Arts: Page 238

Hell-Raiser

Author Michael Helquist to speak on Oregon anarchist Marie Equi

Books

She advocated for reproductive rights; she performed abortions as a doctor; she fell in love with women; she fought for a living wage — and she was born in 1872.  Marie Equi, a Portland doctor who upended society’s expectations of a turn-of-the-century woman, is the topic of a March 18 talk by San Francisco author Michael Helquist. He wrote her biography, which was published last year through Oregon State University Press. Continue reading →

Age of No Consent

Film

Mustang opens on the last day of school. A young student cries, hugging her teacher, who gives the girl her address. The girl, Lale (Günes Sensoy), is swept up by four other girls who can only be her sisters; they have endless manes of brown hair, and they show intense comfort with each other as they tumble out of the schoolyard and onto the beach, where they splash into the water, fully clothed. It’s like the beginning of so many school-aged summers: open, beautiful, full of possibility. Continue reading →

Roller Girls

Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse form Skating Polly

Music
Skating Polly

In 2009, at the tender ages of 9 and 14, best friends Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse formed the band Skating Polly. Bighorse says the pair bonded over a shared love of music and movies.  “We were pretty fast friends,” she recalls. “We’ve always been surrounded by music and instruments, so it came very naturally for us and since we were so close before, it felt easy to be creative with each other.”  Continue reading →

Back Beat

Music

The crunchy, poppy garage rock of The Googins — which combines the power-chord bash of The Who with the sing-a-long stomp of the Ramones and the Sex Pistols — might be one of the best-kept secrets of Eugene’s music scene, but nobody likes secrets, so you can catch The Googins at Old Nick’s 9 pm Friday, March 18, when they play with Fools Rush, Cuntagious and Rum Rebellion; $5-$10 sliding scale.  Continue reading →

Stages of Grief

VLT's excellent production of The Quality of Life makes meaning of senseless death

Theater
Storm Kennedy and John White in VLT's the quality of life

Two couples, one reeling from the horrific murder of their only daughter, the other coping with a terminal illness that is reaching its late stage, come together and confront their demons: This is the thumbiest of thumbnail sketches of The Quality of Life, a play by Jane Anderson that explores the specter of death, the lash of loss, the cycles of grief and how people make meaning amid chaos and crisis — in short, it’s about life itself. Continue reading →

Mad-Hot MEDGE

The Middle Eastern Dance Guild of Eugene celebrates 25 years with a show at the Wildish

Dance
MEDGE presents belly dancer Razia Star

“Twenty-five years seems like a significant milestone,” Denise Gilbertson says.  That’s perhaps the understatement of the new year for the silver anniversary of the Middle Eastern Dance Guild of Eugene (MEDGE), of which Gilberston is a member. For any nonprofit arts group to reach the decade milepost, let alone the quarter-century mark, is cause for celebration. Continue reading →

Back Beat

Music

Now that Eugene has recovered from our “was-he-or-wasn’t-he-really-here” Justin Bieber fever (Bieber-fieber, if you will), it’s time look ahead at the upcoming week in live music. But first some show announcements: Continue reading →