Arts: Page 323
Esther the Lionhearted and Twinkle-Toed
Ballet Fantastique’s rock gospel ballet goes biblical
A local mother-daughter team is pushing the limits of ballet by finding inspiration in the most unlikely of places. For The Book of Esther, Ballet Fantastique’s Donna Bontrager and her daughter Hannah Bontrager go way, way back — to approximately 486 BC — for the finale of their 2013-2014 season. What better way to end the company’s “New Legends” series than with a story from one of the oldest existing works of literature: The Old Testament? Continue reading
Project Runway
Nothing makes art come alive like seeing it strut down the runway. Sunday, May 4, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art hosted St. Vincent de Paul’s Metamorphose Upcycling Design Challenge — in a nutshell, Eugene’s own Project Runway. Ten designers had eight weeks to transform $40 worth of materials from SVdP into three catwalk-ready looks — Ready-to-Wear, Evening, Designer’s Choice — to be judged by a panel of local fashion-forward celebrities. Here are the winners by category, plus an EW pick. Continue reading
Can you dig it?
Hang high in Colorado, Robert Redford, because we have another film festival worth digging into here in Eugene May 9-11. The Archaeology Channel is hosting its 11th International Film and Video Festival at The Shedd and just like the subjects depicted on screen, the festival is aging into something to behold, showcasing 18 films from around the globe. Continue reading
Adam and Eve
Languid, elegiac, mournful and unexpectedly funny, Jim Jarmush’s Only Lovers Left Alive introduces us to the ancient Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton), a pair of vampires who’ve been married so long they think nothing of living on opposite sides of the world. He lurks in Detroit, a reclusive, black-clad musician whose work quietly slips into the world via his human friend Ian (Anton Yelchin, shaggy and game). Continue reading
Steep Company
How can you tell if there’s a banjo player at your door? They can’t find the key, the knocking speeds up and they don’t know when to come in (ba-dum ching!). Kids may not know it these days, with its welcome place at the table of popular alt- and indie-rock outfits like The Avett Brothers, Thao and The Get Down Stay Down and Beck, but the banjo was once the butt of the joke in bluegrass circles. Graham Sharpe, banjoist for Grammy-winning bluegrass phenom the Steep Canyon Rangers, says the negative connotations are fading away. Continue reading
The Next Generation
Young musicians and youthful music deck the halls in May
With so many American schools cutting back their arts programs, nonprofit organizations play an increasingly larger role in showing young people the beauty of making music. This month offers several kid-oriented music events, beginning with a May 9 lecture at the UO Collier House by University of Washington prof Patricia Shehan Campbell, “Giving Voice to the Children: Their Music and Musical Ideas.” Saturday morning, May 17, at the Hult Center, the Eugene Symphony plays a youth concert narrated by popular local actor Bill Hulings. Continue reading
Child’s Web
Have we reached peak rapper naming? Stage names aren’t new — particularly in hip hop; James Todd Smith is LL Cool J, and Sean Combs is (once again) Puff Daddy. But lately it seems the well of rapper nom de plumes is creatively dry; I’m looking at you Yung Turd and Mr. Muthaduckin’ eXquire. This brings us to Childish Gambino — a great name by any measure, mixing innocence and menace, like good hip hop should. And legend has it Childish Gambino’s creation story began with an online Wu-Tang rap name generator. Continue reading
Becoming Hers
There is an exquisite pain that attends the process of becoming — like a balancing act, emotions teeter in delicate equilibrium, strung out on the wire of what was, what is and what might be. Emergence into one’s self is beautiful, but forever fraught with collapse and nullity. Such is the raw, tense vibrancy that buzzes through the music of Hers, a new Portland band that raises a trembling fist against the lonely wages of independence. Continue reading
Balls Out
Medium Troy leads more than 100 artists for the Bohemian Dub Ball
Once upon a time, orchestra halls were raucous places, bursting with chatty patrons who were eager to applaud — dare I say it — during a movement. Composers, such as Mozart and Brahms, saw an engaged, reactive audience as a sign of respect. Not until the 20th century did “concert etiquette” develop and audiences became staid, passive observers waiting to clap on cue. Continue reading