
Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 26-28, 7 p.m.

MUSIC/FILM: Sam Green and Yo La Tengo, "The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller."
Friday, Oct.11, 7 and 9:30 p.m.

MUSIC: "Composed," by Jherek Bischoff, with special guests Sondre Lerche, Greg Saunier, Ólöf Arnalds and Channy Leaneagh and others.
Friday, Oct. 18, 8 p.m. Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange Street, St. Paul. Co-presented with the SPCO'S Liquid Music series and in association with Minnesota Public Radio.

MUSIC: CocoRosie Saturday, Oct. 19, 8 p.m.
The Cedar, 416 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis.

NOVEMBER

MUSIC/FILM: Erik Friedlander and Mitch Epstein, "American Power."
Friday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m.
World Premiere/Walker Commission

MUSIC: Tim Hecker and Oneohtrix Point Never.
Saturday, Nov. 16, 8 p.m.
Copresented with the SPCO's Liquid Music series.

DANCE: Jérôme Bel/Theater Hora Disabled Theater.
Thursday, Nov. 21; Saturday, Nov. 23, 8 p.m.

DANCE: Choreographers' Evening Curated by Chris Yon and Taryn Griggs
Saturday, Nov. 30, 7 and 9:30 p.m.

DECEMBER

DANCE: HIJACK at 20 redundant, ready, reading, radish, Red Eye.
Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 5-7, 8 p.m.
World Premiere/Walker Commission.

JANUARY

THEATER: Out There 2014: "New World Visions."
Jan. 9 - Feb. 1, 2014

Wunderbaum and LAPD Hospital
Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 9-11, 8 p.m.

Niwagekidan Penino: "The Room, Nobody Knows."
Thursday, Jan. 16, 8 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, Jan. 17-18, 7 and 9:30 p.m.

Clément Layes/Public in Private: "Allege"
Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 23-25, 8 p.m.

Lola Arias: "The Year I Was Born"
Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 30 -Feb. 1, 8 p.m.

FEBRUARY

MUSIC: Olga Bell, "Origin/Outcome" with special guests Tom Vek and Angel Deradoorian
Thursday, February 13, 8 p.m.
World premiere, co-presented with the SPCO's Liquid Music series and the American Composers Forum.

DANCE: luciana achugar: "Otro Teatro"
Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 27 - March 1, 8 p.m.
Walker Commission/World Premiere

MARCH

DANCE: Trisha Brown Dance Company Farewell Theatrical Tour, "Works for the Stage 1983-2011."
Wednesday-Saturday, March 12-15, 8 p.m.

DANCE: Companhia Urbana de Dança Na Pista and ID, "ENTIDADES"
Thursday-Saturday, March 27-29, 8 p.m.

APRIL

MUSIC: Brad Mehldau and Chris Thile, "Intuitive Expression: A Brad Mehldau Celebration"
Tuesday, April 8, 8 p.m.

MUSIC: Brad Mehldau Trio
Wednesday, April 9, 8 p.m.

MUSIC: Burnt Sugar--The Arkestra Chamber, "Any World That I'm Welcome To: The Steely Dan Conductions."
Saturday, April or May, TBD

MAY

DANCE/MUSIC: Ragamala Dance and Rudresh Mahanthappa, "Song of the Jasmine
World Premiere/Walker Commission"
Thursday-Sunday, May 15-18.

This week: Five local arts stories you shouldn't miss

Posted at 12:04 PM on May 3, 2013 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Funding, Galleries, Music

It's been a busy week, and I've been off my blogging game because I was filling in on The Daily Circuit. So here's a quick recap to bring you up to speed.

MPR Photo/Euan Kerr

1. SPCO musicians ratify contract, ending months-long lockout

On Monday SPCO musicians ratified a new three-year contract, ending a lockout that lasted 191 days.

The new contract will reduce musicians' annual pay by $15,000, include a retirement buyout for musicians 55 and older, and reduce the size of the orchestra from 34 to 28 players.

Now musicians and management must begin the work of repairing strained relations.

Portrait of Osmo Vanska by Ann Marsden

2. Osmo Vanska threatens to quit Mn Orch if musicians' lockout isn't solved

On Thursday Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Osmo Vanska sent a letter to management stating the orchestra needs to be rehearsing by early September to have enough time to prepare for an appearance at New York's Carnegie Hall in November.

He called the Carnegie Hall performance one of the most significant goals of his tenure, and said if the appearance is cancelled because Carnegie Hall officials "lose confidence in our ability to perform those concerts as a result of the extended lockout," he will be forced to resign as music director.

Striped Robe, Fruit, and Anemones (1940) by Henri Matisse
Image courtesy of the MIA

3. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts will host a Matisse exhibition in February 2014

This week the MIA announced a new exhibition will be coming to Minneapolis next year featuring 80 works by the French master. The exhibition comes from the Baltimore Museum of Art's collection, which boasts one of the most comprehensive collections of Matisse's work in the world.

Art lovers packed Burnet Gallery Thursday night in support Simpson Housing
Image courtesy of Burnet Gallery

4. Artists raise more than $50,000 for the homeless... in two hours.

Last night Art 4 Shelter held its annual fundraiser at Burnet Gallery in Minneapolis. The event features original works on paper - almost all of it 5x7 in size. The more than 1400 works of art sold for $30 a piece, which happens to be the amount of money it takes Simpson Housing to care for one homeless person for one night (including a clean bed, warm meals, and counseling services). In addition, a selection of 8x10 works sold for $150 each, and generous folks could make additional donations to a "giving tree." As a result, artists and art lovers managed to provide shelter for many of their fellow Minnesotans for the coming year.

John Munger
Photo by Scott J. Pakudaitis

5. The Twin Cities arts community mourns the loss of John Munger.

Early this week the Twin Cities performing arts community learned of the death of longtime dancer John Munger. Munger was a sort of irascible uncle to the local dance scene, continuing to dance when other dancers might have felt too self conscious about their age and physique. He was also a great writer - you can read samples of his work in a lovely remembrance assembled by TC Daily Planet's Jay Gabler.

Art Hounds: Misterman, Niicugni, and five young black men and fatherhood

Posted at 7:45 AM on April 18, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Theater

The hounds hunt down an eerie portrait of a mentally ill Irish evangelist, a meditation on the natural world that's informed by Alaskan Native culture, and a performance piece about being young, black and an unintended father.

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"Niicugni" is the title of a work by Minneapolis choreographer Emily Johnson and her company Catalyst. Dancer and dance follower Judith Brin Ingber discovered "Niicugni" is a term that comes from the Yupik people of Alaska, to whom Johnson is ancestrally connected. It means "listen." "Niicugni" premieres at O'Shaughnessy Auditorium on Sunday, April 21, at 7pm. Judith says expect magnificently mysterious soundscapes and a troupe of dancers in a movement exploration of our connection to each other and the earth.

Philip Bither, curator for performing arts at the Walker Art Center, has followed and supported the career of Bay Area spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph for many years now. Philip saw Joseph's piece, "Word Becomes Flesh," years ago when it was a solo show and was very moved by its exploration of African-American fatherhood. It's now been turned into a work for five young black performers, greatly intensifying its power and impact. At Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis, April 18-20.

If you like theater that surprises, proselytizes, and is disorienting and delightful at the same time, Rachel Buchberger says go see "Misterman." Rachel, a proud member of the Twin Cities-based Prairie Fire Lady Choir, says the one-man Frank Theatre production, starring John Catron, is a tour-de-force character study of a small town Irish evangelist who's a little mad, in the head. At the Southern Theater in Minneapolis through April 28.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Art Hounds: Jeffrey Brooks, Tim Eitel, and contra dance in Northfield

Posted at 7:45 AM on February 21, 2013 by Molly Bloom (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Painting

Tim Eitel: Elsewhere (Exhibition installation view), 2013 (Photo credit: Gene Pittman, courtesy of the Rochester Art Center)

The hounds have uncovered an under-appreciated Minnesota composer, a hotshot German artist who's bringing his internationally renowned paintings to Rochester, and the reason Northfield will be a mecca for contra dance this weekend.

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Dance teacher and accordion player Jim Leedham is encouraging people to make room in their packed schedules for The Northfield Stomp. It's a contra dance extravaganza on Fri. Feb. 22 at 7pm, at the Northfield Armory. The Northfield Stomp will feature live music by Contratopia and enough contra dancing to make your head spin.

Tim Eitel is one of the most famous young painters in the world right now and his first large-scale survey exhibition in the United States is currently on view at the Rochester Art Center. Tricia Khutoretsky, curator/director of Public Functionary, was stunned by Eitel's use of color, the scale of his works and his technical prowess. She didn't love every piece, but thinks the show demands to be seen. The show runs through April 28.

Composer Mike Croswell will be at Studio Z this weekend to hear the concert "Playing it Close to Home." He's most looking forward to hearing the rhythmically innovative work of local composer Jeffrey Brooks. Mike loves that Brooks is a contemporary composer who writes with the audience's pleasure in mind and not just as an intellectual pursuit. Zeitgeist will be performing this Friday and Saturday at Studio Z at 7pm and at Roseville High School Sunday at 2pm.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

Art Hounds: Batuque, Sondheim, and prairie painter pioneers

Posted at 7:45 AM on January 24, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Dance, Events, Music

Orabel Thortvedt, one of the artists featured in the "Prairie Daughters" exhibit, as a young girl carving sculptures into the banks of the Buffalo River near Georgetown, Minnesota, c. 1910. (Photo courtesy of the Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County)

The hounds take you to St. Paul for some unadulterated Sondheim, to Minneapolis in search of the roots of Afro-Brazilian dance, and to Moorhead for some late 19th-century prairie paintings.

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Nobody, according to Twin Cities dancer Anthony Galloway, brings Brazilian dance forms to the stage with the physicality and grace of Contempo Physical Dance. Contempo's latest performance, "Batuque," at the Cowles Center for Dance in Minneapolis Feb. 1-3, embraces the African roots of Brazilian dance with live, extremely percussive music and Afro-centric art and design by St. Paul artist Ta-Coumba Aiken.

For singer and Minnesota Opera communications manager Daniel Zillmann, Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim has written the story of America, and his life. Daniel plans to revel in Sondheim's music at the Ordway in St. Paul, which is featuring Sondheim this month as part of its "Broadway Songbook" series through Jan. 27.

Tania Blanich, Executive Director of the Rourke Museum Art Gallery and Museum in Moorhead, felt a strong kinship with the two painters featured in "Prairie Daughters: The Art and Lives of Annie Stein and Orabel Thortvedt." The exhibition, at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead through Dec. 31, focuses on two prairie women who documented their lives on canvas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

B-Boy J-Sun breaks to Beethoven

Posted at 11:14 AM on January 18, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Music

I love it when seemingly opposing worlds collide.

For example, when local beat dancers B-Boy J-Sun and Dancin' Dave perform some elegant street moves set to Beethoven's Fifth (of course, it helps that the symphony is underscored with some beats from Beastie Boys' "Paul Revere").

Recently classical host Allison Young invited B-Boy J-Sun (a.k.a. Jason Noer) into the studio to talk about hip hop, dance and his favorite classical music; it's part of her regular series Music With Minnesotans.

Noer explained that names like "B-Boy" are earned:

You get to be called a B-Boy or a Breaker after you've battled for a number of years, you've gained credibility in the local community and you don't necessarily have to win a lot of battles but you just show a lot of heart by coming back and never quitting which is what the essence of hip hop is really all about - this unrelenting driving force, that no matter what happens, we not only make do with what we have, we thrive.

Noer uses his dance pieces to tell stories and offer social commentary. He says hip hop is a highly evolved art form, and he's simply attempting to raise awareness of that fact.

When asked for some of his favorite classical music, Noer first chose Johann Sebastian Bach;s Toccata and Fugue in d minor:

I identify with music that has this driving, unrelenting rhythm in it, and that includes a lot of soul music that we dance to, specifically James Brown. So when there's music that has kind of a sweeping or driving rhythm, it really resonates with me.

You can hear Allison Young's entire interview with Jason Noer here, including a discussion of how beat dancers strive to dance not just to the beat, but in and around it.

B-Boy J-Sun performs tonight and tomorrow at the Cowles Center in Minneapolis.

Art Hounds: 2012 Highlights, part two

Posted at 7:45 AM on December 26, 2012 by Molly Bloom (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Film, Music, Painting, Poetry

We've asked our Art Hounds to tell us about their Minnesota arts and culture highlights of 2011. Here is the second on-air installment (listen to part one here, see additional theater highlights here and look for more music and visual art highlights tomorrow):

"Mantrap" at the Heights Theatre
Leave it to Tom Letness, owner of the Heights Theatre, to program a totally amazing silent film which was virtually unheard of amongst members of the local film community. "Mantrap" is a marvel, a strange drama mixed with riotous comedy, and featuring Clara Bow, the famous "It" girl, who might've been the sexiest actress ever to grace the silver screen (and perhaps its most gifted comedienne). "Mantrap" was one of several obscure silent films the Heights screened last spring, each accompanied by their Wurlitzer Organ, and each one a revelation.
-Peter Schilling, writer, projectionist and board member at Take-Up Productions

Jim Denomie's "Off the Reservation (or Minnesota Nice)"
Imagine being called upon to create art reflecting a horrific history that resulted in the deaths, forced internment, and dislocation of members of your ethnic group and then to present that work to the public in the context of a 150th anniversary of the largest mass execution in U.S. History. Now imagine Jim Denomie's enormous and vivid canvas titled "Off the Reservation (or Minnesota Nice)" depicting with sardonic humor, the events (starvation, swindling,encroachment) that triggered Dakota attacks and the persons responsible for U.S. retaliation. Denomie shows all on an enormous map-like landscape that remains the most remarkable art I experienced in 2012. Denomie's painting, part of "Ded Ungk'ungpi--We Are Here" originated All My Relations Arts in Minneapolis and is on view until January 13 at James J. Hill House Gallery.
-Heid Erdrich, writer, teacher, editor, curator

Dirty Baby at the Walker Art Center
Dirty Baby is a collaboration between Nels Cline (guitarist for Wilco), David Breskin (poet, producer), and Ed Ruscha (painter). Part of it was just to get three different artists from three different mediums to collaborate and see what could come out of that process. It originally started off as a book featuring visual art, poetry and music and they decided to bring it ot the stage. At the Walker there were overhead projections of Ed Ruscha's paintings, Breskin's poetry was recited and Nels Cline and company performed the music. Seeing these three artsits work together and the idea that it might not be performed live again really made it an exgtremely exciting once in a lifetime experience.
-Dan Marshall, photographer

Legacy: A Tribute to the King of Pop at Theatre L'Homme Dieu in Alexandria
The best thing I saw all year was Legacy. It is the brainchild of the amazing choregrapher and dancer Luis Castillo. Everything about this show surprised and delighted me. He embodies Jackson in a way that will catch you so off guard. Each of the numbers in the show recreated famous videos or moments in Jackson's career perfectly. Castillo's choreography and performance itself as Michael Jackson was mesmerizing and breathtaking. The best thing is they're bringing it back again to L'Homme Dieu next summer and you can bet I'm driving back up to Alexandria to see it again.
-Zach Curtis, director and actor

Art Hounds: 2012 Highlights, part one

Posted at 7:45 AM on December 20, 2012 by Molly Bloom (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Minnesota Poets, Music, Poetry, Theater

We've asked our Art Hounds to tell us about their Minnesota arts and culture highlights of 2011. Here is the first installment (look for more next week -- and share yours here):

Luverne Seifert and Darcy Engen's production of The Cherry Orchard
This site-specific production of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard was performed in houses on the Historical Register in five farming communities around the state. Getting in the car and driving out to the production in Taylors Falls made it a great summer adventure--theatre as road trip! It was amazing to see how a historic landmark--Fulsom House--was brought to life by serving as the setting for the play. Watching some of the best actors in the Twin Cities--Luverne Seifert, Sarah Agnew, Elise Langer and Stephen Cartmell make Chekhov's characters relevant, immediate, hysterical and heartbreaking was also incredible. It was an artistic endeavor that brought the best elemenst of Minnesota -- its history, its natural beauty and its amazing artists -- together to create an extraordinary theatrical experience.
-Elissa Adams, director of new play development at Children's Theatre Company

Aniccha Arts' In Habit: Living Patterns, at the Northern Spark Festival
One of the most exciting things about it is where it happened: under the Central Avenue Bridge. Each section had a corresponding evocative word projected on the underside of the bridge that you could see as the dance unfolded. One of the sections was slow and meditative, another used fast, furious footwork in tandem, and another used only gestural language from the elbow to the hand. It felt like a dream watching bodies move with extreme individualism and unison in the middle of the night, under a bridge, against the cityscape and along the water.
-Penelope Freeh, dancer and choreographer

Todd Boss's poetry collection Pitch
In his second collection (winner of the 2012 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award for Poetry), Boss expertly balances plain-enough Midwestern subject matter and a sophisticated sense of play. His language has a music considerably more beautiful than the dropped piano recalled in the book's title poem. Pitch was my introduction to Boss. He's become a poet I expect to follow wherever his muse leads him.
-Brian Beatty, writer, comedian, poet, host of mnartist.org's You Are Hear podcast

Sufjan Stevens' at Mill City Nights
This "Christmas Paegant" was everything that I hoped for in a concert: it was community oriented (the crowd sang along and got dressed up), it was funny and joyful, the band brought a spiritual component into the mix, it was a reflective and sincere celebration of Christmas and it made me happy to see that our generation is enthusiastic in understanding the eternal meanings of the times!
-Crystal Nelson, art therapist

Art Hounds: SINderella, David Petersen and a holiday opera in Duluth

Posted at 7:45 AM on December 13, 2012 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Dance, Events, Galleries, Opera

Part of the current exhibit at David Petersen Gallery, "City of Seals" featuring work by Kristopher Benedict and Fabienne Lasserre (Image courtesy of David Petersen Gallery)

The hounds have great enthusiasm for an arts instigator in Minneapolis who's opened a gallery, a saucy, salacious take on a standard fairy tale, and an opera designed to be an alternative to the nutcracker.

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Freelance stage manager Deb Ervin has long admired the work and vision of Ballet of the Dolls. She's even studying the group for a course at St. Mary's University, where she's getting a master's degree in arts administration. Deb will attend her first Dolls' performance ever when she goes to "SINderella," the group's new holiday production. Ballet of the Dolls is presenting a family version of the show (Cinderella), and a much naughtier, lustful 18 and older version (SINderella) at the Ritz Theater through Dec. 31.

Christopher Atkins at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts says Twin Cities visual art impressario David Petersen blazed a trail with his Art of This one-nighter series and The Dressing Room exhibition space, programmed out of his own home. Christopher, who runs the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program at the M.I.A., says Petersen has now opened a contemporary art space called, appropriately, David Petersen Gallery. The gallery will focus on supporting the careers of regional, national, and international artists.

Claire Kirch knows what's going on in Duluth. When she's not doing her job covering the midwest literary scene for Publisher's Weekly, she's out and about, on the town. Two years ago, she saw Lyric Opera of the North's production of "Amahl and the Night Visitors," and was incredibly impressed. The show is back, at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Duluth, and Claire thinks -- no, she DEMANDS that you see it. It runs Dec. 14 & 15 at 7:30pm, and Dec. 16 at 2pm.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Recreating the Nutcracker, one stitch at a time

Posted at 12:30 PM on December 13, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Education

Ballet Minnesota's dancers are impressive to watch on stage, but just as impressive is the work of the seamstresses who ensure their costumes are ready for the annual production of Nutcracker.

A single performance of the holiday show involves 130 dancers and upwards of 230 costumes. All of these costumes are designed by Ballet Minnesota's co-founder Cheryl Rist.

25 years ago Ballet Minnesota performed its first production of Nutcracker to an audience of 200. Now it plays annually to an audience of more than 10,000. Photo by Dave Trayer

Executive Director Cynthia Betz says the costumes are a huge asset to the production.

"Even though this is the 'traditional' Nutcracker production, there are lively things that occur in this company's version that are specific to the costumes and choreography," explains Betz. "Every single thing in the first act foreshadows what's going to happen in the second act, and that's supported heavily by the costumes."

Ballet Minnesota co-founder Cheryl Rist holds up the costume for the Sugar Plum Fairy, which she wore 25 years ago in the company's first production of Nutcracker. Each year the lace has to be cleaned with tiny brushes in order to avoid damaging the velvet.
MPR Photo/Marianne Combs

For example, Clara's mother's dress (seen up top) is reminiscent of a candy cane when she twirls in the first act. That effect is exaggerated in the costume of Madame Ginger in the second act. The masks worn by the adults in a waltz in the first act - Russian, Chinese, snowy, flowery - all reference dances performed in the second act.

"It's just like when you see or feel something in real life then it shows up exaggerated in a dream," says Ballet Minnesota's School Director Cheryl Rist.

The costume for Rose in 'Waltz of the Flowers' - seen up close, and on stage - has endured 25 years.
Left: MPR Photo/Marianne Combs
Right: Photo by David Trayer

In order to keep costs manageable, the company pays close attention to the cleaning and maintenance of its massive collection of costumes and props.

Starting in September, volunteers gather at Ballet Minnesota's headquarters in the Jax building in downtown Saint Paul for "sewing Sundays" to help with preparations. Rips are repaired, sequins are replaced, and rhinestones are brightened using alcohol applied with a toothbrush.

Lisa Gray, who serves as both a costume assistant and the President of the company's board, works on one of the costumes for the snowflakes.
MPR Photo/Marianne Combs

Many of the costumes are dry cleaned every year, a process for which all decorative jewels must be removed. Sometimes a new tutu needs to be made, a process which takes a full week (there are 42 tutus worn in Nutcracker). The Sugar Plum Fairy's tutu alone involves 14 layers of tulle.

After the Nutcracker performances have ended, Cheryl Rist takes home those costumes that don't need to be dry cleaned and washes them in a bathtub, or on the hand-wash cycle in the washing machine.

Thanks to this vigilance, several of the original costumes are still in use 25 years later.

Julia Swee, who dances the part of an angel in this year's Nutcracker, works on her ballet moves. Ballet Minnesota's Nutcracker is choreographed by Cheryl Rist's husband, Andrew Rist.
MPR Photo/Marianne Combs

Ballet Minnesota is not just a performance company; it's also a school, and the annual production of Nutcracker is an opportunity to get the more than 200 students performing before a live audience.

To make that happen, many of the parts are danced by different students each night. That means every day the seamstresses need to refit the costumes to a different body, in addition to handling any damage that occurs to the costumes during the run of the show. They work long days in a costume shop in the basement of the O'Shaughnessy that dwarfs the stage above it.

The inside elastic of the costume for the Reed Flute boasts a string of 19 names of dancers who have performed the role.
Photo by Carolyn Will

Over the years the costumes have become an important part of Ballet Minnesota's history. Dancers recognize they are taking their place in a long line of Claras, snowflakes and fairies, and to mark the moment they write their names in the elastic waistbands.

Thanks to the care of the seamstresses and their many helpers, dancers will have the opportunity to add their names for years to come.

Four weeks of festive fun: dance

Posted at 10:05 AM on December 12, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Dance

If the holidays to you mean "Nutcracker" - never fear: the Twin Cities has several performances that will have you dreaming of sugar plum fairies.

Madame Bonbonnier in Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy
Photo courtesy Minnesota Dance Theatre

Ballet Minnesota's Nutcracker

Ballet Minnesota marks its 25th anniversary with its classic performance of the Christmas favorite. All of the students of the ballet school get to perform alongside the pros, sporting costumes designed by the co-founder of the company (more on that in an upcoming post). Performances run tonight through Sunday at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium.

Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy

Staged by the Minnesota Dance Theatre, this variation on the classic story has been staged for close to fifty years, and was once hailed one of the top ten Nutcrackers in the country by the New York Times. Performance run December 14 - 24 at Cowles Center in downtown Minneapolis.

Academy of Russian Ballet's Nutcracker

The Academy of Russian Ballet presents a classical Russian version of the Nutcracker, performed by academy dancers and featuring James Sewell Ballet principals Leah Gallas as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Nicolas Lincoln as Cavalier. Performances run December 14 - 16 at Eden Prairie High School Performing Arts Center.

Tired of the Nutcracker, but still in the mood for a fairytale? Check out Ballet of the Dolls' Cinderella, a classic, family-friendly retelling inspired by the artwork of Charles Addams (of Addams family fame). BUT BEWARE: Do not confuse Cinderella with Ballet of the Dolls' other show this holiday season - SINderella, which is far more naughty than nice, and not appropriate for children. Cinderella runs through December 23; SINderella runs through New Year's Eve.

Northrop's Ben Johnson leaving to take job in LA

Posted at 2:15 PM on November 30, 2012 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Arts management, Dance

Ben Johnson (left) who is credited with revitalizing the dance program at the Northrop Auditorium and is spearheading the refurbishment of the historic U of M performance space, will leave January 1st to become Director of Programs for the United States Artists Foundation in Los Angeles. There he will oversee the USA Fellows program, which awards major $50,000 grants annually to 50 artists who work in film, theater, dance, music, design, visual arts, literature, and American craft.

In a statement released this afternoon Johnson said: "Naturally, the decision to depart Northrop was incredibly difficult, as this historic organization and program has been instrumental in my arts career. This opportunity to serve artists so directly, and at such a scale, is at the center of my greatest passions and career aspirations. I will be actively engaged in the LA art scene, as well as working on a national level in all 50 states."

Johnson is responsible for bringing some of the top dance companies in the world to Northrop, and recently began collaborating with the University of St Catherine on the Women of Substance series. Just last night the program featured Miami choreographer Rosie Herrera.

The Northrop has been closed for a year while it is extensively remodeled and refurbished, but Johnson continued the program in collaboration with theaters in downtown Minneapolis. He has also been working on a huge program for the re-opening of the hall next year.

Northrop Director Christine Tschida said Johnson will be missed.

"Ben's legacy has been a great one at Northrop Concerts and Lectures, and, in the exciting seasons ahead, I know you will see his influence - and also his smiling face, in what I hope will be frequent visits!"

(Image courtesy Northrop Auditorium, photo - Tim Rummelhoff)

Art Hounds: Portraits, Yuletide radio theater, and a zydeco dance party

Posted at 9:44 AM on November 29, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Painting, Theater

"Sleeping Beer Salesman" by Mary Gibney (Image courtesy of the artist)

The hounds are anxious to tell you about two Minneapolis artists whose off-beat portraits lodge in your brain, a holiday radio theater drama from Winona and two zydeco heavyweights who inspire bodies to move...rhythmically.

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Winona State University Arts Administrator Kathy Peterson didn't grow up in Winona, but she is a child of the '50s. Kathy will get to re-live the holidays of her youth and learn about Winona circa 1952 through the new original play, "The Winona Family Christmas Radio Show." It's a production of Theatre Du Mississippi and is on stage at the Historic Masonic Theater in Winona on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7:30pm, Sat., Dec. 1 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, Dec. 2 at 2pm.

Poet and Riot Act Reading Series host Paul D. Dickinson is quite taken with the odd and enigmatic portraiture art of Mary Gibney and Noah Harmon. Paul says Mary's works are surprisingly empathetic and linger in your mind, while Harmon's quirky pieces provide helpful though somewhat unrealistic tips on how to live a better life. Opening reception is Sat. Dec. 1 at the One on One Bicycle Studio in Minneapolis from 7 - 11 pm.

We know Stuart Klipper as a talented photographer. He also once modeled an amazing shirt on the Art Hounds Facebook page. But did you know Stuart loves to dance to cajun and zydeco music? Stuart will be in zydeco heaven this Sunday night (Dec. 2) when two cajun supertstars, accordion player and singer Jesse Lége and fiddler Joel Savoy, come to Half Time Rec in St. Paul, sponsored by Krewe de Walleye.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Thanksgiving weekend: a feast of art

Posted at 1:15 PM on November 21, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Museums, Music, Theater

Four day weekends should not go to waste.

For many the Thanksgiving weekend - intended to be spent with family and friends in the spirit of gratitude - has become little more than an extended consumption binge, from the food on the table to the flat screen TVs at Walmart.

What to do?

I propose you fill your soul and spirit this weekend with something healthier and more satisfying... and most likely, cheaper.

Brave New Workshop

Here's a sampling of what you could do with your weekend; most are family friendly.

DANCE

Zenon Dance Company celebrates its 30th anniversary at the Cowles Center in Minneapolis.

Walker Art Center presents its annual Choreographer's Evening, featuring new works from a wide array of local talent.

MUSEUMS

Also at the Walker Art Center, check out the Cindy Sherman retrospective of 'self-portraits.'

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is having its own "Black Friday" special, offering free admission to China's Terracotta Warriors from 6-7am on Friday morning.

Get into the Christmas spirit at the American Swedish Institute with A Nordic Christmas. The museum opens at 10am on Friday.

MUSIC

You could spend Thanksgiving with Davina and the Vagabonds at the Dakota, or if you prefer to hang with the family on turkey day, the Cedar Cultural Center is offering a lovely line-up of bands that will make you thankful for the Minnesota music all weekend long.

FRI 23rd, 8pm - LOW with Germaine Gemberling & Rich Mattson

SAT 24th, 8pm - ROGUE VALLEY with Joey Ryan & The Inks and Meredith Fierke

SUN 25th, 730pm - PETER MAYER

Theater:

For theater companies, Thanksgiving weekend tends mark the opening weekend of their holiday shows.All the usual suspects are in place for the traditional holiday celebration.

Guthrie Theater presents A Christmas Carol

Children's Theatre Company presents How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Brave New Workshop presents Fifty Shades of White, an evening of holiday themed sketch comedy.

Now pass the stuffing...

Art Hounds: Shujaat Khan, Hofesh Shechter, and a meditation on terminal illness

Posted at 7:45 AM on November 8, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater

Hofesh Shechter dance troupe (Photo © Gabriele Zucca, courtesy of Northrop Dance)

The hounds' highlights have a global dimension this week as they touch on a dance piece from an Israeli-born choreographer who lives in the UK, a sitar virtuoso from India and a one-man show by a New York actor.

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It's finally here for writer and vocalist David Jordan Harris, the dance concert he's been looking forward to all fall. Hofesh Shechter, the celebrated UK dance troupe founded by the Israeli-born choreographer with the same name, has won international raves for its latest production, "Political Mother." Hofesh Shechter will perform the piece at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7:30pm, presented by Northrop Dance and the Walker Art Center.

Twin Cities actor Sally Wingert has gotten to know New York actor Michael Milligan through their work on the Guthrie Theater's production of "Appomattox." Wingert says Milligan's one-man show, "Mercy Killers" will be a moving, terrific night of theater. It's about a man coming to terms with his wife's terminal illness. One night only on Monday, Nov. 12 at 7:00pm, at Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis sitar player and teacher David Whetstone has an intimate understanding of the music of Indian sitar master Shujaat Khan, because he studied with Shujaat's father, the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan. David says Khan's smooth singing and virtuosity on his instrument will both soothe and thrill the audience. Shujaat Khan is performing this Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7pm, at Normandale Community College's Performing Arts Center.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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2012 Sage Awards celebrate great moments in dance

Posted at 10:00 PM on October 17, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance

Tonight the 8th annual SAGE Awards for Dance celebrated the finest performances in the Twin Cities from the past year.

Named in honor of dancer and philanthropist Sage Cowles, the awards take place at her other namesake, the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts.

Megan McClellan looks on as Eddie Oroyan leaps in Shapiro & Smith Dance's "Family."
Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

This year Shapiro and Smith Dance, Uri Sands and Wynn Fricke were all recognized for creating outstanding choreography.

Meanwhile, awards went to dancers Katie Johnson, Andrew Lester and Eva Mohn for exceptional individual performances.

Obtuse Crew was honored with the award for Outstanding Ensemble, and both Peter O'Gorman and Mike Grogan were recognized for their music and lighting design, respectively.

In addition Morris Johnson was praised for his work as a teacher of Afro Caribbean dance, and Lirena Branitski was given a special citation for her tenure with Minnesota Dance Theatre and the Dance Institute.

Emily Johnson of Catalyst Dance wins Bessie Award

Posted at 11:14 AM on October 17, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance

Monday night choreographers from around the country gathered at the Apollo Theater in New York City to celebrate outstanding work in their field with the annual Bessie Awards, and one of Minnesota's own got to take the stage.

Emily Johnson

Emily Johnson, founder of Catalyst Dance, was singled out for her piece "The Thank-you Bar" which she performed at New York Live Arts. The piece was performed in 2010 in the Twin CIties.

Presented a Bessie for Outstanding Production, Johnson was cited as "gently and deftly coaxing an audience into a community, holding them spellbound with stories spoken and unspoken... seamlessly interweaving Blackfish's music with the magical transformations of paper into ice, and dry leaves into water ... [and] for reminding us that we all come from a place unknowable, yet known."

New 'Art Heroes' series debuts tonight on All Things Considered

Posted at 4:25 PM on September 17, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance

Artists are known for being creative, expressive people who care deeply about the world in which they live.

That trait tends to make them great artists; in some cases that also makes them great community leaders.

Tonight on All Things Considered we're launching a new series called "Art Heroes," in which we're going to profile some of Minnesota's great artists who have dedicated their work to making the world a better place.

First on the list? Ananya Chatterjea of Ananya Dance Theatre. Check out her story here.

Ananya Chatterjea, center, artistic director of Ananya Dance Theatre and University of Minnesota professor, dances during a preview performance of Moreechika: Season of Mirage on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 at the Southern Theater. The piece is the third work in ADT's four-part investigation into violence, trauma, resistance and empowerment experienced by communities of color.

Art Hounds: Purity Ring, Rosy Simas, and "Dead Wrong"

Posted at 7:45 AM on September 13, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater

Dancer Rosy Simas (Photo credit: Douglas Beasley)

The hounds want to bring a play about a horrific assault and its after effects, a soulful American Indian movement artist and some hazy electro-pop to your attention.

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Carin Bratlie, artistic director of Theatre Pro Rata was riveted when she saw Katherine Glover's one woman show "Dead Wrong" at this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. The play is Katherine's unflinching interpretation of the true story of a woman who's the victim of a sexual assault, who then sends the wrong suspect to jail. Freshwater Theatre is helping re-mount the show at Nimbus Theatre in Northeast Minneapolis. The play runs through Sept. 19.

Matt Peiken calls Rosy Simas one of the most sensitive movement artists in the rich Twin Cities dance scene. Matt, the founding editor of MNuet.com, a new online magazine for classical music in the Twin Cities, says Rosy Simas Danse concerts are always fresh and innovative while helping audience members get in touch with their own emotions. Rosy Simas Danse performs at the Southern Theater on Sept. 14 and 15.

Radio K digital media producer and DJ Tom Steffes resisted the blogospheric mania over the Montreal-based electronic duo Purity Ring at first. But when the group's debut full-length album "Shrines" came out recently, he was floored. Tom says Purity Ring juxtaposes light, lifting melodies and hip hop production values with death-obsessed, diary entry lyrics in a way that's unique in electronic music. Purity Ring plays First Avenue's Mainroom on Friday, Sept. 14.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Fringe Festival attendance: 46,280 tickets sold to 829 performances

Posted at 2:07 PM on August 13, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Theater

Attendance for the 2012 Minnesota Fringe Festival was essentially on par with the 2011 festival.

The annual 11-day performing arts festival closed yesterday, and preliminary numbers indicate that 46,280 tickets were distributed for 163 different shows.

This year's average audience size was exactly the same as last year's: 56 people per performance, spread across 829 performances.

According to sales of the Fringe festival button (required for admission), the number of individual attendees is estimated at 16,424.

The 2012 festival featured 36 fewer performances than the 2011 festival due to last minute show cancellations.

The three top ticket-sellers of this year's festival were "Ash Land," "Class of 98" and "Nightmare without Pants."

The 20th annual Minnesota Fringe Festival is scheduled for Thurs., Aug. 1 through Sun., Aug. 11, 2013, in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Art Hounds: Dances Made to Order, Jon Reischl and Common Room tours

Posted at 7:45 AM on August 9, 2012 by Molly Bloom
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Painting, Public Art

"Adjustmen" by Jon Reischl (Image courtesy of the Burnsville Performing Arts Center)

This week the hounds are all about new ways of seeing. They offer a new way to bring dance performance into your home, a new perspective on the common spaces in the Twin Cities, and a new way to visualize elusive memories.

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Kelly Krantz, who makes mini-comics and zines, went on one of the Soap Factory's Common Room tours last week that she can't stop talking about it. Andy Sturdevant, who curates the August series along with Sergio Vucci, led a tour of the Mall of America, where he revealed the back story, controversy and little known facts about this 20 year-old institution. Krantz says these artist-led tours reveal our connection to these commons spaces and give a new perspective on places that may seem familiar. There are two more tours this year (you just missed yesterday's skyway tour): next Wednesday will be a tour of urban agriculture in Minneapolis and the final tour of the season will be a tour of "invisible Minneapolis" on Aug. 22. This tour will take you to the sites of structures that never were built because they lost out to other plans.

Artist Jeremy Szopinski says that Jon Reischl's paintings capture the strange qualities of memories. The spaces may be slightly off, the time may not be in perfect order, but those memories can evoke powerful emotions. Szopinski also likes that Reischl's paintings allow viewers to create their own narratives with images ranging from the tragic to the comic. Jon Reischl's exhibit "Pilgrims" is currently on display at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center through Sept. 8.

Artist and choreographer Brinsley Davis is really excited about a new project bringing new dances by local choreographers to a computer near you. Dances Made to Order features dances from a different city every month and this month you can see new works curated by Laurie Van Wieren from Twin Cities choreographers Laura Holway & Ben McGinley, Kenna-Camara Cottman and Pramila Vasudevan. Davis is particularly interested in how these artists take advantage of the things that can be done in video that can't be accomplished in a normal theater setting. You "buy a ticket" to access all three videos and 75 percent of the proceeds go to the artists involved.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

The reviews are in for the Minnesota Fringe - part one

Posted at 2:04 AM on August 3, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Events, Theater

Theater folk of all stripes showed up at The Crooked Pint in Minneapolis Thursday night to swap reviews, work off their opening night jitters and just generally celebrate the Minnesota Fringe Festival. It was a festive occasion, and spirits were high.

I grabbed myself a booth, opened up my lap-top, and typed furiously as people talked about the productions they saw. Some of the stand outs? Class of '98 and Ash Land were both big hits. Read on for the details...

Heather Meyer is in the show Merblades, but that doesn't open until tonight so she had Thursday free to check out some other work. Her favorite of the evening? Class of '98:

Heather: I saw three shows, but this was definitely the best of the three I've seen so far. I thought it was just a delight. Its was relentlessly spirited; as soon as it started we were on a ride. It was smart and hilarious. It has these amazingly talented teenagers in it who were just going for it. I was really impressed with the teenagers . Everyone was really committed to the show. It was fast, and with a great soundtrack full of 1998 hits.

Debra Berger and Madde Gibba are also in Merblades, and had lots to share on all three shows they saw, including Class of'98, Billy Beechwood and the Mountain of Terror, and Gay Banditos.

Debra: I thought Billy Beachwood was clever - I loved the pacing. They have a very minimalist style, with well-crafted, heartwarming characters.

Madde Gibba: It's a typical Ferrari McSpeedy show: high energy, fast-paced goofiness for the sake of goofiness.

Gay Banditos is probably going to be the best satire of the Fringe. It made some really thoughtful points in a way that made us uncomfortable, but made us think and laugh at the same time. Hysterical. You should just go for Ben Thietje's walkie-talkie voice-over scene.

As for Class of '98, you should go now because it's going to sell out. It's one of the best crafted Fringe shows I've ever seen. Fast paced, hilarious - this show has so much heart. It's a real joy to see two people so enjoying each others creativity and being tickled by that.

Friendship and honesty and just pure joy - those were really the themes of the evening. Everybody was having a blast tonight, and the audiences were, too.

Clarence Wethern has performed in previous Fringe festivals, but this year he's sticking to the audience. Wethern reports that tonight the big surprise came at the 5:30 showing of The Gentlemen's Pratfall Club:

Clarence: Co-star Levi Weinhagen busted his chin open at the end of the show, doing a pratfall. But despite this it was a really funny. His character is learning how to fall down, and the first time he actually makes a pratfall it's "an accident" but in truth he actually hit his chin. But he's totally fine, he's okay. I'm looking forward to seeing what other damage he incurs in the run of the show. Josh Scrimshaw falls down the entire show - that man is made of rubber. It's a family friendly show, but not a kids show.

Class of 98 was hysterical. I saw these guys in "Freaky Kids Show" last year and it was one of the funniest shows I saw all year, not just in the Fringe. This show has just an amazing abundance of heart. It's a time travel nostalgia comedy, and 1998 happens to be my graduating year - I'm the target demographic! Plus I'm a fan of Back to the Future and other sci-fi comedies - so it was really the perfect fringe show.

Carin Bratlie adds that Class of 98 is a production that "understands the Fringe."

Carin: It has all the elements: scrappy, balls to the wall, just cramming it in time-wise. The stakes are very high, and the performers use the high stakes in a "bringing us along for the ride" way. Everyone was so committed to what they were doing and just having a lot of fun, and the energy was infectious. I was having a lot of fun, I was rooting for them, the characters as well as the actors. It's simple in a good way. They don't try to do too much, they do the best that you can do at the Fringe.

I also saw Nucleus and other cell bodies - a modern dance piece at the Southern. It was like "Rite of Spring" for Amoebas! It was as if I was watching one of those 1950s film strips of what you see through a microscope. I didn't get it all, but I didn't need to, because their physicality was so engaging - viscous and visceral at the same time. I could really see the interaction of single cell organisms in a petrie dish being played out on the stage. I was not disappointed - the Fringe is a great place to see modern dance.

Caroline Toll and Nick Vetter met at the Fringe, fell in love, and have been devoted hard-core Fringers ever since. They saw a number of shows on opening night, but the one that really stood out for them was Ash Land:

Caroline: It was tremendous! They are one of the things you come to the Fringe for. They're so unique; they regularly get standing ovations. This company, whatever they do has this magical component because the actors are the scenery, the props...
Nick: ...a squeaky screen door or a rocking chair... It's visual and movement based storytelling about people trying to survive in the Dust Bowl.
Caroline: It's a story about a way of life that's dying out. It's also about foreclosure, so even though it dates to the depression, it's also a modern saga. I'm not a big fan of dance in general, but their shows are so compelling.
Nick: This show also had the longest artists line I've ever seen - that's the rush line for other Fringe artists - which tells you that this is one of the shows that theater people are really talking about.

Scott Pakudaitis is another hard-core Fringer. He plans to make it to all 56 time slots in this year's Fringe Festival, and in fact he hasn't missed an opportunity to see a Fringe show since 2006. His two favorites of the evening? Nucleus and Other Cell Bodies, and Ash Land.

Scott: Ash Land was a piece of beautiful physical theater, and the topic of foreclosure and profiteering is as timely now as it was during the dustbowl. With Nucleus and other cell bodies my brain went places I had no idea it was going. It was hypnotic and yet accurate. It was just beautiful to watch, a really remarkable dance piece.

Tim Wick - who co-wrote The Complete Works of William Shatner (abridged) was not nearly as pleased with Nucleus and Other Bodies, a reaction he knows is partly due to the presence of his two boys, aged seven and 12:

Tim: The show was advertised as appropriate for ages and 7 and up, and technically that's true - but the problem is this is 50 minutes of hard core modern dance, and my kids were practically chewing off their limbs to get out of the theater, but we were sitting in the front row... I did not like their show - I felt it was long, the music was repetitive and dull, and there weren't a lot of moments where I was caught up in the movement. But I can't separate whether it was just the show, or because my kids were freaking out. It was billed as a silly dance show, but it just wasn't accessible show at all, which made it hard to watch. Would I have like the show if my kids weren't there? No, but I would have disliked it less probably. So don't take the age rating seriously.

Wick also took his boys to Gentleman's Pratfall Club, which they loved, despite the chin-splitting incident.

Tim: He hurt himself for his art and I think that's important! They were giggling throughout the show. Levi and Josh are really good at figuring what's going to make kids laugh and entertain adults as well.

I also took the kids to see BOOGIEography, which is directed by a friend of mine. The kids, who had just come from Nucleus, were horrified that they were headed to another dance show, but they loved it. There was an F-bomb dropped a few times at the end, so as a parent you have to decide whether or not you're okay with that.

After that I went on to see Ash Land. I'm a comedian, so I tend to prefer comedy, and I'm really picky about seeing a serious show. But this company's reputation sold me on seeing it. It's a choreographed play, excellently constructed, very well acted. I absolutely recommend it.

That's it for opening night... Tune in later this weekend for another round of reviews for shows that opened Friday and Saturday.

Art Hounds: Fringe Spectacular!

Posted at 7:45 AM on August 2, 2012 by Molly Bloom
Filed under: Art Hounds, Comedy, Dance, Events, Theater

Image from 11.6.2012, one of the pieces in Happy Hour (Photo: Stan Waldhauser)

There are 165 shows to see at the Minnesota Fringe Festival this year. Feeling overwhelmed? The Art Hounds are here to help.

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Courtney Algeo works with Loft Literary Center and the online literary magazine Paper Darts. One of the shows on her list is "Bodacious Beauties", produced by first-time Fringe producer Eileen Rosensteel. The show takes us into the lives of five sideshow "Fat Ladies" through history. Courtney is intrigued by the piece since it's looking at the issues of body image and obesity through a historical lens. The show is playing at HUGE Improv Theater in Minneapolis.

This year, Fringe is working to reach the deaf community and over a dozen shows are being interpreted. This is important to Jon Skaalen who is the access programs coordinator for VSA Minnesota, an organization that works with artists with disabilities. He's especially excited to see the deaf musical "Silence" by Jay'd Hagberg. The show explores the gap between deaf and hearing culture and features deaf and hearing performers as well as ASL interpreters. Deaf dancer Canae Weiss (whose work Skaalen calls "sublime") is taking on an acting role for the production. "Silence" is playing at the Rarig Center Proscenium at the University of Minnesota.

Betsy Maloney teaches dance at the Main Street School of Performing Arts in Hopkins and she wants us to remember that Fringe is a showcase for dance as well. This year, she's looking forward to seeing Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw's choreography in "Happy Hour". Betsy loves the comedic elements that Scrimshaw weaves into her dances. Scrimshaw has also invited four other choreographers to each create a unique piece based on their favorite drink. The show is playing at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.

And special this week -- bonus recommendations!

From Cynthia French, spoken word artist
I saw Ben San Del working on a portion of his upcoming Fringe show, "An Agony of Fools", at one of the Balls Cabaret Fringe previews. After seeing his preview on, I have put this one on the calendar for my Fringe experience this year. He spoke about dating and relationships, assumptions men and women make about one another, problems communicating, and how the movies always leave a little too much out of their love stories to truly be educational. His comedy is honest, timely and hilarious.

From Carin Bratlie, artistic director of Theatre Pro Rata:
All three of my recommendations focus on water and disaster. Clearly this mental triptych must have something to do with our current drought.

"Going Down on the Queen of Minneapolis," by Freshwater Theater. Freshwater is making a name for themselves in Twin Cities small theater, and they have a solid group of seasoned artists working on this project. Riffing on the idea of taking social dysfunction and cramming it onto a place that the characters cannot escape, the innuendo of the title... it sounds deliciously evil.

"Merblades: The Memoirs of James Cameron," by Black Market Doctor.Heather Meyer is an up-and-coming playwright, whose work is funny, clever, and looks at life through a joyfully skewed lens. I've enjoyed seeing both her and Maddie Gibba onstage doing long form improv, and imagining them together working on this project is simply delightful. And poking fun at James Cameron and his wack-job deep sea explorations? This is a recipe for the best kind of disaster story.

"Birds of Passage" by Winding Sheet Outfit is potentially a much more abstract, physical, and poetic show. The sort of thing that can nestle inside the Fringe and find some serious love. I know many of the artists involved in this one, and I'm intrigued because they are pushing themselves in different directions and outside of their comfort zones. There is something palpable and immediate about that sort of risk, and I'm betting that the payoff will be stunning.

From Jeff Spencer, actor
"Pretentious Conversations" by Laura Buchholz skewers the silly smugness of our yoga induced, granola infused, overly effusive lifestyles. The problem with pretentiousness, of course, is that no one can possibly know everything, or even very much for that matter. Audiences will delight in seeing the gaps of understanding through which any Mac truck could drive. The snobby host, Patricia Skylar Van Humphries, attempts to keep her polished veneer, under pristine control. But alas, it all comes apart at the seams as her guests are even more pretentious than her.

The show had a lot of potential in preview, and with the addition of Mahmoud Hakima to the cast and John Haynes as director, I can't wait to see how they've brought the show to life. I've always been a big fan of John Haynes as an improv performer and instructor. The show has a lot of "smart silly" going on, and he is a perfect fit to take this show to the next level.

From Julie Swenson, make-up artist
I am looking forward to seeing Jason Schommer do his stand up act at the U of M Rarig Center next week during the Fringe Festival. Schommer has the stage presence of Dave Chappelle and name drops like Kathy Griffin. And while he is climbing the D list faster than Griffin, he's still Schommer from the block, often making references to his high school experience at Little Falls Community High School in rural MN. I am prepared to laugh out loud, and perhaps cry, as Schommer sometimes takes cheap shots at the crowd and will likely make fun of my race and my lazy Asian eye.

From Clarence Wethern, actor
Mainly Me Productions' 2011 Fringe offering "Our Freaking Kids Show" was one of the funniest shows of the festival, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the time travel nostalgia comedy "Class of 98," where characters played by Josh Carson and Andy Kraft travel back in time to meet themselves in high school. It's an appealing enough premise to this Back to the Future fan and '98 grad, but it also helps that Carson and Kraft are hilarious, genial performers with a great track record. Carson has a talent for writing comedic material that is clever without being precious, with physical gags and pop culture references hung on the frame of a strong plot and likable characters. "Class of '98" also features the always-funny Dan Hetzel and Katherine Kupiecki, who I think is one of the most talented and versatile actors in town.

From Penelope Freeh, dancer and choreographer
I don't know much about Tamara Ober's Fringe show "Sin Eater,"but I do know that I'm going. Tamara is a captivating creator and performer. As a Zenon Dance Company veteran she brings an incredibly high level of professionalism and integrity to her work. She's passionate, personal, sensuous and strong. I imagine dark and evocative imagery, solidly grounded dancing and theatrical daring. Couched in dance terms, Tamara wears her heart on her sleeve. "Sin Eater" promises to be fresh and fringy.

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Why didn't Akram Khan's Olympic dance piece air on NBC?

Posted at 10:57 AM on July 30, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Media

Friday night approximately 1 billion people tuned in or attended the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics. In the U.S., viewers were able to catch the four hour event on NBC.

All except for one rather important moment.

Photo: Associated Press

NBC chose to cut away from the opening ceremonies for a pre-taped interview with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps just as choreographer Akram Khan was performing his tribute to the 52 victims of the July 2005 London bomb attacks. The attacks happened the day after London was awarded the Olympics.

"I feel disheartened and disappointed," Khan said in a subsequent press conference.

"I was really shocked and horrified and would like to know on what grounds the American media can make that decision."

"I am really sad that I couldn't show the work in America, and that really upsets me, because I don't think it's any less or more than any of the other pieces," Khan went on to say.

"Is it not accessible enough? Is it not commercial enough? It brings to mind a question that maybe it's too truthful, and I think that says it all really."

NBC issued a statement over the weekend in which it said that stated editing decisions such as this are routinely made for pre-recorded entertainment.

President Obama nominates Ranee Ramaswamy to National Council on the Arts

Posted at 11:40 AM on July 26, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Dance, People

The founder of Ragamala Dance is enjoying an exceptional run of accolades and recognition.

Ranee Ramaswamy, founder of Ragamala Dance
Photo courtesy the McKnight Foundation

This week President Obama announced his intent to nominate Ranee Ramaswamy to the National Council on the Arts. The NCA advises the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (currently Rocco Landesman) on agency policies and programs.

This latest news caps a string of achievements and honors that started in March of 2011, when Ragamala was awarded rave reviews for its performance at the Maximum India Festival in Washington, D.C.

Shortly thereafter, Ramaswamy was named the 2011 McKnight Distinguished Artist.

Ragamala Dance just concluded its 20th season with a run of warmly received performances at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina.

Ranee and her daughter Aparna Ramaswamy recently received a McKnight Foundation Choreographic Fellowship. Aparna's sister Ashwini Ramaswamy received a McKnight Foundation Dancer Fellowship.

Congratulations to Ranee Ramaswamy and Ragamala Dance!

Art Hounds: Cig Harvey, Kevin Steinman, and dance as a collection of observed patterns

Posted at 7:45 AM on July 19, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Photography

Image from Morgan Thorson's "Spaceholder Festival" (Photo credit: Lenore Doxsee, photo courtesy of Morgan Thorson)

On the hounds radar this week...a photographer and a songwriter who each create a powerful intimacy with their own self-inspection, and a celebrated Minneapolis choreographer whose new piece is devoted to human patterns, in what we see, hear, touch and how we behave.

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When Minneapolis choreographer Morgan Thorson presents new work, says choreographer and performer Chris Schlichting, it's an event in the local dance community. Chris says Thorson's "Spaceholder Festival," opening at the Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis on Friday, July 20, is an attempt to make a dance work, with its sound, music, set design and bodies moving on stage, into an actual artifact. It runs through July 26.

Minneapolis painter Steph Guidera says at first glance, photographer Cig Harvey's images look like surreal advertisements or movie stills. A deeper look reveals intimate details about Harvey's life. Harvey's show, "You Look at Me Like an Emergency" is on the walls of the Minneapolis Photo Center through August 19.

Minneapolis music manager and piano teacher Lily Troia will join a throng of friends and fans at the Bryant Lake Bowl on Monday, July 23, to say goodbye to local songwriter Kevin Steinman. Steinman is giving a farewell concert before he and his wife move to Norway, where his wife is from. One of the main reasons Kevin is leaving is because he has a chronic health condition and can't afford adequate insurance in the U.S.

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Art Hounds: Rooted, Chaun Webster, and another great Minnesota indie folk band

Posted at 7:45 AM on June 21, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Galleries, Minnesota Poets, Music, Poetry

Conscious Spirit, the dance group founded by Rooted's curator Maia Maiden (Photo courtesy of Maia Maiden)

The hounds have unearthed an intergenerational hip hop choreographer's evening, a St. Paul poet who's encouraging African-American artists to take control of their image and a Minneapolis indie folk band with Duluthian roots whose sound is reminiscent of the region it was born in.

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As a black artist, Bianca Pettis, one half of the Minnesota sound collage duo Beatrix Jar, often feels under-represented in the media. Bianca is an enthusiastic supporter of St. Paul poet Chaun Webster's mission to help African-American artists bring a more accurate, nuanced depiction of black culture into the mainstream. Webster will read his poems on Saturday, June 23, at 7pm, at The Bindery Projects, an alternative exhibition space in St. Paul.

Minneapolis songwriter and composer Mankwe Ndosi predicts people who go to Rooted: A Hip Hop Choreographer's Evening, will be rejuvenated by the multi-generational energy that's in the room. The event, at Patrick's Cabaret in Minneapolis on June 22 and 23 at 7:30pm, features seasoned and emerging hip hop choreographers trying to take their style of dance to a new level.

Brandy Dutoit, creator of "365 Music project" blog, calls the Minneapolis indie folk band Portage one of the best new local groups of the year. Brandy hears the band's big sounding acoustic guitars and atmospheric effects and thinks of the upper Midwest. Portage is winding up a month long residency at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St. Paul on Wednesday, June 27.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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The reviews are in for 'Fela!' at Ordway

Posted at 9:43 AM on June 14, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Criticism, Dance, Music, Theater

FELA! is a musical directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones about the tumultuous life of Afro-beat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Using his pioneering music (a blend of jazz, funk, and African rhythm and harmonies), FELA! explores Kuti's controversial life as an artist, political activist and revolutionary musician. A three-time Tony Award winner in 2010, this production arrives at the Ordway direct from Broadway.

Critics say you' should be prepared for the high energy and emotional turmoil of this star-powered musical.

Sahr Ngaujah stars in FELA!
Photo courtesy Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Anyone who sits through "FELA!" may be forgiven for feeling wrung out after two-and-a-half hours of ecstatic Afrobeat music, pulsing dance, emotional turmoil and epic resolution.

From Ross Raihala at the Pioneer Press:

As the title character, Sahr Ngaujah not only has the moves like Fela, he has the stature, the voice and the star power. It's a stunning performance in a demanding role that requires Ngaujah to spend nearly every moment of the 165-minute show front and center.

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

I don't usually give points just for energy. (Broadway musicals generally try to top each other as calorie-burning affairs for their actor/dancers.) But this one has a different kind of energy that feels organic to the piece - essential, really, and a natural part of the music, the story and the emotions that drive it all. He proclaims as a young man, "I'm going to change the world." In the final number, when he sings "They wan bury and forget, but we won't let them," it's possible to think that maybe he still can.

FELA! runs through June 17 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Have you seen it? If so, what's your review?

Queen's Jubilee gets a lesson in cultural sensitivity

Posted at 11:10 AM on June 6, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Culture, Dance

Leya Hale and her sister were among 11 American Indian dancers flown to England in May for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. But as the Star Tribune's Curt Brown reports, the trip had some royal bumps in it:

... the dream trip turned a bit nightmarish when they checked out the program that billed their act as "Cowboys and Injuns." They would perform after a specialty rodeo act, with cowgirls doing roping stunts, and dance to canned, cliché Indian music plucked from old Western movies.

Hale gulped.

"We didn't want to be disrespectful, but at the same time we had to do some educating," said Hale, who has Dakota and Navajo roots.

They met with show producers, whose manager issued a formal apology and agreed to let them dance to their own music, provided by North Dakota singer Jason Kingbird.

"Nowadays, people have information technology in the palms of our hands to look on YouTube and learn about other communities," Hale said. "We found it ironic that old stereotypes live on in today's time."

You can read about the rest of Hale's trip, including her sister's visit with the Queen, here.

Dancer, choreographer Deborah Jinza Thayer hit by car

Posted at 5:30 PM on June 4, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, People, Theater

Dancer and choreographer Deborah Jinza Thayer was set to perform a new solo work June 14-17 at Red Eye Theater as part of its new works series, but that now appears to be impossible.

Red Eye Theater's Miriam Must shared on Facebook the news that Thayer was run over by a car yesterday.

She has 4 cracked vertabrae and 2 cracked ribs, among other injuries. We will keep you posted on her condition and how to reach her. Right now she is not answering the phone, but has friends in the room with her. We will keep you posted about her condition and the best way/s to reach her and assist. Obviously, she will not be able to perform in two weeks...we will make an announcement about that weekend's offerings as soon as possible.

Thayer was to be part of a dance and theater double feature, alongside actor/musician Stephen Peabody.

Is nudity obscene?

Posted at 10:46 AM on May 31, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Dance, People, Theater

Artist Patrick Scully has lost his most recent battle for the right to swim naked in a public area.

The founder of Patrick's Cabaret, Scully's own performances have often involved nudity. Last July he was ticketed for swimming at Twin Lakes in Golden Valley (it's a misdemeanor offense to not wear proper attire in a public park, with the exception of theatrical, musical and other artistic performances).

Scully had intended to battle the ticket in court on the premise that he is an artist and was performing in the park that day.

Patrick Scully
Photo courtesy of the artist

But the afternoon before the trial two additional charges were added, including indecent exposure. That meant if Scully lost the case, he would potentially be placed on the Minnesota Sex Crimes Registry. Scully posted on his Facebook page that "I did not feel that what I could gain in this struggle by trying to fight the new charge was worth what I might lose, if I lost fighting that charge."

I will find other ways to work for my goals (resisting encroachment on artistic freedom and obtaining our collective right to be naked in the sun and water). The good news is that I am headed to Berlin in a few weeks where I can enjoy a month of being naked in various lakes without having to worry about such idiotic laws.

Scully pleaded guilty Wednesday, and was fined $378. If he's charged with a similar crime in the next year, he will have to serve 60 days in the Hennepin County workhouse.

Ganymede and the Eagle, by Bertel Thorvaldsen is on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which is visited by 500,000 people each year, including tens of thousands of school children.
Image courtesy of the MIA

All this begs the question, is nudity obscene? Why is it we can stare at sculptures and paintings of naked men, women and children in a museum, but to see the real thing is considered by many to be vulgar?

In San Francisco, nudists recently protested to protect their rite to sit in a restaurant in the buff. While in Barcelona it only recently became illegal to walk the city streets naked.

Each society has its own standards in regard to what's appropriate dress... but why the disconnect between what we are willing to look at in a gallery or a museum, and what we are willing to see "in the flesh?"

Walker Art Center announces 2012-2013 performance season

Posted at 2:00 PM on May 17, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Museums, Music, Theater

The Walker Art Center announced today the coming year's performance season, and there's lots to like. From fresh new voices to familiar icons, the program includes six commissions and three world premieres. Here's a look at just some of what's coming up:

Back to Back Theatre presents Ganesh Versus the Third Reich as part of the Walker Art Center's 2012-2013 performing arts season
Photo courtesy the artist

The season gets started in September with a performance by Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People, Commissioned by the Walker, And lose the name of action melds dance with neuroscience and paranormal phenomena.

Later that month Sō Percussion comes to town and collaborates with, among others, local choreographer Emily Johnson.

Patrick Scully and Aparna Ramaswamy will co-curate the Walker Art Center's 40th Choreographers' Evening
Photo: Gene Pittman, Courtesy Walker Art Center

In October Voices of Strength: New Dance and Theater by Women from Africa features new works by five female director-choreographers from across the African continent.

Then BodyCartography Project returns to the Twin Cities to perform Super Nature, in which it explores "the wild and
civilized aspects of human nature with idiosyncratic movements drawn from bodily impulses and social interactions."

Iconic performance artist Laurie Anderson performs at the Walker Art Center November 2 and 3
Photo: Lucie Jansch

November marks the return of the iconic performance artist Laurie Anderson to the Walker Art Center for the first time in ten years. Her latest work Dirtday! brings together Darwinism, feminism, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Willie Nelson, alien popes, and other pressing matters.

On November 24 Patrick Scully and Aparna Ramaswamy curate the 40th Choreographers' Evening, a one evening snapshot of the Twin Cities vibrant dance scene, presenting emerging talent alongside seasoned pros.

Fatoumata Diawara performs at The Cedar in April 2013
Photo: Youri Lenquette

Before taking a break for the holidays, the Walker presents a two day celebration of the work of choreographer Deborah Hay, appropriately named "Hay Days."

Then in January it's the 25th annual Out There series, presenting cutting edge works from around the globe, including Back to Back Theatre's Ganesh Versus the Third Reich.. Back to Back hails from Australia and creates new forms of contemporary theater "imagined from the minds and experiences of a unique ensemble of actors with disabilities, giving voice to social and political issues that speak to all people."

With the onset of spring comes a whole host of musical guests, including Ben Frost, Glenn Kotche, John Zorn, Fatoumata Diawara, and Craig Taborn, among others.

First person: I was invited onstage with Alvin Ailey Dance Company

Posted at 2:29 PM on May 3, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance

Editor's note: this once-in-a-lifetime account comes to State of the Arts from Meggan Ellingboe, who works for MPR's The Daily Circuit.

I'm still in a silly aftershock of excitement and wander at what happened last night. I'm having trouble picking out the words to describe the surreal moment that will honestly be one of the best moments in my life.

Clips from Alvin Ailey's performance of Minus 16

For the past two nights, my favorite dance company and American cultural icon, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, performed at the Orpheum Theater as part of Northrop's dance season. New Artistic Director Robert Battle was in MPR's studio for an afternoon interview where he described new works to be performed, such as the one performed last night, Minus 16 ,by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin. I was instantly inspired to attend night two though I had gone the previous night.

Minus 16 premiered in 1999, but I have not heard much about it. Boy I'm glad I didn't read anything about it before last night! I ran into a new acquaintance during intermission before the company performed and all she said was, "You're in for a surprise."

Lights flickered signaling it was time for Minus 16. I knew we'd be in for something unexpected when one dancer seemed like he was clowning around on stage, responding/adapting to the audience cheers. The piece continued as everyone sat; I was in the moment of watching, appreciating and interpreting what was happening on stage. Then my curiosity arose as the house lights came back on, the music continued to vibrate but the dancers started to move into the audience. Everyone was entranced wondering what was going to happen. A few minutes went by as we all continued clapping cheering... waiting. Somehow, I noticed a couple audience members up on stage dancing with the dancers. "Wait, what?" I started clapping wildly at this improv moment. "Let's cheer them on!" I thought.

Suddenly, a dancer sidles next to my seat and held out his hand to me. A brief pause of "OMG, this is happening?!" preceded my dreamlike state of getting out of my seat. Like a giddy school girl, I nervously smiled as the dancer led me on stage with the rest of the party. After some seconds of what standing wondering what I should do, I began dancing, shaking my limbs, along with everyone else. My partner kept a straight face the entire time making intense eye contact with me; I kept that silly grin on my face as I moved. I started responding to his movements. "Should I copy or react?" At one time, I dumbly blurted out, "You guys are my favorite!" His face kept straight; we kept dancing frenetically, reacting to each other, talking to each other with movement only. It was like being in a club with your best friends just goofing around with such joy and zero inhibitions.

My partner's eye contact kept me in the moment where no worries of how foolish I must look crept into conscience. However, I slowly realized I was the only audience member left on stage being tightly held by partner like we were the last two dancers on earth, enjoying something special before the unknown. Moments after this realization, all the Ailey dancers were on the floor, lying down on their backs like they were dead. I was left standing. I stood in the position the dancer had taken on the floor. The bright stage lights weren't dimming and I didn't want to ruin their piece! So I just stood there trying to process what to do next. Finally, a dancer mouthed up to me that I could leave the stage. "Phew!" I did my best to smoothly exit really not wanting to ruin the piece. But the crew made me exit off the stage in front of everyone with as spotlight followed me back to my seat. I heard audience clapping and could feel that hot light but it all felt like this incredible dream.

During intermission, strangers came up to me asking me if I was a plant or part of the show. "No! It was random. I didn't know what to do," I giggled. The strangers nicely said I did great and that I was brave. But all I kept thinking was, "Wow! Did that just happen?! Oh my gosh. I got to dance with my favorite company. I got to dance with AILEY!"

Now if only I could find my dance teacher who introduced us to the Alvin Ailey company and story to share my excitement with her...

Meggan Ellingboe
MPR Photo/Stephanie Curtis

Art Hounds: Ballet Preljocaj, Muslim women, and a sad vampire comedian

Posted at 7:45 AM on April 12, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Comedy, Dance, Events, Painting, Photography, Religion

Image of "Fatimah: The Queen of Heaven," an installation by Hend Al-Mansour. (Image courtesy of the artist)

The hounds have a dark, somber french ballet interpretation of "Snow White," an art show elevating overlooked matriarchal figures in Islamic religion and culture, and a sad vampire comedian's stand-up routine on their radar this week.

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Minneapolis mixed media artist Veronica G. Ochoa calls "Great Mothers of Islam" at Vine Art Center in Minneapolis a "can't miss" exhibition. It features the works of two women artists, Hend Al-Mansour and Leili Tajadod-Pritschet, in what the Vine Art Center describes as an exploration of "the inherent feminine power in the Islamic tradition." Tajadod-Pritschet, an Iranian Shiite, and Al-Mansour, a Saudi Arabian Sunni, each depict a great woman in Islamic history. The show is up through April 14.

If you'd like to dive into the darker, more eroticized side of "Snow White," Twin Cities theater and dance agent Christine Tschida would like to bring Ballet Preljocaj to your attention. The renowned French dance troupe, which rarely tours in the states, has gotten raves for its edgy interpretation of the fairy tale, complete with costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier and partial nudity. Presented by the University of Minnesota's Northrop Auditorium at the Orpheum Theatre, April 13 & 14.

In terms of belly laughs and humorous food for thought, Minneapolis actor Clarence Wethern says Joseph Scrimshaw's company Joking Envelope has never disappointed. Joking Envelope's latest show is called "The Sad Vampire Comedy Hour" in which a morose melancholic vampire comedian shares his schtick. The show will be at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis Fridays and Saturdays through April 28.

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Northrop dance season, without the Northrop

Posted at 10:41 AM on April 11, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Education

While the renovation of the University of Minnesota's Northrop Auditorium continues, that hasn't stopped the U of M from programming a full season of dance concerts.

"Political Mother" by Hofesh Shechter will come to the Orpheum Theater this November
Photo by Gabriele Zucca

Last night the Northrop team, headed by Director Ben Johnson, unveiled the 2012-2013 concert season, which includes performances in the State and Orpheum Theatres, Ted Mann Concert Hall and The O'Shaughnessy auditorium.

Highlights include performances by New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Grupo Corpo and Hofesh Shechter.

As part of the season the Northrop will present two radically different versions of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, in conjunction with its 100th anniversary.

In addition the Northrop will co-present with St. Catherine University a series of dance performances that bring exemplary female artists to The O'Shaughnessy as part of its "Women of Substance" series. The collaboration will include workshops for high school girls with an emphasis on building self-esteem, confidence, and a healthy sense of community and self. Choreographers include Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca, Rosie Herrera, Bebe Miller and Minneapolis choreographer Emily Johnson.

This year the Northrop will also take over responsibility for the McKnight Artist Fellowships for Dancers & Choreographers, and a concert presenting their work, titled "Solo." This coming September the concert will present work from McKnight fellows from the past two years at Ted Mann Concert Hall.

Renovation of the Northrop Auditorium is slated for completion in the spring of 2014.

Arts philanthropist and newspaper publisher John Cowles Jr. dies

Posted at 3:45 PM on March 18, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Funding, People, Theater

One of the most significant figures in Twin Cities arts philanthropy has died.

John Cowles Jr., 82, succumbed to lung cancer Saturday evening, surrounded by family.

John Cowles, shown here with his wife Sage. Cowles died Saturday evening from lung cancer
Image courtesy Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts

While his family has a long history in the newspaper industry, Cowles also made his own indelible mark in the arts.

He lured director Tyrone Guthrie to Minneapolis to realize a vision for a professional regional theater company. Cowles helped raise the money for the orignal Guthrie Theater; 40 years later he served as co-chairman of the architecture committee for the new Guthrie complex.

Along with his wife Sage - after which the Sage Awards are named - Cowles also held a pivotal role in the world of dance.

Most recently the couple were recognized with the naming of the Cowles Center for Dance and the Perfoming Arts.

Services are pending.

Four ways to brighten your weekend

Posted at 11:00 AM on March 9, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Craft, Dance, Photography, Theater

This week I've picked four events that are worth your time, even if their descriptions seem either confusing, boring or downright contradictory. Just as you can't judge a book by its cover, you shouldn't always judge an event by its press release...

1. Picnic on the Battlefield

Theatre Novi Most presents a blending of two absurdist plays into "one slapstick-funny and dead-serious narrative" about the horrors of war. Impossible, you say? Not so fast. Initial reviews for this show have been enthusiastic, with one critic stating "Through brilliant observation and a taut thread of growing dread, [Lisa] Channer and [Vladimir] Rovinsky are able to close the first act with a searing moment of tragic reality that breaks the playful absurdity."

Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theatre

2. We, the Others

Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater always takes on issues that address the essentials of human nature. Its latest work claims to ask the question "Can separation and opposition become a connecting place for finding the beauty in difference?"

If you find the question itself rather confusing, never fear; where language fails, dance moves in to the rescue.

3. Black and White: Absence of Color

This exhibition has the dubious honor of sporting a title that sounds simultaneously redundant and incorrect (because white, physicists will tell you, is actually composed of all colors of the spectrum).

But don't let this keep you you from taking in what promises to be a fun show. Mpls Photo Center covers the walls with great photo talent, and always puts on a nice party for their openings. In this case, the opening is tonight from 7 - 10pm.

4. Functional Redesign

The word "functional" is not the most compelling choice for seducing art lovers in your door. But at the heart of all great craft is the notion of function, and seeing true artists re-imagine such basic objects as teapots and dinnerware can be downright inspiring. The exhibition at the Northern Clay Center opens today and runs through April 29.

What are you doing this weekend?

Art Hounds: Megan Vossler, Brazilian dance, and a Neutral Milk Hotel cover band

Posted at 7:30 AM on February 2, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Drawing, Events, Music

Megan Vossler, "South China Sea," 2012. Video stills.

The hounds dig up landscape art that's sensitive to the earth's movements, a new local dance company that moves to Afro-Brazilian rhythms, and a cover band serenading Neutral Milk Hotel fans.

Sarah Moeding wears a lot of hats in the Twin Cities art scene; artist, musician, writer, and producer of the "Literary Death Match." Therefore it shouldn't surprise that Sarah would know about a Neutral Milk Hotel cover band performing the legendary indie rock band's most influential album, "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," in its entirety. It's happening Friday night at Cause Spirits and Soundbar. The group is the appropriately named CVR BND and its performance is partially aimed at folks who couldn't get tickets to former Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum's sold out show at the State Theater this Saturday.

The local dance world, which includes dancer and Cowles Center Education Director Jessi Fett, is buzzing over the premiere of a new dance company. Contempo Physical Dance, led by choreographer and dancer Marciano Silva dos Santos, fuses Afro-Brazilian dance, capoeira, and contemporary dance into a potent mix on stage. Contempo Physical Dance makes its debut this weekend at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.

Christina Schmid thinks there's a movement of artists trying to take landscape art in more thoughtful, probing, deconstructing directions. Christina, a liberal arts professor at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, would put artist (and fellow Art Hound) Megan Vossler at the forefront of that movement. Vossler's new exhibition is called "Overlook: Landscape Studies," and it's at the Macalester Gallery at Macalester College through March 9th. Here's an essay Christina, who's also an editor at Quodlibetica, wrote about Megan's work.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

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Rehearsal and performance space a challenge for small theater companies

Posted at 10:45 AM on January 10, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Criticism, Dance, Funding, Theater

Do the Twin Cities need more small theater spaces?

This was the question I was left with after a recent discussion on the closing of the Loring Theater.

The question drew strong responses, from artists who have obviously been dealing with this situation for a long time.

The Playwrights' Center is one of the venues Twin Cities artists say is getting it right when it comes to providing rehearsal and performance space to local theater companies.

Frank Theater's Wendy Knox offered a blunt, "No, there are not" (FYI, Frank Theater is known for performing in less traditional locations, occasionally including abandoned buildings).

Screenwriter Marvin Joel Rubin said it's not just an issue of performance space, but rehearsal space as well. To which dancer Kenna Cottman added there's also a need for spaces that can serve dance companies.

Robin Gillette runs the Minnesota Fringe Festival, and is very familiar with performance spaces all over Minneapolis. She immediately had this to offer:

Seems like you can't just talk about numbers of venues - you have to factor in whether they're affordable, well-equipped and maintained, and conveniently located.

There are not enough 100-200 seat venues that are affordable, well-equipped and conveniently located. HOWEVER... I don't think the answer is to run around creating new venues, necessarily. If there was a way to either improve existing venues or clear them off the deck so there's demand/funding/staff/equipment for new ones, that'd be great. I don't know that the *total* number of venues needs to improve, but some shifting in the pool might be useful.

With that in mind, I asked which venues out there are models for how best to serve performance artists.

Jennifer Ilse, one of the creative partners behind "Off-Leash Area," a company that performs out of its, and other people's, garages, had this to offer:

I'd vote for the Playwrights' Center - really reasonably priced, maintained and equipped and efficient and straightforward to work with. Red Eye Theater is also great in providing inexpensive space and providing enormous room for artists to do what they want to create their vision. Rehearsal space - Patrick's Cabaret is tough to beat. Great, efficient staff, very well priced, especially helpful having cheaper prices for off-peak hours, and the space is really well kept and getting better all the time.

But running a performance space for other companies to rent is not that easy. Actor/director Paul Reyburn shared this:

This has been a discussion for several years. I tried to open a space about ten yrs ago but couldn't finance it. It's an ongoing need, to be sure, but finding the money seems to be the biggest issue. I'd love to see a couple more in St. Paul.

Ben Heywood, director of The Soap Factory, a gallery which also hosts performances, added:

In terms of City code not to mention equipping costs theater spaces a very expensive to set up. With limited seating it's then very hard to make them financially viable for anything other than stand up. Hence the popularity of the Fringe.

Liz Neerland, along with her husband Josh Cragun, runs Nimbus Theater. They recently moved into their own space in the Nordeast neighborhood, and rent it out to other companies. She echoed Heywood's thoughts and elaborated on them.

Speaking as someone who just did it, it's incredibly difficult to create new performance space. The city zoning/permitting/licensing process is a maze and there is no one to help figure it out. Funding is always an issue, and the amount of equipment needed to make a space desirable is a huge expense. Trying to balance - between needing to have a space that people want to work in, that is inviting to artists and audiences alike, and needing to pay the rent every month and keep the lights and heat on - it is a huge challenge. We may need more spaces, but we also need enough people to capably manage them.

And finally, actor and Minnesota Playlist staffer Levi Weinhagen had this to add:

In my humble opinion the real question is whether or not the Twin Cities can support more 100-200 seat performance spaces.

Artists of any stripe, whether writer, painter, actor, or wig-maker, do not have inherent value. Everyone should have the right and probably encouragement to make cool things and do their art but that doesn't mean they're entitled to an audience interested in consuming their art. By that same token, if theater spaces aren't being created and thriving perhaps at times it's an indication of management issues but most of the time the indication is that audiences aren't spending their money to see shows in those spaces. If a venue can't support itself with audiences & revenue, or find a behemoth corporate sponsor than what makes the space worth keeping open?

So what's to be done? Does city management need to provide a process for helping small venues get up and running? Do current spaces need an injection of business training? Or is this simply the nature of market forces at work?

Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Which Nutcracker will you choose?

Posted at 11:11 AM on December 16, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance

Loyce Houlton's "Madame Bonbonniere"

It's that time of year when visions of sugar plums dance in our head, and sugar plum fairies dance on local stages. Productions of the Nutcracker abound, and there's a little something
for just about everybody. Which one will you choose?

1. Ballet Minnesota presents the classic Nutcracker at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium tonight through Sunday.

2. The Nutcracker According to Mother Goose - by Zenon Dance Company, on stage at the Cowles Center this Saturday and Sunday. As the title implies, this one's a bit of a mash-up with other familiar children's stories.

3. Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy, also at the Cowles Center, Dec 23 - 31 - featuring the "hilarious antics" of Madame Bonbonniere.

4. Ballet of the Dolls presents its new adult take on the classic with "Nutcracker: The Lost Act." Dance critic Linda Shapiro describes it as "a crafty mix of slick nightclub acts, sleazy cabaret, and surreal Fellini-esque shenanigans." Performances run through Dec 31.

Four ways to put a spring in your step

Posted at 12:28 PM on December 8, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Theater

As we make our way toward the end of the year and the holidays that come with it, let's not be beaten down by the bitter cold and the long dark nights.

Here are four events that will either have you doing pirouettes, reconsidering tap classes, or just bent over with laughter.

1. Buckets and Tap Shoes

Brothers Rick and Andy Ausland are at the heart of this rhythm driven tap ensemble that takes the genre to new hipster heights. Performances run Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Cowles Center.

2. Dance Revolutions

Some people may pooh-pooh student performances, but they're missing out on some high quality work. The University of Minnesota's dance department faculty includes some of the best choreographers in town including, among others, Ananya Chatterjea and Uri Sands. You can see their latest work performed by dancers in their prime this weekend.

3. Nutcracker: The Lost Act

Marie runs away and gets hit by a car/The "Land Of Sweets" has never been so bizarre

Ballet of the Dolls, the same company that brought you "Nutcracker: Not so Suite" (starring Ken and Barbie) is back with a new twist on the classic. This time the performance is infused with that "joie-de-vivre" that only a burlesque cabaret can provide. Performances run through December 31 at the Ritz Theater.

4. The Santaland Diaries

Does all the holiday shopping and marketing send you over the edge? Then maybe you need to spend some quality time with Crumpet the Elf. Frank Theatre has brought back its holiday hit from last year, based on the NPR commentaries that launched David Sedaris' career. If you can't hear it from David himself, than actor Joe Leary is your man. Performances run December 30 at The Woman's Club of Minneapolis.


Joe Leary as Crumpet the Elf

Replace your Powerpoint with dancers

Posted at 1:31 PM on December 1, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Education

Choreographer Carl Flink and his company Black Label Movement know more about molecular biology than you might think.

Over the summer they worked with John Bohannon, the creator of "Dance Your Ph.D." to choreograph a talk he was set to give at a TED conference in Brussels.

The gist of the talk? Ditch your Powerpoint, and enlist dancers to communicate your ideas.

Here's the result, filmed on November 22:

John Bohannon says he learned a lot in the process of creating the speech/dance:

We had a shoestring budget, not even enough to get all the dancers to Brussels. So we had to create the dance and rehearse in Minneapolis in our spare time for free. Then we hired 6 Brussels-based dancers and arrived in Brussels 10 days early to rehearse with them. I'm amazed we pulled it off, but Carl wasn't surprised. Professional dancers find this kind of pressure routine.

The piece changed drastically over the course of its creation. As I got to know the dancers and see how they struggled to make ends meet, especially when injuries occur without healthcare coverage, my mood darkened. What began as a small piece of optimistic theater about science turned into a satire about the status of artists in the US. As inspiration, I looked back to Jonathan Swift's 1729 essay, "A Modest Proposal," It was a masterpiece of political satire that proposed a seemingly rational solution to the problem of the poor in Ireland: They should sell their babies as food, generating much-needed income and reducing their population in one stroke. It was a reply to some of the brutal utilitarian policies being discussed at the time by the aristocracy. Where you hear antique language in my presentation, I am quoting Swift verbatim.

Choreographer Carl Flink says the talk has been such a hit that TED organizers are talking about them creating another dance/talk for a conference in Long Beach this coming March.

New director named for Cowles Center

Posted at 5:36 PM on December 1, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Dance

The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts has speedily named a new Executive Director, after the abrupt resignation of Frank Sonntag.

Lynn Von Eschen
MPR Photo/Chris Roberts

He is Lynn Von Eschen, vice president and general manager of the Ordway Center for Performing Arts in St. Paul. Von Eschen has worked in various leadership positions at the Ordway for 18-years. Before that he was at the Childrens Theatre Company. He says the Cowles has been built and opened to great fanfare. Now it's ready to be led into the future.

"This is not an organization that's been around for 20 years," he said. "It's a brand new organization. And there's going to be the opportunity to really shape and mold and really have an impact on how things can develop and move forward and really be a part of that creative process."

Von Eschen says his biggest challenge will be building relationships with the dance and larger arts communities, which he wants to do as quickly as possible.

The hiring comes at a crucial time for the Cowles Center - just months after its initial launch, and at the start of the annual fundraising season (this blogger received a fundraising letter from the Cowles yesterday, signed by Frank Sonntag, but with no mention of his departure).

Von Eschen takes over operations of The Cowles Center in January 2012.

The reviews are in for Zenon Dance at the Cowles Center

Posted at 8:51 AM on November 22, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Dance

Zenon Dance Company's performance at the new Cowles Center drew three raves. While many dance concerts only run one weekend, this one continues November 25-27. Interested in seeing the show? Check out excerpts of the reviews below, or click on the links to read them in full.

Zenon Dance Company performs STORM at The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Caroline Palmer at the Star Tribune:

The members of Zenon Dance Company have proven their versatility time and again, but the 29-year-old troupe's season at the Cowles Center may be one of their most diverse and enjoyable yet. The program is filled with everything from fearless modern dance to cocktail-hour panache.

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

...this weekend's program of four dances by one of the theater's core tenants was well worth the wait.

On Saturday night, the dancers of Zenon presented an ideal showcase for their versatility, energy and sense of adventure. Launching the company's Cowles tenure with two new works, another nearly as fresh, and a jazzy staple from its past, the troupe showed why it's thrived through years of change on the local dance scene: It can be showy and circumspect, thought-provoking and pulse-quickening. As adept at intensity as it is at celebrating the pure joy of dance.

From Sheila Regan at City Pages:

The opening weekend included the premiere of two pieces by Daniel Charon and Mariusz Olszewski, as well as Morgan Thorson's fabulous "Deluxe Edition" from 2010 and Danny Buraczeski's fun "Swing Concerto" from 1993. While each of the choreographers showed off their unique style, they all espoused a sense of theatricality onto Zenon's athletic dancers.

Artistic Director Linda Andrews was dressed for the occasion in a sparkly red dress, calling for her gigantic martini. Indeed, the whole evening had a sense of celebration. Zenon has found its new home at the Cowles, and they intend to make their mark there.

Zenon Dance Company performs at the Cowles Center November 25 - 27. Have you seen the show? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

The future of the Cowles Center

Posted at 8:12 AM on November 21, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Dance

Editor's note: In case you missed this story on Friday night, I thought it was worth a reprint here. Chris Roberts reports on what the departure of Executive Director Frank Sonntag means for the new performing arts center.

After Frank Sonntag's resignation as executive director of the brand new Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in Minneapolis earlier this week stunned the local dance community, fans are wondering what it all means for the center.

Sonntag had been in the job for just 10 months. It leaves Minnesota's so-called 'flagship center for dance' searching for a new leader midway through its inaugural season.

Ultimately, it was a culture clash that led Sonntag to leave what he considered his dream job at the Cowles Center. He arrived in Minnesota from the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts in New York. Here, Sonntag's self-described New York-style directness collided with a certain Midwestern politeness.

"I had heard from lots of folks about the whole 'Minnesota Nice' thing, and the truth is, its' pretty hard to wrap your head around that until you step in it," he said. "And I stepped in it, pretty early on."

Frank Sonntag
MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

Sonntag said he is entirely to blame for not being able to overcome the difference in work and communication styles.

"It tripped me up and that caused me some consternation and other people some consternation," he said. "At the end of the day, we made the mutual decision that it might be best for the organization if I stepped aside," he said.

When asked for specific examples of how Minnesota Nice became particularly aggravating, Sonntag declined to point fingers.

"I do not want to get into specifics but you know it's what everyone says," he said. "People don't tell you what they think, they talk about it behind your back. And so that causes you to bob and weave and I've never been very good at that."

In a statement released Monday, Sonntag said "after spending most of my professional life in New York, I don't feel Minnesota culture is one I'm well suited for." In parts of the arts community and beyond it was interpreted as a put down and it triggered a minor uproar.

The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts
MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

Sonntag said he wasn't referring to the state's cultural scene, for which he has the utmost respect, but its culture of social interaction. Colin Hamilton, senior vice president of national advancement for the Cowles Center's parent organization, Artspace, said he knows when Sonntag made the statement he was trying to be gracious.

"But when it came out, people heard the exact opposite, right?" he said. "A lot of the buzz has been this sense that somehow Minnesota's honor has been challenged. To me that's a little microcosm of the whole thing. You just have a slight failure of languages to connect, personalities to connect. And it's not about anybody being right or wrong, good or bad, just 'fits' not being what they should be."

Hamilton credits Sonntag with doing a wonderful job guiding the Cowles Center through its gala opening and into its inaugural season.

"There's a very short-term harm," Hamilton said of the impact of Sonntag's departure. "But I don't think in the long term it is going be all that disruptive."

Hamilton said the Artspace team, led by president Kelley Lindquist, which has spearheaded the Cowles Center effort for the last 12 years, is still solidly in place. He said Sonntag will stay at the Cowles through December.

Artspace hopes to name his replacement within weeks as opposed to months. Hamilton said Artspace will be looking for someone with extensive experience in the nuts-and-bolts operation of a performing arts venue, who can also effectively communicate the Cowles Center vision in the community.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis dance writer Caroline Palmer said Artspace has quite a bit of work to do to ease concerns among dance artists and audiences.

"I think that the management is going to need to do a bit of soul-searching and a bit of outreach in order to let people know that this venture is still proceeding as planned, it's still on steady legs and we're not going to see any major shifts from what we've been told about in the future," she said.

Palmer also hopes the Sonntag situation won't lead Artspace to only consider Minnesota candidates to succeed him. That, she said, would be a knee-jerk reaction.

Art Hounds: Supernatural Wife, Matt Ryan, and a re-telling of a Greek tragedy

Posted at 7:00 AM on November 17, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater, Writing

Image of "Supernatural Wife" by photographer Mike Van Sleen

The week's installment has an ancient Greek flavor...the hounds are trailing a movement theater piece based on a Euripedes translation and a drama inspired by Aeschylus. Oh, and they're talking up Minnesota writer Matt Ryan's new book.

Robbinsdale poet Matt Rasmussen favors the comedic literary stylings of Minnesota writer Matt Ryan. Matt thinks Matt's new book, "Read This or You're Dead to Me," which Mr. Ryan describes as a collection of prose poems and flash fiction, is wildly inventive, brash, and hilarious. The Minneapolis publication "Paper Darts" is throwing a launch party for 'Read This' tonight at Moto-i in Minneapolis from 7 - 10pm. Matt Ryan will be reading, along with writerly guests Matt Mauch and Leah Drillias and there will be musical entertainment by Bethany Larson and the Bees Knees.

Budding director and dramaturge Molly Budke says Savage Umbrella's "The Ravagers" is memorable on a number of levels. They include the manner in which the company has updated Aeschylus's tragedy, "The Supplicants," and the way it uses the decaying environs of the Hollywood Theater in Nordeast Minneapolis. It's the final weekend of "The Ravagers," on stage at the Hollywood through Nov. 19.

The New York-based Big Dance Theatre's multi-media circus of movement combined with New Yorker Anne Carson's poetry is an irresistible combination to Minneapolis writer and poet Juliet Patterson. "Supernatural Wife" is Big Dance Theatre's interpretation of Carson's translation of Euripides' "Alkestis." You can see it Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 - 19, at the Walker's McGuire Theater.

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Cowles Center executive director resigns

Posted at 5:04 PM on November 14, 2011 by Marianne Combs (20 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Dance

Frank Sonntag was hired ten months ago from New York City to take the helm of the brand new Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts.

Today it was announced that, just two months after the center opened to the public, Sonntag has resigned.

Frank Sonntag
MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

In a sparsely worded release, Sonntag explained his decision this way:

I have the utmost respect for the leadership of Artspace and I'm confident that The Cowles Center will continue to thrive. I came to Minnesota because I believed in the mission of The Cowles Center, and I still do. But after spending most of my professional life in New York, I don't feel the Minnesota culture is one I'm well suited for. It has been a struggle, but ultimately I think this is the best decision for the organization.

Sonntag will remain at his post through the end of the year.

Saying goodbye to Merce Cunningham, and his company

Posted at 11:15 AM on November 4, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Museums

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company will perform for the last time at the Walker Art Center this weekend. The company plans to disband at the end of December, two years after Cunningham died.

Merce Cunningham Dance Company performing Minutiae (1954) against the backdrop of Rauschenberg's work of the same name
Photo by Herb Migdall, 1976, courtesy Cunningham Dance Foundation

Meanwhile the Walker is launching a series of exhibitions of sets and costumes designed for Cunningham's company by some of the great visual artists of the 20th century.

MPR's Euan Kerr reports Cunningham was at the center of a dynamic arts scene from the start of his career.

Cunningham was working with Martha Graham and developing his own movement style based on rigorous discipline in combination with chance elements, such as like rolling dice or flipping coins to determine how a dance would play out.

His creative and life partner John Cage was to soon redefine musical composition. Others in the group, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, were about to launch their own assaults on the visual arts world. Sage Cowles had a career dancing on Broadway and television before moving to Minneapolis to become a huge supporter of dance. The new Cowles Center is named for her and her husband John.

But this was before any of them were famous and it was only natural that they would share and collaborate. As Cunningham prepared a dance, Cage might write the music, and Rauschenberg, who became Cunningham's stage manager, might design the costumes and sets.

Dance Works I: Merce Cunningham/Robert Rauschenberg runs through April 8, 2012 at the Walker Art Center. You can hear more about the exhibition and the collection by clicking on the link below:

Art Hounds: Myron Johnson, Joan of Arc, and an exquisite French jazz pianist

Posted at 7:00 AM on October 27, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater

The hounds show their enthusiasm for the final solo performance of the founder of "Ballet of the Dolls," a virtuoso piano improviser from France and an intimate musical theater piece featuring one of the Twin Cities' finest vocalists.

(Want to be an Art Hound? Sign up!)

Dancer, actor and scenic artist Kathleen Sullivan calls Myron Johnson the "godfather of Minneapolis dance." The "Ballet of the Dolls" founder, former Childrens Theatre Company performer and veteran choreographer will dance solo for a final time for the next two weekends at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis (Oct. 27 - Nov. 6). The concert is called "Songs for a Swan." Among other things, Johnson will be exploring his 50-plus years on stage as well as the challenges of staying relevant as an aging performer.

As board chair for the Minneapolis theater group "The Moving Company," Randy Nordquist has a refined appreciation for good musical theater. Randy says in "Joan of Arc," Nautilus Music Theatre in St. Paul has reduced a full length production down to its most intimate elements, which allows lead vocalist and stunning soprano Jennifer Baldwin Peden to shine. On stage Oct. 27 - Nov. 6.

Arts-based psychotherapist Nancy Ruppenthanl has good news for fans of the now defunct Franco/Minnesota jazz festival Minnesota Sur Seine. Avant pianist Benoit Delbecq, who made an impression on local jazz enthusiasts in previous festivals, is making a stop at the Black Dog Café in St. Paul on Friday, Oct. 28.

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Luna Negra adds spark to Latin dance

Posted at 1:02 PM on October 21, 2011 by David Cazares
Filed under: Dance

Photo by Kristie Kahns

By Carolina Astrain

When many people think of Latin dance they think of folkloric genres like the Cuban rumba, Colombian cumbia or Spanish flamenco. But as important as those rich regional dances are, there's much more to Latin dance nowadays.

Luna Negra, an extraordinary dance company based in Chicago, aims to challenge conventional notions about Latin dance by fusing those regional dances into a contemporary vision. The ensemble performs Saturday at the Page Theatre in Winona, and Tuesday at the Ordway in Saint Paul.

Watching a Luna Negra performance is almost like watching a silent film acted out by dancers moving to a romantic Spanish soundtrack. The dancers' moves exude a classic and hypnotic quality, rich with nostalgia.

Founded in Chicago 12 years ago by Cuban-born dancer and choreographer Eduardo Vilaro, the dance company works to counter stereotypical notions views of contemporary Latin dance.

When Vilaro left Luna Negra in 2009, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano took over as the new Artistic Director. Originally from the province of Alacante, Spain, Sansano has an international reputation. He has been commissioned to create works for companies including Spain's National Dance Company, the Hamburg Ballet, Budapest Dance Theater, Ballet Junior de Genève and Nederlands Dans Theater II.

"I'm really happy because the city has really embraced the change," Sansano said. "There's been a lot of curiosity around Chicago on what's been going on with the group."

The Luna Negra show this season includes four very different acts, but only three will be showcased at each performance.

Bate or "heartbeat" in Portuguese was choreographed by Fernando Melo. Much like a Brazilian soap opera set to samba, the dance tells a story about how a man keeps his love for a woman hidden beneath his macho attitude.

"This is the first piece he's done for the company," Sansano said of Melo. "We premiered it last season and it's a really fun piece."

The group will perform Bate in Winona and Saint Paul.

One of the more conceptual acts is Naked Ape, choreographed by Fernando Hernando Magadan. The piece explores the connection between man and his animal instinct. To see Naked Ape be sure to catch the Winona show.

At the Saint Paul show, instead of Naked Ape, the Luna Negra dance company will perform Paloma Querida, or "Beloved Dove" in Spanish. The dance is choreographed by Michelle Manzanales. The Chicago Tribune described the dance as a "visual masterpiece."

The finale for both shows will be Flabbergast, a dance choreographed by Sansano, who dedicated it to his mother. It was the first piece that he created for Luna Negra in 2001. Sansano describes it as a Latin Chorus Line.

"It's all about having fun and dancing to the music we used to listen to during the holidays in my little town in Spain," Sansano said.

Since 2001, Flabbergast has been, "expanded and refined" according to another Chicago Tribune review by Sid Smith:

Luna Negra also aims to soon reach younger audiences with Luna Nueva (New Moon), which features avant garde dancing, and Luna Niño (Kid Moon), which presents dances to storylines similar to those of Harry Potter and Peter Pan. These projects are still as Sansano described it, "in the oven."

For Sansano, Latin dance is for everyone.

"I'm not the type of person who believes in 'right or wrong' way of dancing," he said. "We don't want our audiences to just be Latinos. We want everybody from the community to be a part of what we do."

Editor's note: MPR's Carolina Astrain writes occasionally for State of the Arts. Her editor is David Cazares.

Art Hounds: James Sewell, Michael Pisaro, and women in graphic design

Posted at 7:00 AM on October 20, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Design, Events, Music

James Sewell Ballet dancers Nicolas Lincoln and Emily Tyra (Photographer: Erik Saulitis)

The hounds' curiosity leads them to experimental music from a composer who values silence, a signature Minneapolis ballet company performing in the theater it helped refurbish, and an exhibition about the unsung women in Minnesota graphic design.

James Sewell Ballet presents its inaugural performance at the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts Oct. 21-30, and dancer and dance historian Judith Brin Ingber plans not to miss it. Judith has long appreciated the playful unpredictability in JSB's dances. This concert will feature an older piece performed to a live rendition of the Mendolssohn Trio, as well as a different twist on Tchaikovsky's Black Swan pas de deux, and the world premiere of a new work. Judith says the Sewell family deserves huge amounts of credit for helping make the Cowles Center a reality.

When St. Paul musical theater performer Sabrina Crews felt a need to expand her comfort zone and knowledge beyond vocal music, she turned to challenging yet innovative experimental musician and composer Michael Pisaro. Pisaro's "Concentric Rings in Magnetic Levitation" is being performed by the Chicago-based group, Haptic on Sunday, October 23 at Studio Z in Lowertown, St. Paul. Sabrina says the piece is inspired by Saturn's rings.

St. Paul writer Ellen Shaffer says a new exhibition at the CVA Gallery in St. Paul about Minnesota graphic designers who happen to be women is generating a lot of buzz in the local design community. "WOMN: Women in Minnesota Design" is another installment of the gallery's "Leaders of Design Series." The show opens on Thursday, Oct. 27. On Wed., Oct. 26, there will be a panel discussion featuring exhibition participants Kelly Munson, Sue Crolick, Cynthia Knox, and moderator Gail Rosenblum of the Star Tribune.

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Sage Awards find a fitting home at Cowles Center

Posted at 3:31 PM on October 12, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance

The 7th annual Minnesota SAGE Awards for Dance made a new home for itself last night at the Cowles Center for Dance and Performing Arts. And really, how could it be anywhere else?

Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts

Both the awards and the center were named after Sage Cowles, a long time supporter of the local dance scene, and a dancer in her own right. Along with her husband, John Cowles, Sage helped found the Minnesota Independent Choreographers' Alliance, helped fund the Barbara Barker Center for Dance at the University of Minnesota, and established the Cowles Land Grant Chair, which underwrites residencies by dancers, choreographers, critics, and other professionals in the field.

This year's SAGE awards were as follows:

Outstanding Performance:

• Feet Don't Fail Me Now! - Rhythmic Circus (Nick Bowman, Ricci Milan, Kaleena Miller)
• The Thank you Bar - Emily Johnson/Catalyst + BLACKFISH
• Who Made These Videotapes? - Laurie Van Wieren

Outstanding Performer:

• Alanna Morris - TU Dance spring concert and Dreams: A Solo• Greg Waletski - Like an Octopus and Anatomy of a Viciously Sweet

Outstanding Ensemble:

• Dancers of Feet Don't Fail Me Now by Rhythmic Circus

Outstanding Design (two honorees):

• Costumes for Journey - Sonya Berlovitz

• Video, lighting and music for Heaven - Robert Hammel & Steve Campbell (video), Marcus Dilliard (lighting), Chan Poling and Natalie Nowytski/Peter O'Gorman/Victor Zupanc/Joe Chvala (score and music)

Outstanding Dance Educator:

• Toni Pierce-Sands

Special Citation:

• Linda Shapiro, long-time dance writer

Tutus and teeth: Metropolitan Ballet presents Dracula

Posted at 11:45 AM on October 10, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Books, Dance

Some people think of Bram Stoker's Dracula as a tale of horror; others choose to focus on the romance.

In the case of the Metropolitan Ballet's current production, the focus is definitely on the romance.

It's billed as a family friendly performance with romance and suspense but no blood and gore.

Just in time for the Halloween season, the Metropolitan Ballet presents a new work, "Dracula, the Dark Prince." (Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Ballet)

MPR Classical's Steve Staruch spoke with the composer and choreographer, Erik Sanborn about his new ballet. Sanborn says it was in part inspired by listening to his grandmother accompany silent movies - including horror movies - when he was a child.

You can hear their conversation by clicking on the link below:

Art Hounds: Congolese dance, "Tommy," and "Habibi"

Posted at 7:00 AM on September 22, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Books, Dance, Events, Music

This week the hounds have the Walker's mini-fest of Congolese music and dance, a more than 500-page graphic novel and the granddaddy of all rock operas on their minds.

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Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine senior writer Steve Marsh just got back from a trip to Gabon, so Central African culture is still swirling in his head. He'll get a heavy dose at the Walker this weekend when choreographer Faustin Linyekula and the Studios Kabako dance troupe perform. The Congolese music ensemble Benda Bilili was also scheduled to play, but its concert was cancelled because of visa issues.

Twin Cities sculptor Josh Wilichowski went to school with writer Craig Thompson in central Wisconsin and is proud of Thompson's literary achievements. Josh heartily recommends Thompson's second, newly published, more than 500-page graphic novel entitled "Habibi." It's about a harem girl and slave boy who come together amidst hardship and strife in an unnamed modern country in the Middle East. Thompson will be in town this Monday for a reading at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design as part of the Rain Taxi Reading Series.

For photographer and Bedlam Theatre board chair Scott Pakudaitis, rock operas don't get much better than the forerunner of all rock operas, The Who's "Tommy." Mainly because it's the music of The Who. Scott will be road tripping to St. Cloud's Pioneer Place Theatre for its production of "Tommy," and he's particularly excited that the show will have the inimitable style of director Zach Curtis and music director Jake Endres.

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Applause for the loud guy in the ballet audience

Posted at 11:25 AM on September 9, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Culture, Dance

Editor's Note: So this post has been circulating on Facebook this morning, and given its nature, I just had to share. It comes from a Craig's List site that aggregates "the best of Craig's List." There's a particular curse word that shows up a few times, which I've censored. But you'll get the drift.

******

It was Don Quixote, a rather fun full-length ballet, nobody dies like in the dreary Giselle or Swan Lake.

Another fantastic performance by the SF Ballet. I know you enjoyed it. Our whole section knows you enjoyed it. Every time a dancer would perform a particularly impressive jump, or a series of 3+ pirouettes, you would say, "Whoa!" or "Jaysus!"

This, I didn't mind. As a former dancer and now a season-ticket holder of our City's fine company, I get a kick out of hearing others' excitement for an artform I hold dear. Much better than the guy next to me whose head started to fall like a kid in an 8th grade math class.

So, the curtain falls. The end. Applause.

Curtain comes up and the dancers begin to take their bows. You notice a few people standing up. Was it an ovation? NO! They were LEAVING! These people could not WAIT to get to their cars (they were obviously not MUNI riders, walkers or cab-hailers like most of us in the City)! They had no time for CLAPPING! They had to get out now!

It was then you yelled, in your beautiful gray-haired old crotchety man voice, "WILL YOU PEOPLE SIT DOWN AND LET THE *POLITE* PEOPLE SHOW THEIR APPRECIATION?!," slight pause, "YA A******S!"

Now, I have seen dozens of ballets in my relatively short lifetime of 25 years. Never, not once, have I encountered a fan of ballet quite like you. At the ballgame, sure, that kind of yelling is par for the course. At the ballgame we eat peanuts and leave the shells in piles at our feet.

Sir, this was THE BALLET.

And for your outburst directed at the people who think somewhere in their tiny brains that it is even remotely acceptable to get up and leave during the curtain call, remotely acceptable to not even clap for the world class artists who just performed a most difficult and worthwhile ballet for our enjoyment (artists whose salary is about that of a standard office receptionist), remotely acceptable to WALK OUT while the house lights are up and we can all (including the dancers) see...

Kind sir, for your outburst, screaming at these " a******s", I thank you from the bottom of my art-loving heart.

I've been wanting to say that for a long time.

And WOW! They sat their a**es down, didn't they?! A few were even clapping.

You are the BEST.

Cordially,
Fellow Supporter of the Fine Arts in San Francisco

Cowles Center for Dance: Too good to be true?

Posted at 12:51 PM on September 11, 2011 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Dance

The Cowles Center for Dance & The Performing Arts new atrium space connects the Goodale Theater to the Hennepin Center for the Arts in Minneapolis.
MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

This weekend marks the grand opening of the Cowles Center for Dance and Performing Arts. Today a myriad of dance companies are giving free performances in the refurbished Shubert Theater on Hennepin Avenue, in the hopes of welcoming new audiences into their new home.

MPR's Chris Roberts spoke to the Cowles Center Executive Director Frank Sonntag, who admits he's already beginning to get a handle on how Minnesotans like to distance themselves from something that seems too good to be true.

He also understands how dance artists are innately skeptical, given how their art form has historically been underfunded, under-appreciated and not understood by audiences. But Sonntag is supremely confident the new complex will lift the local dance scene to new heights, if only because it addresses the one major deficiency that's plagued it for years.

"There's not a building that people point to and say 'That's where they dance,'" he said. "But now there will be."

Sonntag isn't just referring to the refurbished former Shubert Theater, now named the Goodale Theater after Bob and Kathy Goodale, one of the center's three "founding families." There's also a bright, airy atrium and high-tech dance education studio on the second floor which connects the theater to the masonic bulwark on the corner, the Hennepin Center for the Arts. But it's the Goodale Theater that will probably inspire the most shock and awe this weekend.

The stage is an amazing expanse, 45-feet from the main curtain to the back wall, 89-feet from side to side. When some performers asked to have the dance floor made a "little softer" as they put it, Sonntag promptly had it fine tuned.

"It means we'll probably have to replace it in 25 rather than 30 years but in the meantime those dancers will be leaping a little higher and there will be fewer injuries and, you know, that's important," he said.

Sonntag enjoys standing on the stage and taking in the majesty of this completely renovated turn-of-the-century theater. Four massive Greek columns are embedded in the walls on either side, reminders of the theater's storied history. There are also sections of exposed brick, remnants of the original structure. Below is a state of the art orchestra pit that can accommodate up to 42 musicians. Behind and above, a cavernous fly space that rises more than 100 feet.

"Those things are what is going to make this a world-class home for dance," he said. "Every aspect of this facility was designed with dance in mind. And dance is not the only thing that we will do, but it will be, predominantly what we do."

Sonntag also insists tickets will be affordable and all the seats have excellent sightlines.

What do you think: is the Cowles Center for Dance "too good to be true?" What will get you in their doors, or alternatively, keep you away?

Four ways to mark 9/11/11

Posted at 12:00 PM on September 8, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Events, Theater

Let's face it - the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 is inspiring a whole range of emotions and reactions. For some it's sorrow, for others frustration, and for others, it feels like it's time to move on.

In honor of that, I've chosen an array of events this weekend that suit at least a few different mindsets.

1. You are still mourning 9/11/01

Frozen Tears: In this event, which starts at 9:11pm this Sunday night, people will gather at the River Flats behind Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota and release "frozen tears" (basically small ice boats with lit candles in them) into the Mississippi River.

2. You are horrified by how the U.S. responded to the attacks, our ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the vilification of muslims.

Zafira the Olive Oil Warrior: It is the not so distant future and suicide bombers have hit simultaneous cities across the United States. Arab and Muslim Americans are official enemies of the state and have been ordered into internment camps. Presented by Pangea World Theater at In the Heart of the Beast theater in Minneapolis, "Zafira the Olive Oil Warrior" tells the story of one Arab American womanʼs experience leading up to, during, and after her internment.

3. You look at current world affairs with bitter irony, and would enjoy a good laugh.

A Short Play about 9/11 follows three characters: a hilarious talk show host on the verge of being fired after a monologue of 9/11 jokes; a Russian bio-chemist whose frequent appearances as a terrorism expert are marred by his inability to stay sober; and a young woman who realizes the agonized face on all those "Missing" posters may be her own. The play charts their struggle to resume a normal life, and the surprising role humor and art play in the healing process. And it's funny.

4. You have moved on, and would rather spend your time celebrating all that is good in the world.

The Cowles Center for Dance and Performing Arts presents a day of free performances in honor of its grand opening this weekend. Sunday, from 11am-5pm, along with a bunch of free dance classes, allowing people to dance their cares away.

Whatever way you choose to spend this Sunday, peace be with you.

10 things to do this month

Posted at 11:46 AM on September 1, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Music, Theater

As summer comes to an end, performing arts venues are revving up their calendars. September has lots to offer - here are just some of this month's highlights.

Dance

Ananya Dance Theatre presents Tushaanal: Fires of Dry Grass
Sept 8 - 11 at the Southern Theater
Why you should go: Ananya Chatterjea and her dancers are out to change the world, with performances that take on environmental destruction and social injustices.

Ragamala Dance presents "Sacred Earth"
Sept 22 - 25 at the Cowles Center for Dance and Performing Arts
Why you should go: Ragamala Dance earned a rave review from the New York Times earlier this year, and its founder Ranee Ramaswamy was named 2011 Distinguished Artist by the McKnight Foundation, a high honor in the Minnesota arts scene. Plus their the first dance company to perform at the brand new Cowles Center.

Music

Bon Iver
Sept 6 and 7 at the Orpheum
Why you should go: Well, since the shows are basically sold out, you're going because you were lucky enough to get a ticket.

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with Cantus
Sept 9 and 10 at the Ordway
Why you should go: The SPCO opens its new season with a program that features Haydn, Bach, Brahms and a new work by hot composer Nico Muhly.

Ben Folds and the Minnesota Orchestra
Sat Sept 17 at Orchestra Hall
Why you should go: Smart and fun pop star accompanied by a world-class "back-up band."

Haley Bonar
Sept 30 and Oct 1 at the Dakota
Why you should go: Local girl with nationally recognized musical talent performs in an intimate setting with amazing food.

Theater

Neighbors
Sept 16 - Oct 9 at Mixed Blood Theatre
Why you should go: A strong cast takes on a surreal production about "post-race America." Plus, it's free!

The Burial at Thebes, based upon Sophocles' Antigone
Sept 24 - Nov 6 at the Guthrie Theater
Why you should go: Director Marcela Lorca stunned audiences a couple of years ago with "Caroline, or Change." This new work based on a Greek tragedy - with original music by J.D. Steele - has all the makings of another powerful drama.

A Wrinkle in Time
Sept 27 - Dec 4 at Children's Theatre Company
Why you should go: The CTC takes on Madeleine L'Engle's classic sci-fi fantasy.

Two Trains Running by August Wilson
Sept 29 - Oct 30 at Penumbra Theatre
Why you should go: Simply put, any August Wilson play directed by Lou Bellamy is worth seeing.

McKnight Dance and Chroeography Fellowships reborn at Northrop

Posted at 4:58 PM on August 25, 2011 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Arts management, Dance, Funding

It's been an interesting year for the McKnight Foundation Dance and Choreography Fellowships. They were the mishandled funds at the center of the Southern Theater meltdown, which saw that West Bank Institution dismantled and reconstituted.

However while much has been said of the Southern, there not been much public discussion of the Fellowships themselves.

Today the McKnight Foundation announced the program will be managed by Northrop Concerts and lectures, which oversees the Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota.As in the past the program will award three $25,000 fellowships for dancers and three $25,000 fellowships for choreographers.

"The biggest change will be the international residency component, which we are all very excited about," says McKnight Program Officer Laura Zimmerman. "That's so new I think that none of us know how it will turn out."

The program will now offer a $10,000 grant to fund one choreographer each year to collaborate with Twin Cities dance artists and showcase works-in-progress. There will be additional money to cover expenses and studio costs.

Zimmerman sees it as an opportunity to enhance Minnesota dance here and elsewhere.

"Have people who come in with new ideas, new ways of working, new relationships, and be able to interact with our dance community and then bring some of that here, and take some of what is happening here out into the world," she says.

Zimmerman says one of the attractions of the Northrop collaboration is to tap into the expertise of director Ben Johnson. She says there will be opportunities for both dancers and choreographers.

"I think Ben will be able to facilitate opportunities and connections for people outside of Minnesota and that's a great improvement to the program," she says.

Johnson is also very jazzed by the opportunity. He spoke from Edinburgh, Scotland whre he is attending the International Arts Festival to see the premier of the Scottish Ballet presentation which will open the Northrop season in the fall.

"When McKnight approached us it really aligned with the new vision of how we wanted to really support Twin Cities-based artists - kind of with a twist - and really align them with our international profile and then our national networks, and really think about what ways we could leverage the resources of the university to really highlight and support and inspire Minnesota artistry," he said.

Johnson says the choreographer selection panel will now include people from outside Minnesota, which will help spread the word about work being developed here. He says that will also be true of the international residency, which he believes will also bring greater recognition to the actual dance spaces in Minnesota.

The opening of the new Cowles Center next month, and then the renovation of the Northop itself will be a significant boost to the dance venues in the Twin Cities. The Northrop is now closed for the building work, but Johnson sees that as an opportunity to work with other venues and spaces.

"So the opportunity for this fellowship to happen is perfect," he said.

Neither Johnson nor Zimmerman believes the problems at the Southern have hurt the fellowships themselves. Indeed Zimmerman says she was extremely heartened by the way the McKnight Board quickly stepped in when it heard about the problems and worked hard to make sure the artists who faced losing grant money were made whole.

"It was a crazy, stressful couple of months, she admits. "But it was also incredibly affirming."

"To my mind the reputation of the program remained solid," she continued. "And people were just really hopeful that it would continue, and that it would continue in some place that really would have the administrative backbone to support it."

The Fellowships have been administered this year by Springboard for the Arts, and it will continue working with the current fellows. Work is already underway for the 2012 program and details are expected to be announced in October.

Target puts on a cool show... in New York

Posted at 10:02 AM on August 11, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Design, Events, Fashion, Funding, Public Art

Call me a little late to the party, but I just saw this video of an installation of dance, lighting and music in New York's Standard Hotel. As you can see (via the not-so-subliminal imagery throughout) funding came in large part from Target.

So what I want to know is - when's Target going to bring the bright lights and hot moves to the Mini-Apple? Don't forget your homies!

Remembering Merce Cunningham

Posted at 1:10 PM on August 8, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Museums

As the Merce Cunningham Dance Company approaches it's final days, questions arise as to what will happen to the choreography of its founder, who died two years ago.

This weekend on NPR, Miami Herald Dance Critic Jordan Levin looked at the challenges facing the company as it attempts to preserve Cunningham's legacy:

Though Cunningham focused on the here and now, he wanted his dances to live on. Making sure they don't disappear is an enormous challenge.

"You don't have this thing that you can hang on a wall or put on your desk. It's not a solid object. You don't have a script," says dance historian and Florida State University professor Sally Sommer. "You are passing on this ephemeral and fragile thing that is an idea that lives only at the moment that it is performed and then it's gone. It's like you're passing on air."

So how do you pass it on? Levin goes on to report:

Though Cunningham was very precise about how his pieces were done -- he would even use a stopwatch to time them -- in many ways his work was difficult to define, or to reproduce. "It doesn't have to do with exactitude," [longtime friend] Laura Kuhn says. "It doesn't have to do with replication, but rather with capturing a kind of spirit in the movement. A kind of precision, a kind of discipline, a kind of fullness."

Those qualities give life to a dance, and make it more than a collection of steps. You can't learn them from a video, or from notes; you have to learn them from someone who has actually done the dance.

"Ballet is body to body and mind to mind," says Miami City Ballet director Edward Villella, who is passing on to his dancers what the great choreographer George Balanchine taught him. "So it's a continuity. It goes on and on and on."

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company is travelling the world in what it's calling its "legacy tour" in an effort to raise money for preserving Cunningham's work through "comprehensive documentation and digitizing efforts."

The final performance will take place in New York City on New Year's Eve. In early November the MCDC will perform at the Walker Art Center, which has acquired more than 150 items - including sets, props, costumes, and selected documentation of MCDC - for its contemporary art collection.

Fringe trailers offer tastes and flavors

Posted at 5:02 PM on July 28, 2011 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Comedy, Dance, Events, Theater

The Minnesota Fringe is a week away, and some folk are already planning their schedules. A handy-dandy tool to help the choice is the Fringe's trailer page where many shows have put together extracts, past shows, ands in some cases full-blown commercials for their pieces.

Here are three that caught our eye:

"Knit One/Purl One" by Unfold the Sky Productions

"Buckets and Tap Shoes" by 10 Foot 5 Productions

"Macbeth: The Video Game Remix" by Theatre Arlo

There are also selections of the Fringe-for-All previews posted here.

What's interesting you this year?

Art Hounds: The Defenders, Momentum dance, and handbells ring

Posted at 7:00 AM on July 14, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Film, Music

Chris Yon, Echo Park Dream Ballet Essay. Photo by Cameron Wittig, courtesy Walker Art Center.

This week's hounds embrace the notion of not only presenting cinema, but defending it in a screening room full of film aficionados, they endorse a series that plucks emerging talent from the local dance scene, and they open their ears to a national handbell conference in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

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The Walker Art Center's Momentum: New Dance Works at the Southern Theater is perhaps the biggest dance event of the year, according to dance and theater videographer Ben McGinley. Ben is thrilled with this year's line-up, which includes choreographers Chris Yon, Kenna Cottman, and Kaleena Miller, plus the zany three-woman troupe Mad King Thomas. Momentum: New Dance Works 2011 is on stage at the Southern July 14 - 23.

Attention, movie geeks! Cheapo music clerk and former film student Jon Gilbert wants you in on The Defenders, a series at the Trylon Microcinema in Minneapolis. It's a monthly get-together of cinephiles in which one local film personality presents a movie of his or her choosing and then defends it in a vigorous, rigorous post-screening discussion. The next installment of "The Defenders" happens Wednesday, July 20th at 7pm, and features Star Tribune Movie Critic Colin Covert.

As music director at North Como Presbyterian Church in Roseville, Sean Johnson knows a good handbell choir when he hears one. But do you? Sean says you'll have abundant opportunities to refine your taste in handbell music this weekend, July 14-17, when the Handbell Musicians of America holds its annual conference at the Minneapolis Hilton.

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Where the hell is Matt? Minneapolis

Posted at 9:11 AM on July 12, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, People, Public Art, Video

Matt Harding, the guy known for dancing badly - but happily - around the world, is getting some dance lessons at the Walker Art Center's sculpture garden this Saturday. And he'd like you to join him.

The self-described deadbeat from Connecticut became an internet hit when he produced a video of himself dancing in unique locations. Stride Gum saw great marketing potential, and sponsored Harding to make two more videos. In the third, and probably most inspiring video (above), he invited fans to join him.

Now Harding is on tour with his video camera again, and this time he's decided to learn some new moves.

According to his Facebook page, he'll be at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden on Saturday from 4-7pm, and he'd like folks to join him.

If you plan to go, he asks that you register as "attending" on his Facebook page so he know how many to plan for.

Art Hounds: Improv Fest, woodturning and Dali's cookbook inspires dance

Posted at 7:00 AM on June 23, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Comedy, Craft, Dance, Events, Theater

Chicagoans "TJ and Dave" are one of the many groups that will be here for this weekend's Twin Cities Improv Fest

A festival of improvisational comedy Twin Cities style, American woodturners uniting in St. Paul, and two dance companies preparing a feast of movement are on the hounds' agenda this week.

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Scotty Reynolds, an actor with Interact Theater and a food performance artist with "Mixed Precipitation," finds a lot of inspiration in the culinary arts. No wonder he's drawn to "Dali's Cookbook: A Gastronomical Inquisition," a joint production of Ballet of the Dolls and Zorongo Dance Theatre in Minneapolis. It's based on a cookbook surrealist Salvador Dali wrote and dedicated to his lover. It's on stage at the Ritz Theater through Sunday, June 26.

Love free form improv comedy? Want to see the Twin Cities' best improv artists matched up with stars from other parts of the country? Shad Petosky, owner of Pink Hobo Gallery and Puny Entertainment in Minneapolis suggests you go directly to Huge Theater for the fifth annual Twin Cities Improv Festival. Shows start tonight and go through Sunday.

Maybe your only exposure to woodturning was in woodshop in junior high. Or maybe woodturning is a completely foreign concept. Amanda Birnstengel says it doesn't matter. Amanda, director of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, predicts you'll be amazed by the progression of the art form and the prowess of the nation's finest woodturners as they converge for the 25th American Association of Woodturners Symposium at St. Paul's River Centre.

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Ida Arbeit dances again

Posted at 3:02 PM on June 17, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Television

Kairos Dance Theatre brings together people of all ages to move together.

In early March the public television series MNOriginal followed the Kairos dance company with video cameras and was able to capture some wonderful footage of 101-year-old Ida Arbeit, full of spunk, performing from her wheelchair. She was accompanied by 91-year-old saxophonist Irv Williams.

Eight days later, Ida Arbeit passed away.

Last night MNOriginal aired the segment it taped back in March. It provides a wonderful glimpse of a woman living her life to the fullest, right up to the end.

The Southern downsizes; becomes a rental facility

Posted at 8:50 AM on June 4, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Arts around the state, Arts management, Culture, Dance, Theater

The Southern Theater released a plan Friday which board members hope will help it emerge from a budgetary crisis, reduce costs and become more accessible to artists.

The Minneapolis theater will become primarily a rental facility for the 2011-2012 season. It projects 40-weeks of performance activity, with a first year budget of just over 165-thousand dollars. That compares to an average one-point-one million dollar budget annually since 2008. It will add its own programming only when it's feasible and fully underwritten. Anne Baker chairs the Southern's board.

"We looked at a number of plans, and this was the one that reduced expenses but increased access. We were looking for a very simple plan and it helps us to stabilize and address these negative cash flows," she said.

The Southern has suffered from chronic cash flow issues for years and had a financial emergency in April when the McKnight Foundation asked it to return 300-thousand dollars in mismanaged grants. Baker said longstanding organizational, operational and managerial problems caused the crisis.

"For at least seven years, the theater has shouldered too much of the financial risk of presenting and producing performances of dance, music, theater, and film, and has not effectively made the case to enough individuals, foundations, and corporations that donations, sponsorships, and underwriting will produce sufficient added value to merit full support," said Baker.

The Southern is also reducing staff down to one general manager. 32-year old Damon Runnals has been named to that post. Runnals has served as the theater's production and operations manager since 2008.

The position of Executive Director, held by Gary Peterson, is being eliminated as of June 10. Peterson has been elected to the Southern's Board of Directors. His position is the ninth position to be eliminated in recent weeks.

While the Southern is trying shore up its finances by becoming a rental facility, Baker said that move isn't necessarily permanent. She said it's possible the theater could reassume more of a curatorial role in the future.

"I think that that's the board's hope, that we will be able to move back to a time, once we are stable, and we need to refine strategies for future programming, she said. "But that's our hope, that we would be able to do that."

The reviews are in for Cirque du Soleil's "Ovo"

Posted at 2:30 PM on May 31, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Criticism, Dance, Theater

Image courtesy Cirque du Soleil

The circus has come to town again, and this time it comes bearing not elephants and tigers, but ladybugs, spiders and ants.

Ovo, Cirque du Soleil's latest creation, explores the world of insects, including their social habits, love lives, and of course, amazing acrobatic skills.

All three reviews I found for Ovo were generally positive, but some had their quibbles. And when tickets can run anywhere from $31.50 to $350, well, quibbles can sometimes be deal-breakers.

Read on for excerpts of reviews - click on the links to read them in their entirety.
From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

Of the many shows that Cirque du Soleil has brought to the Twin Cities over the past decade, including the dark "Dralion" and cute "Kooza," their latest offering is by far the most creative.

"Ovo," which opened Thursday in a giant striped tent across from the Mall of America, has acts that showcase feats of strength and daring -- acrobats on trampoline, trapeze and high wire who appear impervious to danger -- similar to ones we've seen before.

But the creative team behind this show has invested it with much more imagination and invention this time around. The trampoline act near the end has gymnastic acrobats bouncing high off walls. A performer might drop say, 30 feet, on his back, then bounce way up in the same position, each time taking steps on the rock-climbing wall. (The creators of Broadway's problem-plagued, budget-busting "Spider-man" could take a note from this segment, which is no doubt copyrighted, but which seems simple and communicates very effectively.)

Image courtesy Cirque du Soleil

From Dominic P. Papatola:

...Compared to some of the previous Cirque shows that have come to the Twin Cities, "Ovo" is lighter in tone (no melancholy clowns or tender moments here) and - at two hours and 40 minutes - can feel a little draggy, especially after intermission.

Though the finale - a company of crickets bouncing on trampolines and climbing walls - is propulsive, it feels its length and doesn't really end the show with the kind of exclamation point one expects from Cirque shows. In these small ways, "Ovo" doesn't measure up to the best of Cirque du Soleil. Despite not clearing that very high bar, "Ovo" is still a very entertaining evening.

Image courtesy Cirque du Soleil

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Cirque music comes from a world all its own, or perhaps from a deep, previously unheard pit of Hell. Loud and aimless, it is mainly there to provide a backdrop for all of the action onstage, but the anonymous New-Age-like sounds really grate on the soul after a while. The volume doesn't help. I'm a 30-year veteran of rock, metal, and punk concerts, and my ears were starting to hurt by the end of the show. Of course, it did help to drown out the noise of the flights arriving and taking off from the nearby airport.

​I don't want to harp on the music, but of all the Cirque shows I've sat through over the years, the only one that made any kind of aural impression was Love, which had the advantage of using the catalog of one of the great rock and pop acts of the 20th century. I'm not asking for music of the Beatles' level, but at least some tune I could take home with me, beyond aimless singing and pounding drums? Please?

Been to see Ovo already? Share your own review in the comments section.

Ranee Ramaswamy named 2011 McKnight Distinguished Artist

Posted at 12:01 AM on May 27, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Funding, People

Ranee Ramaswamy, founder of Ragamala Dance and Theater
Photo by Ed Bock

The McKnight Foundation has named Ranee Ramaswamy -- founder, co-artistic director, and choreographer of Ragamala Dance Theater -- as the 2011 McKnight Distinguished Artist.

The honor is bestowed each year upon an artist who has made "significant contributions to the quality of our state's cultural life over the course of their career." It also comes with a $50,000 cash award.

It's a significant recognition for a woman who only started dancing professionally at the age of 30, but went on to create a company that has earned national accolades by making an ancient Indian dance form not just accessible but enticing to modern audiences.

"This is the first time a dancer has received this award, and for the McKnight Foundation to have chosen Bharatanatyam (classical south Indian dance) as the art form makes it all the more exciting," Ramaswamy wrote in an e-mail. "This has been my life's work, spreading the greatness of this dance form all throughout Minnesota for the last 30 years. I was looking at a map of Minnesota the other day and I couldn't find a town that I haven't visited! It feels wonderful to be recognized for doing something that I care so much about -- educating western audiences about Indian dance and culture -- and I plan to continue teaching, choreographing, and performing for many more years."

In addition to staging traditional Bharatanatyam performances, Ragamala Dance and Theater has also collaborated with artists from a variety of other backgrounds, including tap, jazz, ballet, African dance, Japanese drumming and poetry.

Previous McKnight Distinguished Artists include publisher Emilie Buchwald, composer and choral director Dale Warland, sculptor Judy Onofrio, writer Bill Holm, theater director Bain Boehlke, printer Kinji Akagawa and sculptor Siah Armajani.

Walker celebrates Cunningham in new performing arts season

Posted at 12:01 AM on May 26, 2011 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Dance, Galleries, Museums

When the Walker Art Center announced its multimillion dollar purchase of Merce Cunningham materials, Philip Bither knew what part of his new season had to be.

"When we announced the purchase of sets props and costumes that have been part of Cunningham's works for 60 years a couple of months ago we also realized we have to bring the company back one last time," Bither said in his office yesterday afternoon.

Cunningham, who died late last year, first performed at the Walker almost 50 years ago, culminating with "Ocean," a huge production in the round performed in a granite quarry near St Cloud. His company will disband after one final tour with a show in New York on New Years Eve. Despite this long association, the MCDC has never actually performed at the Walker itself, always using other stages around the area, so this show will be both a first and a last.

Bither has build a 10 day festival around the MCDC performances. It will feature an exhibit of pieces Robert Rauschenberg made for Cunningham, the first of several such shows planned for coming years featuring other artists who worked with the choreographer. There will also be a Cunningham inspired performance by French choreographer Jerome Bel.

The centerpiece of the show will be the performances of three works from throughout Cunningham's career.

"It's a piece from 1958 called "Antic Meat" with sets and props designed by Robert Rauschenberg and costumes," said Bither. "A piece from '68 with sets by Andy Warhol and then a piece from '98 with a set by Roy Lichtenstein and music by Brian Eno."

The release of the Walker performing arts season is always a little daunting because of its size and scope.

"Our 2011-2012 season spans from experimental theater and performance art through contemporary dance in all its various styles into avant-guard jazz, experimental rock, new sounds from all over the globe, contemporary classical music and then all the hybrids in between," he said.

There are six commissions in the season, including a residency and new work called "Story/Time" by Bill T. Jones which is actually based on a piece called "Indeterminacy" created in 1959 by Cunningham's long-time collaborator and partner John Cage where he told 90 stories in 90 minutes. Jones, who is riding high with his Broadway hits "Spring Awakening" and "Fela" will perform stories he has written himself as members of his dance company move around him. (below)

Other highlights include: a festival of new music and dance from the Congo call "Despair Be Damned" and "Structures and Sadness" by Australian choreographer Lucy Guerin which was inspired by the collapse of a bridge in Melbourne and is likely to have local resonance given the I-35 bridge disaster.

'Out There 2012: New World Performance' will feature works from Tokyo, Buenos Aires, and Beirut, and "Untitled Feminist Multimedia Technology Show" by Young Jean Lee's Theater Company which explores feminism and gender fluidity with a cast of performers who are nude for the entire show.

There is a two day mini-festival featuring the work of jazz composer Vijay Iyer, and a multimedia collaboration between spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph and visual artist Theaster Gates. Contemporary classical darling Nico Muly will reunite with several of his collaborators in the 802 tour, and Seun Kuti, son of Fela Kuti, will bring his incarnation of Afrobeat.

Another Walker commission features Brooklyn indie band the Lisps, performing "Futurity" which imagines a correspondence during the Civil War between a
Union soldier and Ada Lovelace as they attempt to design a steam-powered brain to save humanity. The season rounds out with the return of indie band Tortoise to collaborate with Twin Cities jazz musicians, and then David Zambaro will turn the Maguire stage into a club with a performance of "Soul Project."

MN Parkour: gymnasts of the city

Posted at 10:13 AM on May 19, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Street Art

City Pages--MN Parkour from Black Iris Media on Vimeo.

Ah, to be young and limber. Parkour - the art of "freerunning" - combines martial arts with gymnastics. The idea is to traverse an obstacle course as smoothly, and as quickly as possible, using only your body. Practioners of parkour are called "traceurs."

Frenchman David Belle created the sport, and it's since taken off in action films, most notably District 13 and District 13: Ultimatum (starring Belle) and the opening scene in the James Bond film Casino Royale (the only time I found myself rooting for the bad guy in a Bond film).

This week City Pages reports on the rise of parkour in Minnesota, particularly in Eagan.

"It's really weird to think that just a few years ago we would get like six people out here for weekend training; today we had like 30," [Chad] Zwadlo says. "The major national jams will sometimes only get like 50 people, and we're pulling numbers close to that on a random Sunday."

As for why parkour is growing at such a rapid rate, especially in the Twin Cities, Skinny says the answer is that it's the most natural sport of all.

"Think about it like this: When you're a kid, you just run around and climb on bars and jump off of stuff. You're playing," Skinny says. "Then as we get older, society tells you that you need to stop doing that. They tell us that we need start walking in a straight line on the sidewalk, telling us to stop playing.

"What we're doing here today, this is just us getting back to our roots: We're playing and having fun."

Of course, the article also talks about the dangers of doing a back-flip on concrete. Interested in becoming a traceur? Find out about classes in the sport here.

Art Hounds: Ethnic Dance, Zoe Keating, and "Danger! Will/Robinson"

Posted at 7:00 AM on May 12, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Music, Theater

Joshua Will and Jim Robinson of "Danger! Will/Robinson"

The hounds want you to know about a Minneapolis dance troupe that assumes different global folk identities, a D.I.Y. cellist who creates moody soundscapes for bands, films and fans, and a sketch comedy series that recalls a 1960s TV show in name only.

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As a dancer with the North Indian classical dance group, Katha Dance Theatre, Asha Sharma has an appreciation for dance companies that focus on the traditions of other countries. Asha thinks Ethnic Dance Theatre's spring concert "Then and Now" is something to be excited about, partly because it will re-interpret a variety of ethnic and folk dances using a modern dance vocabulary. "Then and Now" is on stage at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis Friday through Sunday.

St. Paul composer Mike Croswell has been an ardent follower of cellist Zoe Keating since he discovered her on Myspace years ago. Keating uses pedals and a laptop to build her music live on stage. Mike describes Keating's sound as lush and cinematic with the potential to envelop an attentive listener. Keating makes a stop at the Cedar on Wednesday, May 18.

Minneapolis actor Nathan Tylutki admits "Danger! Will/Robinson" at the Bryant Lake Bowl sounds like a send-up of the classic 60s TV series "Lost in Space," the space version of Swiss Family Robinson. It's not. But Nathan says it is a hilarious sketch comedy series written and acted by Joshua WILL, and Jim ROBINSON. It's on stage at the Bryant Lake Bowl through Saturday, May 14.

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Cowles Center announces inaugural season

Posted at 2:38 PM on May 11, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance

The Cowles Center has been a long time coming, with efforts to renovate the old Shubert building spanning twelve years.

But finally, this fall, the new center for dance and the performing arts will open to the public, and it's just revealed the details of the inaugural season.

Some acts are no surprise - James Sewell Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theatre, and the Illusion Theater - as they've had a longstanding relationship with the Hennepin Center for the Arts and/or the lobbying efforts for the new Shubert.

But it's impressive to see so many different Minnesota dance companies lined up at the same venue. Take a look at who's going to be on stage this season:

Ragamala Dance
Minnesota Dance Theatre
Beyond Ballroom Dance Company
Black Label Movement
Zorongo Flamenco
Native Pride Dancers
James Sewell Ballet
Mathew Janczewski's Arena Dances
Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater
Katha Dance Theater
Shapiro and Smith Dance Company
Zenon Dance Company
Buckets and Tap Shoes
Breaking Boundaries Dance Company
TU Dance

The season also includes performances by local vocal ensemble Cantus, and by New York based dancers Keigwin + Company.

The details of the season - and tickets - will be available on the Cowles Center website starting Monday.

Southern Theater lays off five, cuts hours of remaining staff

Posted at 8:23 PM on May 4, 2011 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Arts management, Dance, Music, Theater

Bowing to financial realities the Southern Theater today laid off five staff members and cut the hours of the remaining four.

Executive Director Gary Peterson says it's the responsible thing to do. The Southern launched an emergency fund drive almost three weeks ago to raise $400,000 by last Saturday. In a posting on the Southern's website today Board Chair Anne Baker says it's received $45,000 in donations plus a further $50,000 at the Southern Exposure fundraiser on Saturday.

Both Baker and Peterson say the $400,000 target is still attainable, but in the meantime the Southern needs to prepare for the tight financial situation by developing a new sustainable structure. Speaking by phone this evening Gary Peterson said the 15 member board is now working on that.

"People are asking, and rightfully curious, what we are asking them to invest in, and we are moving as quickly as we can," he continued. He says the board hopes to flesh out that structure in the next two weeks.

However the board also eliminated the Southern's dance and theater curator positions, the part-time communications manager, and two full-time production positions.

Peterson says those positions may not be restored even if the Southern makes its goal.

"No, some of those positions are gone for the foreseeable future, and others may come back in some fashion," he said.

Peterson, who is one of the people whose hours have been cut said he and others at the Southern are still working with various foundations in Minnesota and outside to see what might be possible. The Southern website also reports the possibility local artists may launch another fundraiser.

Still outstanding however is the repayment of $300,000 to the McKnight Foundation which were funds intended for dance grants which ended up in the Southern's general fund. Finding that money will be over and above the $400,000 requested in the appeal.

Peterson sounded sad as a result of the layoffs, but he is an optimist, and he remains ever hopeful. He says just looking back over the last few days he sees a remarkable effort, and change in an organization he hopes to lead back to strength.

"We have made more progress in the last three weeks than in the last three years," he said.

Flagship vs. Pirate ship

Posted at 12:28 PM on May 2, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance

One of the most rousing toasts given Saturday night at the Southern Theater's annual fundraiser came from Patrick Scully, of Patrick's Cabaret.

Scully elicited quite a few laughs when he mentioned the new Cowles Center for Dance, now under construction, and how it has advertised itself as the Twin Cities' "flagship for dance."

"That's funny," he mused, "I thought we already had a flagship for dance in the Southern."

(As the Southern's dance curator Laurie Van Wieren stated in her toast, since 1980 the Southern stage has been home to more dance than any other venue in the Twin Cities.)

"But then I realized," continued Scully, "that they're talking about a different kind of ship."

Scully said if the Cowles Center is indeed a flagship for dance, then the best analogy for the Southern would be a "pirate ship."

Scully, who got his start performing at the Southern, and who's queer-themed work has often been considered controversial, gives the theater credit for helping him find his voice.

"If we don't have a Southern for future misfits like me to find their voices, we will be less. Because it's those voices we most need in this world."

And so Scully raised his bottle and toasted "to the pirate ship."

Art Hounds: Zenon, Brutes and chasing windmills

Posted at 7:00 AM on April 28, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater

Zenon Dance Company performs Before After by Uri Sands. Photo credit: William Cameron.

This week's hounds celebrate a production that 'dreams the impossible dream,' a dance company at the height of its powers, and an indie rock band that's big on tight, crafted power pop.

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Choregrapher and dancer Penelope Freeh thinks the Twin Cities has been blessed to have a dance troupe like Zenon Dance Company in its midst for the last 28 years. Penny says Zenon's 28th Spring Season concert is special, with its veteran dancers performing works by local heavyweights Uri Sands and Wynn Fricke, as well as pieces by New York choreographers Sydney Skybetter and Kyle Abraham. It runs through Sunday at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis playwright, director and actor Aditi Kapil says Ten Thousand Things Theater has a unique ability to take the most ambitious material, be it a Shakespeare play or a musical, and reduce it to its most meaningful form. Aditi says that's what it's done with "Man of La Mancha," on stage at Open Book in Minneapolis April 29th through May 1, and the MN Opera Center, May 6 - 8. The advanced tickets are sold out, but a limited of number of tickets will be available at the door each night.

Billie Jo Konze says 'folkiness' is everywhere in indie music, which is why "The Brutes" are a beath of fresh air. Billie Jo, a local actor and singer, predicts the Brutes will impress you with their smart, highly crafted, infectious rock songs. The Brutes' next gig is Friday, April 29th, at the Kitty Kat Club in Minneapolis.

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Springboard to adminster McKnight Dance and Choreography Fellowships

Posted at 4:30 PM on April 26, 2011 by Euan Kerr (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Dance

The McKnight Foundation today announced Springboard for the Arts will temporarily assume administration of the foundation's dance and choreography fellowships.

The fellowships had long been run by the Southern Theater, but McKnight ended that relationship after discovering the Southern had co-mingled the dance grant money with the theater's general fund, and current fellows had gone unpaid.

In today's release McKnight President Kate Wolford says the arrangement will allow this year's awards to go forward.

"Springboard has a rich history of connecting artists with resources," Wolford in quoted in the release. "With these important fellowships in need of a home this year, we recognized our longtime grantee as uniquely positioned and well equipped to help. We are grateful that Springboard agreed to step in and lend a hand."

Springboard will co-ordinate the already-started application process to select three dancers and three choreographers who will each receive $25,000 in support of their work.

McKnight which offers fellowships in a variety of disciplines, ranging from ceramics to music, film and photography, hopes to find a permanent home for the dance and choreography fellowships by the end of the summer.

Ananya Chatterjea awarded Guggenheim fellowship

Posted at 2:50 PM on April 8, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, People

Ananya Dance Theatre performing Kshoy!

The founder of Ananya Dance Theatre (ADT), has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for Choreography. The fellowship includes a cash award somewhere between $40-50,000 (while Chatterjea has been listed on the foundation's website, she has yet to hear from them directly).

According to the foundation's website - when it was up and running - "The Fellowships are awarded to men and women who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts."

ADT is known for its use of dance as a means to talk about issues involving women and the environment, and for working with communities and activists.

A press release from the dance company states that Chatterjea will "celebrate the Fellowship" during an ADT Fundraiser on Monday, April 11 at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.

During the fundraiser, the company will perform an excerpt from the new work "Tushaanal: Fires of Dry Grass," the second piece in a four-year anti-violence project exploring the experiences of women of color across the globe. The piece premieres at the Southern Theater in September.

Chatterjea has been singled out by Ms. Magazine as one of the "choreographers who are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a woman and a dancer."

Interested in learning more about Chatterjea's choreography? You can read past MPR stories about her performances Pipaasha, Daak, Ashesh Barsha, and Kshoy!

Art Hounds: Heaven, Henry Cowell, and Bach's B-Minor Mass on the big screen

Posted at 7:00 AM on April 7, 2011 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Film, Music

(Copyright Guthrie Theater. Photo credit: V. Paul Virtucio)

A musical set during the Balkan war, an early music festival focusing on a forefather of 20th century composition, and a German filmmaker and VocalEssence give Bach's Mass in B-Minor a cinematic treatment.

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Get in touch with "Art Hounds." That's the first thing Children's Theatre Company Director of New Play Development Elissa Adams did after she saw the Flying Foot Forum's production of the musical "Heaven" at the Guthrie's Dowling Studio. Alyssa says with choreography by Joe Chvala and songs from Chan Poling, the show brings the Balkan War and its impact to life on stage in a truly moving way. It's on at the Guthrie through April 10.

Composer Randall Davidson says Henry Cowell played such an enormously influential role in the evolution of 20th century American composition, more people need to know about him. Randall will be in attendance all four nights at Studio Z in Lowertown, St. Paul, for Zeitgeist's "Early Music Festival," April 7-10. The festival will feature Cowell's music.

Patricia Mitchell, president and CEO of the Ordway Center for Performing Arts in St. Paul, is already a big fan of one of Bach's masterpieces, "Mass in B Minor." Patricia says German filmmaker Bastian Cleve and VocalEssence will make the work a feast for the eyes and ears in "The Sound of Eternity." VocalEssence will perform the piece while Cleve's 27 short dialogue-free films inspired by the Mass are shown on the big screen. "The Sound of Eternity" will be performed Friday and Saturday at 8pm at St. Olaf Catholic Church in Minneapolis.

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The reviews are in for "Heaven"

Posted at 1:19 PM on March 31, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Criticism, Dance, Theater

photo by Joe Chvala

Flying Foot Forum presents "Heaven" - a dance/theater piece that looks at life and death in war-torn Bosnia in the early 1990s. Performances run through April 10 at the Guthrie Theater. Thinking about seeing the show? Check out what the local critics think. I've included excerpts from their reviews below - click on the links for the full text.

From Caroline Palmer at Star Tribune

It's an understatement to say extreme adversity changes people, but words often fail to fully describe the impact of earth-shattering events. "Heaven," a dance/theater piece directed by Joe Chvala of Flying Foot Forum, uses movement, music and story to convey the horrors of the 1990s Bosnian war.

There are painfully beautiful moments within the songs, particularly as citizens-turned-refugees wonder, "What would you pack if this happened to you?" It's a question that gives pause, especially for those fortunate enough to know war only from afar.

Doug Scholz-Carlson as American war photographer Peter Adamson
Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

...To be honest, Adamson's story--there's a love interest in there too--is probably the least interesting material here. It's the experiences of the residents from all sides of the conflict that bring the show to full life. These are realized through spoken monologues, songs, and the expressive, masterful dance work that Chvala is famous for. Some of these moments are absolutely stunning, as the propulsive, traditional-folk-inspired score lets the dancers act out horrifying moments, from attempts to escape, to the soldiers hunting them, to a woman's fantasy about striking back at her tormentors as they rape her.

The piece has some maddening lapses--Adamson's relationship with a local woman on the run never gets off the ground and features a duet that seems to belong in another show entirely--but the strength of the ensemble and the creative fire behind the project bull their way through any of these hitches. Onstage, Webster provides not just the spark but the fuel for much of the action in a stunning turn as a man desperate to find a shred of former life still intact.

Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

From David De Young at HowWasTheShow.com:

In the 1990s during the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, over 100,000 people were killed and more than 2 million people displaced in one of the most horrific set of human-inflicted tragedies since WWII. Heaven, a new work by Flying Foot Forum, directed by Joe Chvala with music by Chan Poling (The Suburbs, The New Standards) is an ambitious and heart-wrenching piece of dance theater about the impact of that conflict. This emotionally-charged, human story left me feeling as if I'd been punched in the gut. Never heavy-handed, it educates without descending into didacticism. And with the news of the struggles in Egypt and Libya on the news each evening, I wonder: is there a more timely and important work being performed on a Twin Cities stage right now?

A woman near me sobbed through part of the second act. This show is that powerful. I can't help but direct you to the Dowling Studio to see it.

Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

War is hell. Anyone want to argue about it? Of course not. That's why Flying Foot Forum gets away as well as it does with the overstuffed farrago Heaven. The show is the theatrical equivalent of a commemorative 9/11 plate: you can't fault the intention, even if the execution is kind of tacky.

For all its flaws, Heaven is a sincere testament. On Saturday night, a number of audience members were moved to tears. My friend who attended the performance with me said that her father's girlfriend--a native Serbian--just gave her father a book about the 14th century battles in which the Serbs were defeated by the Turks, resulting from which this woman still holds a grudge against Muslims generally. George Santayana wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it"; Chvala and Poling agree, but additionally urge that our memory not be selective.

So, have you seen "Heaven?" If so, what did you think? Let us know in the comments section.

Vestiges of Merce Cunningham's dance find home at Walker

Posted at 10:52 AM on March 17, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Museums

Antic Meet, 1958
Costumes designed by Robert Rauschenberg

Dance is an ephemeral art... it exists in the doing. But some things are left behind: costumes, set pieces, music scores, props. And in the case of Merce Cunningham's dances, those costumes and sets were often made by high profile contemporary artists.

Today the Walker Art Center and Cunninham Dance Foundation announced that the Minneapolis museum is acquiring more than 150 objects that were part of Cunningham's performances. Starting in November, the Walker will display the work, including creations by such artists as Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, John Cage, and Frank Stella. This exhibition coincides with Merce Cunningham Dance Company's final
engagement at the Walker, to be presented November 4 - 6, 2011, as part of the Company's farewell Legacy Tour. Merce Cunningham died in 2009.

"The acquisition of these works is groundbreaking for the Walker and for the museum field at large, affirming our longstanding commitment to bringing together diverse artistic practices to form a cross-disciplinary blend of programs," said Walker Executive Director Olga Viso in a written release. "We enjoyed a lasting relationship with Cunningham beginning in the early 1960s and look forward to inspiring future generations with programs, exhibitions, and new scholarship devoted to his legacy of innovation and collaboration."

The announcement was made to coincide with the New York Times annual museum section, which includes a piece on the acquisition.

"The interplay of the visual and performing arts has a long and rich history,
but few artists rival Cunningham in his sustained collaborations with leading
figures of the 20th century," said Walker Chief Curator Darsie Alexander.
"With this acquisition, we acknowledge his tremendous contributions as a
dancer and choreographer, while at the same time giving our audiences the
opportunity to see the work of acclaimed artists--Rauschenberg, Johns,
Lichtenstein, Stella--in a completely different light."

The acquisition is a gift made possible by numerous donors and foundations, as well as the T. B. Walker Acquisition Fund, 2011.

EgoFest, 7 Shot Symphony, Super Mario meets Michael Bay

Posted at 7:00 AM on March 17, 2011 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Film, Theater

Image courtesy Live Action Set. Photo credit: Noah Bremer

This week's hounds sniff out an indie film fest in Brainerd, a western of mythic proportions and a Super Mario Brothers/ Michael Bay mash-up.

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It's not Sundance or Cannes, but Brainerd fiber artist Lisa Jordan thinks EgoFest is a pretty nifty short film festival. EgoFest, which is in its second year, will be held at the CLC Chalberg Theatre on the campus of Central Lakes College in Brainerd on Friday, March 18th and Saturday, March 19th. The festival features filmmakers from across the U.S. and Canada.

Improv artist, actor and musician Courtney McClean is in the mood for some comic relief this weekend, which is why Courtney's seeking out Comedy Suitcase's "Michael Bay's Super Mario Armageddon." Courtney says the show satirizes blockbuster action flicks and video game geekdom while reminding you why both are so popular. On stage through March 26 at the Bryant Lake Bowl.

Live Action Set's 7-Shot Symphony is like a movie western, says Twin Cities theater and improv artist Jen Scott, only the cowboys are mythic heroes from nearly every culture around the globe. Jen says Live Action Set's ability to create images with physical theater is magical. You can see it at the Loring Theater (formerly the Music Box Theater) in Minneapolis through March 27.

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Ragamala Dance earns rave review from NY Times

Posted at 1:03 PM on March 12, 2011 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Dance

Ragamala Dance

The Minneapolis-based Ragamala Dance is in New York Washington D.C. for the Maximum India Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center. They performed Wednesday night, and New York Times critic Alastair Macaulay was in the audience.

Macauley saw four different companies perform over the course of three evenings, but it's obvious he was particularly smitted with Ragamala, to which he devoted the majority of his review. You can read the full review here, but I've isolated the section dealing with Ragamala below.

No sooner had either Ragamala Dance (an American company of the Indian Diaspora) ... begun, than every moment seemed precise, specific, focused. From those sharply defined beginnings arose complexities both rapturous and profound. The Ragamala musical instruments were actually an excellent example of fusion: for "Gangashtakam," the instruments included the mrindangam and nattuvangam and violin -- though producing sounds that most Westerners seldom associate with the violin.

...As with Ms. Ramaswamy, some of the most transporting instances are ones of near-stillness, when the dancer seems to be inhaling the moment as if it were incense.

Ragamala Dance next performs in the Twin Cities at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium March 25-27.

Video break: "Pina" by Wim Wenders

Posted at 2:16 PM on March 1, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Film

PINA - Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost - International Trailer from neueroadmovies on Vimeo.

It's been a long time since I've been so excited to see a new film. But Pina, by Wim Wenders (director of Wings of Desire and Paris,Texas) promises to be a singular event. The film is dedicated to the life and work of choreographer Pina Bausch, with whom Wenders had a decades-long friendship before Bausch died in 2009.

Wenders had long planned on bringing Bausch's dance to the movie screen, but struggled for years on how to do it justice. It was after seeing U2's 3D concert-film that Wenders realized he needed that third dimension to give the film new life. But even looking at 2D clips of the film, the energy, movement and filming is simply stunning.

Bell Museum event gets up close and personal with dance

Posted at 4:42 PM on February 23, 2011 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Dance, Museums

Olive Bieringa doesn't pull her punches when it comes to the local audience.

"People in Minnesota are nice, but I think there is a little anxiety about proximity and intimacy," she says.

Bieringa, (shown here in a previous work) is co-director of the Body Cartography Project will be looking to poke at some of those anxieties with an evening called "Proximity" at the Bell Museum at the U of M's Minneapolis campus tomorrow night. It's the latest Bell Museum Social, which presents an artist in residence in the context of the Bell's natural history displays.

The Bell is describing the social this way: "The evening also will feature a scientific presentation on mammal behavior, a mating-themed tour of the Bell's dioramas, and an animal mask-making competition. For one night, see humans on display as the Bell's mammal collection is brought to life."

Which suits Bieringa perfectly.

"As a dancemaker I'm not really interested in working with traditional dance vocabulary, but really looking at movement and understanding how movement can be generated from an animal reflexive place," she said.

What she'll be doing is a one-on-one piece where she will become an object in amongst the Bell's famed dioramas.

"I've been hanging out with the very dead animals in the Bell Museum's collections," she laughed, "And I'm interested in this thing about how we turn other beings into objects, but I am also interested in behavior: how as humans we are animals and part of our environment and how part of our behavior is culturally learned, but some of it is really biological."

Saying she is fascinated by the way humans have separated themselves from nature, Bieringa has built an enclosed diorama where she will interact with visitors to the social one at a time.

"It really turns me into an object which is more interesting than a dancer just being a dancer.

Of course it also means audience and performer are much closer than usual, messing with the social boundaries which are usually so important to humans.

Bieringa she admits she's not entirely sure how it's going to work. She says it will depend on how each individual reacts - and how long they stick around in the performance space. Despite her concern about shy Minnesotans, she's not worried she'll be left alone all night.

"Oh, people will come in. I'm curious about how long they will stay for," she said. Duration will be up to the individual visitor. "Some people might choose not to come in at all, but other people I might have a hard time getting them out."

Bieringa, who grew up in New Zealand, has been exploring these boundaries for some time. This particular piece developed out of a work she did in France with the Lyon Opera Ballet, but she's been doing works which break down that invisible wall between dancer and audience member for some time. There is one piece she's performed many times on Nicollet in Minneapolis.

"It was a solo called 'Go' and really was just this practice of how I could dance with people on the street, how I could engage them in what I was doing without freaking them out, or making them run away."

She says she learned a lot doing that dance. "Like how to ride that edge with all kinds of people within a public context," she continued.

Bieringa says she is actually in the research phase for a larger piece she'll do next year at the Walker Art Center called "Supernature." It could well be a set of diaramas, each with a different dancer inside. She's also considering using a dog as one of the performers. Or maybe not. No doubt she'll no more after tomorrow night.

Frank L. Sonntag appointed executive director of Cowles Center

Posted at 4:14 PM on February 15, 2011 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Arts management, Dance, People

Frank L. Sonntag took a tour of his new home today and he admits it was both exciting and emotional. The recently named executive director of the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts says he was stopped short by the sight of a class underway at the Minnesota Dance Theater School.

"And I was standing looking through a glass wall into the studio that was filled with these, you know, four-year old, five-year-old ballerinas. They were doing stretching exercises, bending back and forth, and the hallways were lined with parents. and... I got a little choked up," he said this afternoon.

He notes this is a sight he's likely to see a lot in coming months and years. Not only does the Cowles Center, which comprises the Shubert Theater and the Hennepin Center for the Arts, serve as a performance and rehearsal space, it's home to some 20 dance and performance groups, and two dance schools.

"It's astounding, the level of activity that happens right here," he said.

The Cowles Center will celebrate its grand opening on September 9th.

At a time when the tough economy has put paid to a number of dance venues around the country, a new dance venue is a rarity. Sonntag, who was general manager at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts in New York, says being able to shape such a venue from the ground up is "the opportunity of a lifetime."

He's filled with praise for Kelly Lindquist and the rest of the ArtSpace team which has wrestled with the project for years and brought it to this point. He says the way they have put it together is very smart.

"I think it's remarkable and I think that it's rare," he said. He says the Cowles set-up is very sound

"In part because of the economies of scale that is created by having all of these cultural non-profits in one building, and that's very appealing."

He's looking forward to helping provide a new level of support for these organizations in terms of marketing, fundraising, and management advice as needed. Not only is his goal to make the organizations stronger, the Cowles Center mission is to grow the dance audience in Minnesota.

He also likes the Cowles Center education component, including a distance-learning project which is available to every teacher in Minnesota.

Sonntag officially takes up his new post next week, and he's very much in the getting settled mode. But he says he's ready.

"The challenges, they are many. Fundraising is always a challenge, and anyone who says fundraising is easy is lying, because it isn't, and particularly in this kind of economic environment it gets much more difficult. But you know a lot of the heavy lifting has been done."

"I am coming in for the sexy part," he continued. "The bricks and mortar are rising, and I just walked through the theater, and when you stand in the auditorium and look at the proscenium opening it's very exciting. And I think that the community here will get more and more excited about it as the finishes come on- line, and I really look forward to that."

Art Hounds: Wee Cabaret, Puppet Lab, and more than a mass

Posted at 7:00 AM on February 10, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater

This week's hounds focus on an art gallery that's become a performance venue, a world premiere of a choral work built on a mass, and new puppetry for adults.

(Want to be an art hound? Sign up!)

Twin Cities actress Amanda Whisner applauds Form + Content Gallery's foray into Twin Cities performance by presenting "Wee Cabaret" during the month of February. It's a weekend showcase offering dance, hip hop, improv and more. On Saturday Feb. 11, and Sunday Feb. 12, choreographer Justin Leaf, performance artist Kjellgren Alkire and "The Truant Lovers" are featured, with rapper Dessa Darling and improv artist Jill Bernard at the end of the month.

Puppetry for adults. For some that may sound like somewhat of an oxymoron, but for Inver Hills Community College Music professor Andrew Martin, something to celebrate and support. For Andrew, that means going to see In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre's "Puppet Lab," which is winding up this weekend (Feb. 11-13). Puppet Lab features four new works from up and coming puppetry artists.

Local composer David Evan Thomas can expect to have a great Saturday evening this weekend. That's because one of David's favorite vocal groups is singing a new piece by a composer he thinks highly of. The Singers will gather at First Lutheran Church in Columbia Heights at 8pm to perform Jocelyn Hagen's "Amass." It's a work that expands upon the traditional mass by adding spiritual poetry and new instrumentation.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.

Arts 101: Dance Lingo

Posted at 11:44 AM on February 8, 2011 by Luke Taylor
Filed under: Arts 101, Dance

In the world of dance, there's a backspace but no keyboard. There are space-eaters but no astronauts. And it's polite -- if not required -- to shout, "Merde!"

Today we continue our series explaining unusual words and phrases in the arts by looking at the language of dance.

Carl Flink chairs the department of Theatre Arts & Dance at the University of Minnesota. He's also the founder of Black Label Movement, a Minneapolis dance company. Flink recently took time out from a two-week residency at the University of Illinois to discuss a few inscrutable terms in his chosen art form.

Backspace
Flink describes backspace as the vulnerable area immediately behind a dancer. "If you're dancing behind me, you are responsible to make sure I don't run into you," Flink says. "It's kind of like rear-ending someone in an automobile: No matter what the person does in front of you, if you run into them, you're kind of at fault."

Space-eaters
Before getting into dance, Flink was a highly competitive soccer player; to this day, his dance style is influenced by the athleticism of the beautiful game. "When a soccer coach tells you to pass the ball into space," Flink says, "the player going to the ball is aggressively taking that space."

Flink and other like-minded choreographers insist on the same from their dancers, urging them to not merely move within a performance space, but to project themselves into it, to seize it, to greedily consume it. "You'll often hear choreographers say, 'I want you to be space-eaters'," Flink says.

Black Label Movement's Stephanie Laager aggressively moves into space (photo by William Cameron, provided by Carl Flink).

Gumby
Like the green claymation figure, a gumby is a dancer who is extremely flexible. Flink says calling a dancer "a gumby" is affectionate and positive.

Brick
In counterpoint to gumby is brick, a dancer who is more solid, muscular and not as flexible. Being called a brick is a descriptive compliment indicative of a dancer's style.

Vop
If Carl Flink tells you to vop your leg, "It means kick your damn leg as high as you can," he says.

Vopping is a dance term that simply means to go all out, to spare no effort, to pull out all the stops. "It's a term I'm sure is used a lot in Broadway settings where it's really about showing off what you can do," Flink explains. "To say, 'I'm going to vop myself here' is a way to describe going for it in a very showy way."

Stephanie Laager and Eddie Oroyan of Black Label Movement. Flink says Laager's kick is a good example of vopping (photo by William Cameron, courtesy Carl Flink).

Birding / Herding / Flocking
These three words describe subtly different movement concepts. Flink says birding is so named because it's analogous to the way geese fly. "You dance with the person who's in the lead," he says. "You don't overtake them, you don't pass their backstream, you just stay in formation."

That's different from herding, which is a group follow-the-leader in tight formation. Flocking is similar but is more dispersed across the performance space. "I could flock with someone and be 30 feet away from them," Flink says.

Merde!
Actors say "break a leg" as a good-luck wish before a show, but you certainly wouldn't wish that to a dancer. Opt for a French swear word instead. "In the dance world, we just tell each other 'Merde!'," Flink laughs. "I have no idea where that tradition comes from. My sense is that it means throw everything to the wind, there's nothing to lose, just go for it."

Black Label Movement's Leslie O'Neill steps on Carl Flink in a bold choreographed move (photo by William Cameron, courtesy Carl Flink).

A similar superstition involves a German expression meant to banish the devil, "Toi toi toi" (sounds like English "toy"). When Flink danced with the José Limón Company in New York, the company had a pre-show ritual of sitting in a circle, pretending to spit and uttering the Teutonic incantation.

"There are multiple traditions," Flink chuckles. "You know how in theater, you're supposed to call Macbeth 'the Scottish play'? Well, avoid saying 'break a leg' to a dancer."

Next Tuesday, visit State of the Arts for unusual words from the world of museums and paintings.

Preparing for Black Swan

Posted at 12:45 PM on December 23, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Film

It's normally not my style to post a Yahoo! video clip, but I found this interview with Natalie Portman fascinating. She began training for her role in "Black Swan" a full year before the shoot, cross-training and practicing ballet for 5 hours a day, and working with a series of professional teachers on such things as "pronation" and hand movement. Portman says she did take dance as a child, but quite at the age of 13 and so essentially had to "start from scratch" - given the results, that's an impressive amount of catch-up.

Art Hounds: 2010 Highlights, part one

Posted at 7:00 AM on December 23, 2010 by Molly Bloom
Filed under: Art Hounds, Craft, Dance, Museums, Music, Photography, Theater

We asked our Art Hounds to pick their arts and culture highlights of the year. Here is the first installment:

"Photographer to the Tsar: Revealing the Silk Road" at The Museum of Russian Art
In the early 1900s, Sergei M. Prokudin-Gorskii, reportedly a photographer and chemist, took black and white images and used red, green, and blue filters to create the highly detailed color images that were on display. The fabrics and landscapes memorialized in the slides are just stunning. What a lovely example of the powerful combination of color, science, site, and art patron.
-Jada Schumacher, designer

"Inter-Be" by Peter Wolf Crier
The music on the album covers so much territory, at once melancholy, pleading, relentless, sexy, sad, hopeful, and every other emotion you can think of. It's the type of album you just want to listen to over and over.
-Billie Jo Konze, actress

The evolution of the Scrimshaw Brothers
Seeing the Scrimshaw brothers evolve from a seat-of-the-(no) pants sketch comedy and improv duo into the creators of two full-fledged comedy production companies, Joking Envelope and Comedy Suitcase. Between the two of them, they're producing and performing in some of the finest original comedies in theater today.
-Scott Pakudaitis, theater photographer

The relocation of the American Craft Council
The ACC did their homework and found that the Twin Cities is a thriving and dynamic place for craft -- from individuals to organizations, from DIY to long-time artisans. Their presence here will bring even more attention to those who create beautiful things here in Minnesota.
-Nina Clark, singer and director of programs and exhibits and the American Swedish Institute

"Thinkingaview" by Jeffery Peterson Dance
Both kooky and graceful, it defied all expectations of what a dance show should or can be. Underwear dancing and unabashed public displays of affection onstage led to audience members making out throughout the theater!
-Robyn Hendrix, artist

Check back next week for the second round of highlights. In the meantime, tell us about your arts and culture highlights in the comments!

The reviews are in for "Black Swan"

Posted at 2:05 PM on December 15, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Film

Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"

I usually try to limit the reviews I collect to those of local productions, but "Black Swan" - a film which explores the world of professional ballet - seems ripe for contemplation. Pair it with the recent scandal of NY Times' Alastair Macauley criticizing two ballet dancers for being fat, and the film's paranoia and self-mutilation becomes even more timely. Read on for excerpts from a variety of reviews, and click on the authors' names for the full review.

From Manohla Dargis at the New York Times:

One of the pleasures of "Black Swan" is its lack of reverence toward the rarefied world of ballet, which to outsiders can look as lively as a crypt. Mr. Aronofsky makes this world (or his version of it) exciting partly by pulling back the velvet curtains and showing you the sacrifices and crushingly hard work that goes into creating beautiful dances. Nina doesn't just pirouette prettily, she also cracks her damaged toes (the sound design picking up every crackle and crunch) and sticks her fingers down her throat to vomit up her food. Mostly, though, she trains hard, hammering her toe shoes into floor much as Jake La Motta pounded his fists into flesh. She's a contender, but also a martyr to her art.

...It's easy to read "Black Swan" as a gloss on the artistic pursuit of the ideal. But take another look, and you see that Mr. Aronofsky is simultaneously telling that story straight, playing with the suffering-artist stereotype and having his nasty way with Nina, burdening her with trippy psychodrama and letting her run wild in a sexcapade that will soon be in heavy rotation on the Web. The screenplay, by Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz and John McLaughlin, invites pop-psychological interpretations about women who self-mutilate while striving for their perfect selves, a description that seems to fit Nina. But such a reading only flattens a film that from scene to scene is deadly serious, downright goofy and by turns shocking, funny and touching.

From Colin Covert at the Star Tribune:

...director Darren Aronofsky ("The Wrestler") fashions an excellent, thoughtful work of art with the giddy urgency of a slasher movie. Using a handheld camera, Aronofsky shoots intense, intimate close-ups that hold the characters in a clinch. In tightly framed shots of Nina performing, we don't see her dancing so much as her absorption in it -- the concentration of a professional who has become almost selfless. As the camera moves acrobatically through the performance, we experience Nina's ecstatic abandon. And when her grip on reality loosens, Aronofsky's camera recoils in horror along with his heroine.

Portman's performance as the psychologically disintegrating dancer is beyond praise. Her worry, guilt and grief are so potent they're nearly unbearable. Nina's not all that articulate, which makes Portman's accomplishment all the more impressive. She has to communicate volumes through expression alone, and she carries it off brilliantly.

From Chris Hewitt at the Pioneer Press:

Everything in "Black Swan" is designed to put us on edge, right where Nina is. There's her fragile body, which seems to be sprouting rashes and sores. There's a startling sound design that incorporates effects where there couldn't possibly be any -- Winona Ryder, who is smashing as a washed-up dancer, shows up at a party accompanied by a noise that sounds like hundreds of cellos being pulverized. There's the color palette, with Nina nearly always in white and everyone else in black, until she starts ominously donning black, too. And there's the stylized acting, which is just unreal enough to remind us we're seeing people as Nina thinks they are, not as they really are.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet

Not since "Shine" have I seen a movie so enthusiastically mud-wrestle with lugubrious orchestral classics: Tchaikovsky thunders on the soundtrack as Aronofsky's camera stays tight in on the dancers' spinning heads and limpid limbs. Aronofsky's approach to ballet is like George Lucas's approach to space combat: even if you wouldn't hear those loud wooshes in real life, they sure make for some exciting cinema.

Have you seen "Black Swan?" If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Art Hounds: Mila, Albert Park, and a choreography retrospective

Posted at 7:00 AM on December 9, 2010 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music

The hounds lead us to a group of women vocalists raising their voices in Eastern European song, an artist enclave in and around the smallest dedicated park in the country, and a choreographer who's putting more than 30 years of work on display at Studio 206.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.

Art Hounds: Hip Harlem, Toys in the Attic and a night of dance

Posted at 7:00 AM on December 2, 2010 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Printmaking

The hounds follow their art-sensitive noses to a show by, for, and about toys, an exploration of the Harlem Renaissance led by a centenarian and a nonagenarian, and an unforgettable evening of dance.

Custom toys and toy-inspired posters will fill Gallery 122 in Minneapolis on Friday, December 3 and Chris Cloud couldn't be more excited. Chris, the executive creative director of MPLS.TV, says his childhood flashes before his eyes when he takes in the annual Toys in the Attic show. It features 50 print-based artists and celebrates both the joy and the darker side of toys and toy culture. It's also a benefit for Toys for Tots. Bring a toy and get in free or contribute five dollars.

Judith Brin Ingber is a dancer, teacher and writer in the Twin Cities who has very high regard for "Take Me Back to Hip Harlem," Dec. 4th and 5th At Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis. It features local dancer Ida Arbeit, who'll be turning 101 on Saturday the 4th, and 91-year-old tenor saxophonist Irv Williams, leading the Kairos Dance Company in an exploration of the movement and music of the Harlem Renaissance.

Performance artist and director Melissa Birch says members of the Twin Cities dance scene are holding an all-day party at the Southern Theater on Saturday Dec. 4th for a very important cause. It's a benefit to raise money for longtime dancer and mentor Krista Langberg and her husband Terry Chance. Both have been diagnosed with cancer in the last two years and have two daughters. The event will feature live music during the afternoon from Adam Levy and friends, and a concert that evening showcasing the finest in Minnesota modern dance, including members of Zenon Dance Company, Morgan Thorson, Hijack, Matthew Janzceski and Mad King Thomas.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.

Photo of Chris Cloud taken by Robb Long.

The real dirt on "Naked" in a gallery

Posted at 4:08 PM on November 1, 2010 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Dance, Galleries

Eiko and Koma perform at the Walker art Center (Images courtesy WAC)

The Walker Art Center staff lifted the veil slightly today to talk about the challenges of putting "Naked," the latest performance by movement artists Eiko and Koma, into one of the WAC's galleries. The duo have a three decade relationship with the Walker, but most of their pieces have been performed in a theatrical setting.

"Naked" is quite different. The piece is set in a corner of the "Event Horizon" show, cordoned off by canvas screens flecked with feathers and scorchmarks. Beginning tomorrow Eiko and Koma will perform for six hours a day on what they call 'the island.' It's a mound of feathers and what appears to be foliage set on a dirt floor.

As the title suggests Eiko and Koma will perform without clothes, lying on the island, and moving constantly, but slowly. The lighting also keeps changing to match the movements, and the only sound will be of water dripping from the ceiling. Eiko says the idea is to create something beautiful, but also to depict a sense of being feeble.

Audience members can enter through gaps in the canvas, or even peer through the holes. There are seats inside and people can come and go as they wish.

Putting on the show has been a challenge for the Walker - and not just because there are naked people rolling around on the floor.

"We are learning a lot as we go," says Performing Arts Curator Phillip Bither. "I mean the culture and practice of visual art curators installing art into space is extremely different than performing art producers mounting a live production."

In other words what's normal in a theater doesn't always wash in a gallery filled with very valuable artworks.

"Even something as simple as how do you have enough power and have enough connection points to have theater lighting in a gallery space," Bither continues. And that's before you get to the dirt.

"We are used to on-stage dumping two tons of dirt in a relatively small square foot area," Bither says.

Dirt can be a very effective stage prop. But it can also be an effective vehicle for rotting organic material (leaves for example, or worse smellier things,) and insects.

Bither says smells and creepy-crawlies are rarely a concern on stage.

"It (smell) goes away soon enough, and bugs aren't really a concern, but in gallery spaces we had to literally fumigate the two tons of dirt before it went in, and that was new to Eiko and Koma as well."

Bither says there have been other lessons too, like how to convey performance context though the signage on the walls. He thinks this kind of collaboration will have an impact outside the Walker as the lessons learned are passed around the museum and gallery world.

"That's what is the great adventure," he says.

Video break: TSU HEIDEI SHUGAXTUTAAN

Posted at 11:30 AM on October 26, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Culture, Dance, Museums, Video

"Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan part 1"
A contemporary break dance inspired piece, danced to a traditional First Nation soundtrack. Performance by David Elsewhere.

As I mentioned on Friday, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' new exhibition of Native American art is particularly compelling because of the way it intersperses video throughout the galleries.

One screen shows two videos in rotation, and it's their juxtaposition which is fascinating. The first shows a modern hip-hop dancer performing to a traditional First Nation soundtrack. The second video shows a traditional dance, but now the music is a modern electronic beat. Together they're titled "Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan: We will again open this container of wisdom that has been left in our care."

The creator of both videos, Nicholas Galanin, was born in Sitka, Alaska and his career as an artist has simultaneously taken on the preservation of his native heritage along with an exploration of cutting edge contemporary ideas.

The viewer is led to question "what is modern?" and "what is traditional?" all the while remarking upon how the different music and movement actually pair quite well together.

"Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan part 2"
A convergence of two dynamic forces meet as electro-beats pound to the steps of a traditional dance, performance by Dan Littlefield.

Video break: bodies in urban spaces

Posted at 9:58 AM on October 12, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Video

Willi Dorner's choreography is about making people see their world in a different way. Most of us walk or drive around the city without giving much thought to the buildings around us, because we see them everyday. And we tend to interact with the urban environment in preditable ways; we sit on benches, we walk through doorways, and we stand at bus stops.

But what if we didn't?

Based in Vienna, Dorner recently brought his unique brand of choreography to New York City. The above video is from a performance done in Philadelphia in 2008.

What I want to know is, when is his troupe coming to Minnesota?

Video break: Up and Over It

Posted at 8:44 AM on September 14, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Video

Performed and choreographed by Suzanne Cleary & Peter Harding
Film by Jonny Reed
Music: Yolanda Be Cool & D Cup ft. Cleary & Harding

Suzanne Cleary & Peter Harding first met while on the Irish Dance competition circuit. At 17 the couple were head-hunted by Riverdance, and after only six months were chosen to lead the show as the productions' youngest ever understudies.

Cleary and Harding, while excellent Irish dancers, tired of the same old routine over and over again. And so, inspired by hip-hop theatre, contemporary dance and electro-pop, Cleary and Harding have created their own take on the Irish dance show format. Together they call themselves Up and Over It.

You can find lots of clips of these two on YouTube, such as the above piece in which they manage to dance a duet without ever leaving their chairs.

Dancing to help a friend back on his feet

Posted at 1:13 PM on September 10, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Funding, People

Jeff Bartlett

Twin Cities dancers are gathering to support one of their greatest allies.

Jeff Bartlett, longtime dance presenter,was focusing lights up in a Genie lift at Burnsville Performing Arts Center on August 19 when the lift fell over. He suffered multiple fractures in eight ribs, a broken shoulder blade, a broken arm, a collapsed lung and three fractured vertebrae. Doctors say he is very very lucky to be alive.

Tonight and tomorrow, nine different dance companies will perform at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis in what is being billed as a celebration and fundraiser for Bartlett. A reception will follow Friday's performance, and the opportunity to give additional donations will be available in the lobby.

As the artistic director of the Southern Theater, Bartlett created a venue where local dance companies were welcome to perform. Frequently he also did the lighting design for their shows. In 2008 the board of the Southern Theater let Bartlett go after thirty years of service, for reasons that are still not publicly known. Since then, Bartlett has been working as a freelance lighting designer, and most recently, as Dance Community Liaison at the new Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts.

Bartlett was expected to attend the performances, but an infection forced him to return to Hennepin County Medical Center for further surgery. According to Ritz staff, they are working on setting up a skype connection between the hospital and the theater.

The companies that will be performing are:

ARENA Dances
Ballet of the Dolls
Beyond Ballroom
Ethnic Dance Theatre
Flying Foot Forum
Jawaahir Dance Company
Katha Dance Theatre
Shapiro & Smith Dance
Zorongo Flamenco

Fall season preview: October

Posted at 12:46 PM on September 9, 2010 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Events, Theater

On Tuesday I took a look at the fall arts season, and put together a list of what I'm most excited about in the coming months. The list was so long I decided to break it down into two parts. So while on Tuesday you got my picks for September, here's my list for October and November (FYI many venues have yet to book November, so that list is a bit short).

October

The Walker Art Center presents "Dark Matters" October 14 - 16, a blend of dance and puppetry. The title refers both to astrophysics and human impulses, exploring the idea of undetectable forces at work in cosmology. In it an artist creates a puppet with fateful results...

Ballet of the Dolls choreographer Myron Johnson asks "Whatever happened to... Swan Lake?" and gives us his own answer October 15 - 30 at Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. Continuing his pursuit of high drama and larger-than-life personalities, Johnson has created his own hybrid of "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?" and "Swan Lake."
Billed as a dark tale of two sisters who let jealousy and career ruin their lives, I'm thinking Johnson should have been brought in to consult on the new movie "Black Swan."

October 19 - Bob Mould plays acoustic at the Dakota.

Strife, love, class conflict, murder and canned peas - this is what happens when a University brings together wildly creative people from different disciplines onto the same staff. The Woyzeck Project features the talents of Luverne Seifert, Carl Flink, and Michael Sommers along with the dancers of Black Label Movement. On October 22, the Southern Theater will be transformed into the tangled mind of Georg Büchner, author of the play Woyzeck, and audience members will have the opportunity to create their own stories as they wander from room to room.

Is it possible to defy the fate that the universe, and society, have consigned to you? Starting October 29, Ten Thousand Things presents Life Is a Dream by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, in which a prince must do just that. It's a storyline that's bound to resonate with TTT's audiences, whether they're in homeless shelters, prisons, or the Minnesota Opera Center.

Want to listen to some of the brightest young talent in the world of classical music? Osmo Vanska conducts "future classics" on October 29.
http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/season/event_detail.cfm?id_event=1011005

Disclaimer: this is by no means a comprehensive list, and yes, it reflects my personal taste. Want to give a shout out to a show not listed here? You can always leave a comment. The more, the merrier!

Weekend outlook: cloudy, with angels

Posted at 8:32 AM on September 10, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Events, Museums, Music, Photography, Theater

Bonnie (with a photograph of an angel), Port Gibson, Mississippi 2000
Photography by Alec Soth

Photographer Alec Soth got his start working on the staff at the MIA, and now his work is the subject of a retrospective at the Walker Art Center. "From Here to There - Alec Soth's America" looks back at 16 years of his images, drawing from his series "Sleeping By the Mississippi" and "Niagara" as well as new work. For more information about the show, check out this story by Euan Kerr.

This weekend marks the annual Concrete and Grass music festival in lowertown Saint Paul, featuring performances by the Minnesota Orchestra, the Suicide Commandos and Dessa, among others.

Tennessee Williams' classic tale "The Glass Menagerie" opens this weekend at the Jungle Theater, starring Wendy Lehr as Amanda Wingfield. Themes of "quiet desperation" and "unrealistic dreams" seem particularly poignant given today's economy.

The Guthrie Theater premieres the stage version of Louise Erdrich's novel "The
Master Butchers Singing Club." The story chronicles the intersecting lives of German immigrant and butcher Fidelis Waldvogel and sideshow performer Delphine Watzka as they settle onto the plains and into the small town of Argus, North Dakota.

Ananya Dance Theatre presents Kshoy!/Decay! today through Sunday at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. It's a powerful work that through movement examines how capitalist interests lead to violence against women. For more details, click here.

So what are you doing this weekend?

Fall season preview: September

Posted at 4:25 PM on September 7, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Museums, Music, Theater

Alayne Hopkins as Laura in "The Glass Menagerie" at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis

In my world there are three sure signs marking the end of summer:

A. The State Fair has come and gone.

B. Neighborhood kids are going back to school.

C. A stack of season brochures from performing arts venues has appeared on my desk.

While I bid farewell to summer with a certain sense of nostalgia, that pile of brochures on my desk gives me lots to look forward to. And preparing for winter seems a little more tolerable when it's accompanied by planning what shows we'll see in the coming darker months. Here's a look at the events that have particularly caught my attention this season. The list is so long I've broken it down month by month: check back tomorrow for October...

September

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
Opens September 10 at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis
Sure, it's an old classic, so why the interest? Coming on the heels of the successful "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and starring local great Wendy Lehr as Amanda Wingfield, this show is right up director Bain Boehlke's alley. Also, themes of "quit desperation" and "unrealistic dreams" seem particularly poignant in today's economy.

The Master Butchers Singing Club by Marsha Norman
based upon the novel by Louise Erdrich
Opens September 11 at the Guthrie Theater
I like the idea of the Guthrie bringing local writers' work to the stage, and so I'm hoping this show is a hit. If you're not familiar with the novel, The Master Butchers Singing Club "chronicles the intersecting lives of German immigrant and butcher Fidelis Waldvogel and sideshow performer Delphine Watzka as they settle onto the plains and into the small town of Argus, North Dakota."

Untitled, by Alec Soth, 2008

From Here to There: Alec Soth's America
Opens September 12 at the Walker Art Center
It's been a pleasure watching Minneapolis photographer Alec Soth rise to fame over the past decade. Now the Walker is hosting the first "survey" of his work in the United States, featuring more than 100 images taken over the last 16 years. Included is his newest series, Broken Manual, exploring places of escape in and individuals who seek to flee civilization for a life "off the grid."

Picturing Global Wealth
Opens September 17 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
This exhibition may only consist of 20 images, but they'll each be depicting millions of dollars. This timely collection examines what wealth looks like today, depending on where you live.

A Cool Drink A Water
Opens September 17 at Mixed Blood Theater
Anything that brings together Sonja Parks, Regina Marie Williams and Isabell Monk O'Connor is going to get me to see it. Directed by Marion McClinton, this production imagines the family of A Raisin in the Sun living in upper middle class America in 2010. With humor and and intelligence these characters take on everything from gentrification to modern-day feminism through the lens of contemporary African-America.

Sept 20 - The Ivey Awards

Sept 20 Per Petterson, author of Out Stealing Horses and I Curse the River of Time speaks at the Guthrie Theater.

Jonathan Franzen

Sept 21 Jonathan Franzen, acclaimed author of The Corrections and Freedom, speaks at the Fitzgerald Theater.Did you know the characters of his latest novel live in the Ramsey Hill neighborhood in St. Paul?

How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere?
Performed by Ralph Lemon at the Walker Art Center's McGuire Theater
September 23, 24, 25
Inspired by his seven-year collaboration with Walter Carter, a 102-year-old former sharecropper from the Mississippi Delta, Ralph Lemon's new four-part multimedia performance explores the complexities of impermanence and time. Drawing from myths and realities, How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere? reminds us, as Lemon says, of "the special, ordinary, and inspiring human commonality of how one lives a life."

Seaworthy
Performed by Ali Momeni and Minneapolis Art on Wheels (MAW)
Presented by Northrop Auditorium
September 24
Using the universal themes of water, artist and U of M professor Ali Momeni and Minneapolis Art on Wheels (MAW) will premiere their film art installation "Seaworthy" onto the front façade of Northrop as part of the U of M Grito y Danza Fiesta.

Rick Warden in Black Tulips by David Edgar
from The Great Game: Afghanistan, Part 2: 1979-1996 Communism, The Mujahideen & The Taliban
(Photo by John Haynes)

God bless the Guthrie Theater's WorldStage Series, which brings some of the most compelling theatrical productions from England and elsewhere to the Twin Cities. For three weeks beginning September 29, London's Tricycle Theatre explores Afghan culture and history in a three-part event. Each of the three parts of The Great Game: Afghanistan is made up of four one-act plays, each by a different playwright, each exploring a critical period of modern Afghan history. Want to immerse yourself in Afghani history and culture? Go on a weekend and see all three parts back to back.

Disclaimer: this is by no means a comprehensive list, and yes, it reflects my personal taste. Want to give a shout out to a show not listed here? You can always leave a comment.

Of suffering and strength

Posted at 1:07 PM on September 8, 2010 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance

Ananya Dance Theatre presents Kshoy! this weekend at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis

It's difficult to imagine anything more diametrically opposed to classical ballet than the work of Ananya Dance Theatre.

In ballet, women are made to dance on "pointe," giving the impression that they are floating across a stage, like ethereal spirits.

In ADT performances, women stomp their feet, heels flat on the floor, declaring "I am here, and I am real" with each step.

In ballet, women are valued for slender, long bodies that can easily be picked up and carried by the male lead.

In ADT, the dancers are strong and muscular, with biceps that could wrestle you to the ground, and calf muscles that will keep you there. If anybody will be doing the carrying, they will.

These are not swans on stage; these are women to be reckoned with.

Founder and Artistic Director Ananya Chatterjea recently completed a three part series of performances about the environment, and how the destruction of the environment effects womens lives around the globe. This weekend marks the beginning of a new, four part series by ADT. Now Chatterjea says she's shifting the focus of her work to capitalism, and how the forces of capitalism are linked to violence against women.

What happens is we tend to domesticate violence against women - its their problem - referring to a specific couple. Whereas if we realize that domestic violence is systemic and springs from greater issues, than we're implicated in that problem. It's different.

An excerpt from "Tigers," one of the dances that make up the performance "Kshoy!/Decay!"

The first performance is titled Kshoy!/Decay! and deals with land and displacement. Chatterjea looked to places like Sudan and Sri Lanka to better understand the lives of women who are forced to flee their homes, and try to make a new life for their families elsewhere only to have to flee once more. Chatterjea says the entire company is involved in doing research and discussing the issues they find.

Some of the things we thought of were, what does it mean when something like the Haiti earthquake happens? What does it mean to lose your home, to have your children taken away "to a better place?"

Sometimes those women are forced to become warriors, as in the piece "Tigers" (excerpted in the above video clip). Here the movement refers to battle, with the wide sweeping arm gestures implying the throwing of grenades.

Future performances in the coming years will explore issues surrounding oil, gold and water.

Laurie Carlos

For this series, Chatterjea is partnering with writer/performer Laurie Carlos, who has a long history of working on projects related to race and women's issues. Carlos has brought text to the movement, underscoring themes of displacement and loss.

The Voices
EXILE
Tell of the smoldering landscape torn and tossed.
Opened /
Reopened torn /
Scored /
Some poisons fall close to eyes
Hands dissolve broken in prayer, crushed in the night. Taken under by force by mallet, by sharpened blade, by tare, by reach, by smash.
Crossings out into the night of flames.
Consumed in broken teeth.
Rushed at in the moment of escape
It is not yet the end of the days spent so long at the edge of a breaking sky /
Sure mist of vast sighs /
Songs lost /
All cross /resign /release

Carlos' text, combined with classical Odissi dance, martial arts, and breath-driven yoga movement combine to create a powerful, sometimes overwhelming experience. Then there's the soundtrack, created by percussionist Greg Schutte, using everything from jangling silverware to boiling steam kettles, to the crash and churn of industry. As a whole, the piece can be disturbing, if only occasionally hopeful.

Chatterjea makes it clear her goal is not to entertain, but to communicate:

It's excellent dance, and there's a beauty in that, in line and form, but we've got to make sure that the dance, which has so much metaphor and abstraction - we've got to make sure that those stories go out... that we keep pushing it out, that maybe that will cause some shift somewhere. Dance is what I know to do, so that's the way I can communicate these histories to people.

Kshoy!/Decay! runs September 9 - 12 at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.

Flash mob at the MOA

Posted at 10:17 AM on August 27, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Music, Theater

Earlier this week shoppers at Mall of America were surprised when a flash mob took over the Best Buy rotunda and danced to "Jailhouse Rock" to celebrate the opening of "All Shook Up" at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. The dance featured more than 200 performers, both amateur and professional, ranging in age (according to CDT) from 7 to 70. All Shook Up runs through January 2011.

Art Hounds: A bicycle built for film & time traveling photos

Posted at 7:00 AM on August 26, 2010 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Film, Photography

Image courtesy Timothy G. Piotrowski

This week's hounds hunt down a fashion photographer who travels back in time, top-notch Middle Eastern dance from Minneapolis, and a bicycle built for music and cinema.

(Want to be an Art Hound? Sign up!)

Two-time Guggenheim fellow and photographer Stuart Klipper doesn't normally traipse into beauty salons seeking art. But Stuart recently went to Rue48 Salon on 48th and Chicago in Minneapolis to see photographer Timothy G. Piotrowski's vintage fashion shots and, needless to say, was extremely impressed. Piotrowski employs young women who wear vintage clothing in his pictures.

One of Carstens Smith's favorite dance groups in the Twin Cities is Jawaahir Dance Company, which specializes in Middle Eastern dance. Carstens, who's development coordinator for the St. Paul Art Crawl, says she lives vicariously through Jawaahir's dancers, who are performing a piece called "The Dark Nightingale" through September 5 at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. It focuses on the music of the late Egyptian vocalist Abdel Halim Hafez.

Jenny Jenkins is a photographer and textile artist in Minneapolis who often uses her bike to get around. A few weeks ago she was riding on the Midtown Greenway when she ran into Andrea Steudel and Luke Anderson of "Urban Caravan." Steudel and Anderson ride on a specially equipped bike with turntables and a projector, creating soundtracks on the fly and screening films on the sides of buildings and bridges. Cool, eh?! You can ride along and catch Urban Caravan's next 'performance' this Saturday night, Aug. 28. They'll be meeting at 9:45pm at the Martin Olaf Sabo bridge on the Greenway.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.

Video break: Folies d'Espagne

Posted at 10:05 AM on August 17, 2010 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Film, Video

I'm often left a little empty after watching video of dance productions; for me they often fail to capture the raw energy and intense physicality of a production. Perhaps that's because so often the camera sits at a distance, trying to capture everything at once, rather than diving in to explore certain exquisite moments.

Not so with this short film. In just five minutes "Folies D'Espagne" uses a Baroque sense of style to set the scene for an exploration of contemporary issues of sexuality and class, creating a modern "Dangerous Liaisons" storyline. The piece is choreographed by Austin McCormick, and the film received a jury prize nomination at the 2008 Dance on Camera Festival.

2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival sets attendance record

Posted at 1:53 PM on August 16, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Events, Theater

50,256: that's how many tickets were issued during this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival.

It's the first time the festival has issued more than 50,000 tickets in its 17-year history.
That's an 8.7% increase in attendance over last year's festival.

I say "issued" instead of "sold" because a portion of those tickets are comps.

The number of people attending the Fringe went up as well; nearly 17,000 festival admission buttons were issued in 2010 compared to last years 15,267. That means the average button holder attended roughly three shows.

Finally, the Minnesota Fringe Festival took in 12.9% more cash this year, too. The 169 productions earned over $355,000 in ticket sales over the course of 11 days.

Art Hounds: Ladysmith, Liberia and dance

Posted at 7:00 AM on July 22, 2010 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events

This week's hounds are promoting an opera with small town Wisconsin roots, a pair of choreographers from NYC making their mark at the Southern, and the work of a Liberian installation artist at a local African market.

(Want to be an art hound? Sign up here!)

Twin Cities composer Carolyn Elerding is going to Ladysmith, Wisconsin this weekend, by way of the opera. "The Ladysmith Story," conceived by local opera singer and Ladysmith native Brad Johnson Bradshaw, traces the evolution of a small town at an important point in its history. After having its world premiere at Ladysmith High School, "The Ladysmith Story" is on stage at the Red Eye Theatre in Minneapolis on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, and Sunday at 2pm.

Elissa Adams directs new play development at Children's Theatre Company, so it's not surprising she's drawn to performance that straddles the line between theater and dance. Elissa's going to see NYC transplant and choreographer Chris Yon's new work "The Infinite Multiverse," and a piece by NYC choreographer Johanna Meyer entitled "Stroll," featuring San Diego actress and director Judy Bauerlein. They're being performed at the Southern Theater, July 22 - 24.

Patricia Briggs, an arts writer based in Racine, WI, has tapped installation artist and Liberian native Catherine Kennedy as one of the rising stars in Twin Cities visual arts. Kennedy's mixed media exhibition, "Exit: Making it Through" explores the lives of women caught up in the Liberian civil war. It's on view at the African Food Market and Deli Afrique in Crystal, starting this Friday through August 23.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.

Update: Shubert renamed in honor of Cowles

Posted at 7:00 PM on June 29, 2010 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Dance

The dance community topped its celebration of Sage and John Cowles by renaming the Shubert Center (left) the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts.

The name change takes effect immediately.

In making the announcement at a gala event this evening the (now) Cowles Center Executive Director Mary McColl declared it was the start of a new era and the community is "raising the curtain on a new era for dance and performing arts."

Sage Cowles said she and her husband were deeply honored by the renaming. She also predicted the new center, which is due to open in fall 2011, will do for dance in Minnesota what the opening of the Guthrie did for theater in the state in the 1960s.

When completed the Cowles Center will consist of three buildings: the Shubert Theater, the Hennepin Center for the Arts, and a new entry hall which will connect the two older buildings and serve as the center for the complex.

The Shubert, built in 1910, was moved on huge dollies from its original site on Block E just down Hennepin. The Hennepin Center has stood on the same site since it was built in 1888.

Sage and John Cowles recognized for commitment to arts

Posted at 1:28 PM on June 29, 2010 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Events, Funding

John and Sage Cowles, arts benefactors, will get their due tonight at a special event.

Tonight John and Sage Cowles are being recognized for their lifelong commitment to the arts and for being passionate champions of dance.

Community leaders, friends and family are honoring the philanthropists and arts advocates, who played a pivotal role in the creation of the Minnesota Shubert Center, a new home for dance and performing arts. The center is currently under construction, and set to open in the fall of 2011.

The Cowles' role in transforming the local arts scene dates back 50 years, when John Cowles helped convince Sir Tyrone Guthrie to build a new theater in Minneapolis. The son of a newspaper man, Cowles worked for his father's paper, the Minneapolis Tribune. He eventually became president and CEO of the company in 1968. In 1983 he left Cowles Media and spent twenty years doing whatever interested him, including studying agriculture, teaching fitness, and performing alongside his wife as guest artists in the world tour of a dance piece by Bill T. Jones.

Sage Cowles is the namesake of the "Sage Awards" in the Minnesota dance community. A dancer herself, she performed on Broadway and television before marrying her husband and occupying herself with raising their kids.

In her 50s, Sage returned to dance and helped found the Minnesota Independent Choreographers' Alliance. She taught dance for non-dancers and served on the boards of several dance companies (she currently serves on the board of Merce Cunningham's company).

Sage and John helped fund the Barbara Barker Center for Dance at the University of Minnesota. They also established the Cowles Land Grant Chair, which underwrites residencies by dancers, choreographers, critics, and other professionals in the field. To date more than 140 guest artists have come to the University's Department of Theatre Arts and Dance to teach, choreograph, and lecture through the Cowles' generosity.

The event honoring the Cowles takes place this evening at the Grain Belt Brewery in Northeast Minneapolis.

Battling cancer through dance

Posted at 11:50 AM on June 22, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Video

As a choreographer and performer, Renowned classical Indian dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant uses dance to talk about gender issues, mythology and philosophy. When Jayant was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, she decided not only to fight the disease but to dance her way through it. In this TED Talk, Jayant discusses her journey and gives a performance expressing the strength that helped her do it.

Interested in learning more about classical Indian dance, and its modern incarnations? We have two great companies in the Twin Cities, Ragamala Dance and Ananya Dance Theatre.

Walker Announces 2010-2011 performing arts season

Posted at 12:00 AM on May 21, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Museums, Music, Theater

In the wake of confirming budget cuts and layoffs, the Walker Art Center is now announcing its 2010-2011 performing arts season.

Despite the budget cuts, the Walker is commissioning five new works which will go on world tours after their premieres in Minneapolis. And the season continues the Walker's tradition of commissioning new works that test the boundaries of typical artistic genres.

2010-2011 features a five-part "Adventures in Puppetry" series, which, over the course of the season, brings together the work of artists from Canada, Britain, Slovenia, Latvia and South Africa, while also paying tribute to the Twin Cities' own dynamic "puppetry community." As part of the series, Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis will present an extended run of its Toy Theatre Festival.

The season also brings back many familiar names to the Walker to perform new works, including choreographer Ralph Lemon, the Kronos Quartet, the Gob Squad and Improbable Theater.

In November, Japanese movement artists Eiko and Koma will perform Naked, an installation piece in which they move in and among the Walker's collection every day for a month.

This year's Out There series consists entirely of European artists, performing mixtures of music, puppetry, film and theater, as well as a Belgian documentary on a small town in Colorado.

Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theater's Susana di Palma hosts this year's Choreographers' Evening.

The season also hosts an array of new music by percussionist Tony Allen, Wordless Music Orchestra and Tyondai Braxton, Violinist Jenny Scheinman, Copenhagen pop band Efterklang and the Brad Mehldau Quintet.

In addition, other performances blend film with jazz, and theater with ballet. And choreographer Lucinda Childs' minimalist piece Dance gets a remount 30 years after it first premiered in Minneapolis.

Art Hounds: TU Dance, Pottery, Mayda

Posted at 8:25 AM on May 6, 2010 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music

The hounds want you to check out a sensual exploration of the elements through dance, incredible pottery sprinkled throughout the St. Croix Valley, and a singer-songwriter who's slight in stature but not in voice.

(Have an idea for an Art Hounds? Tell us about it here.)

TU Dance blends a wide array of styles in its first full-length work, "SENSE(ABILITY)," and Julie McGarvey promises it will be evening of innovative, energized, beautiful movement on stage. Julie, marketing director for Penumbra Theater and a freelance director, says "Sense(ability)" springs from a series of sketches TU Dance has created over the last three years that examine the relationship between the senses and the elements. It's at the Southern Theater beginning today through May 16th.

Mike Tonder will be wandering through the St. Croix Valley this weekend (May 7-9), reveling in some of the nation's best pottery. Mike, who's a glass artist from Two Harbors, never misses the annual St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour, which this year features 37 guest potters from across the country.

Jessica Gleason sings and plays keyboard in the Minneapolis indie funk group Dance Band. She's also a local costume designer. Jessica is in awe of the power-packed song stylings of St. Paul's Mayda Miller, who was voted best R&B artist in this year's City Pages poll. Mayda will overtake the 7th St. Entry stage tonight.

Free CDs of a unique moment in music

Posted at 11:51 AM on December 31, 2009 by Euan Kerr (14 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Dance, Music

Poster produced for the concert recorded in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo (Image courtesy Jesse Hardman)

Last night on the local broadcast of All Things Considered you may have heard an interview with Minnesotan journalist Jesse Hardman. He told the story of how, while working in Sri Lanka, he came across a small enclave of people who are descendents of soldiers and laborers brought from African in the 1500s.

Despite six centuries of disconnection from their roots, they have maintained their cultural identity, including a musical tradition of singing in a Portuguese creole. The music which sounds distinctly African is played on simple homemade instruments. Each song mounts in a crescendo which culminates in some of the singers leaping to their feet and dancing.

Jesse Hardman and his news team recorded one of the concerts by the group which calls itself the Kaffirs. He produced a CD called "Kaffir Manja," and shipped most of them to Sri Lanka where they are now available at concerts.

However he did leave some at MPR to give away. So I have 17 copies of the disc available. The first 17 commenters on this post who indicate they want a copy, will get one free of charge.

Comment away!

Live Action Set consolidates leadership

Posted at 5:04 PM on December 29, 2009 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Dance, Theater

Live Action Set's Noah Bremer (left) and Galen Treuer strike a pose

Twin Cities theater and dance ensemble Live Action Set has announced a major leadership shake-up. Since it began the Set's four founders, Noah Bremer, Vanessa Voskuil, Megan Odell, and Galen Treuer have shared the duties of artistic director over the years.

Now Bremer will lead the company alone.

"Numerous things brought it about" Bremer said this afternoon. "But really we were finding ourselves stuck. And then we sat down and said, 'What do we want? What do we want as individuals?' And we all wanted very specific things, and I wanted to run the company."

Bremer said the discussions began after the company's successful production of "My Father's Bookshelf" at the Guthrie last summer. It was an affecting examination of a family living in the shadow of a father's Alzheimers disease.

Megan Odell told her colleagues she wanted to leave to focus on her family, and her acupuncture practice.

"There were tears, and it was hard, but we all understood" said Bremer. It forced the others to examine their own plans.

Galen Treuer said he planned to go to grad school in a year, so he could commit just another year to the company. Voskuil was also interested in moving on to other endeavors.

When Bremer said his passion lay in making theater and continuing on with Live Action Set, it launched a longer discussion.

Bremer and, in a later conversation, Vanessa Voskuil, stressed that this was a long and complex debate where they examined the situation from many angles. Eventually they reached the decision to have Live Action Set continue with Bremer as the salaried artistic director.

"Everyone is very excited for it to continue on," he said.

The new Live Action Set is still evolving, but Bremer envisions a larger acting ensemble, and more shows. The old model revolved around the central four producing one show a year.

"We really were a collective of four people trying to lead all together at the same time," Bremer said. They tried various models where one person would be given the final decision. "It never quite worked out," Bremer laughed.

He thinks the new arrangement will allow him to expand, while also unifying the vision. He says he'd like to return to some of the early Live Action Set work which was very dance oriented, while continuing to focus on social justice issues. However he also wants to do work based on his own clown training to give their pieces an accessibility while maintaining its poignancy. Also he has plans to do some family-friendly shows too

First up will be the "The Happy Show" at the Bedlam Theater in the spring. The production has been in development for some time, although Bremer admits the re-organization has pushed it on the backburner for a while.

"It's being slingshotted out now," Bremer said. He says the show which will examine the idea of happiness will be done as a promenade production, where audience members will have to make decisions as they move through the show.

"Part of the idea about happiness is always feeling like you made the wrong choice," Bremer laughs. "The choice you make will be great, but in the back of your mind there just might be a 'Oh, what would have happened if I took the other road?' So we are playing on that sort of inherent quality of being human."

Which on reflection seems to mirror the situation Live Action Set is in now.

However Bremer says while it's taken time to work through the arrangements, everyone is ok with it.

"Because there has been such a history of companies imploding in Minneapolis, we did learn from that, and we didn't want to follow in their footsteps," he said.

"There's no hostility. There's no animosity. Everybody's really happy with what's going on. We have come to this decision together. If people really didn't want me to run the company, the company would just cease to exist and we would all be fine with that as well because I would then just do the type of work I want to do. It just so happens the kind of work I want to do is what Live Action Set is, and always has been."

Shubert Center announces new Executive Director

Posted at 3:39 PM on December 1, 2009 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Dance, People

The state's self-proclaimed flagship center for dance has a new leader. After breaking ground just two weeks ago, the Minnesota Shubert Center has named Mary McColl its new executive director.

McColl, who was trained in ballet, is former Vice President and General Manager of the Ordway Center for Performing Arts. She also served as V.P. for Operations at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Most recently she was director of labor relations for the Broadway League in New York. McColl is looking forward to assuming her new role.

"As a center for dance that integrates affordable space to work, teach, rehearse and perform, the Minnesota Shubert Center has the potential to help lift the Twin Cities dance community to new heights of visibility and excellence," said McColl. "It is a dream opportunity for me to help launch this new institution and join staff, board, and partners in pursuit of a transformative vision."

McColl replaces Colin Hamilton, who will move to other projects as vice president for Artspace Projects. Artspace is the Minneapolis organization overseeing the Shubert restoration.

Today's announcement also marks the return of Jeff Bartlett to Twin Cities dance. The Minnesota Shubert Center has chosen Bartlett to be its dance community liaison. In that role, he will implement a plan funded by Dance USA to engage the dance community and support audience expansion efforts.

Bartlett is founding artistic director of the Southern Theater and a much loved figure in the local dance scene. Bartlett had to resign in 2008 when the Southern's board instituted a change in leadership, a move that generated controversy in the dance community.

Celebrating the extended family

Posted at 5:00 PM on October 7, 2009 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Music, Poetry, Storytelling

Singer Maisah Blanton and poet/performer Louis Alemayehu are two of the "Fathers and Daughters" performing this Saturday at Heart of the Beast in Minneapolis.

The band Ancestor Energy has been combining jazz and poetry at Twin Cities venues for 26 years now and - while it's not worked too hard to promote itself - in that time its developed quite a family of guest musicians, former band members, and friends. This weekend these jazz veterans pass the musical torch to women of the next generation who are presenting great art in their own right. "Fathers and Daughters" combines poetry, song, dance and storytelling to talk about the importance of the extended family. Founding member Louis Alemayehu says:

Extended family is really important. It's the reason we survive as well as we do, by the way that we make family through marriage and through our community connections.

Women see the world through a different lens, and because that lens has not been appreciated, my impression is that a lot of things are out of order because we don't see through the lens of a woman. As a father, I feel inspired to support the leadership of women.

While Alemayehu says this concert is about supporting strong young women, Maisah Blanton says in turn it's also about saying thank you to her elders.

The music for me is a reminder that although you have a father, we don't just have one father, we have many fathers. My belief and my teaching from my elders has always been "it takes a village to raise a child."

Being able to contribute as an individual affects communities all around. And if you have something positive to contribute - something that will enhance the quality of another person's life - that then radiates out and its kind of like a rippling affect through communities.

As part of the concert Alemayehu will perform new work that pays homage to the work of women. Here's an excerpt from his piece "Living in the Questions:"

Daughters take the swords of your father's songs

And beat them into plow shears

Prepare the New Ground

Be free from the known wisdom

Courage gives birth to Discovery

Daughters you will wash in your father's tears

And know that he was healed and glad for your being

Womanly, Powerful, Transforming all things made new

What does a woman's leadership look like

When she does NOT believe she has to imitate a man to be truly powerful?

Ancestor Energy - and family - perform "Fathers and Daughters" this Saturday at 8pm at Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.

The panels of artist peers have spoken

Posted at 1:57 PM on September 24, 2009 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, People, Theater

It's been a week of honors and acknowledgement in the Minnesota arts community.

On Monday night, the Ivey Awards, the annual celebration of Twin Cities theater, brought glitz, glamour and local thespian star power to the State Theater in Minneapolis.

On Wednesday night, members of the dance scene trained a spotlight on their best and brightest in 2009, with the fifth annual Sage Awards (named after dancer, choreographer and philanthropist Sage Cowles) at the Walker Art Center's McGuire Theater.

Both ceremonies are designed to tone down competition -- there are no pre-established categories and awards are decided by peer panels rather than independent judges.

A hearty congratulations to the winners!

Ivey Awards

Jennifer and Christina Baldwin---Outstanding singing and acting in "Sister Stories," by Nautilus Music Theater

Greta Olgesby---Outstanding performance in Tony Kushner's "Caroline, Or Change" at the Guthrie Theater

Luverne Seifert---Outstanding performance in "800 Words, The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick," by Workhaus Theater Collective

Sonja Parks---Outstanding performance in the one-woman show, "No Child," at Pillsbury House Theatre

The Youth Performance Company---Civil rights musical "Little Rock, 1957"

Greg Banks---Oustanding direction in "Romeo and Juliet," by the Childrens Theatre Company

Chris Griffith---Oustanding prop design in "Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins," by the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company

Sean Healy---Oustanding sound design in "Shipwrecked," by the Jungle Theater

The History Theatre---Overall excellence for its production, "Tyrone and Ralph," written by Jeffrey Hatcher

Theatre Latte Da--Overall excellence for its production, "Old Wicked Songs"

Emily Gunyou Halaas---Emerging Artist award

Dudley Riggs---Lifetime Achievement award

Sage Awards

Tary Griggs---Outstanding Performer award

Kristin Van Loon---Outstanding Performer award

Tamara Ober---Outstanding Performer award

John Munger---Outstanding Performance award for "Lord Cutglass"

Hijack---Outstanding Performance award for "O.M.G. P,Y.T.M.K."

Chris Yon---Outstanding Performance award for "The Infinite Multiverse"

John Koch, Vanessa Voskull, David Mehrer---Technical award for lighting, prop and video design in "En Masse"

Karen Sherman, Jeremy Wilhelm---Technical award for set design in "Copperhead"

Jane Shockley---Recognized for her contributions to dance education as a founding member of Zenon Dance Company

Wild Goose Chase Cloggers, DeLaSouljah Steppers--Special citation

Sachiko Nishiuchi---People's Choice award for work with Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre

Minnesota Shubert Center announces groundbreaking

Posted at 12:16 PM on September 17, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Funding

Many arts reporters wondered if this day would ever come. For ten years now, local dance advocates have been working hard to raise the money and clout to rehabilitate the old Shubert building into a center for dance performance and education. Now it looks like they're going to have their way. According to the Center, construction will begin on November 19, with a ceremonial groundbreaking.

The Minnesota Shubert Center project began when the Shubert Theater was moved from its historic location on Block E. The move, which was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records, placed the Shubert Theater 50 feet away from what is now the Hennepin Center for the Arts (an 1888 building originally built as a Masonic Temple). Work on the Shubert is expected to be completed by early 2011.

Dancing in response to climate change

Posted at 4:32 PM on September 10, 2009 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance

Tonight through Sunday, Ananya Dance Theatre presents the third and final concert in its three part attack on climate change, environmental justice and human rights. The piece is called "Ashesh Barsha" or "Unending Monsoon" and it takes a sobering look at the consequences of global warming, while offering no hope or answers.

I sat in on a preview performance last night, along with a group of students from Perpich High School. The piece began lyrically enough, as women in deep blue costumes (i.e. water) moved gracefully together, using stylized hand and foot movements typical of Ananya Chatterjee's choreography.

As time progressed, however, the movement and the music sped up, becoming hard and percussive, like a thunderstorm dumping itself onto the road. The relentless, driving rhythms break up the harmony between dancers, creating a visually distressing scene as women contort and convulse, eyes wide open, arms and legs akimbo.

The scene transforms from pounding rain to intolerable heat, to images of a glacier building and receding. Meanwhile symbols and gestures underscore environmental questions. The dancers' often grab their feet, which are traced with a black line, and stare at them. I didn't catch the allusion at first, but once Chatterjee explained, it became painfully clear. "They're considering their carbon footprint," she said.

Of Chatterjee's three performances on the environment spanning the last three years, Ashesh Barsha is the least theatrical in its storyline. "Dance is abstract," Chatterjee said. "Be through metaphor we can open up a realm where we can ask ourselves important questions." Questions about our role in the environment, and how to act on certain social justice issues.

Chatterjee herself has no answers to those questions. She said while in past performances she tried to end on a note of hope, she no longer feels that's appropriate. She said the world's natural resources are too far gone for hope to be realistic. Instead it's time for action.

Here's a video clip from the preview: fyi there's no sound in the clip, but I think it still gives a good sense of the movement and style of the piece. (Thanks to videographer Tim Quinlan for the clip!)

Interested in learning more about the first two parts in the trilogy? Read about Pipaasha and Daak.

Life as a musical, part two: Flash mobs

Posted at 3:16 PM on August 12, 2009 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Culture, Dance, Events, Music, Public Art

Earlier today I wrote about musical numbers, and how they make us feel like we belong to something bigger than ourselves. I cited a video of a public prank, in which a group of performers put on what appeared to be a spontaneous musical in the midst of a food court.

In response, Sharon wrote in with one of her favorite clips of a group taking over a train station in Belgium for a song and dance number:

Such events are called "flash mobs" and they're becoming increasingly popular as technology (internet, cellphones) makes them increasingly easy to orchestrate.

However, as soon as a bunch of creative folk come up with a great idea, it doesn't take long for companies to latch on to them for sales purposes. T-Mobile orchestrated its own flash mob event for a commercial:

Other flash mob events include "flash freezes" in which a large group of people appear to freeze in motion at the exact same time.

Rumor has it there may be a flash event at this year's State Fair... heard anything?

When life is a musical

Posted at 8:31 AM on August 12, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Film, Music, Public Art, Theater

(500 Days of Summer/Fox Searchlight Pictures)

What if people did break into song and dance when they were really happy? Or sad? Or angry?

"500 Days of Summer" is the most recent film to use a sudden song and dance number to convey the unbridled joy of one of its main characters.

Such scenes do more than express a heightened feeling; they also give us a sense that we're all connected. Suddenly we're all singing the same song and moving to the same beat. We belong to something bigger than ourselves, and we know exactly what we're supposed to do. That sounds pretty reassuring to me.

So what if like was really like that? Well, it would probably look something like this:

The above is courtesy of Improv Everywhere, a group based in New York City whose mission is "to create chaos and joy in public places." Other spontaneous events include large crowds boarding a subway with no pants on, and throwing a wedding reception for a random couple just married at city hall. You can watch the art gallery opening they hosted on a subway platform here.

The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi

Posted at 4:45 PM on August 11, 2009 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Religion

Looking for something to do tonight? How about taking a mystical journey through love, ending with perfection?

That's a crude explanation of what the whirling dervishes of Turkey do when they spin to music. It's a form of prayer that is also incredibly pleasing to watch.

Dervishes are members of the Mevlevi order, who follow the teachings of 13th century Persian poet and theologian Jalal ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi.

Tonight the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi perform at the Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis. It's sponsored by the Northern Lights Society of Minnesota, an organization created by Turkish Americans dedicated to promoting dialogue among all faiths and cultures.

Urbanscreen creates art out of ordinary buildings

Posted at 10:35 AM on August 7, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Architecture, Dance, Film, Public Art, Technology

JUMP | media facade | urban screening from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

I just discovered the work of Urbanscreen, a group of German video installation artists, and I'm hooked. As you'll see in the piece above, Urbanscreen manages to combine movement, architecture, film and public art into something wholly engaging and fantastic.

Below is a piece titled "How would it be, if a house was dreaming?" which projects an incredibly convincing 3D video onto the building, creating what appears to be a living, breathing structure. The sounds of the bricks sliding in and out of place really just puts it over the top. Enjoy!

555 KUBIK | facade projection | from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

Memories of Merce

Posted at 12:00 PM on July 27, 2009 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Dance, Museums, Music

Merce Cunningham, who died Sunday age 90, had a long and fruitful relationship with the dance community in Minnesota. He appeared here regularly throughout his career, and had a deep affection for the Walker Art Center, the huge stage at Northrop Auditorium, and the College of St Ben's, where he visited to teach and finally last year to present his huge work "Ocean" in a quarry near St Cloud.

Merce Cunningham in 2008 at the Walker Art Center (Photo courtesy of the Cameron Wittig for Walker Art Center)

I was lucky enough to meet Cunningham several times over the years, and he was always kind and patient as I struggled to find a way to describe for a radio audience what he and his company did.

The first time we met was on the side of the stage at Northrop, where I was told I could have something like seven minutes with him as the rehearsal schedule was so tightly packed.

To be honest, I was having trouble getting my head around how Cunningham worked. His interest was in the moment. He explored the intersection of chance - often in the form of the music - with the beauty of the movement he created for his dancers, a process he usually did through "chance operations," like the flipping of a coin.

Usually the dancers did not hear the music for a dance before the first performance. In the case of this particular Northrop show, the music was produced by a small keyboard attached to several cassette recorders. Before every show the keyboard player would rummage through a pile of pre-recorded cassettes and draw a few at random to put in the players. No one knew what sounds the score would produce on any given night.

As I naively tried to probe for meaning in his dances, Cunningham would giggle gently and keep explaining he didn't know what they meant, it was all up to the audience to decide. I have to admit that as my seven minutes drained away, I felt more and more panicked, and the giggling made it worse. It was only afterwards when I talked to a dancer and really thought about the element of chance in all our lives that it became clear, and I was able to write my piece.

His last performance in Minnesota was a bittersweet event. "Ocean" was a project dreamed up by Cunningham's long-time artistic and life partner John Cage. He wanted to surround dancers on a circular stage first by an audience, and then by an orchestra of 150 musicians. The idea was to bathe the audience in sound. When Cage died in 1992, Cunningham said he thought Ocean was dead too, but interest continued in the piece, and the St. Cloud performance became part of the effort to capture Cunningham's major works on film.

Even as he worked on the performance, Cunningham was clearly fascinated in what he was learning from the challenges of the piece. The potential for the "Ocean" circular stage clearly delighted him.

"Because ordinarily with a conventional stage the focus is front and center, and with something in the round it's all focus or there is no focus," he said. And he laughed that laugh again.

I have to say the strongest image I have of Cunningham came at another event, "Fluxarama," held in the fitness club in the Target Center in Minneapolis. The event was part of the "In the Spirit of Fluxus" show which explored the work and legacy of that iconoclastic group. The idea was to fill a non-traditional space with art, and Cunningham brought his company to perform on the basketball court.

It was a wild evening filled with enjoyable weirdness, but I have to admit I stood and watched Cunningham for several minutes. He was sitting on a folding chair courtside between performances. Few people seemed to pay him any attention as he sat just watching the crowds milling around him. Here he was, the man described as one of the most influential choreographers in modern dance, soaking in the ambiance of the waves of humanity around him.

He had a slight smile on his face, as if he was watching a beautiful dance unfolding before him. And being Merce Cunningham, a beautiful dance was probably what he saw.

Minnesota wedding party raises the bar

Posted at 9:10 AM on July 24, 2009 by Euan Kerr (3 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Events, People

Update: All Things Considered is going to do an interview with the mother of the bride and the pastor involved in the big dance number. They are as shocked as anyone about the popularity of the video, and have some theories to share. If all goes to plan it will air sometime after 6pm Central time.

It's always fun to see what becomes a viral success. This one is popping up repeatedly in my e-mail, and if you read the comments on YouTube and other sites it's doing the same for a lot of people.

Now, several people we know in the vicinity of State of the Arts are planning nuptials right now, and it's hard to avoid the thought that J and K have thrown down a gauntlet...

A thieving rat king?

Posted at 10:00 AM on July 21, 2009 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance

The Lakeville City Ballet has been robbed of dozens of costumes and some major set pieces for its annual production of "The Nutcracker."

So who would want to steal a bunch of tights and a big sleigh? A competing ballet company in dire financial straits? A Rat King determined to triumph in the end?

The lock on the storage facility was intact, so it looks like an inside job. Meanwhile neighboring city ballets have offered to lend costumes and/or hold fundraisers to help out. Fortunately dress rehearsals don't start until October.

Broadway cast of "A Chorus Line" offers master class in Minneapolis

Posted at 10:19 AM on June 9, 2009 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Film, Theater

Is there a high-stepper in you? On June 18th members from the Broadway touring company for "A Chorus Line" will teach choreography from the show at the Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts.

The Lundstrum Center has a stong connection to the show; its artistic director, Kerry Casserly, performed in "A Chorus Line" on Broadway for ten years. Her sisters, also at the center, performed in regional tours.

If you need some inspiration to get you up and moving, check out the new documentary on the revival of "A Chorus Line," called "Every Little Step."

Image courtesy Sony Pictures Classics

Plans for the Shubert leap forward, finally

Posted at 4:01 PM on June 3, 2009 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Funding

Remember back in 1999 when construction workers moved the old Shubert theater several blocks through downtown Minneapolis in order to save the building from demolition?

After ten years of lobbying and fundraising, last night the folks behind the Shubert Theater got the last $2 million they need to renovate the building. They plan to renovate it into the Minnesota Shubert Performing Arts and Education Center.

So what I want to know is, why did it take so long to fund the project, when the community was willing to go to such extreme lengths to save the building?