http://slog.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/ Seattle's #1 Weekly Newspaper. Covering Seattle news, politics, music, film, and arts; plus movie times, club calendars, restaurant listings, forums, blogs, and Savage Love. en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. editor@thestranger.com (The Stranger Editor) webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Thu, 23 May 2013 08:15:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/17/support-the-massive-monkees-studio-keep-the-beacon-lit http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/17/support-the-massive-monkees-studio-keep-the-beacon-lit Kelly O <p>There's only <strong>two days left</strong> in the fundraising campaign to help <a href="http://www.massivemonkees.com/">the Massive Monkees</a> lock down a long-term lease on <a href="http://www.massivemonkees.com/thebeacon/">The Beacon</a>&#8212;their temporary studio located in Seattle's International District. These amazing folks aren't just teaching adults and after-school crews of little kids how to breakdance&#8212;they're creating community, and turning people into better and more confident humans.</p> <p>Check out this short video, and please consider donating a dollar or three. Only two days left! <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/massivemonkees/massive-monkees-studio-the-beacon">Donate, and read so much more right here</a>. </p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/massivemonkees/massive-monkees-studio-the-beacon/widget/video.html" width="480"></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/17/support-the-massive-monkees-studio-keep-the-beacon-lit#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16792522&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> City Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/05/17/support-the-massive-monkees-studio-keep-the-beacon-lit?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16792522&id=comments 0 Fri, 17 May 2013 11:47:27 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/30/more-feedback-for-melody-datzs-swan-lake-story http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/30/more-feedback-for-melody-datzs-swan-lake-story Brendan Kiley <p>A few weeks ago, we published a short essay by dance critic Melody Datz titled <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/swan-lake-is-so-goddamned-boring/Content?oid=16508792">"Swan Lake Is So Goddamned Boring."</a> Some local dance folks freaked out and enjoyed a sustained, satisfying whine. (Who knew that taking aim at a hoary, lucrative, sacred cow would be so provocative?) Angry blog comments, <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/guess-whos-pissed-off-at-our-story-about-swan-lake">responses to those comments</a>, a flurry of email from experts and amateurs, extended phone calls with dance people&#8212;including employees of Pacific Northwest Ballet&#8212;you name it. The <em>indignados</em> of Seattle dance never had it so good.</p> <p>Snail mail, of course, takes longer. This arrived yesterday:</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/def9/1367357081-melenvelope.jpg" alt="melenvelope.JPG" title="" width="500" height="375" /></div></p> <p>Which contained this:</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/7969/1367358293-swannutuse.jpg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/7969/1367358293-swannutuse.jpg" alt="swannutUSE.jpg" title="" width="500" height="204" /></a></div></p> <p>You're on notice, Melody. An anonymous, snail-mail troll who calls you "Melody Ditzy Dame" says you have no class.</p> <p>You'd better scrape some up before your next story, young missy. And that's an order.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/30/more-feedback-for-melody-datzs-swan-lake-story#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16635283&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/30/more-feedback-for-melody-datzs-swan-lake-story?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16635283&id=comments 17 From the Mailbag The return address was whited out Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:42:20 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/pas-de-dudes http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/pas-de-dudes Brendan Kiley <p>Yesterday, I was having a conversation with our (<a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/swan-lake-is-so-goddamned-boring/Content?oid=16508792"><u>newly</u></a> <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/guess-whos-pissed-off-at-our-story-about-swan-lake"><u>infamous</u></a>) dance critic Melody Datz about the common notion that ballerinas get trained to do all kinds of nutty things while danseurs (aka, "boy ballerinas") mostly learn how to lift chicks and hold them in the air&#8212;that ballerinas are the branch, leaf, flower, and fruit of ballet, and danseurs are just the root.</p> <p>"Oh no, no," Melody said and talked about about male dancers she'd known who'd take the pointe shoes out of their friends' bags and go take class.</p> <p>A few hours later, she sent me evidence in this "pas de dudes" by her latest choreographer-crush <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/death-death-and-basques/Content?oid=16460133">Trey McIntyre.</a> Enjoy.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UFgvRg-wNyM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/pas-de-dudes#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16564979&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/23/pas-de-dudes?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16564979&id=comments 4 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:25:32 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/guess-whos-pissed-off-at-our-story-about-swan-lake http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/guess-whos-pissed-off-at-our-story-about-swan-lake Brendan Kiley <p>Why, it's wounded members of the dance community! They're strange birds, those certain&#8212;not <em>all</em>, just some&#8212;members of the dance community. When we don't write about dance, they complain. When we write glowing criticism, <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/bodies-can-shine/Content?oid=16173508"><u>they</u></a> <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/dancers-melting-in-and-out-of-the-crowd/Content?oid=16373217"><u>are</u></a> <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/death-death-and-basques/Content?oid=16460133"><u>silent</u></a>. When we write questioning or negative criticism, they come out of the woodwork to insist that we're idiots and criminals and incompetent monsters.</p> <p>You can't win. (I just mentioned this phenomenon to books editor Paul Constant, and he said: "Sounds like poetry! If I write something positive about poetry, nobody gives a shit. When I write something negative, <strong>suddenly I'm the Hitler of poetry</strong>.")</p> <p>But we're used to that. It's been that way <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/we-stink/Content?oid=3997027">for years.</a></p> <p>And it's that way again this week with <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/swan-lake-is-so-goddamned-boring/Content?oid=16508792">Melody Datz's lovely, funny, and intelligent piece on <em>Swan Lake</em></a> at Pacific Northwest Ballet, which she's seen many times over the years, and adores for its athleticism (she's a former bunhead and still impressed by fouett&#233;s and such), but recognizes that, to many people, it's dull as dirt and a potential turn-off from all dance forever.</p> <p>Though she talks about what she likes about this <em>Swan Lake</em>, and interviews a young man about how it was a gateway for him to other kinds of dance, commenters are (predictably) throwing fits.</p> <p>I'd like to single one out for special mention, however, only because I've seen this sneaky trick a thousand times:</p> <blockquote><p>Melody&#8212;Headline aside, your attempt at offering us an inflammatory piece does little to establish your credibility as a dance writer new on the scene. I expected better from you. You've relied on crass prose and slang to make tired, cliched points. Leave the sensationalist vocabulary behind, step out of your comfort zone, and start writing something worth reading.</p> <p>Doug Fullington<br />Education Programs Manager<br />Pacific Northwest Ballet</p></blockquote> <p>This is a classic&#8212;an employee of an arts institution suggesting that the critic isn't "credible" because she dared to write something negative about some hallowed work of art (and dared to use conversational, grown-up language while doing it).</p> <p>But this is totally disingenuous.</p> <p>When any journalist evaluates the credibility of a source, the first question to ask is: "What does this person have to gain? Does he or she have any incentive&#8212;especially a financial incentive&#8212;to spin this information?" Any employee of any arts palace has a financial incentive to be mad at a critic. As "education programs manager," Doug Fullington, by definition, has a professional stake in the public perception of <em>Swan Lake</em>. But <em>he's</em> the one questioning <em>her</em> credibility.</p> <p>So Doug: If there's anyone who is <em>less</em> credible in the conversation than the critic, it's the person who has a financial stake in what the critic says.</p> <p>And that's you.</p> <p>By all means, employees of arts institutions are encouraged to join any critical conversation we have at <em>The Stranger</em>. But we are all aware of where your packchecks come from and how that might influence what you say. So be careful about dubbing yourselves the arbiters of credibility.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/guess-whos-pissed-off-at-our-story-about-swan-lake#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16517272&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/17/guess-whos-pissed-off-at-our-story-about-swan-lake?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16517272&id=comments 17 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:36:17 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/12/death-death-and-basques-or-trey-mcintyre-tonight http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/12/death-death-and-basques-or-trey-mcintyre-tonight Brendan Kiley <p>Dance critic Melody Datz has a nice introduction to Boise-based choreographer Trey McIntyre in this week's paper. He's performing this weekend at UW Meany Hall:</p> <blockquote><p>Trey McIntyre is an intense dude, known for his first-class pedigree, notoriously fiery performances, and eyebrow-raising decision to leave the big cities behind and forge a successful company and career in his current home of Boise, Idaho. In Boise, his company has achieved a kind of celebrity status&#8212;Trey McIntyre Project dancers are recognized on the sidewalk, and the company receives money from local government and businesses. This enviable, mutual passion between an artist and his community reflects (and maybe inspires) an earthy quality in TMP's work&#8212;ballet roots easily meld with modern, and sometimes wild, movements. This weekend, Seattle gets in on a little of the action.</p> <p>Everything in McIntyre's work, from his choreography to his methods of delivery (including short surprise performances in public places) are deeply connected to his cultural and environmental context. One of the pieces TMP will perform this week, <em>Arrantza</em> (the Basque word for "fishing"), is partially inspired by Boise's large Basque American population.</p></blockquote> <p>Trey's people responded to Melody: "First, thank you for the article onTrey McIntyre Project. We will be using the quote 'Trey McIntyre is an intense dude...' (attributed, of course) for years to come." They also sent along this sweet little bit of dance-comedy starring McIntyre:</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6Qe47drlFAM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Reggie Watts and Amy O'Neal did a similar thing several years ago as a <a href="http://vimeo.com/18476528">video intro to her show <em>Mockumentary</em></a> at On the Boards.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/12/death-death-and-basques-or-trey-mcintyre-tonight#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16483494&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/04/12/death-death-and-basques-or-trey-mcintyre-tonight?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16483494&id=comments 1 Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:10:55 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/15/this-weekend-saint-genet-and-trench-art-records-the-heavenly-spies http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/15/this-weekend-saint-genet-and-trench-art-records-the-heavenly-spies Brendan Kiley <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/24cc/1363383380-_r0v3090.jpg" alt="On top of a roof." title="On top of a roof." width="500" height="333" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Saint Genet</li><li class="imageCaption">Saint Genet on top of a roof.</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/03/15/1363383444-img_0648.jpg" alt="Wrapping the cassettes." title="Wrapping the cassettes." width="500" height="334" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Saint Genet</li><li class="imageCaption">Saint Genet wrapping the cassettes.</li></ul></div></p> <p>This Sunday, <a href="http://www.saintgenet.org/">Saint Genet</a> and <a href="http://trenchartrecords.bigcartel.com/">Trench Art Records</a> will host/perform <em>Sorrows: Music from Transports of Delirium</em>, with music by Jeff Huston, Salo (Joy Wants Eternity) Garek Jon Druss (A Story of Rats, Dull Knife), and Brian Lawlor (Los Inquietos Del Norte, Implied Violence).</p> <p>There will also be a new Saint Genet short film by Wes Hurley ("a pre-dawn fever dream atop the Fischer Flour Mill"), performances, and a chance to buy a limited audio cassette release of music from Saint Genet's <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cocks-and-honey/Content?oid=10127966">2011 experiments</a> at Lawrimore Project.</p> <p>Your dough will go to fund SG's <em>Paradisiacal Rites</em> at the <a href="http://www.donaufestival.at/festival-en/programm-a-z">Donau Festival</a> in Austria and at <a href="http://www.ontheboards.org/performances/paradisiacal-rites">On the Boards</a> this spring.</p> <p>Also happening this weekend&#8212;the Heavenly Spies' tenth anniversary show at the Triple Door. Check out <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/less-heave-more-ho/Content?oid=16235803">Paul Constant's adventure at one of their rehearsals:</a></p> <blockquote><p>It's not easy for 18 dancers to simultaneously remove their tops while standing in a row on a small stage. Last week at Fred Wildlife Refuge, during a rehearsal for the Heavenly Spies' 10th anniversary show, choreographer and dancer Fae Phalen suggested that half the women leave their tops on.</p> <p>"I feel like it would be a better line with all our tits out," another dancer argued. In that case, Phalen said, everyone might have to perform this four-minute closing number "without a bra on." Some of the top-heavier dancers groaned. But bras, Phalen pointed out, make everything more complicated. Rhinestones and lace don't often peacefully coexist, causing weird shapes and catches in the costumes. Plus, Phalen worried that if the dancers strip too enthusiastically, people in the front row might wind up with brassieres in their desserts. But you can't let the bra limply drop either&#8212;hooks tend to gravitate toward fishnets. "I've had to do half a dance with a bra hooked to the side of my leg," Phalen warned her crew...</p></blockquote> <p>What did they decide? Bras or no bras? Find out this weekend at the Triple Door...</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/15/this-weekend-saint-genet-and-trench-art-records-the-heavenly-spies#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16264773&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/15/this-weekend-saint-genet-and-trench-art-records-the-heavenly-spies?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16264773&id=comments 0 Bras and Cassette Tapes Saint Genet Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:30:56 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/less-heave-more-ho http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/less-heave-more-ho Paul Constant <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/38b2/1363282576-theater1-570.jpg" alt="theater1-570.jpg" title="" width="500" height="263" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">CALIMA PORTRAITS</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p><small>(The Heavenly Spies' <em>Diamonds!</em>, is <a href="http://tickets.thetripledoor.net/eventperformances.asp?evt=457">playing at the Triple Door</a> tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday.)</small></p> <p>It's not easy for 18 dancers to simultaneously <strong>remove their tops</strong> while standing in a row on a small stage. Last week at Fred Wildlife Refuge, during a rehearsal for the Heavenly Spies' 10th anniversary show, choreographer and dancer Fae Phalen suggested that half the women leave their tops on.</p> <p>"I feel like it would be a better line with all our tits out," another dancer argued. In that case, Phalen said, everyone might have to perform this four-minute closing number "without a bra on." Some of the top-heavier dancers groaned. But bras, Phalen pointed out, make everything more complicated. Rhinestones and lace don't often peacefully coexist, causing weird shapes and catches in the costumes. Plus, Phalen worried that if the dancers strip too enthusiastically, people in the front row might wind up with brassieres in their desserts. But you can't let the bra limply drop either&#8212;hooks tend to <strong>gravitate toward fishnets</strong>. "I've had to do half a dance with a bra hooked to the side of my leg," Phalen warned her crew.</p> <p>But the protestations grew and Phalen relented, adding nude bras covered with rhinestones to the number, straining an already-stretched costume budget. Phalen promised to bring <strong>glue guns and a bag of rhinestones</strong> to the next practice. Forget diamonds&#8212;glue guns, it turns out, are a girl's best friend. Everything from feathers to lace can be slapped onto a costume with a little hot glue, and a few of the dancers have nasty burns to show for their recent costume adjustments.</p> <p>Considering the frailty of flesh, a 10-year anniversary is a big one for any dance company&#8212;and perhaps especially for a burlesque troupe...</p> <p><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/less-heave-more-ho/Content?oid=16235803">Continue reading >></a></p> Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/14/less-heave-more-ho?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16247978&id=comments 0 Less Heave, More Ho Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:05:49 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/23/michelle-obama-dances-with-jimmy-fallon http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/23/michelle-obama-dances-with-jimmy-fallon Charles Mudede <p>The most entertaining thing about all of this?<br /><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="460" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Hq-URl9F17Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br />Reading the haters in the video's comment section.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/23/michelle-obama-dances-with-jimmy-fallon#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16083017&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/23/michelle-obama-dances-with-jimmy-fallon?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16083017&id=comments 19 Sat, 23 Feb 2013 11:35:58 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/19/pnb-impresses-nyt http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/19/pnb-impresses-nyt Brendan Kiley <p>Pacific Northwest Ballet has just returned from <a href="http://www.pnb.org/Season/Touring/">a tour</a> to New York where the company impressed Alastair Macaulay of the <em>New York Times</em>. He liked the dancers well enough, but he <em>loved</em> the PNB orchestra, conducted by Emil de Cou.</p> <p>From <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/arts/dance/romeo-et-juliette-pacific-northwest-ballet-at-city-center.html?ref=dance&_r=1&">his review of <em>Rom&#233;o et Juliette</em>:</a></p> <blockquote><p>Prokofiev&#8217;s celebrated score for &#8220;Romeo and Juliet&#8221; has never sounded better in the theater, in my experience, than at Pacific Northwest Ballet&#8217;s two performances on Saturday at City Center... In the balcony scene of Act I, I found myself <strong>blinking back tears</strong> at the matinee, thanks less to the choreography than to the rapturous sound of the strings and woodwind. When Juliet is contemplating feigned death in Act III, a series of soft, low string staccati made a more intimate effect than I have ever known.</p></blockquote> <p>From <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/arts/dance/pacific-northwest-ballet-at-city-center.html?ref=alastairmacaulay">his review of the Balanchine bill:</a></p> <blockquote><p>And the music sounded marvelous. Pacific Northwest Ballet&#8217;s orchestra has long been superior to those we hear for New York&#8217;s resident ballet troupes, and in Emil de Cou it probably has <strong>America&#8217;s finest ballet conductor</strong>.</p></blockquote> <p>And I especially enjoyed this sentence about PNB principal James Moore:</p> <blockquote><p>Mr. Moore, hunky and wearing an early-Beatles haircut, lost himself in the story with the eagerness of a puppy. Pressing his cheek to Juliet&#8217;s hand and then tenderly up the length of her leg, he was the quintessence of young love.</p></blockquote> <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:180px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/ab30/1361315256-2009_pacific_northwest_ballet.jpg" alt="James Moore in Mopey" title="James Moore in Mopey" width="168" height="187" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Kathryn Rathke</li><li class="imageCaption">James Moore in "Mopey"</li></ul></div></p> <p>I first fell for Mr. Moore in 2005, when he performed <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=25213"><em>Mopey</em>, a solo by Marco Goecke,</a> in which he also lost himself with puppy-like eagerness. <em>Mopey</em>, and Peter Boal's willingness to program it as part of his anti-fustiness campaign when he first arrived at PNB, was also a major factor in the decision to give the ballet a <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/pacific-northwest-ballet/Content?oid=2708912">Stranger Genius Award in 2009</a>&#8212;the Genius party portrait was of Mr. Moore performing <em>Mopey</em>.</p> <p>Congrats to Moore, de Cou, and PNB for a successful tour.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/19/pnb-impresses-nyt#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16045436&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/19/pnb-impresses-nyt?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16045436&id=comments 7 PNB Impresses NYT James Moore in "Mopey" Kathryn Rathke Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:33:36 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/19/blade-runner-shot-his-girlfriend-because-he-did-not-have-his-legs-on http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/19/blade-runner-shot-his-girlfriend-because-he-did-not-have-his-legs-on Charles Mudede <p>This is what Oscar Pistorius <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/02/19/highlights-from-the-pistorius-affidavit-because-i-did-not-have-my-legs-on-i-felt-vulnerable/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost">said in an affidavit</a>: <br /><blockquote>I sleep with my 9mm under my bed. I woke up to close the sliding door and heard a noise in the bathroom.<br />I was scared and didn&#8217;t switch on the light. I got my gun and moved towards the bathroom. I screamed at the intruder because I did not have my legs on, I felt vulnerable. I fired shots through the bathroom door and told Reeva to call police.</blockquote> Your legs might help you on the field, but don't expect them to do the same in court.</p> <p>On another note, the one thing about this case is that it has introduced America to lots of <a href="http://blogs.independent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/oscar-pistorius.jpg"rel="nozoom" target="_blank" >black police officers</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/19/blade-runner-shot-his-girlfriend-because-he-did-not-have-his-legs-on#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16042832&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/19/blade-runner-shot-his-girlfriend-because-he-did-not-have-his-legs-on?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16042832&id=comments 38 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:55:09 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/25/help-us-help-you-the-aandp-listings-deadline-approacheth http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/25/help-us-help-you-the-aandp-listings-deadline-approacheth Jen Graves <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:212px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/fa71/1359136198-your_message_jpeg.jpg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/fa71/1359136198-your_message_jpeg.jpg" alt="Dooo iiiit. Its gonna feel so good." title="Dooo iiiit. Its gonna feel so good." width="200" height="87" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Dooo iiiit. It's gonna feel so good.</li></ul></div>We always want our arts quarterly magazine, <a href="http://seattleaandp.com/index.html"><em>A&P</em></a>, to be comprehensive. The new edition will come out in March. Please help by <strong>submitting your upcoming events to us by February 1</strong>.</p> <p>The magazine will cover <strong>March 4 through June 1</strong>.</p> <p>Send email for:<br /><a href="mailto:film@thestranger.com">Film calendar</a><br /><a href="mailto:theater@thestranger.com">Theater calendar</a><br /><a href="mailto:readings@thestranger.com">Books calendar</a><br /><a href="mailto:visualart@thestranger.com">Art calendar</a></p> <p>Thanks, folks.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/25/help-us-help-you-the-aandp-listings-deadline-approacheth#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15842185&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Arts Visual Art Books Film Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/25/help-us-help-you-the-aandp-listings-deadline-approacheth?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15842185&id=comments 9 Help Us Help You: The <em>A&P</em> Listings Deadline Approacheth Dooo iiiit. It's gonna feel so good. Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:27:41 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/23/studying-jeni-le-gon-the-first-black-woman-to-sign-with-a-major-studio http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/23/studying-jeni-le-gon-the-first-black-woman-to-sign-with-a-major-studio Jen Graves <p>Roger Ebert has <a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/-my-good-sun-times-pal.html">a great new page full of photos, videos, and testimony about Jeni Le Gon</a>, the first black woman signed to a major studio, back in the 1930s. She died in December. There's video of her <strong>performing at Seattle's Century Ballroom in 2007 at 91 years old</strong>, along with clips from her youth.</p> <p>Ebert quotes from Le Gon's obituary in the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jeni-le-gon-the-first-black-woman-to-sign-for-a-major-hollywood-studio-8459120.html"><em>London Independent</em></a> about Le Gon's brush with Ronald Reagan in 1950. She'd have known what kind of president was coming, and was probably unsurprised when Reagan ignored AIDS in its early years.</p> <blockquote><p>"She played maids to Maria Montez in <em>Arabian Nights</em> (1942), Ann Miller in <em>Easter Parade</em> (1948) and Betty Hutton in <em>Somebody Loves Me</em> (1952). Tiring of maid roles, Le Gon faced humiliation in 1950 when she joined a group of black actors to call on Ronald Reagan, then president of the Screen Actors Guild. They raised their concerns about the stereotyping of black actors, but <strong>Reagan showed no interest</strong>: "We tried to get him to intervene for us, but he wasn't the least bit sympathetic. He didn't even lie about it."</p></blockquote> <p>I'm pasting two YouTube clips from the two ends of her career here, but you should really <a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/-my-good-sun-times-pal.html">visit Ebert's whole page</a>.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JOcQ6uC8gyg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><iframe width="500" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gi5QVbRPMao" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/23/studying-jeni-le-gon-the-first-black-woman-to-sign-with-a-major-studio#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15816181&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Arts Film Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/23/studying-jeni-le-gon-the-first-black-woman-to-sign-with-a-major-studio?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15816181&id=comments 2 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:03:17 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/21/joanna-farmer-killed-it-at-meany-hall-on-saturday-night http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/21/joanna-farmer-killed-it-at-meany-hall-on-saturday-night Dominic Holden <p>I'm not a frequent dance patron, but I attended a three-part show at Meany Hall over the weekend, produced and choreographed by UW faculty, and I have to yell about a <strong>dancer named Joanna Farmer</strong>. </p> <p><em>Christ</em> she's good. The UW senior&#8212;one of five performers in a piece titled <em>Dances for Isadora</em>&#8212;was strong enough to <strong>stand out in a two-hour show</strong> packed with great dancers. </p> <p>Unlike so many performers who seem to string together techniques (a foot to the left, an arm to the right, elbow bent, hand cocked downward, etc.), Farmer moved as a unified force. She deployed her appendages in <strong>the way a well-knit band makes a singular sound</strong>, as if the individual instruments are impossible to pick out. The effect was communicating comprehensible ideas, which is great for lunkheads like me who often miss the subtext of modern choreography. Farmer is cohesive and grand and forthright, but <strong>precise</strong>. A sort of Captain Janeway of motion. Farmer actually managed to&#8212;no joke&#8212;exit stage left by <em>rolling across the floor</em> without looking contrived. She's marvelous to watch. </p> <p>Dances for Isaoroa was originally conceived by Jos&#233; Limon as a tribute to the seminal modern dance icon <strong>Isadora Duncan</strong>, made up of five solos that represent the stages of her life (concluding with getting her scarf got caught in the tire of a convertible and having her neck broken). Farmer performed the second piece, a frenzied piece, titled <em>Maenad</em>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/21/joanna-farmer-killed-it-at-meany-hall-on-saturday-night#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15791589&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/21/joanna-farmer-killed-it-at-meany-hall-on-saturday-night?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15791589&id=comments 3 Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:54:33 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/19/catherine-cabeen-niki-de-saint-phalle-and-the-tarot-tonight-and-tomorrow http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/19/catherine-cabeen-niki-de-saint-phalle-and-the-tarot-tonight-and-tomorrow Jen Graves <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:500px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2232/1358633747-catherinecabeen_web.jpeg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2232/1358633747-catherinecabeen_web.jpeg" alt="Catherine rising." title="Catherine rising." width="488" height="275" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit">Courtesy of On the Boards</li><li class="imageCaption">Catherine rising.</li></ul></div></p> <p>There are <a href="http://www.ontheboards.org/performances/fire">two performances left</a> of <em>Fire!</em> at On the Boards, <strong>Catherine Cabeen</strong>'s <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/11/woman-spinning-on-a-pedestal-de-saint-phalle-cabeen-and-whats-beyond-sexy">new evening-length dance work</a> inspired by the visual art of <strong>Niki de Saint Phalle</strong> (1930-2002).</p> <p>I have much to think about and say in response, but since the performances only last through tomorrow, here's the extreme shorthand:</p> <p>1. Any time Catherine Cabeen moves her limbs and allows an audience, <strong>you should run, not walk</strong>. As a dancer, she is undeniably extraordinary. It does not matter what the movement is. She will not let go of your eyes as long as she is onstage. The tiniest roll of her shoulder, a knee slowly turning out, the release of a hip joint&#8212;every motion <em>means</em>.</p> <p>2. The choreography of <em>Fire!</em> feels murky. The overall structure is inchoate in such a way that I was conceptually and narratively lost in the second half. <em>Into the Void</em>, which premiered at On the Boards in 2011&#8212;the first in the triptych of pieces commissioned by OtB that Cabeen plans to devote to the visual artists de Saint Phalle (<em>Fire!</em>), Yves Klein (<em>Into the Void</em>), and Jean Tinguely (to come in 2015)&#8212;had none of this lack of clarity, and was thrilling to me both in its physical and intellectual aspects. My response to the individual movements in <em>Fire!</em> (some feeling overly literal) was also mixed. <a href="http://www.ontheboards.tv/">You can rent <em>Into the Void</em></a> for your own comparison.</p> <p><a href="http://www.ontheboards.org/performances/fire">The OtB blog</a> is always a good source of audience responses while a show is running. I wonder how Cabeen would compare her own experience of the two pieces, and I wonder what the Tinguely piece will bring.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/19/catherine-cabeen-niki-de-saint-phalle-and-the-tarot-tonight-and-tomorrow#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15786175&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Visual Art Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/19/catherine-cabeen-niki-de-saint-phalle-and-the-tarot-tonight-and-tomorrow?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15786175&id=comments 9 Catherine Cabeen, Niki de Saint Phalle, and the Tarot Tonight and Tomorrow Catherine rising. Courtesy of On the Boards Sat, 19 Jan 2013 14:51:18 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/17/the-book-of-mormon-and-the-power-of-hilarious-choreography http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/17/the-book-of-mormon-and-the-power-of-hilarious-choreography David Schmader <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2b3c/1358443237-theater-570.jpg" alt="theater-570.jpg" title="" width="500" height="263" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Joan Marcus</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>Saw <em>Book of Mormon</em> at the Paramount last night and <strong>loved it so fucking much</strong>.</p> <p>Goldy covers a bunch of reasons the show adds up to something freakily brilliant in his <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/i-believe/Content?oid=15753041">rave review</a>, so I'll focus on a component of the show I hadn't heard hyped previously, and that I wasn't expected to be blown away by: <strong>the choreography</strong>, which repeatedly made me laugh so hard I cried.</p> <p><em>The Book of Mormon</em>'s choreography is by <strong>Casey Nicholaw</strong>, who co-directed the show (both on Broadway and in this touring production) with Trey Parker. (Nicholaw and Parker won the 2011 Tony for Best Direction, while Nicholaw was nominated for Best Choreography and lost to <em>Anything Goes</em>' Kathleen Marshall.) I can't really hold forth on the quality of <em>The Book of Mormon</em>'s choreography as dance, but as comedy, it was astounding.</p> <p>Prime example: <strong>"All-American Prophet,"</strong> in which the story of Joseph Smith is re-told truthfully and respectfully, by a stageful of people doing the most hilarious group dancing I've ever seen. (If you want to economically underscore the ridiculousness of someone's argument, have them make it while doing an <strong>aggressively energetic "funky strut" dance</strong>.)</p> <p>My guy Jake saw the show with me, and had an even more profound experience than I did. (He's an ex-Mormon, and for him, seeing last night's show was like watching the smartest people in the world spend two and half hours intricately mocking the worst bully of his childhood, to the rapturous applause of the masses. He was beside himself with amazement and joy.)</p> <p>Thank you, all the components of the universe that lined up to make <em>The Book of Mormon</em> possible. It was a dream night.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/17/the-book-of-mormon-and-the-power-of-hilarious-choreography#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15768285&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Comedy Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/17/the-book-of-mormon-and-the-power-of-hilarious-choreography?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15768285&id=comments 16 <em>The Book of Mormon</em> and the Power of Hilarious Choreography Joan Marcus Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:53:30 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/13/fuck-the-golden-globes http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/13/fuck-the-golden-globes Chicago Fan <p>If you want more celebrity bullshit posts, post 'em. And please note that the two Seahawks posts were by regular actual employees of <em>The Stranger</em>, and one of them was so disdainful as to actually constitute a Golden Globes post.</p> <p>And the Seahawks game was more important: There's a Golden Globes every year. The<a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/sea/playoffs.htm"> Seahawks do not make the post-season every year.</a></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/13/fuck-the-golden-globes#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15739253&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Dudes Crime Robots Etiquette CHARITY! Events Guns Cats Animals Comedy 2012 Booze Education Arts Music Homo News ??!! Life History Sports TV Conflict of Interest Nepotism Celeb Hetero Drugs Religion Nightlife Books Film Theater The Ladies Character Study Money Teh Internets Breaking News Games Nerd Fashion Genius Insomnia LGBTQITSLFA Drunk The Weather Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/13/fuck-the-golden-globes?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15739253&id=comments 23 Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:03:16 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/11/woman-spinning-on-a-pedestal-de-saint-phalle-cabeen-and-whats-beyond-sexy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/11/woman-spinning-on-a-pedestal-de-saint-phalle-cabeen-and-whats-beyond-sexy Jen Graves <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/d1d6/1357867684-niki-de-saint-phalle_fusil.jpeg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/d1d6/1357867684-niki-de-saint-phalle_fusil.jpeg" alt="WHOS THE TARGET? Niki de Saint Phalle later wrote that she wasnt sure, but she may have been shooting her father or brother, both of whom sexually abused her, or herself." title="WHOS THE TARGET? Niki de Saint Phalle later wrote that she wasnt sure, but she may have been shooting her father or brother, both of whom sexually abused her, or herself." width="400" height="300" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">WHO'S THE TARGET? Niki de Saint Phalle later wrote that she wasn't sure, but she may have been shooting her father or brother, both of whom sexually abused her, or herself.</li></ul></div></p> <p>When it comes to the role of women over the last 100 years, <strong>why are women so much more powerful in dance than in visual art</strong>?</p> <p>"In dance, <strong>women are not just makers but spectacles</strong>," <a href="http://www.catherinecabeen.com/">Catherine Cabeen</a> said yesterday. "Perhaps this is why they've been allowed to be the exception. ...I've always known that I was using my body as a visual spectacle."</p> <p>John Rockwell, the renowned critic, once called Cabeen "a goddess," so, yeah. And put crassly but probably truly, men may have little interest in looking at women's paintings, but they like looking at women's bodies. Cabeen is spending 2011 through 2015 making <strong>three dances about art</strong>. (The first was <em>Into the Void</em>, inspired by Yves Klein; the next will be based on Jean Tinguely.)</p> <p>Cabeen brought her principles to life while she talked yesterday, giving a presentation in a UW dance studio. <a href="http://www.catherinecabeen.com/">The dancers in her company</a> performed behind her as she spoke. Two dancers across from each other were connected by a long, thick strand of gray yarn. One sat on the floor working the yarn onto a large red circular knitting loom while the other wore the knitted yarn around her body on the other side of the stage. As the standing woman turned and turned, the gray knitted garment&#8212;like a body sock&#8212;was being <strong>unraveled and reknit again</strong> on the loom by the seated woman, who tugged at it as she went. I couldn't help noticing that the turning woman was very beautiful, and the way she turned while arching her body was a way of showcasing herself, like a dessert in a moving bakery case. She was both captive and captivating.</p> <p>"I can control how I present myself," Cabeen said while this went on, "but I can't control your gaze. I can't control how you see me." Her presentation was called "<strong>Hair Trigger: Femininity, Objectification, and Violence</strong>," and this is the loaded portrait she used to illustrate it on her web site (a shot of her, by Alan Kimara Dixon):</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/fad0/1357868301-cabeen_copy.jpg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/fad0/1357868301-cabeen_copy.jpg" alt="cabeen_copy.jpg" title="" width="400" height="487" /></a></div></p> <p>"Very early, I got the message that men had the power, and I wanted it." That's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niki_de_Saint_Phalle">Niki de Saint Phalle</a> talking. She was an artist who described her mother, aunts, and grandmother as "guardians of the hearth"&#8212;whereas she wanted to be a full citizen of the whole world, not just domestic life. Eventually, she rose to stardom and made a series called <em>Shooting Paintings</em>. These paintings, packed with balloons of color under their surfaces, <strong>literally exploded and bled when she shot them with actual guns</strong>. She started wearing a white catsuit while she did it. Cabeen thought this was hot. She started creating a full dance piece inspired by de Saint Phalle, commissioned by On the Boards (<a href="http://www.ontheboards.org/performances/fire">it runs all next weekend</a>). It's called <em>Fire!</em></p> <p>"Hair Trigger" was the story of how Cabeen's thinking shifted from finding this sexy to finding it complicated. De Saint Phalle's rage was in part motivated by years of sexual abuse. Her shooting only lasted two years, anyway. She eventually created giant sculptures of rotund, rainbow-colored women. She also created <a href="http://www.nikidesaintphalle.com/">the monumental Tarot Garden</a> in Italy, <strong>the world's largest sculpture park devoted to the art of a woman</strong>. The garden ended up being more inspiring to Cabeen than the <em>Shooting Paintings</em>. When Cabeen visited, she was taken with the fact that the place was crawling with schoolchildren and she started climbing the sculptures herself. It was wondrous and innocent and beautiful and redemptive&#8212;a place far from violence and rage&#8212;when suddenly, she slipped and fell. One of the sculptures cut her from elbow to wrist. She wasn't seriously hurt, but she felt the violence right there alongside the innocence. <em>Fire!</em> is about both sides now, she said.</p> <p>I'm looking forward to <a href="http://www.ontheboards.org/performances/fire">seeing the results</a>. Here's a roll of fragments from the last installment, <em>Into the Void</em>:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/26080356?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=808080" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <a href="http://vimeo.com/26080356">Into the Void &#124; Catherine Cabeen and Company</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/ontheboardstv">OntheBoards.tv</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.<br /></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/11/woman-spinning-on-a-pedestal-de-saint-phalle-cabeen-and-whats-beyond-sexy#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15720017&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Visual Art Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/11/woman-spinning-on-a-pedestal-de-saint-phalle-cabeen-and-whats-beyond-sexy?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15720017&id=comments 5 Woman Spinning, on a Pedestal: De Saint Phalle, Cabeen, and What's Beyond Sexy WHO'S THE TARGET? Niki de Saint Phalle later wrote that she wasn't sure, but she may have been shooting her father or brother, both of whom sexually abused her, or herself. Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:06:07 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/20/planning-on-seeing-homo-for-the-holidays-this-weekend http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/20/planning-on-seeing-homo-for-the-holidays-this-weekend Cienna Madrid <p>First of all, the answer should be <strong>yes</strong> because it's fucking delightful! Not to <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/ciennas-christmas-corner/Content?oid=15567563">quote myself or anything</a> but:<br /><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:262px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/4846/1356043034-screen_shot_2012-12-20_at_2.19.14_pm.png" alt="Screen_shot_2012-12-20_at_2.19.14_PM.png" title="" width="250" height="250" /></div><blockquote>It opens with a gift to the audience: Hostess DeLaCreme announces that for one night, straights become honorary homosexuals. "The gift of gay is the greatest gift I have to give," she trills as a cast stocked with <strong>Dickensian waifs</strong>, Twink Jesus, bare-naked Candy, and a triumphantly hairless Gingerbread Man break into refrains of "It's the most wonderful time to be queer." </p> <p>The cast makes good on its gift by forcing audience members to <strong>embrace Christmas with a level of passion and camp that's otherwise missing in Seattle's theater scene</strong>. (I've sat through six Christmas shows this season, and only Homo joins my perennial favorite, Dina Martina, in my cold little heart.)</p></blockquote> <p>Now that you're ready to buy your tickets <strong>based solely on the power of my enthusiasm</strong>, please note that we totally fucked up the showtime in this week's print edition of Suggests. <em>Homo</em> is playing at Odd Fellows West Hall at <strong>7pm and 10pm on December 21, 22, 23, and 24</strong> (not 8pm). We regret the error. <a href="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/290222">Get your tickets here</a>!</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/20/planning-on-seeing-homo-for-the-holidays-this-weekend#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15581090&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/20/planning-on-seeing-homo-for-the-holidays-this-weekend?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15581090&id=comments 1 Planning on Seeing <em>Homo for the Holidays</em> This Weekend? Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:39:44 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/18/these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things-in-2012 http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/18/these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things-in-2012 David Schmader <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:496px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/3617/1355854877-screen_shot_2012-12-18_at_10.15.42_am.png" alt="Screen_shot_2012-12-18_at_10.15.42_AM.png" title="" width="484" height="142" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">On the Boards</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p><em>I don't see enough of any one art form to feel okay about compiling a year-end "Best of" list, so instead I'll just be highlighting a few things I saw and loved in 2012. </em></p> <p>The best experience I had in a theater this year (other than Bret Fetzer's middle-of-the-night Annex wedding) occurred at On the Boards. The show: <strong>Kidd Pivot's <em>The Tempest Replica</em></strong>, a dance/theater mashup best described by the <a href="http://www.ontheboards.org/performances/tempest-replica">OtB website</a>: </p> <blockquote><p>The theatrical greatness of Shakespeare meets the virtuosity and stage wizardry of Crystal Pite as she and her company return to OtB, their Seattle home-away-from-home. <em>The Tempest Replica</em> marries theater and dance in a game of revenge and forgiveness, reality and imagination, all based on motifs from <em>The Tempest</em>....Pite infuses the stage with skilled movement, original music, text, and rich visual design.</p></blockquote> <p>The precision and virtuosity on display in the stagecraft and movement was astounding, and I've never seen dancers give better performances (or actors dance better&#8212;but I'm pretty sure it's the former). Watching the show felt like watching something bracingly new. It was a great experience, and one that got even better after I read the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/arts/dance/the-tempest-replica-from-kidd-pivot-at-the-joyce.html?_r=1&"><em>New York Times</em> review</a> of <em>The Tempest Replica</em>'s NYC run.</p> <blockquote><p>Those of us who love Shakespeare&#8217;s play &#8220;The Tempest&#8221; may well be <strong>enraged by the mauling</strong> it receives at the hands of the choreographer Crystal Pite and her company Kidd Pivot in &#8220;The Tempest Replica,&#8221; playing through Sunday at the Joyce. The ovation it received on Wednesday night shows that an audience exists for this kind of thing. Shakespeare will survive, of course. What&#8217;s infuriating here is that &#8220;Replica&#8221; is <strong>poor as storytelling, flawed as mime, horrid as dance</strong>.</p></blockquote> <p>Shakespeare jerks never have any fun. Thanks for the great memories, OtB.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/18/these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things-in-2012#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15563106&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/18/these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things-in-2012?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15563106&id=comments 3 These Are a Few of My Favorite Things (in 2012) On the Boards Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:40:13 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/27/the-one-time-only-arts-mean-business-grants-are-awarded-by-the-city http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/27/the-one-time-only-arts-mean-business-grants-are-awarded-by-the-city Jen Graves <p>Without affecting its existing programs, the City of Seattle's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs shuffled around some money this year (including making administrative cuts) in order to give <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/08/03/arts-mean-business">a one-time-only round of grants that directly pays employees at arts organizations</a>. The funded jobs had to be "<strong>positions that can generate extra revenue</strong> to carry out the mission of the organization," and those ended up ranging from teacher trainers to print-shop managers to executive directors to jazz competition contest overseers to social justice training coordinators to raisers-of-money.</p> <p>The contracts total $260,000, and you can see <a href="http://www.seattle.gov/arts/funding/arts_mean_business_partners.asp">a full list of recipients with breakdowns at the Arts Mean Business website</a>. </p> <p>Many of the orgs are familiar names&#8212;On the Boards, Gage Academy, Pratt, Pottery Northwest&#8212;but five have never before been funded by OACA. Those include the Duwamish Tribe, where $9,200 will pay for a manager of rentals for the longhouse, and <a href="http://www.rockitspace.org/">ROCKit Community Arts</a> in Beacon Hill, which with the city's $10,000 will leverage its first full-time staff position.</p> <p>A grant of $11,894 to Arts Corps may help to wipe some of the egg off the city's face <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/03/13/is-this-what-we-voted-for-arts-organizations-deemed-unqualified-for-education-levy-money-theyve-been-getting-for-years-while-mayor-hosts">after the levy debacle in March</a>.</p> <p>Since it's a one-time thing involving a buzzword in a mayoral election year&#8212;job creation!&#8212;who knows what this means long-term. It's good news this morning.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/27/the-one-time-only-arts-mean-business-grants-are-awarded-by-the-city#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15387856&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Arts Visual Art Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/27/the-one-time-only-arts-mean-business-grants-are-awarded-by-the-city?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15387856&id=comments 7 Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:20:37 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/07/currently-hanging-a-dance-performance-in-the-making-in-the-museum-by-zoe-juniper http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/07/currently-hanging-a-dance-performance-in-the-making-in-the-museum-by-zoe-juniper Jen Graves <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/9413/1352323244-07.jpeg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/9413/1352323244-07.jpeg" alt="Yesterday in the galleries at the Frye. Watch the dancers rehearse and perform all day today through Friday, then talk about it on Saturday." title="Yesterday in the galleries at the Frye. Watch thedancers rehearse and perform all day today through Friday, then talk about it on Saturday." width="500" height="333" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit">Photo by Malcolm Smith</li><li class="imageCaption">Yesterday in the galleries at the Frye. Watch the dancers rehearse and perform all day today through Friday, then talk about it on Saturday.</li></ul></div><br /><strong>All day every day</strong> this week, dancers are creating, rehearsing, and performing a new piece by zoe &#124; juniper called <em>No One to Witness&#8212;Study #2</em> in thegalleries of the Frye Museum itself. It's <a href="http://fryemuseum.org/momentmagnitude/artist/zoe_juniper">part of the Frye's ongoing exhibition/exposition <em>Mw (Moment Magnitude)</em></a>. (<a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/now-reverberating-at-the-frye/Content?oid=15147159">My recent piece about the whole group experiment</a>.)</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/07/currently-hanging-a-dance-performance-in-the-making-in-the-museum-by-zoe-juniper#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15214477&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Visual Art Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/07/currently-hanging-a-dance-performance-in-the-making-in-the-museum-by-zoe-juniper?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15214477&id=comments 0 <b>Currently Hanging</b>: A Dance Performance, in the Making, in the Museum, by Zoe &#124; Juniper Yesterday in the galleries at the Frye. Watch the dancers rehearse and perform all day today through Friday, then talk about it on Saturday. Photo by Malcolm Smith Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:27:42 -0800 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/ladies-and-gentlemen-mark-morris http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/ladies-and-gentlemen-mark-morris Brendan Kiley <p>Last week, I had a quick window to interview iconic choreographer Mark Morris, who is coming to On the Boards this weekend. I was told he does not like to talk about his work, particularly new work. I was told I should not air <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/02/confirmed-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend">my speculations</a> that Mikhail Baryshnikov would be performing with his company this weekend.</p> <p>So I decided to ask him about an issue that he&#8212;a choreographer who left Seattle in the 1970s, rose to international stardom, and returns to his hometown every year&#8212;is uniquely qualified to talk about: how the relationship between Seattle (and other cities at the periphery) and New York (the center) has changed in the past 30-plus years.</p> <p>Normally, that is <strong>a very dull question</strong>&#8212;all this local hand-wringing about what we <em>mean</em>, and how we <em>measure up</em>, and whether we're <em>good enough</em> out here in the podunk hinterlands.</p> <p>But Morris, who fled these hinterlands and has been back and forth in the years since, might be one of the few people who is both qualified and able to say something interesting about it.</p> <p>So what did he say? He began with: "Hmm. I don't know how to answer that. Seattle's thing is like all middle-sized cities. The goal is to have a 'world class'&#8212;that horrible term&#8212;ballet, symphony, etc."</p> <p>He moved on to: "Everyone knows that people in Seattle are <em>very</em> proud of Seattle&#8212;<strong>and that&#8217;s not a compliment</strong>."</p> <p>He ended somewhere around: "I may sound cunty, but I&#8217;m doing it fondly."</p> <p><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/i-may-sound-cunty-but-im-doing-it-fondly/Content?oid=14914165">Read the whole thing here.</a></p> <p>And now that I've had that conversation about Seattle and the center and the periphery with Mark Morris, who confirmed the dullness of the question, I never need to have it again.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/ladies-and-gentlemen-mark-morris#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14923528&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/ladies-and-gentlemen-mark-morris?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14923528&id=comments 2 Wed, 03 Oct 2012 15:55:57 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/guess-who-just-won-25000 http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/guess-who-just-won-25000 Brendan Kiley <p>Choreographer <a href="http://artisttrust.org/index.php/award-winners/artist-profile/dayna_hanson">Dayna Hanson</a> and artist <a href="http://artisttrust.org/index.php/award-winners/artist-profile/mandy_greer">Mandy Greer</a>, courtesy of the 2012 Arts Innovator Award from Artist Trust.</p> <p>As you were.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/guess-who-just-won-25000#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14923129&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Arts City Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/guess-who-just-won-25000?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14923129&id=comments 1 Wed, 03 Oct 2012 15:18:40 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/dance-by-amy-oneal-that-makes-people-excited-and-upset-including-amy-oneal http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/dance-by-amy-oneal-that-makes-people-excited-and-upset-including-amy-oneal Jen Graves <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/6fad/1349291140-amy_o.jpg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/6fad/1349291140-amy_o.jpg" alt="I like believing that her nose is bleeding." title="I like believing that her nose is bleeding." width="500" height="333" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit">Courtesy Amy O'Neal/Photo by Gabriel Bienzycki</li><li class="imageCaption">I like believing that her nose is bleeding.</li></ul></div></p> <p><a href="http://www.tinyrage.com/">Amy O'Neal</a> has been making <strong>a big new piece of dance</strong> for some time now, she's calling it <em>The Most Innovative, Daring, and Original Piece of Dance/Performance You Will See This Decade</em>, she's going to perform it <a href="http://velocitydancecenter.org/events/the-most-innovative/">at Velocity starting next week</a>, and last week I went to an open rehearsal for it&#8212;which was far more open than I thought it would be, and if <strong>that sounds dirty</strong>, I mean it to.</p> <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:162px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/d80d/1349291713-shoe.jpeg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/d80d/1349291713-shoe.jpeg" alt="This is the shoe." title="This is the shoe." width="150" height="150" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">This is the shoe.</li></ul></div>The rehearsal involved a nervous O'Neal testing out two versions of what looked like it would be a lap dance, featuring a volunteer from the audience. It was not a lap dance either time, but it was also not entirely not a lap dance. She whispered in the ear of the volunteer at the beginning. She towered and teetered on her shoes. She crawled and clung, and quoted from tango and hip hop and ballet and modern, but really, the heat came from the specific interaction she was having with the person who'd volunteered to sit in that chair. The rest of us glimpsed it. I believe that was part of the point, our guessing and wondering.</p> <p>The overall piece as I understand it is intended as <strong>an essay and an entertainment</strong>.<br />To make it, she focused on what actually held her obsessive attention. Cheap things. Obvious things. Seemingly cheap and obvious things, anyway.</p> <p>Themes, areas covered, and accoutrements used will include but I hope not be limited to: Janet Jackson, ass-popping (booty dance), a stripper's pole, ballet (addressing the popular perception that dancers are either ballerinas or strippers), Ciara's <em>Ride</em> video, a short doc film of <strong>quick interviews about ass</strong> conducted on Seattle streets, hip hop (from the point of view of a white woman teaching hip hop dance classes), race (obv), gender (obv), five-inch heels made entirely of transparent material, hip pain, objectification, chair dance, appropriation, respect.</p> <p>Nobody has seen it yet, so I don't want to get all promisey. But I'm excited to see it, and I think you should consider going too. <a href="http://velocitydancecenter.org/events/the-most-innovative/">Info</a>.</p> <p>A few weeks ago, O'Neal taught the moves to Ciara's <em>Ride</em> video to a bunch of people over the course of a three-hour class at a Velocity studio. I was one of those people. If she ever does this again, <strong>become one of those people</strong>. Or just do any of this on your own and see how your body reacts:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="500" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Lp6W4aK1sbs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/dance-by-amy-oneal-that-makes-people-excited-and-upset-including-amy-oneal#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14920938&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/03/dance-by-amy-oneal-that-makes-people-excited-and-upset-including-amy-oneal?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14920938&id=comments 2 Dance By Amy O'Neal That Makes People Excited and Upset, Including Amy O'Neal Is her nose bleeding?! Courtesy Amy O'Neal/Photo by Gabriel Bienzycki Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:21:29 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/02/confirmed-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/02/confirmed-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend Brendan Kiley <p><a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/01/mikhail-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend-a-speculation">Yesterday's hunch</a> was confirmed <a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/baryshnikov-to-dance-in-new-mark-morris-work/">this morning</a> by the Mark Morris Dance Group: Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris will collaborate again, this weekend, at On the Boards. (Tickets are already sold out.)</p> <p>I asked Jessica Massart of On the Boards how they planned to sneak Baryshnikov into the theater. Secret underground tunnel? "Ha!" she wrote back. "Helicopter? High security zip line? Disguise him in a big hat?"</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/02/confirmed-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14911287&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/02/confirmed-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14911287&id=comments 5 Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:55:44 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/01/mikhail-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend-a-speculation http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/01/mikhail-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend-a-speculation Brendan Kiley <p>I have a hunch that living legend <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Baryshnikov">Mikhail Baryshnikov</a> will perform this weekend in the intimate, 300-seat theater at On the Boards. (This is all my own guesswork&#8212;staff at On the Boards refused to confirm or deny anything. In fact, they seemed a little chagrined I was even asking.) If I'm right, this is a very big deal.</p> <p>It's big enough news that the Mark Morris Dance Group is bringing four pieces&#8212;including one world premiere&#8212;to <a href="http://www.ontheboards.org/performances/back-boards">On the Boards.</a> Morris, who is originally from Seattle but moved to NYC in the mid-70s and became an international dance and choreography phenomenon, normally brings his company to venues with thousands of seats. This weekend's performances sold out long ago.</p> <p>"We&#8217;d never dance in theaters that small," Morris said over the phone last week. "It&#8217;s crazy, but we wanted to do something more chamber-sized." (That was the mildest thing he said. For his endearingly sharp and catty observations about Seattle, NYC, and American arts culture in general&#8212;including the capstone quote, <strong>"I may sound cunty, but I'm doing it fondly"</strong>&#8212;see an interview with him in this week's upcoming paper.)</p> <p>The (possible) appearance of Baryshnikov makes it even bigger news.</p> <p>Here's why I think he'll be there: First, there have been rumors bubbling over the past few days about a "special guest" in the world premiere. The usually forthcoming staff at OtB have been steely and tight-lipped about those rumors. That is unusual and indicates something extra-special.</p> <p>And there is a clue to this "special guest" mystery in the Morris program&#8212;the premiere is titled "A Wooden Tree" (with music and words by Jewish-Scottish musician, poet, and humorist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivor_Cutler">Ivor Cutler</a>); the company Morris and Baryshnikov co-founded in 1990 is called White Oak. Baryshnikov and Morris have worked together extensively throughout the years. One source in the arts world said there would be extra security at OtB this weekend.</p> <p>Who else could it be?</p> <p>For those of you who already have tickets, this would be a happy surprise. (For a few of you, this would be like the second coming of Jesus Christ.) For those of you who don't have tickets&#8212;sorry. The MMDG program was sold out weeks ago. There isn't even a wait list. But if my hunch is correct, I bet there will be scalpers.</p> <p>Say what you will about Mark Morris&#8212;some adore him, some grumble about him, and he's keenly aware of both constituencies&#8212;but if I'm right about Baryshnikov, this will be a rare opportunity to see a world master, an international legend, perform the choreography of another international legend <strong>up close and personal.</strong></p> <p>The careers of both Morris and Baryshnikov have transcended the ballet/modern divide. Morris (the shape-shifter and gender-bender with a classical vocabulary) challenges human bodies, and his career has been a deep inquiry into what they can achieve. Baryshnikov (the fine-tuned master who has been compared to Nureyev and Nijinsky) has a body that has been developed to the far limits of human potential, not to mention a fathoms-deep well of life experience.</p> <p>To whet your appetite for my wild speculation, one of my favorite critical descriptions of Baryshnikov&#8212;Joan Acocella in 1998 describing a performance he gave at the Latvian state ballet&#8212;is below the jump.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><strong>* * *</strong></div></p> <p>Both shows were a great success, but nothing was quite like the piece that Baryshnikov closed with on the last night. This was Tharp's <em>Pergolesi</em>&#8212;a smart choice, since, like the other pieces Tharp has made for Baryshnikov, it includes ballet, and so Baryshnikov was able to show the audience his old fireworks. Actually, though, <em>Pergolesi</em> includes just about everything: folk dance, eighteenth-century dance, quotes from famous ballets (<em>Le Spectre de la Rose</em>, <em>La Sylphide</em>, <em>Swan Lake</em>), shimmies, boogaloo, golf swings. He got a chance to do every kind of dance he knew&#8212;not just what he had learned in the West but also what he had been taught at the Riga School of Choreography.</p> <p>And I don't know what happened&#8212;maybe it was the bringing together of the two halves of his history, or maybe it was relief that this heavily freighted trip was nearly over, or maybe now, at the end, he just wanted to give these people everything he had&#8212;but he exploded.</p> <p>I have never seen him so happy onstage, or so wild. ("He's showing off!" said Lisa Rinehart, who was sitting next to me.) He gave them double barrel turns, he gave them the triple pirouettes in attitude (and then he switched to the other leg and did two more). <strong>He rose like a piston; he landed like a lark. He took off like Jerry Lee Lewis; he finished like Jane Austen.</strong> From ledge to ledge of the dance he leapt, surefooted, unmindful, a man in love. The audience knew what they were seeing. The air in the theater thickened almost visibly. Even the members of the orchestra, though their backs were to him, seemed to understand that something unusual was happening. Out of the pit, the beautiful introduction to Pergolesi's <em>Adriano in Siria</em> rose like a wave, and he rode it up to the finish. By that time, we actually wanted him to stop, so that we could figure out what had happened to us. Latvians, I was told by the locals, almost never give standing ovations. And they never yell "Bravo!" in the theater; they consider it vulgar. But they yelled "Bravo!" for him, and everyone stood, including the president of the republic.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><strong>* * *</strong></div></p> <p>Look for the interview with Morris in the next few days.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/01/mikhail-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend-a-speculation#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14901704&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/10/01/mikhail-baryshnikov-will-dance-at-on-the-boards-this-weekend-a-speculation?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14901704&id=comments 9 Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:58:23 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/28/the-voices-of-voices-of-strength http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/28/the-voices-of-voices-of-strength Jen Graves <p>Wednesday night at UW, a formidable crew of dancers and choreographers from all across Africa&#8212;<strong>all women</strong>&#8212;sat down on a panel to describe what they make and how it's received by audiences in all kinds of places including Botswana, Tunisia, Paris, Chicago, and, last week, New York (reviews <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/arts/dance/voices-of-strength-modern-african-dance.html">here</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/arts/dance/voices-of-strength-at-new-york-live-arts.html">here</a>).</p> <p><strong>Has any other dance tour in history had this global a reach?</strong></p> <p>They are a tour called <a href="http://mappinternational.org/artists/view/495"><em>Voices of Strength</em></a>. They represent Mali, Mozambique, Morocco, South Africa, C&#244;te d'Ivoire, Haiti; they also represent <strong>a rising tide of contemporary dancemaking in Africa</strong> (<a href="http://mappinternational.org/files/rf4e98a8f99e68c/Only%20the%20sky%20will%20stop%20me%20Joan%20Frosch%20essay.pdf">PDF</a> to read more about it).</p> <p>This is their first time in the United States, and they're in Seattle <strong>at the Moore tonight and Saturday</strong>, with different pieces presented each night (<a href="http://stgpresents.org/tickets/alphabetical/eventdetail/351/-/voices-of-strength">tickets</a>; credit goes largely to local powerhouse <strong>Vivian Phillips</strong> on behalf of STG for getting them here).</p> <p>They talked about European critics deriding them for not being formal enough, dancey enough, balletic enough. But these women don't care. One after the next made her case for a performance style that mixes <strong>dance, theater, and politics</strong>.</p> <p>They face an uphill battle in perception on many levels. One is reflected in the question Phillips was asked before she came to the panel discussion on Wednesday. Someone asked her, out of the blue, <strong>"Are the performances sexually explicit?"</strong> Phillips didn't know what to say. "You mean because they're black women from Africa?" she wondered. Or more than wondered.</p> <p>Two sentiments stuck with me from the panel. One, when Bouchra Ouizguen of Morocco declared, "<strong>I don't need to take modern to traditional or traditional to modern</strong>. We are all of this in our bodies."</p> <p>Second, when Kettly No&#235;l from Mali/Haiti described being a child and watching a beautiful woman move, knowing she wanted to be like her. "<strong>She had beautiful underwear!</strong>" she blurted. As a baby, she said, the only thing that would calm her so her mother could work was when her brother made music on his body.</p> <p>No&#235;l is in this video. She's not <strong>the dancer with the white doll</strong> who appears first. That's South African Nelisiwe Xaba. They created <em>Correspondances</em>, and perform it tonight at the Moore. See you there.</p> <p><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/26591471" width="500" height="288" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <a href="http://vimeo.com/26591471">Voices of Strength: Correspondances (excerpts)</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/mapp">MAPP International</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/28/the-voices-of-voices-of-strength#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14876093&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/28/the-voices-of-voices-of-strength?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14876093&id=comments 1 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:35:49 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/27/randy-engstrom-is-the-mayors-pick-for-the-arts http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/27/randy-engstrom-is-the-mayors-pick-for-the-arts Jen Graves <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:312px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/b807/1348785795-599830_10150962563882311_1305578988_n.jpeg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/b807/1348785795-599830_10150962563882311_1305578988_n.jpeg" alt="This guy. Art and marriage equality arent necessarily related, but we thought you might want to know he stands up for other things, too." title="This guy. Art and marriage equality arent necessarily related, but we thought you might want to know he stands up for other things, too." width="300" height="349" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit">Courtesy Randy Engstrom</li><li class="imageCaption">This guy. Art and marriage equality aren't necessarily related, but we thought you might want to know he stands up for other things, too.</li></ul></div>After <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/08/17/the-end-of-kitsch">a false start with his last pick</a> for director of the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Mayor McGinn announced today the appointment of Randy Engstrom in the post. He's "interim," but only until the City Council approves him. Engstrom says he expects to spend "at least a couple years" in the job. "I'm ready to stick around."</p> <p>The appointment is <strong>an outreach move</strong>, which is direly needed since for years the city office has seemed like a limb with no blood flowing to it. Engstrom is a ninja at connecting and showing up. Go to an event, he's there. He knows and/or has collaborated with pretty much every arts worker in the city, with some sustained <strong>focus on social justice</strong> through the years. He has been working in Seattle for more than a decade.</p> <p>Mayor McGinn and Engstrom met back when Engstrom was the founding director of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in Delridge, he said in a phone conversation Thursday evening.</p> <p>"I feel a very strong overlap with Randy," McGinn said. He described the process:</p> <blockquote><p>"We had an interview process. I had a panel composed of Darryl Smith, Michele Scoleri, and Robert Nellams from the center, because they&#8217;re good people and Robert was bringing in a little experience as a department head, and then I briefly did an open advertisement. Three finalists were then entertained by a three-person panel from the arts commission to get feedback. And then I interviewed the three finalists, and chose Randy.</p> <p>I feel a very strong overlap with Randy. His values about the role of arts in our community. And I also really appreciated the way in which he approaches doing the work, which is that, you know, we&#8217;ve got a big city government, and there&#8217;s a lot of opportunities to partner across city government around the arts, and that&#8217;s where he was coming from as a starting place. So it felt like a strong selection. ...I&#8217;d met him when he was at Youngstown, he was indeed in a lot of different places, I loved his work with <a href="http://feestseattle.wordpress.com/">FEEST</a>, I loved the way in which he engaged with youth and his deep concerns about race and social justice, so that&#8217;s why I said it&#8217;s a very strong values overlap with Randy and me. And his thought processes on the role arts can play in how we get things done in the city&#8212;that arts is not a standalone thing; that&#8217;s very important to me. That it&#8217;s a way of integrating multiple objectives. In city government right now, the way we approach problems is you try to bring in all the departments that touch it and then work collaboratively with the community on how to address it, and I&#8217;m just really excited to bring the office of arts and cultural affairs into that, and I value department heads that know how to do that well.</blockquote> </p> <p>Since relationship-making is a large part of what someone at this level does (and <strong>who knows exactly what the hell else they do?</strong>), Engstrom seems a smart choice.</p> <p>He starts Wednesday. The first order of business is <strong>stability</strong>, he said. (The office's employees got a shock when the previous director left suddenly recently&#8212;they didn't know he was going until the day the resignation was announced publicly.) Engstrom said he believes the office does plenty of great work, but hasn't done such a great job of getting the word out about it.</p> <p>"They just need stable, grounded leadership that has the relationships that can help them be successful," he said in a phone conversation today.</p> <p>His priorities: affordable space, increasing the arts funding pie (<a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/08/28/birds-eye-view-of-seattle-arts">pitiful compared to other cities</a>), arts in the reboot of the waterfront ("the waterfront is probably <strong>the most important thing this community does in my lifetime</strong>, and I want to see us go big"), and expanding youth access to art (including resolving <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/03/13/is-this-what-we-voted-for-arts-organizations-deemed-unqualified-for-education-levy-money-theyve-been-getting-for-years-while-mayor-hosts">this ed levy foulup</a>; Engstrom worked closely with educational arts groups Arts Corps, Nature Consortium, and the alternative high school Interagency Academy, among others, in <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/what-happened-at-youngstown/Content?oid=11272443">his tenure at Youngstown</a>).</p> <p>His philosophy: "Particularly <strong>the folks who survived the culture wars in the '90s</strong> have a really, really risk-averse approach to public art and public arts management, and I think we have to not be afraid to take chances, and i think we have to not be afraid of conversation. I want the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs to be&#8212;<strong>not everyone is going to like everything we do</strong>, and I think that's okay, but I don't want to live in a risk-averse environment, where we don't challenge ourselves."</p> <p>Later in the conversation, he summed up his approach: "I think <strong>relationships are huge</strong>. I want to create stability and confidence. I want to reengage our community and make the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs something that everybody feels connected to."</p> <p>Amen.</p> <p>(Possible dumb item of business? Remove the word "Affairs" from its title. It sounds like you need a tuxedo or <strong>an escort from James Bond</strong> to visit. Just saying.)</p> <p>Boilerplate from the press release:</p> <blockquote><p>Engstrom has deep experience and success working in the Seattle arts community. He has over a decade of grassroots arts and culture experience beyond consulting, having founded Static Factory Media, a multi-media artist development company, and acted as the Founding Director of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. He has also served as a chair to the Seattle Arts Commission, and is currently a board member of One Reel and board President at Washington Bus Education Fund.</p> <p>A number of accolades support his past work &#8211; City Arts Magazine named him &#8220;The Advocate&#8221; in December of last year, he was an Americans for the Arts Emerging Leader in 2009 and was also named to Puget Sound Business Journal&#8217;s &#8220;40 under 40&#8221; in 2009.</p> <p>Engstrom holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington Evans School and a BA in Public Administration from Evergreen Community College. </p> <p>Engstrom&#8217;s salary will be $105,000.</p></blockquote> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/27/randy-engstrom-is-the-mayors-pick-for-the-arts#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14872242&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Arts Visual Art Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/27/randy-engstrom-is-the-mayors-pick-for-the-arts?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14872242&id=comments 7 <b>Mayorally Updated</b>: Randy Engstrom Is the Mayor's Pick for the Arts This guy. Art and marriage equality aren't necessarily related, but we thought you might want to know he stands up for other things, too. Courtesy Randy Engstrom Fri, 28 Sep 2012 07:30:06 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/24/my-feelings-on-the-matter-of-the-genius-awards-process http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/24/my-feelings-on-the-matter-of-the-genius-awards-process Jen Graves <p>A recurring topic of conversation Saturday night at the Moore (<a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/24/14837959-more-and-more-and-more-photos-from-the-2012-genius-awards-party">party pics</a>) was the way this year's Genius Awards were being given out&#8212;Academy Award-style, with the <strong>winners selected in a surprise announcement from the stage</strong> while the other nominees squirmed and fidgeted and general awkwardness ensued.</p> <p>"It's awful!" one former Genius winner told me.</p> <p>I disagree.</p> <p>Yes, there was awkwardness for both winners and non-winning finalists. (LIFE IS STRESSFUL.)</p> <p>But look: In years past, we've announced the winners weeks ahead of time, then published shortlists in the paper on the week of the party. This creates a situation in which <strong>absolutely nobody remembers who the shortlisters were</strong>. There's been no glory in it. And being shortlisted for Genius has never changed anybody's life.</p> <p>But being a finalist has.</p> <p>I wasn't sure where I fell on this whole issue until Amanda Manitach told me last week, "<strong>This nomination literally changed my life.</strong> No, really." She had been planning, for financial reasons, to stop being an artist. She was going through some changes in her personal life, and they meant that she had to entirely support herself. When the announcement hit, she figured she'd "keep up appearances" as a serious artist until after the ceremony, thinking she wouldn't win, anyway.</p> <p>But the attention of the nomination itself sent commissions and collectors her way. And for the first time, she has made her living on her art for these last months.</p> <p>So while I realize it's not easy being a finalist&#8212;and I also dislike anything that smacks of similarity with the dimwitted, shittily selected, utterly meaningless Academy Awards&#8212;I say: Let's do it again like this next year.</p> <p>Because <strong>triple the people get the glory</strong>, even though not everybody goes home with the cash.</p> <p>Discuss.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/24/my-feelings-on-the-matter-of-the-genius-awards-process#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14838952&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Arts City Music Visual Art Theater Genius Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/24/my-feelings-on-the-matter-of-the-genius-awards-process?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14838952&id=comments 9 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:01:39 -0700 The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/17/how-do-you-dance-about-the-economy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/17/how-do-you-dance-about-the-economy Jen Graves <p>San Francisco-based Keith Hennessy describes his project <em>Turbulence (a dance about the economy)</em> as "a bodily response to economic crisis, engaging the frictions between <strong>disaster capitalism, debt, precarity, propaganda, torture, war, magic and queer identity</strong>." There's video <a href="http://vimeo.com/34710951#at=0">here</a>.</p> <p>Velocity's his host in Seattle this coming weekend, and the dance center is not just presenting the performance but also staging a weeklong series of events under the title <a href="http://velocitydancecenter.org/events/turbulence/">Failure: Conversations Around Art + the Economy</a>. (Has the economy failed art? Has art failed the economy? Is art necessarily an economic failure? Is failed art an economic success or failure?)</p> <p>It starts tonight at <a href="http://www.libertybars.com/">Liberty</a> with <strong>Body Book Club</strong> (bodies and books! My two favorite things!), a roundtable chatting about Cassie Peterson's essay <a href="http://www.culturebot.net/?s=paradoxical+manifesto&x=0&y=0"><em>But, What Is Queer Art?: A Paradoxical Manifesto</em></a>. Body Book Club II, responding to the legendary art curator Harald Szeemann's statements in <a href="http://www.jnwnklmnn.de/szeem_e.html"><em>Failure as a Poetic Dimension</em></a>, will involve actually using your body, <strong>moving in response to his words</strong>. That's the one I'm most interested in.</p> <p>There's more, too, including a talk with Hennessy and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, author of <a href="mailto:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781849350884"><em>Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?</em></a>, on Thursday, and the performances Friday and Saturday, followed by a coffee-and-bageling-about-economy-and-community with Seattle dancers. All info <a href="http://velocitydancecenter.org/events/turbulence/">here</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/17/how-do-you-dance-about-the-economy#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14769731&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Arts Visual Art Theater Dance http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/17/how-do-you-dance-about-the-economy?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14769731&id=comments 1 Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:03:59 -0700 The Stranger