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Eugene Ballet Company presents the timeless tale of The Sleeping Beauty, considered one of the greatest ballets of all time. The story of Princess Aurora is one made famous both by the Brothers Grimm’s “Little Briar Rose” and, of course, Disney’s animated feature film. However, the story of true love’s kiss first came to be told through dance. Eugene Ballet Co. Continue reading
Since bursting onto the scene in 1995, Riverdance has employed more than 2,000 dancers and performed more than 11,000 shows before 25 million people in 467 venues across 46 countries. But who’s counting? In advance of the show’s return to the Hult Oct. 28-29, we caught up with senior executive producer, Irishman Julian Erskine, who’s been with Riverdance since the beginning. Continue reading
Dear Guillermo del Toro: Qué pasó? Did someone hijack your latest movie, Crimson Peak, and simply keep your name on the writing and directing credits? I smell a rat. Maybe Tony Scott? No, sorry, he’s dead. Please tell me it wasn’t Michael Bay. Anybody but Michael Bay. Continue reading
Silaluk, the debut full-length album from Richmond, Virginia post-punk revivalists Shadow Age, is out now on 6131 Records. The album is garnering critical acclaim among a movement of new bands revisiting the classic post-punk sound. “Musically I was really inspired by most of the older UK post-punk bands from the early ’80s,” vocalist and guitarist Aaron Tyree says. “Like The Chameleons, The Cure, Death Cult, Danse Society.” Continue reading
Critically acclaimed soul and R&B act The Internet features Syd the Kyd (Sydney Bennet) and Matt Martia, alumni of controversial and groundbreaking hip-hop collective Odd Future. The Internet’s 2015 release Ego Death is out now on Odd Future’s record label. The record frequently gets lumped in with an avant-garde or alternative soul scene alongside artists like Janelle Monáe. In fact, Monáe makes a guest appearance on Ego Death’s “Gabby.” Continue reading
After 10 years of indie Americana marked by the slow-burning sound of violin, cello, guitar and melancholic vocals, Justin Ringle, frontman for Horse Feathers, thought he was finished with sad songs, and therefore done with his career. He didn’t pick up his guitar for months. But instead of finality, Ringle chose revision, replacing strings with drums on the band’s recent album, So It Is with Us, and, in that pivot, encouraging fans to want what they want for themselves: more joy and more fun. Continue reading
If you had to pick a perfect opera for Halloween, Benjamin Britten’s 1954 The Turn of the Screw might be it. There’s definitely a haunted house, but in librettist Myfanwy Piper’s adaptation, as in Henry James’s 1898 novella, mastery lies in mystery. What really happened at scary Bly House? Ghosts? A more mundane human-perpetrated evil? Mere insanity? Continue reading
Formed in the UO dorms in 1990, the Sugar Beets ought to hold the all-time record for Band Fortitude: “A quarter-century of sustaining anything in this crazy world is a rarity,” says Marty Chilla, acoustic rhythm guitarist and Beets founding member. “It feels like destiny sometimes, and just plain persistence and work at other times. The Sugar Beets have just kept going step by step, song by song, show by show, and have grown up in front of each other and our audience.” Eight years ago, the band introduced the “baby” of the group — jazz vocalist Halie Loren. Continue reading
In Eugene, one of my favorite markers of the season is the Día de los Muertos opening reception at that old dame on 15th Avenue — the Maude Kerns Art Center. By opening night (Oct. 16 this year), the sun sets early, hastily swapping out for a harvest moon. In the moonlight, the campus neighborhood buzzes with families, students and other show-goers crunching through the leaves and up the steps into the cozy, glowing art center. Continue reading
The Jayanthi Raman Company performed for a small but appreciative audience Saturday night, October 3. The performance featured choreography, design, costumes and lighting design by Raman, to varying effect. Continue reading