Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2008 > April > 04
Friday, April 4, 2008
Fashion Lounge at Pangaea
The 400 block of Colorado Street remains a nightlife magnet, despite the death knell of Ringers and the inevitable aging of hot spots such as Cuba Libre, Kenichi, Starlite, Vicci, Truluck’s and Pangaea. After all, the real test of a club or restaurant is navigating the gap between preliminary sensation and tested staying power.
Tori Huckaba, Seth Huckaba
Places such as Cuba Libre (with the help of Tre Dotson, we find out) learned long ago to spike midweek traffic with special events, such as its pioneering martini and manicure nights. Pangaea is learning from its downstairs neighbor by staging events such as Fashion Lounge, which filled half the club with vendors and shoppers for local styles.
Sarah Lazarus, Tre Dotson
The brainchild of the charismatically energetic Tre Dotson, it makes a lot of sense to draw in the fashionistas on an otherwise slow Thursday. After the fair, the club’s staff quickly transformed Pangaea into a “back club,” one of two spatial arrangements for Wednesdays and Thursdays. Dotson also hinted at more changes on the block, which we hope to report, exclusively, soon.
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PeopleFund’s East Night at Fiesta Gardens
First, Fiesta Gardens can be a magical place for a fundraiser, even if rain threatens. Tucked between Town Lake and the Holly Street neighborhood among other City of Austin amenities, it’s like a slice of peaceful, salvaged time. (And I can now see why activists banished motorboat races there in the 1970s.)
Celinda Garza, Debbie Ramirez
That feeling was amplified by the supporters of PeopleFund, a group that provides micro-loans and counsel to small businesses, and has entered the affordable housing gambit through PeopleTrust.
PeopleTrust’s Johanna Yu and UT architecture student Lina Hsieh
The nonprofit’s East Night, fueled by Juan in a Million grub, was the most unpretentious benefit I’ve attended in months — a fantastic array of people relaxed, casual and clearly invested in the good works of PeopleFund.
Loyal Out & Abouter Erin McDuffee, longtime Austinite Dionn Schaffner
Politicians know to work these events, and Austin City Council candidates Randi Shade and Laura Morrison were much in evidence, but they also were there to cheer the winners of various PeopleFund awards and special honors to outgoing council member — and personal hero — Betty Dunkerley and youthful philanthropist Will Meredith.
Paul Simmons, Randi Shade, Robert Nash
Who else introduced Dunkerley but the everywhere-all-the-time Eugene Sepulveda, who serves on the PeopleFund board (where does he find time?). Jack and Carla McDonald were not present but they kindly peopled their Perficient table with interesting folks, such as Mandy Dealey, who chatted with Planning Commission addict Robert Nash and his indulgent partner Paul Simmons.
Inkers Zach Nelligan, Gabriela Ellis, Scott Ellis
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‘A Viva Voz’ at Benson Latin American Collection
For the Luis Avalos speech and reception at the Benson Latin American Collection on Thursday, you could divide the audience among fans of his “The Electric Company” days on PBS, those who have followed his stage, film and TV career as a performer and writer since then, and those who helped Avalos research his “Ollantay: Warrior of the Sun” at the University of Texas’ encyclopedic Latin American library.
Luis Avalos, Kelly Kerbow Hudson
I was too old to have watched “The Electric Company,” the more urban “Seseme Street,” as a child, and having no intervening children, could not have picked Avalos from a lineup, though later that evening, others accurately described him from those performances decades ago. I have been fascinated by his career and his Americas Theatre Arts Foundation and the script for “Ollantay” that he produced, lavishly, in Los Angeles from a Spanish version of a Incan tale. (Others have called it as the oldest play of the Americas, but since the Incas had no theatrical tradition as we define it, but rather a ritual one, unlike the Spanish, it’s a fuzzy claim.)
Teresa Rabago, Martha Cotera
Avalos told a hilarious story about how he got around his lack of singing voice to shout his way into a shared Grammy for an “The Electric Company” album. His thanks to the Benson staff for their help and recognition was touching. After the speech, Martha Cotera, longtime leader and member of the Mexican American Cultural Center board of directors, was very excited about the possibility of brining “Ollantay” to Texas, though touring shows are outrageously expensive to package. It would be neat.
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