Results tagged “performance”

Chamber music. Even the name loses you, doesn't it? Music for chambers? Why, it makes no sense! That said, Seattle is rich in terrific musicians who like to play music in small groups. The naming problem isn't really their fault, but it's hard to get people to try them out in a concert hall. Even classical music lovers feel like they get more music, on a per musician basis, at a symphony performance. It's simple economics.

Their comedy show, "Versus vs. Versus," begins with Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez perched on chairs and running through an absurdist news report and commentary; just when you feel you've got your sketch comedy bearings, they veer off into a new, absurd bit, like the one about the chess-playing bat. Oddly enough, it took us about five minutes to realize that they are called the Pajama Men at least in part because they both wear pajamas (tops and bottoms, so it's almost formal) throughout the show. Or maybe those happy hour (5-8 p.m.) margaritas at Cha Cha are stronger than we thought.

You don't get a lot of Jacques Derrida in dance performance these days, let alone his disquisition on how we're prevented from fully enjoying orgasm delivered by a guy on an exercise machine, but that's why the Superamas are worth that intercontinental airfare. Also, they strip.

With two years' experience at the Northwest New Works Festival at On the Boards under our belts as of this weekend, we're seeing a pattern emerge: The really exciting work happens down in the studio, and the mainstage performances are more or less skippable unless you're really into that sort of thing.

Saul Williams has done a little bit of everything. He’s an actor, a poet, a spoken-word performer, a musician and a writer. Since we first discovered him in the movie Slam -- which he helped write -- we’ve been fascinated by him, his energy and his words. Since then, we’ve seen him perform twice. Once after the release of his first album Amethyst Rock Star we saw him perform a full-on rock show. The last time we caught Williams was at Chop Suey. He was working on his second book of poems at the time and he performed many of them as well as some of his older works. The shows were as different from each other as each book and CD he releases is different from all of his others.

Over at the Slog, they've tossed some fresh meat to the slavering Obama and Clinton hounds: video of Clinton repeating three or four times that she and McCain have a lifetime of experience to draw upon, while Obama has "a speech he made in 2002."

From the buzz circulating the budding career of Josh Blue, we thought his Saturday evening performance at the Kirkland Performance Center would be full of self-deprecating and occasionally awkward humor. It was not.

Evergreen State College alumni and fourth-season winner of Last Comic Standing, Josh Blue is coming to the Kirkland Performance Center (KPC) this Saturday. We're looking forward to an evening of self-deprecating humor, as Blue’s comedy stems from his personal experiences of living with cerebral palsy. Blue hopes to dispel stereotypical myths about the "disabled" through stand-up comedy and what he calls "reverse teasing." (His comedy routine is not recommended for children under 16 years old, by the way.)

. Purportedly inspired by a group of women waiting around a bus stop, the Italian performance group's show traces the "lineage of women" and promises to be both breath-taking and sexy. We haven't been able to find out too much about Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio (most of the stuff we've found is in Italian), but the images of the show already available are arresting: flesh-colored goo shed from bodies like protean flesh; moxie-haired waifs with silver fists; and massive butterfly wings.

Last night, a besuited Crispin Hellion Glover took the stage at Broadway Performance Hall with the perfunctory greeting: "Good evening. Presently, I will read to you from eight books." And he did.

They'd finished their "last" song, gone backstage and waited. But there would be no encore because there was no call for one. People had begun filing out of the Crocodile like Night of the Living Dead extras. A few of us lingered, hoping for more, but after the band peeked out and saw that most everyone had already left, they too called it a night. Vocalist/keyboarder Rachel Stolteand and The Comas' Nicole Gehweiler took pictures of each other because it was the last night of the tour. Singer/guitarist Solon Bixler went outside for a smoke. And that was that.

This Friday and Saturday, Velocity Dance Center presents its Strictly Seattle series, with a who's who of Seattle choreographers: Pat Graney, Dayna Hanson, Keith Johnson, Pablo Cornejo, Aiko Kinoshita, and Crispin Spaeth. It may also star your neighbor -- the series is the result of a three-week course where participants study with up to seven different instructors, work with a choreographer to create a new piece and then perform it publicly. (Here's the relevant Flickr set.)

a camel to walk across the stage for no reason."

This week the weather's cooperating a bit more. Nothing like escaping rainy days with a film festival (except if you get stuck in a downpour while waiting in line, so pack that umbrella). Once inside you'll be golden thanks to your perusal of Seattlest picks. Trust us. Golden!

This weekend the National Weather service is calling for mid-70s to 80 degrees. You may want to recover from heatstroke by rehydrating in an air-conditioned theater with other bepinkenned Seattleites, and their melanin-endowed friends savoring their little moment of schadenfreude. (Here's the Seattle Times cheat sheet on the various venues.)

McCaw Hall, tickets $20-$80

Dorkbot, we've missed you. If our attendance record for the monthly technology and art event has been spotty at best recently --we've only been to one meeting since it lost the CoCA digs-- it's not because of the scheduled themes. They've all been awesome: Multimedia Performance at the Abbey, Innovation in Games back at CoCA, remote aerial photography at CHAC (actually we did get to that one)... New curator whatshisname (can't find it on the website--someone help) has done great things. Please, though, find a permanent home. Last night was at the 911 Media Arts Center and that seems like it could work. Make it work, Dorkbot.

MUSIC: For the nine millionth time, get your ass to Easy Street to see Aqueduct's all-ages in-store performance.

Carl Hancock Rux's No Black Male Show is presented as an anti-performance. The audience is introduced to its three players as a distraught Rux announces that there will be no show tonight despite having learned their lines. The show (obviously) continues, but it provides a sense of unease for the audience, immediately drawing them in.

8pm // Neumo's // $20. 21+

MUSIC MOVIE: Danielson: A Family Movie follows musician/multi-media artist Daniel Smith as he endeavors to create art with his siblings and friends while also balancing his love for Jesus. Including appearances by Sufjan Stevens, Rick Moody, Daniel Johnston, and Steve Albini, tonight’s the documentary’s Seattle premiere.

No, the Other Theater: The new movies out this weekend are shite, so this is your chance to catch up on the wealth of quality films already in theaters. Babel, Borat, Casino Royale, For Your Consideration, The Fountain, Little Children, Marie Antoinette, The Queen, Stranger Than Fiction, and Volver are all continuing their Seattle runs. Go now before you get back-logged further with the scads of Oscar contenders released later this month.

It's a holiday week, and people are too busy stuffing themselves with turkey and cranberry jam to talk much. Just hang on until Tuesday, when things really pick up.

The Grand Illusion is screening a film on Japanese architecture tonight called Kochuu. "Kochuu, which translates as “in the jar,” refers to the Japanese tradition of constructing small, enclosed physical spaces, which create the impression of a separate universe." Plays at 7:30 and 9pm.

Yes we do. Ever since moving to Seattle in '93 and discovering "I Was Seven in '75" in, we're pretty sure, the Weekly, back when we read anything but the movie times in the Weekly.

The end is near. Soon SIFF will be but a fading memory. So if you've been putting it off, this weekend is the last chance until next year for you to get some festival action. As an added bonus, on Sunday night at the Broadway Performance Hall, there will be an encore presentation for two of the films (one short, one full-length) that end up taking home SIFF awards. If you missed 'em the first (and second) time around, be there!

The final full week of SIFF is upon us. It's time to get some last few films before the sun sets on this year's fest. This week's got a couple great music events as well: Friday night, Portastatic will be on hand to perform a specially-commissioned live score accompanying circus freakshow-themed silent film The Unknown (more about that in a few days).

As a wise man once said: "Ohhhh, we're half-way there / Ohhh-oh, living on a prayer." On Wednesday, SIFF officially reached the half-way mark. But it's by no means all downhill from here. There's still tons more great films to see before the fest is through.