Dancing on a Lake and Other Pandemic Miracles
If 2020 into 2021 was the ultimate annus horribilis, the year really became the worst of times for that most ephemeral and impermanent of arts, live performance.
Houston
Connecting Across Disciplines: Vicki Meek Texas Artist of the Year
Getting in touch with one’s heritage is something of an American pastime.
Texas Studio: Bennie Flores Ansell
The idea of migration has been with Flores Ansell all her life. “I am evidence of a migration.”
New Season, Then New Director for Houston Symphony
The Houston Symphony had even more on its mind this past season than scrambling to adapt to covid-19.
A Cartography of Broadway Shows Across Texas
We’re still holding our breath, knocking on a forest full of wood and sacrificing chicken-shaped tofu to Dionysius, but it looks like in-person, inside-an-actual-theater, theater will finally take the stage this fall.
Lost Time: Nastassja Swift at Galveston Arts Center
Nastassja Swift’s primary mode of artmaking in recent years has been needle felting—a form of textile production that renders wool into saturated, light-absorbing forms. Her dolls, figures, and tapestries of tiny faces are equal parts comforting and unsettling.
On Utopia, Galvanization, and Interstellar Travel: Cauleen Smith: We Already Have What We Need at CAMH
“My pathology is your profit,” a banner reads. Hanging from the rafters of the Contemporary Art Museum Houston’s main gallery, the silvery background glimmers as the text picks up the purplish hue of the light.
A Passion for Impressionism: Monet to Matisse at the MFAH
Texans love Impressionism in all its nationalities and schools, and Texas museums love bringing us Impressionist exhibitions in a myriad of flavors and themes.
Classics, Blockbusters and a Salute to the ’80s: TUTS Returns to the Hobby
“There’s a powerful thing with nostalgia and remembrance,” TUTS executive director Dan Knechtges says. “There’s great comfort in it after we’ve been through this plague—this pandemic.”
Stepping Out: DACAMERA Launches SUMMERJAZZ
DACAMERA will launch its season Aug. 20-22 with SUMMERJAZZ, a one-weekend festival at the Wortham Theater Center. Long focused mainly on individual concert programs scattered throughout the season, the group is taking its first stab at filling a weekend with music.
ISHIDA Brings Literature to Dance for Texas Audiences
Brett Ishida, a California transplant to Austin, is bringing her new Austin-based contemporary dance company ISHIDA to the stage for the company’s first evening-length production since the pandemic began.
Back to the Earth: A climate-focused new season at ROCO
A historic ice storm. The four seasons. Industrial sites colliding with the natural world. A farmer’s life and its links to the land. A glacier that melted away.