Whats-Happening: Page 434

Community Through Motion

Flail and writhe like nobody’s watching at coalessence ecstatic dance

ArtsDance

Across the wood floorboards at WOW Hall, there’s a frenzy of writhing limbs, bare feet and butts. In fact, someone farted square in my face while stretching. The crowd is intimate, exchanging kisses on the cheek, sharing bear hugs, grinning widely. Clearly, this is a special gathering.  This is Coalessence Dance, a bi-weekly “ecstatic” dance gathering centered on building community through motion. Continue reading →

Can’t Touch This

Magic Men Live in Eugene

Culture

I spent a half hour of my life watching YouTube videos of nearly naked men wiggling and worming around on stages illuminated by flashy lights — for research purposes, of course. Magic Men Live is coming to town and there’s something hypnotic about the performers’ abdominal capabilities.   Magic Men Live is a simulation of the 2012 Steven Soderbergh film Magic Mike but omits plot development and Channing Tatum. Each set of dancers in the performance is dressed according to a theme, so you can expect impractical firefighter uniforms and cowboy hats galore.    Continue reading →

Local Dance Studios

Listing of local dance studios

Dance

All that! Dance Company Ballet, contemporary jazz, tap, hip hop, ballroom allthatdancecompany.com 541-688-1523   Ballet Fantastique Ballet balletfantastique.org 541-342-4611   Ballet North West Academy Ballet, tap, modern, jazz and Broadway dance bnwa.net 541-343-3914   Celebration Belly Dance and Yoga Bollywood, zumba, samba, capoeira, African, 40-plus Continue reading →

Summer’s End

And the virtues of escarole

Gardening

August went by in flash, as usual. Daily watering chores. Jam making. An ocean of applesauce. After a week’s vacation in a cabin by the Metolius, I somehow carved out time to think about the fall and winter vegetable garden. Space must be carved out, too, and I’m grateful for any crops that can go in after the pole beans and tomatoes are torn out in October. But starts of red Russian kale, my favorite for winter eating, need to go in as soon as possible. By October what you see is more or less what you get until growth starts up again in March.   Continue reading →

Do the Twist

The Shedd’s production of Broadway musical Oliver! has us asking for more

Music
Dina Gilbert

Before Elton John, Duncan Sheik and Green Day created original stage scores, before all those jukebox musicals featuring songs by Abba, Four Seasons, Carole King and more, even before Rent, Grease, Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, there was Lionel Bart — a pop songwriter who never learned to read or write music and yet composed some of Britain’s biggest pop hits of the 1950s for Cliff Richard and other stars. Continue reading →

It’s About Time

September is the month of hiking

About Time

September is the month that hikers in western Oregon look forward to more than any month. Rainless days are almost guaranteed, mosquito levels drop off quickly and tourists thin out after Labor Day. This year there are a few qualifications to what is typically our best month for backpacking. Mosquito levels may be slow to disappear in the high country because there haven’t been enough freezing nights. Continue reading →

The fall dance season kicks off when MEDGE

Dance
Nick Davis and Nika Jin of track town swing club

The fall dance season kicks off when MEDGE (Middle Eastern Dance Guild of Eugene) presents The Hafla Players. “The all-ages show features a new performance group — the Hafla Players, 10 MEDGE musicians and dancers under the direction of John Zeké,” MEDGE’s Denise Gilbertson says. Catch the action, and a pizza, 8:30 pm, Sept. 16, at Cozmic downtown, 199 W. 8th Avenue. See medge.org. Continue reading →

Sweaty and Dazed

Electronica sensation Pretty Lights

Music
Pretty Lights

When I listen to EDM, I’m brought back to freshman year when I was introduced to drugs, dub-step and sardine-packed shows. That’s when I first heard the badass-ery of Pretty Lights, an electronica sensation created by Derek Vincent Smith. Smith started Pretty Lights in 2004. He takes samples — mostly bits of songs from ’70s soul or ’90s hip hop — and laces them up with his own sound effects. Add in some rad light displays and MDMA and, voilà, you’ve got the Pretty Lights experience. Continue reading →