Slog - Comments on Big Boi + Ballet = Another Reason to Move to Atlanta http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet This I want to see: [This Thursday night], at the fittingly grandiose, neo-Moorish Fox Theater, Mr. Patton [Big Boi of OutKast] will perform with the Atlanta Ballet, the first major collaboration between a hip-hop luminary and a ballet company. The name of the production, of course, is “big.” A few are grumbling with sublimated miscegenation (kind of like the shit Joni Mitchell and Mingus took when they started playing together), but most partisans for both art forms have restrained themselves from the easy criticisms, partly because neither Big Boi nor choreographer Lauri Stallings (her major influence is Israeli dance badass... Copyright 2008 Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:31:19 -0800 Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:21:55 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by boobasax brrrrrrr**///---_________@#

]]> boobasax http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991654 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991654 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:39:57 -0800 Comment by Carollani I think the ballet elements are really interesting with the hip hop, but there is a whole lot of modern movement in there that makes the collaboration seem a lot less juxtaposed.

]]> Carollani http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991659 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991659 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:40:57 -0800 Comment by Katelyn Hahaha! What a bizarre idea. Let's do more fusions. I want to see a collaboration between, say, Notion and Thai Food.

]]> Katelyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991663 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991663 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:41:55 -0800 Comment by shitlanta sucks There is absolutely no reason to visit that shithole of a town.

]]> shitlanta sucks http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991670 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991670 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:44:10 -0800 Comment by Brendan Kiley @ 4: Really? I hear Atlanta has been coming alive over the past few years—rock scene, hip hop scene, dance and theater scene, film scene, one of the more progressive southern cities for race and gay culture and politics, business investment, strip clubs you can drink in, the works... What's your beef?

]]> Brendan Kiley http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991712 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991712 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:58:28 -0800 Comment by spencer Why go to Atlanta when you can just rent Center Stage?

]]> spencer http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991715 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991715 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:59:01 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe @5

You should totally move there and find out!

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991722 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991722 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:02:25 -0800 Comment by Katelyn @6 I LOVE THAT MOVIE. Not joking.

@5 That's what I heard, too. And Adam over at Amateur Gourmet has been singing its culinary praises, too...

]]> Katelyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991724 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991724 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:03:08 -0800 Comment by Bellevue Ave So can we put Atalanta ahead of Seattle in terms culture now?

]]> Bellevue Ave http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991735 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991735 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:06:09 -0800 Comment by genevieve I just visited Atlanta for the first time in November. Very cool city, but with a much worse overdevelopment problem than Seattle has. And zero modern dance scene that I could find. Ballet and hip hop? Sure. Modern? Nope - or at least it's completely invisible. I found a couple of presenters, but only one local modern company (that works in integrated dance, aka with different levels of ability/disablity), and no studios that offer modern classes. It's a pity, because otherwise I really enjoyed the city.

]]> genevieve http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991743 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991743 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:12:34 -0800 Comment by Cato Title should read:
"Ballet company goes to extreme lengths to target new audiences."

Gotta try something new, the stoggy old people will not be filling those seats forever.

]]> Cato http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991750 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991750 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:16:38 -0800 Comment by Dougsf Those dancers are way hotter than music video girls.

]]> Dougsf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991774 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991774 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:26:26 -0800 Comment by dancefan @ #12: so, so right. That there is reason enough to move to Atlanta.

]]> dancefan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991853 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991853 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:00:24 -0800 Comment by tabletop_joe Looks sexy, I like it.

]]> tabletop_joe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991870 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991870 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:04:43 -0800 Comment by Gomer Bolstrood Hell, the dancers in the pink and white shirts alone are reason enough to move to Atlanta....

Do we even have any thin women here?

]]> Gomer Bolstrood http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991905 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991905 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:18:16 -0800 Comment by Bellevue Ave Gomer, venture out of your house, possibly your neighborhood and experience the anorexic hanging with the obese on cap hill.

]]> Bellevue Ave http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991923 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991923 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:25:43 -0800 Comment by Christin As a Slog fanatic, Seattle fangirl, and six-year Atlanta resident, I declare myself arbiter on this one.


Seattle's still better. Like, a lot.


Ironically, I won't be attending because I'll spend the weekend taking in Seattle/Portland entertainment--Colin Meloy is in town on Thursday, and My Effortless Brilliance plays the Atlanta Film Fest on Saturday.


(Have you seen our "alt-weekly"? Motherfucking Creative Loafing. I've seen maybe three paper copies of The Stranger in my life and I totally eschew Creative Loafing. Ugh.)

]]> Christin http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991939 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c991939 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:32:04 -0800 Comment by Fitz As a former Atlantan, who visits annually, Seattle is MUCH better. Atlanta is a very materialistic city that still has a LOT of race issues. And even though they have MARTA (subway), their massive highways are over-burdened with climate-killing SUVs. Lastly, their crime rate is one of the worst in the country.

]]> Fitz http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992010 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992010 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:09:30 -0800 Comment by herbert browne Re .."But Stallings fans say her choreography has always been suited to hip hop, even if she didn’t know it.."-

Just as Emily Dickinson couldn't have known that all her poems could be sung to the the tune of "The Yellow Rose of Texas", one supposes... ^..^

]]> herbert browne http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992125 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992125 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:58:44 -0800 Comment by Rebecca Ok, this sounds (and looks) great. But take a look at Atlanta Ballet's season next year: Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Don Q, Snow White, Dracula, Firebird. zzzzzzzzzzzz. This Big Boi ballet seems more of an anomoly than the beginning of an edgy trend in programming.

]]> Rebecca http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992172 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992172 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:22:04 -0800 Comment by laterite Atlanta sucks. Talk about sprawl; I think ECB would have an embolism upon arrival.

]]> laterite http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992179 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992179 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:25:24 -0800 Comment by Emily I'll be there, visiting family, and will definitely go!

The arts need young people to get involved; unfortunately, new and exciting projects don't tend to attract audiences like the old standards do. Hopefully projects like this can inspire a new trend. Props to Atlanta Ballet!

]]> Emily http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992376 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/big_boi_ballet#c992376 Theater Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:21:55 -0800