Collecting Histories: Dogon at the Menil
The complex history behind American and European interest in present-day Mali informs a new exhibition at The Menil Collection, Feb. 3-July 9, curated by Paul Davis.
Austin’s Zach Theatre continues the LBJ Saga with The Great Society
When Dave Steakley, producing artistic director of The Zach in Austin, decided to stage the first of two Robert Schenkkan plays about the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson, he thought it might have special meaning to Texans. After all, Johnson was a Texan from the day he was born till the day he died, and he made sure the entire world knew it.
Fresh Start: Austin Welcomes Trey McIntyre
The word is out: renowned American choreographer Trey McIntyre calls Texas his home once again. McIntyre cut his teeth as a dancer and a choreographer at Houston Ballet.
Motion Redux: Tad Beck at FotoFest’s International Discoveries VI
When Vinod Hopson of FotoFest suggested that I check out the work of Tad Beck, I figured dance was involved. And indeed, Beck's work with renowned downtown dancemakers is compelling on several levels, from the detailed process to the end image, which involves re-photography and some actual dancing.
Paul Taylor Company Connections at SMU and Eisemann Center
When they were students at Southern Methodist University in the 1990s, Michael Trusnovec and Annmaria Mazzini would hole up in the basement of the library obsessively watching videotapes of the Paul Taylor Dance Company.
Sonic Expansions: Austin’s Experimental Music Scene
This year I unintentionally celebrated National Bird Day (Jan. 5) at an avant-garde jazz show. The newly-established Austin Cultural Exchange, together with local record label Astral Spirits and Brooklyn-based journal Sound American, presented Nate Wooley (Brooklyn) on trumpet and Ken Vandermark (Chicago) on clarinet and saxophone—in solo and duo sets that destroy common notions of what these instruments can do or the fullness of sound one or two horns can create.
Called to Archive: Studio One in Houston
Share an article, pin an image, save a post, link a story. The immediacy of social media and digital visual culture is astonishing. And yet, with all of its accessibility, its staying power is questionable. With so many artists relying on social media to maintain a significant, up-to-date digital presence, is it possible to preserve the knowledge and contributions of living artists?
Redefining Modern: McNay Director Rich Aste on Breaking Down Walls——Literally and Figuratively
Before joining San Antonio’s McNay Art Museum as its third director in September, Rich Aste was finishing work on the exhibition French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850-1950, which turned out to be his swansong as the Brooklyn Museum's managing curator, arts of the Americas and Europe, and curator of European art. French Moderns travels to the McNay from March 1 to June 7. Devon Britt-Darby sat down with Aste to discuss his plans for Texas's oldest modern art museum.
Electrifying Heroines and Cherished Classics: HGO’s New Season
They rank among opera’s most electrifying heroines, yet Houston hasn’t felt their wallop for more than 25 years. Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma, a Druid priestess, sacrifices herself on a pyre to atone for her secret marriage to a Roman. Richard Strauss’ Elektra descends into madness as despair and rage over her father’s slaying consume her.
Music and Printmaking Merge in Son Jarocho Style: Alec Dempster at MECA
In the front hallway of the 6th Ward’s MECA building, you can scan a QR code and hear the creaky strains of an old violin from the Veracruz region of Mexico. Another digital scan of a jumbled-looking square produces a complex tapestry of rapidly overlapping strings known as El Siquisiri. The style of music is known as Son Jarocho, and it is a blend of “musical and dance tradition from the Sotavento, the southern regions of Mexico’s Veracruz state.”
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time electrifies on stage
A large dead dog lies motionless on stage, a garden fork skewered into it’s side. That’s the sight theatergoers see immediately upon taking their seats to witness the first national tour of the wonderfully strange and heartfelt The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, now playing at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas—through Jan 22—before moving south to Houston's Hobby Center Jan. 24-29.
Eclectic and Equal: W-I-P offers San Antonio movement artists critical feedback
Frustrated by the awkward process of giving and receiving critical artistic feedback, dance/theater legend and MacArthur Fellow Liz Lerman developed her own system in the early 1990s, her Critical Response Process — an approach based on the principle that the best possible outcome from a response session is for the maker to want to get back to work.