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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2007 > July
July 2007
ACoT offers affordable healthcare for artists
Let’s hear for Austin Circle of Theaters!
The Austin arts service organization — led by the smart and passionate Latifah Taormina — has just announced that it is now offering affordable health insurance to its members.
Through ACoT’s partnership with Fractured Atlas, a New York City-based arts service organization, existing and new ACoT members will have access to a variety of health care plans, including limited as well as full-feature plans, prescription discount programs and even a discount dental plan.
Membership fees to ACoT run $36-$48 for individuals, $120-$500 for arts nonprofit organizations. Detailed information on pricing and benefits of the health insurance plan is available online.
Additionally, ACoT has negotiated a discounted rate on liability insurance for ACoT member organizations through the John A. Barclay Agency. The all-in-one Showtime Product policy is specifically designed to suit the needs of performing arts groups and will be especially beneficial to ACoT member organizations required to carry insurance as a condition of receiving City of Austin funding.
ACoT is the only organization in Austin providing these types of vital shared services to artists and arts organizations. Say Taormina: “We work hard to provide Austin artists with accessible and affordable insurance options, so that they can focus their energy and finances on their creative work.”
Can’t argue with that!
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Review: Tom Hollenback at D Berman Gallery
Tom Hollenback’s fluorescent plexiglass and steel constructions might at first seem just perfunctorily clever in the way that much minimalist sculpture is. The 13 works now on view at D Berman Gallery — all but one wall-based sculpture — are painstakingly neat and tidy. Ordinary home improvement store stainless steel studs form precise, elongated rectangles of varying dimensions on to which are attached panels of Day-Glo acrylic plexiglass. Hollenback riffs on the rectangular form, smartly displaying them solo in ‘Horizontal Flute’ or grouping them such as the trio ‘Flutes 1, 2, & 3.’
(Horizontal Flute’)
( ‘Flutes 1, 2, & 3.’)
But whereas so much minimalist artwork remains cool, detached and cerebral, there’s a real visceral impact and sincere playfulness to Hollenback’s sculpture. And that feels refreshing and new.
For starters the pink, orange and green fluorescent plexiglass grabs and holds the light in intriguing ways. You’d think these geometric constructions are electrified light-boxes, but they’re not. No, the raw edges of the plexiglass glow with an almost preternatural intensity. And the stainless steel studs? Hollenback cuts out circles along some of the studs and lets other factory-made cutouts stay. Thus, these wall-hanging lightboxes cast intriguing reflections on the white gallery walls that you can view only when you peer into one of the cutouts or stand right up next to the wall. Who would think that such initially subtle artworks would demand such viewer interaction.
Hollenback, who until recently lived in San Antonio, impressed last year with his free-standing plexiglass and steel box in Arthouse’s ‘New American Talent.’ He has a similar phoneboothlike piece on view at D Berman. Walk inside and you’re encased in translucent, vibrant green glow. Who says the world doesn’t look better through lime green-colored glasses?
(‘Vitrine’)
Hollenback thinks so. And he’s trying to challenge your initial impressions by smartly enticing you to wonder just how he transformed such ordinary materials into something simple and magic.
(‘Tom Hollenback’ continues noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays through Sept. 1 at (D Berman Gallery)[http://www.dbermangallery.com), 1701 Guadalupe St. Free. 477-8877.)
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Conspirare announces season, next recording deal
Two-time Grammy-nominated chorus Conspirare plans to head into the new Long Center for the Performing Arts with boom. Specifically, conductor Craig Hella Johnson and his singers will sing the unrelentingly dramatic, emotionally-charged, ultimately operatic Verdi Requiem on June 21, 2008, Conspirare’s first Long Center concert. What better way to blow the roof off the new house? And adding to the drama, South Texas Money Management has given $50,000 to be sole presenting sponsor of the production.
Other concerts announced for the 2007-2008 season are ‘Threshold of Night’ Sept. 27-30, featuring the music of Tarik O’Regan, a rising star British composer (and youngester; he was born in 1978). Conspirare’s ever-popular ‘Christmas at the Carillon’ runs Dec. 5-11. ‘Love is a Circle,’ March 29-30 features the premiere of Jeffrey Van’s ‘A Procession Winding Around Me,’ a setting of four Civil War poems of Walt Whitman.
On Jan. 31-Feb. 3 ‘I Dream A World’ will give you a chance to preview Conspirare’s first-ever European tour. The chorus will take a program of American choral classics and traditional spirituals on a tour in July 2008 of the Scandinavian cities of Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo and Bergen, Norway as well as perform at the Eighth World Symposium on Choral Music in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the only U.S. choral organization invited to participate. Following the Symposium, the ensemble is scheduled to record a new CD in the studios of historic Radio Denmark.
In other Conspirare news, the group has signed with the prestigious Harmonia Mundi label for their next CD. The France-based noted label — which handles international distribution for classical, jazz and world music — includes Anonymous 4 and William Christie among its more noted artists.
Note to Grammy organizers — we expect another Conspirare nom next year.
To hear selections from Conspirare’s Grammy-nominated album ‘Requiem’ — including Eliza Gilkyson’s own ‘Requiem,’ go to Austin360’s SoundCheck 360 Player
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Arthouse announces Texas Prize finalists
This time there’s five.
Arthouse has announced the finalist for the second biennial Arthouse Texas Prize. Competing for the $30,000 prize are Dawolu Jabari Anderson, Justin Boyd, Margarita Cabrera, Bill Davenport and Katrina Moorhead.
Their work will be on view from Sept. 8 through Nov. 11. The winner will be announced at the annual Arthouse gala on Nov. 2. One of the largest visual arts prizes, the Texas Prize goes to an emerging and/or under-recognized artist in Texas. The first Texas Prize went to Eileen Maxson in 2005. The $30,000 bounty come with no strings attached.
Cabrera, who hails from El Paso, creates painstakingly handcrafted objects and installations that address issues related to border relations and Mexican immigration, particularly economic exchange, dislocation and notions of the “American dream.” Her life-size Volkswagen Beetle stitched out cheap vinyl intrigued a few years ago when it was on view at Women & Their Work. For the Texas Prize exhibit, she plans to make a life-size tractor from clay.
Also one to mess with scale and meaning, the Houston-based Davenport is creating an enormous stealth bomber piñata. Here’s Davenport’s giant Styrofoam wagon wheel:
The judges for the 2007 Texas Prize include Arthouse director Sue Graze; Menil curator Frank Sirmans; director of and curator at The Kitchen, Debra Singer; critic and art historian Frances Colpitt and 2005 Texas Prize winner Maxson.
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Review: ‘An Almost Holy Picture’
Heather McDonald’s ‘An Almost Holy Picture’ is meditation on the nature of faith — a slippery slope that the character of Samuel Gentle, a lapsed Episcopalian priest, slides on for almost two hours as his extended monologue unravels the tale of his journey from naive belief to doubt to only slightly wiser belief.
And while it’s a tale that initially engages, it ultimately doesn’t take us much beyond the place it starts from.
An orderly upbringing in Massachusetts doesn’t seem to have prepared Samuel for the brutal spiritual honesty of his poor New Mexico parishioners. And when his actions lead to a tragic school bus in which nine children are killed, Samuel abandons the priesthood to become the groundskeeper at a Massachusetts cathedral.
Digging in the dirt distracts but fails to provide answers especially after his wife gives birth to a little girl, Ariel, struck with a genetic affliction that leaves her covered in fine, downy hair.
‘Holy Picture’ unravels the first nine years of Ariel life as Samuel recounts it with Job-like pondering. A father’s love might be a powerful thing indeed, but it can’t shield from all the evils of the world. And isn’t what we should treasure most right at hand and not down some allusive path?
Unfortunately, McDonald’s story doesn’t lead us over any new ground to answer those questions. And neither Austin Chronicle arts editor Robert Faires’ sensitive direction nor actor Jamie Goodwin’s nuanced performance can save McDonald’s script from drifting into dullness even though it’s to Faires’ and Goodwin’s credit and talent that you want to follow along as long as you do.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why McDonald’s tale thuds at points. Does it overextend itself as a monologue? Is it the lack of poetic bright flashes or sufficient dramatic moments? Is it the somewhat predictable epiphanies and transparent plot devices?
That’s not to say there aren’t some striking points: Samuel’s instant and profound love for his newborn daughter endears. And McDonald’s slightly off-beat details combined with the comforting cadence of her prose initially appeals. But ultimately, thoughtfully presented as this production is, there are almost no surprises in ‘An Almost Holy Picture.’
— Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
‘An Almost Holy Picture’ continues 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 26 at Whisenhunt Arena Stage, Zachary Scott Theatre, 1510 Tommey Road, $28-$37. 476-0541.
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Review: American Repertory Ensemble
It’s not a secret anymore: American Repertory Ensemble is no longer the hidden gem of Austin arts scene.
With ‘Lingo,’ which opened Friday at McCullough Theatre, the organization’s clever combination of live chamber music performed on stage with modern ballet proved that it had arrived: American Repertory Ensemble is what fans of spirited yet meticulously-presented dance and music programming can look forward to in the off season.
Co-artistic directors David Justin and Rob Deemer wisely served up a stylistically inclusive program. With its humorous, casual choreography, Yuri Zhukov’s lively ‘No Time Jazz’ started things off with a welcoming, entertaining tone.
Deemer, artistic director of music, premiered his valentine to Austin, ‘Hot, Crazy, Fun,’ Performed without any dance accompaniment it inventively captured the city’s eclectic personality through a series vivid musical images. Scored for a string trio and piano, the piece ricocheted from a rich, energetic jumble of tones to a dreamy, almost melancholic mood — a rich aural impression of a long summer afternoon. Also getting its first audience was Deemer’s ‘Memoirs,’ a peppery, dynamic piece for solo clarinet commissioned by Austin arts patron Pete Schnekkan for his wife Frances.
Dancers Christine Winkler and John Welker of Atlanta Ballet were riveting yet graceful in ‘Already Dusk,’ an introspective, abstract pas-de-deux set to the Brahms’ unusually syncopated F Major Cello Sonata, expressively performed by cellist Sara Nelson. Crystalline and gemlike, Balanchine’s ‘Duo Concertant’ was neatly danced by Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Kathi Martuza and Artur Sultanov. But the standout was violinist Leigh Mahoney deft handling of the complex Stravinksy score.
There was no mistaking that Justin’s ‘Ascendant’ brought it all together at the end. Danced to new music by jazz composer Dave Douglas — a tribute to Aaron Copland, commissioned by American Repertory Ensemble — the piece teased delightfully with a few quirky gestures layered on top of plenty of elegant athleticism and neat partner work. If with six dancers and six musicians, the stage seemed a bit busy at times that’s only because we’e too often used to the usual huge gap between ballet and music. With American Repertory Ensemble, it’s one big live energetic, entertaining jam.
—Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
‘Lingo’ continues 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday at McCullough Theater, University of Texas campus, 23rd Street and Robert Dedman Drive. $12-$22. 477-6060.
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Review: Zilker summer musical
“My Favorite Year” might be dated, but it’s still fun.
The new Zilker summer musical, based on Mel Brooks’ movie of the same name, tells the story of Benjy Stone, an up-and-coming writer for “The King Kaiser Comedy Cavalcade.” Brooks worked on Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” and draws inspiration from a meeting with guest star Errol Flynn. Benjy has to shepherd his idol, a washed-up sot of a swashbuckler named Alan Swann, through a week of rehearsals, dinner with the Stones in Brooklyn and a possible reunion with Swann’s estranged daughter.
Unfortunately, the book suffers from the same problems as “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” It’s a fairly unfunny story about a comedy show. What jokes there are, are old and not even classics.
The cast mostly makes up for it. Emily Bem and Kirk German play a pair of writers joined at the hip. German’s writer is mute and communicates through an elaborate system of pantomime that Bem then translates. If their movement occasionally seems awkward and artificial, it is. But it’s in the best tradition of classic clowns, a point driven home in “Professional Showbizness Comedy,” Bem’s riotous, vaudeville tramp routine.
Susan Branch’s costumes cement the anything-goes-for-a-laugh vaudeville feel. Studios and Manhattan streets alike erupt with astronauts, nuns, pharaohs and dancing cavemen.
The jokes might tire, but the spirit of vaudeville lives on.
—Joey Seiler, special to the American-Statesman
“My Favorite Year” continues Thursdays-Sundays at 8:30 at the Zilker Hillside Theatre, 2201 Barton Springs Rd., 78704. $3 for parking. www.zilker.org
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Review: ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’
Austin Chamber Music Center took a brave new step with their programming for their annual summer festival.
And the gamble paid off in spades Tuesday night with the Texas premiere of Grigori Frid’s chamber opera ‘The Diary of Anne Frank.’ Emotionally charged and inventively staged, the production moved ACMC’s festival programming up to the cutting-edge.
Conceived by Long Beach Opera director Andreas Mitisek — who presented the work this April in California to glowing reviews — the production took place in the modern, minimalist elegance of Congregation Agudas Achim. Mitisek used the synagogue’s bimah (the center focal point that is much like a thrust stage), crisscrossing it overhead with an ordinary clothesline on which were hung black-and-white vintage family photos. The only onstage props were a simple wooden chair and an old-fashioned suitcase out of which came a few objects. The deliberately sparse staging worked to subtle yet powerful effect in the small venue. After all, as Jews were hustled away by the Nazis, they were allowed only to bring one suitcase, a symbol Mitisek has used well.
With Mitisek conducting the nine-member ensemble — which included ACMC artistic director Michelle Schumann — 24-year-old soprano Ani Maldjian, the opera’s only singer, made a believable teenager, effecting the willful moods and quick-witted temperament of the spirited Anne Frank. Yet Maldjian’s voice was richly mature and full of lyric nuance.
Almost more of a song cycle based on actual segments of Frank’s diary, Frid’s opera is a stylistic roller coaster ride: It was sometimes atonal, sometime frantic and melodically jarring, sometimes melancholic and song-like. Mitisek smartly augmented the libretto with additional excerpts from Frank’s diary that Maldjian spoke. And that added appropriate pauses, slowing the frenetic trajectory of Frid’s score and amplifying the narrative depth of Frank’s story.
Kudos to Mitisek for a thoughtful and moving interpretation. And kudos to Schumann for taking the ACMC Festival to a new level of sophistication.
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Interim director named for PAC
Charles Leslie, former associate director for the University of Texas’ Performing Arts Center, has been appointed interim director of the PAC, effective immediately, a UT press release said. Leslie has been the associate director of the PAC since 2003 and was assistant director and production manager prior to that appointment.
Leslie steps in for Pebbles Wadsworth who in March announced her plans to retire in January 2008. Wadsworth will stay on as consulting director as the Bass Concert Hall undergoes a $15 million renovation. A $12 million renovation is planned for the 1,200-seat historic Hogg Memorial Auditorium. The schedule for that project has not been set.
What’s going down at the PAC if the Bass is closed? Not much during the 2007-2008 season. Expect a few music acts to pop up at the Hogg, but otherwise UT’s Dept. of Theatre and Dance and the UT School of Music are getting the promotional push this season.
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Review: ‘The Last Days of Judas Iscariot’
Does Judas deserve damnation for betraying Jesus? That’s the matter of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ courtroom drama “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” now at the City Theatre.
It’s weighty subject matter, but Guirgis tries to lighten it a bit. It just doesn’t work. In an overlong parade of witnesses, from Mother Teresa and Wayne Newton (almost) to Pontius Pilate and Lucifer, Guirgis gives us a group of stereotypes instead of vibrant characters. He relies on slang and pop culture instead of actual humor. In the worst youth-pastor-keeping-it-real vein, Simon the Zealot is recast as a Black Panther (played by a white man) to exclaim, “Jesus had the mad skills to pass the test!”
The poor script highlights what successes the actors have. The always-charismatic Gina Houston pulls double duty as both the bereaved mother of Judas and Monica, proud mother of Saint Augustine and the finger-snapping patron saint of nagging. She embraces the corny humor and broad character, making bad puns about “hanging out” with Judas a highlight of the play. Likewise, Aaron Weisinger’s Satan is wasted in Guirgis’ quotidian riffs about Lucifer’s day, but he bursts into life when it comes time to turn on the charm — or menace.
It’s too bad the players don’t have better material, but as a frat-tastic Pilate repeatedly asks, “What’s a brother to do?”
(“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” continues at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 5 at The City Theatre, 3823 Airport Blvd. Suite D. $10-$15. 524-2870, citytheatreaustin.org )
— Joey Seiler, Special to the American-Statesman
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Review: Jupiter String Quartet goes fast and furious
The first works on the Jupiter String Quartet’s program Saturday for a packed First Unitarian Church were the sort of beautifully finished art that makes the Austin Chamber Music Festival a community treasure. Felix Mendelssohn’s last string quartet, thought to be the composer’s musical response to the death of his beloved sister Fanny, was turbulent, with only a couple of notes out of tune.
Béla Bartók’s Quartet No. 5, one of his huge and complex symmetrical structures, throbbed with irregular meters and rhythms. Two slow movements, examples of the composer’s “night music,” echoes of nocturnal sounds of nature, slid in and out of silence.
Both performances were full of the qualities that had this listener on his feet and cheering lustily at the Jupiter’s first Austin appearance two summers ago: rich, intense tone in every note, tremendous energy in the tempos, playing fabulously together and in tune, and an extraordinarily mature artistic grasp of the music that brings each moment fully to life.
This is precisely what was lacking from the reading of Mendelssohn’s miraculous Octet in E-flat, presented after intermission in collaboration with the Azmari Quartet. They skipped the printed repetition in the first movement, tossing away one of the most exciting first endings in all of music. Warp-speed tempos washed away delicious details. Haphazard balances drew a forced tone from first violinist Nelson Lee and had the accompanying parts frequently swamping the foreground material. Playing was together, but only conventionally so, and that sense of sharply focused artistic purpose was missing. These gifted young artists appear to have gotten caught between their own exuberance and a lack of rehearsal time. I hope this proves to have been an early tryout of an interpretation worthy of these players’ talents that we’ll hear in the not-too-distant future.
— David Mead, Special to American-Statesman
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Ins and outs
After five hard-working years at the Blanton Museum of Art, assistant curator of American and Contemporary art, Kelly Baum will be leaving in December and heading to the Princeton University Art Museum. There, she’ll be the museum’s Locks Curatorial Fellow of Contemporary Art.
Congratulations Kelly! But we’ll miss you!
Among her accomplishments at the Blanton was co-editing ‘American Art since 1900’ last year, the up-to-date catalog of the Blanton’s permanent collection that accompanied the impressive installation of the collection in the new museum building. This fall we can look forward to Baum’s ‘Transactions’ exhibit which will examine subversive modes of art distribution such as DIY storefronts and otudoor markets. Right now we can enjoy two print and drawing shows curated by Baum, ‘Anselm Kiefer in Context’ and ‘Sketches, Plans, Proposals’.
Recently, Baum finished her PhD at University of Delaware, where she wrote a dissertation on the art and films of Guy Debord and the Situationist International (1957-1972).
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48 hours in East Austin
From Diverse Arts comes this fascinating call of entries:
DiverseArts announces a call for Austin photographers and filmmakers/videographers, and invite them to participate in the 2007 edition of ‘FACING EAST: 48 Hours in the Life of East Austin.’ Facing East is a documentary exhibition project that will feature still and moving visual images that capture and communicate a slice of East Austin life, all shot within the same 48-hour period.
The project is designed to feature the work of photographers and filmmakers as they tell a narrative story, capture a mood, and/or document a scene or happening that communicates something essential about the identity, sense of place and life in today’s East Austin.
Artists submitting work for this juried exhibit must photograph and shoot their footage between 12:01 a.m. July 21 and midnight July 22. Submission deadline for photographers is July 30; for filmmakers, Aug. 10. Finalists will be notified on Aug. 13. Materials deadline is Aug. 15.
Important: ENTRANTS MUST TAKE A PICTURE OF THE TIME PROP SET UP AT THE GALLERY (1601 E.5th St., suite 106) or at KENNY DORHAM’S BACKYARD (1106 E. 11th St., on bulletin board) ON FRIDAY OR SATURDAY TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE CALL.
Opening reception for ‘Facing East’ is set for New East Gallery at 7 p.m. Aug. 18. Finalists in film/video will be screened at 8:30 p.m. Both video and photo “Best of Show” awards will be presented.
See the DiverseArts Web site for more information.
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Bid for Kathy Griffin tix
OK, here’s the thing: Paramount Theatre executive director Ken Stein is a huge fan of D-list comedian Kathy Griffin.
How big?
Stein has personally bought four front-row tickets to the Griffin’s July 20 show at the venerable Congress Avenue venue. And he is auctioning off two of them to the highest bidder. he winner will sit with Ken and his partner, Ken Lambrecht; free drinks are included in the deal. The money raised will go to the [Paramount]{http://www.austintheatre.org).
Griffin’s show, by the way, is sold out.
Bidders are invited to post their highest bid on Ken’s blog. If more than one blogger submits the same bid, there will be a drawing among those names. Winners will be announced at 5 p.m. next July 18.
Review: ‘The Button and Bows Show’
In the latest production from Tongue and Groove Theatre, Hilah Johnson and Mark Stewart are Buttons and Bows, an old-timey music duo. With their overwhelming positive attitude and folksy naiveté, the pair seem like Lawrence Welk’s champagne musicians dialed up to eleven.
Unfortunately, when the music stops, the laughs tend to as well. The rest of the cast tells a story of sleazy band managers, local drunks and philosophical mobsters trying to lead the happy couple astray from their quest to perform ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ to a ‘real, American tune.’ The actors do a fine job with what they’re given, and Feliz Dia McDonald shines as a dollhouse-obsessed con, but the writing just can’t support a roomful of stereotypes and clichés.
It’s too bad, considering Mark Stewart wrote the music as well as the story and Elizabeth Doss’ direction brings out the best in the hokey duo without being able to save the others. All the supporting characters get in on the act, and hilarious song and dance is quick to replace stilted monologues and rants.
(‘The Buttons and Bows Show: Hilah’s Dollhouse’ continues at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through July 21 at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2308 Manor Road. $10-$35. 441-0665, myspace.com/thebuttonsandbowsshow)
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‘Pillowman’ breaking records
Record-breaking rains drenched Central Texas. And now apparently record-breaking crowds are filling Hyde Park Theatre to see Ken Webster’s production of Martin McDonagh’s ultra-odd dark comedy, ‘The Pillowman.’ So much so that Webster has extended the run for the second time. You have until July 21 to catch this jewel of a show, now the longest-running in Hyde Park Theater history.
You can read our review here, but trust us to say that whip-smart performances make this eerie yet funny parable utterly engaging — even though you’ll get chills while you’re laughing.
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Reviews: Joyce Melander Dayton; ‘But I Could Do That’
Art: Joyce Melander-Dayton
Texture, color and form receive a rousing though not groundbreaking celebration in the paintings of Joyce Melander-Dayton, now on exhibit at Gallery Shoal Creek. The Santa Fe, N.M.-based artist has about a dozen new paintings to show, a gathering organized by the June Kelly Gallery in New York and stopping here before heading to Aaron Payne Fine Art Gallery in Santa Fe.
Melander-Dayton uses all manner of ordinary craft material in her vertical paintings, each of which measures a precise 60 inches tall. And while there’s a definite celebration of the handmade object and everyday art materials, there’s nothing casual about how Melander-Dayton uses them.
Painting on unfinished canvas, Melander-Dayton augments each composition by stitching on fabric squares with loops of embroidery thread, weaving fuzzy yarn into the canvas or stitching on plastic beads. Her forms, however, are hardly folksy craft: tight concentric circles, neat squares and ovals and precise undulating lines make up her geometry. And her palette is decidedly cool mid-century modern — no overtly touchy-feely earth tones here.
Attractive, accomplished, Melander-Dayton’s neat yet tactile paintings have an undeniable prettiness to them. But that seems to be their chief goal. In the end, these jazzy designs don’t break new aesthetic ground.
(“Joyce Melander-Dayton: New Work,” continues 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays through July 21 at Gallery Shoal Creek, 2905 San Gabriel St. Free. 454-6671. www.galleryshoalcreek.com.)
Joyce Melander-Dayton. ‘Untitled (#532). ‘Acrylic, cotton, wool, beads on linen.
Dance: Yellow Tape Construction Company
One thing’s for sure: Yellow Tape Construction Company is determined to have fun while it creates new theater and dance.
“But I Could Do That,” the company’s latest show, which played the Off Center last weekend, featured Yellow Tape co-artistic director Amanda Butterfield’s romping, playful choreography set to the music of Cari Palazzolo of electropop band Belaire, who played live accompanied by harpist Shana Norton. But before any dancing started, improv troupe the Frank Mills whipped through a few sketches to get the sold-out house laughing.
With the program admonishing the audience not to worry about finding a story in what was about to happen, six dancers (four women, two men) adorned in black athletic wear, each sporting a different Yellow Tape Construction Company logo, took the stage for 45 minutes of nonstop kinetic movement. (Right down to the costumes, this company has spent plenty of time developing its brand; audience members were even tagged with wristbands promoting the Yellow Tape Web site.)
Wiggling, jumping, crazily lifting and carrying each other, sometimes comically shaking it as if to parody bump-and-grind stylings of music video-type dance, the performers playfully engaged in nonstop athletic antics. “But I Could Do That” was more the funny kineticism of Blue Man Group or Stomp than a work of disciplined modern dance. And wasn’t that the point?
Still, for all that the show served up in sheer energy, it lacked in artistic depth. For all the nonstop movement, ‘But I Could Do That’ didn’t end up traversing much emotional territory. Sometimes the light approach can end up a little too lite.
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In memoriam: Linda Pace, arts patron
Linda Pace, the San Antonio hot sauce heir and visionary arts patron who transformed an abandoned car dealership building into a highly regarded contemporary arts center with a worldwide reputation, died Monday after complications of breast cancer.
Pace, 62, whose father created the original Pace Picante Sauce in 1947, founded Artpace in 1995 in an old Hudson car dealership in downtown San Antonio. Offering residencies to selected artists from around the world, Artpace is now arguably the best-known contemporary visual arts residency program in the country, if not the world. Artpace’s programming and publications — and even its one-word compound name and distinctive numeric exhibit naming system — became models for many other art organizations.
An active artist in her own right, Pace stepped back from her philanthropic work in the past few years to spend more time on her own work. Most recently, her “Mirrored Igloo” was featured in the Texas Biennial 2007. The piece was also nominated for an Austin Critics’ Table Award.
A memorial service for Pace will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Chrispark, a public square Pace funded and established in 2006 in downtown San Antonio as a memorial to her late son Chris Goldsbury who died in 1997.
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Another Philip Glass opera headed to Austin?
Inside sources tell us that when the University of Texas’ Bass Concert Hall re-opens for the 2008-9 season after almost 18 months of renovations, the latest Philip Glass opera, ‘Appomattox’ will be on the schedule.
Another collaboration with English writer and Academy Award winner Chrsitopher Hampton ‘Appomattox’ traces the story of the event that brought the Civil War to an end: the surrender Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrender to his Union counterpart, General Ulysses S. Grant, in the Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.
Glass collaborated with Hampton on ‘Waiting for the Barbarians,’ the chilling opera based on the novel of the same name by South African Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee. Austin Lyric Opera gave ‘Barbarians’ its U.S. premiere in January to rave reviews.
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