Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2010 > April > 23
Friday, April 23, 2010
Breakthrough Champions Event at West Austin home
We gathered at the base of the hill. In the distance, we could see the modernist home resting like a ship on a knob. Three trolleys — former Dillos — ferried guests up the steep, winding incline to the party at the home of Neil Webber.
Now, imagine variations on this view 360 degrees around Neil Webber’s hilltop house. Note downtown skyline in the distance.
Webber, you may recall, was one of the founders of Vignette, a giant of Austin’s dotcom boom. He cashed out at the right time. And he built this astounding house off the Southwest Parkway with a true 360-degree view of the Barton Creek Wilderness Park, several tree-blanketed subdivisions and, in the distance, the skyline, like another ship in the fog.
José and Maria Vara, whose children José and Jasmin are enrolled in the Breakthrough program
While it’s tempting to go on and on about the house, designed by David Heymann, and its rooftop lookout and splendid pool deck, or the food from Fino/Asti, or the top connectors assembled for the fundraiser, the event centered squarely on the Breakthrough program.
Jinous Rouhani and Sara Fox
Staff, interns and volunteers with this noble project mentors low-income middle school and high school students from families with no college in their backgrounds. The numbers speak for themselves: 90 percent of Breakthrough seniors have graduated from high school in four years; more than 75 percent enrolled in college, nearly two times the rate (39 percent) for low-income students in Central Texas. The class of 2009 earned admission to 55 different colleges and universities across Texas and the United States.
Guyanne and Nick Nichols
Some major Austin connectors serve on the Breakthrough board. Webber and the Topfer Foundation pledged to match almost any donations made last night. I don’t know which I admire more, the house or the cause. Doesn’t matter. Both are hard to forget.
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Fusebox Festival Opening Night at 3 Locations
Three tribes converged on the opening night of the Fusebox Festival on Wednesday.
Savannah McAnally, James Fain and Kate Motzenbacker
The first event — a demonstration of Texas social dancing at the Capitol — attracted a heterogeneous lot. Yet the population was dominated by what I would call social populists. Hipsters and worshipers at the altar of high art infiltrated among the true two-steppers in unaffected Western garb.
Lisa Schiff and Darrell Allred
The weather was divine for the dance, orchestrated by inventive choreographer Allison Orr and composer/instrumentalist Graham Reynolds. One of the last recorded songs, as the tribes dispersed, was Lyle Lovett’s “That’s Right (You’re Not from Texas).” What struck me in this setting was the sweet completion of the refrain: “But Texas wants you anyway.”
Allison Orr and Graham Reynolds
Now that’s a winking welcome to the international artists gathered for the 10 or so days of top-shelf contemporary art, organized by Ron Berry. From the Capitol, I toddled down Congress Avenue, running into a crowd outside the empty retail slot at Congress and East Eighth Street, once slated for condos. A pop-up art installation inside — better seen later when the sun had set — assembled a vision of abandoned urban space.
Molly Alexander and Dana Friis-Hansen
At the Paramount Theatre for the second official Fusebox event, the high-art tribe was already assembling. Hardly a personality from Austin’s contemporary visual or performance art community, from Deborah Hay down, was absent. Which was cool, because that meant 1,000 spectators or more for the American debut of “The Velvet Suite” by Japanese dancer Kaiji Moriyama.
Julie Thornton and Jennifer Wijangco
Imported for an unnamed price by testperformanctest’s Julie Thornton, it was, by any definition, intense. I’ll leave the formal review to the able critics at our newspaper’s Austin Arts blog.
Marcy Hoen and Bijoy Goswami
Here are striking things I noticed during the extended performance: Moriyama’s back. His fingers. His hair. His animal-inspired poses and motions. The enormous globe of suspended flowers that looked, in some lighting, like a burning heart. His eventual frenzy, which explained how the whole thing fit into the announced theme of “Eros.”
Eugene Sepulveda and Kirk Rudy
Later analysis of the performance split the high-art tribe, who were joined by yet a third group, Austin’s progressive social leaders at a United States Art Authority after-party. You know who they are. This set appears in Out & About every week. Because they are everywhere. And, in the process, they form widely-adopted opinions on everything from politics and finance to charity and art.
Heather Barfield and Shuana Danos
They mingled easily with the other tribes. They dressed in finer threads, but one thing they are not: Stuffy. These top connectors know how to have a good time. And the funky Authority was the right place to have it. Frito pie (required) was paired with fine sparkling wine and a pair of ironic DJs. So, so, so Austin.
Annelize Machado and Nicole Viado
And so much fun. Much more Fusebox to come, although I’ll miss most of it, given the crashing close to the traditional social season. (For instance, six major events for May 6, another six for May 8. When will the madness end?)
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