Arts In Pittsburgh

Dayton Contemporary Dance

The August Wilson Center for African American Culture hosts the heralded return of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. In this dynamic program, DCDC has assembled four different choreographers to create dance works inspired by the powerful paintings of Jacob Armstead Lawrence (1917-2000), one of the great artists of the 20th century. The evening will feature the work of Donald Byrd, Rennie Harris, Kevin Ward and Reggie Wilson.

The performance will be held on Saturday, March 10, 2007, at 8 p.m. in the Byham Theater. Tickets ($18.50-$40.50) are available by calling (412) 456-6666 or visiting online at pgharts.org.

Press:
Dayton dance company inspired by paintings of Lawrence, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 4, 2007
Dayton Dance Company just fine with fresh pieces, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 10, 2003
Rousing energy highlights Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s stop at the Byham, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 2003

Thread

“THREAD” is the latest installment at Wood Street Galleries. Guest curated by Michele Thursz, the exhibition features participating artists: Michael Anderson, Andy Deck, Ursula Endlicher, Tal Hadad, Yael Kanarek, Knitta, Guthrie Lonergan, Cat Mazza, Anne-Marie Schleiner, Devorah Sperber, Carlo Zanni, Marina Zurkow.

The term thread has many connotations, relating to craft and technology in the contemporary artist’s studio and in culture at large. The curatorial model of Thread physically emulates the structure of a web log. Here at Wood Street Galleries, the exhibition is parsed into four categories, simulating threads in a conversation about the resurrection of craft aesthetics within technology-based contemporary art making.

The galleries are free and open to the public: Tuesday-Thursday 11am-6pm; Friday-Saturday 11am-8pm. Call (412) 471-5605.

Reviews:
Exhibit ties traditional craft together with computer technology, Tribune-Review
‘Thread’ weaves a digital approach to craft artworks, Post-Gazette

The Red Shoes

Quantum Theatre’s Artistic Director Karla Boos and multimedia artist/dancer Carolina Loyola-Garcia take us through their flamenco fable, an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes.

In Quantum fashion, the play is set in the unique location of the Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church on the North Side’s Mexican War Streets. Erika Cuenca, Andy Place, Jennifer Tober, and Alexi Morrisey keep the fable moving forward, playing an assemblage of characters. Joining the cast are musicians John Marcinizyn and Lucas Savage. Designers Tony Ferrieri (set), Scott T. Nelson (lights), and Laurie Johnson (costumes) turn this beauty of a church into an environment to contemplate the irrepressible.

Loyola-Garcia, a native of Chile, is known to Pittsburgh audiences for her work with Centro Flamenco de Pittsburgh, which she co-founded to advance the art and culture of flamenco through programs, teaching, and performance. Flamenco is the form of communication originally developed in Spain over the course of 400 years by extraordinarily musical repressed peoples, most notably the Gypsies, to keep their culture alive.

The Red Shoes runs through Sunday, March 4, 2007. Performances: Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sun. at 7 p.m.
Where: Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church, 416 W. North Ave.
Tickets: $27 ($24 Wednesdays and Sundays) and a limited number of $15 student tickets. Call 412-394-3353 or visit ProArts.

In conjunction with the theatrical production, Pittsburgh Filmmakers will present the movie The Red Shoes at the Melwood Screening Room Feb. 25-28. Call 412-681-5449.

Press: Quantum heats up church with flamenco for story of ‘The Red Shoes,’ Post-Gazette
Quantum Theatre dances in ‘Red Shoes,’ Tribune-Review

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

“Gnawa” photo: © Todd Rosenberg

The celebrated dancers of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will present four dynamic pieces as part of the Pittsburgh Dance Council series on Saturday, February 10, 8 p.m., at the Byham Theater.

Lickety-Split, choreographed by Alejandro Cerrudo, explores the sensual relationships of three couples. From All Sides is choreographed by Jorma Elo and is set to a world-premiere score of the same name by Mark-Anthony Turnage. Strokes Through the Tail, choreographed by Marguerite Donlon uses the dancers to personify the notes on the page set to the virtuosic music of Mozart. Gnawa, choreographed by Nacho Duato, is set to Spanish and North African sounds and percussion to capture the spirituality and organic rhythms of the Mediterranean.

Founded in Chicago, the Company began modestly in 1977 as an ensemble of four women under the direction of dancer/choreographer Lou Conte. In August of 2000, Conte retired allowing Jim Vincent to assume the title of artistic director. Vincent’s extensive career as an esteemed dancer, teacher, ballet master and choreographer includes a 12-year tenure with Jirí Kylían’s Nederlands Dans Theater, and a 4-year duration with the Nacho Duato Compañia Nacional de Danza in Spain where he served as assistant artistic director.

Tickets: $19-$40; www.pgharts.org or (412) 456-6666

Sketches of Apophenia

The last installment of the ARTSINPGH interviews with Keny Marshall at SPACE in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District (December 2006).

Everybody’s got 3-D Pipes

Pittsburgh-based artist Keny Marshall talks about the life-size, analog version of “3-D pipes” in an interview filmed in December 2006. Part of the exhibition, Apophenia, at SPACE.

BUG

Photo by Duane Rieder

barebones productions unleashes its new play, BUG, at 3609 Forbes Avenue, second floor, formerly The Upstage. Read about this sci-fi thriller in the Post-Gazette. You can also check out a story by Scott Mervis about the music of Midnite Snake, the band that creates the gritty acoustic landscape for the play.

Suggested donation $10-$20 (purchase at door). Reservations recommended by calling barebones productions at 412-363-5847.

Keny Marshall on “Apophenia”

Last December, ARTSINPGH talked with artist Keny Marshall about his exhibition, “Apophenia,” at SPACE, an art gallery in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.

Described by Adam Grossi in Pittsburgh’s City Paper: “The heart of Apophenia…is a fantastic contraption titled “electro-acoustic experiments.” The heart of this contraption is a pair of small puffer fish. Skittering around in a large glass bowl via the surprising strength of their tiny fins, they constitute the show’s only organic, living and unpredictable elements. Through an artful and intricate employment of technologies, the fish moving through their enclosed environment become composers of a strange and lovely symphony of reconfigured brass horns, attached to tall bellows and arranged throughout the gallery.”

Reviews:
City Paper: Full article “Keny Marshall’s Apophenia brings invisible mechanisms to light” by Adam Grossi
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Artists go high- and low-tech in two excellent exhibitions” by Mary Thomas
Tribune-Review: “Art In motion” by Kurt Shaw
Flying Turtle: Entry by Steve Leesburg

Citizen Kane: AFI’s #1 Pick

Photo credit: American Film Institute

From Film Notes on Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Barbara Vancheri

Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ year will close with the No. 1 pick on the American Film Institute list along with new prints of classics from Werner Herzog and Jean Renoir.

“Citizen Kane,” (1941) the top movie on the AFI’s list of greatest films, plays through Saturday, December 30, at the Harris Theater, Downtown.

Director Martin Scorsese once said the picture made 25-year-old Orson Welles “responsible for inspiring more people to be film directors than anyone else in the history of cinema.” It will screen at 5:30 and 7:45 p.m. on Thursday, at 8 p.m. December 29, and 5:30 and 8 p.m. Dec. 30.

Synopsis from AFI:
From its Gothic opening at looming Xanadu to its legendary final line, this is the most electrifying directorial debut in screen history, named by AFI as the greatest movie of the 20th Century (number 1 on AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list) and an acknowledged inspiration to a variety of filmmakers. As brilliant and startling today as in 1941, it remained both Orson Welles’s masterpiece and his nemesis. “More fun than any great movie I can think of”-Pauline Kael. Directed/produced/written by Orson Welles; co-written by Herman J. Mankiewicz. US, 1941, b&w, 119 min.

The Interactive Garden (Chevalier on Ultra-Nature part III)

In part three of a three part interview, Miguel Chevalier explains and interacts with Ultra-Nature; the organic, interactive digital garden installation that premiered in the US on November 17th..

The Ultra-Nature exhibit runs from November 17 to December 31st at the Wood Street Galleries.