THE GIRLIE SHOW OPENS
WITH PERFORMANCE
DANCE FRIDAY
NIGHT

The Girlie Show, a local art and design show and party featuring all female artists and designers, will host its ninth annual show on Friday, November 2 and Saturday, November 3 at the Farmers Public Market building in Oklahoma City. Hours are Friday, November 1, 7 p.m. – 11 p.m., with a new-for-2012 VIP preview hour from 6-7 p.m. Friday night’s show will feature entertainment from a variety of burlesque dancers, Teaze Dance in Oklahoma City and more, including Perpetual Motion modern Dance. Saturday’s show features live music all day and runs from noon – 5 p.m.

The show, branded “An Art Show With A Curve” by owners/organizers Erin Merryweather, Marilyn Artus and Dawn Tyler-Harth, brings together the most unique and often times most under-the-radar female talent Oklahoma and the U.S. have to offer. Presentations at the show range from fashion to sculpture to paintings to housewares to … just about anything you could expect not to see at other shows.

 Poster provided

 

This year’s call for artists generated more than 150 applications from females all over Oklahoma as well as Seattle, Kansas City, Montana, all over Texas and more. Finalists are selected by The Girlie Show committee.

With more than 1500 in attendance last year on Friday and close to 900 on Saturday, the show has quickly advanced to one of Oklahoma’s largest annual events.

While the show continues to expand and gain popularity on a national level, the committee remains dedicated to the advancement of Oklahoma as a center for art and culture. In 2006, The Girlie Show Scholarship fund was established; awarding $1000 to a qualifying local art student each year.

Admission to Friday night’s show is $15 in advance and $20 at the door and includes food from more than 15 local food vendors. VIP tickets, which grant holders early entry and private food and bar all night, are $50. Saturday’s show admission is $5. Friday night ticket stub is good for free admission to Saturday’s show. 

Tickets are available online at www.ticketstorm.com or may be purchased at DNA Galleries in the Plaza District or Blue 7 on N. May and Grand. 

For more information about The Girlie Show, visit www.thegirlieshow.net.

From the press release 



OCU HOSTS NATIVE AMERICAN POET/STORYTELLER

N. SCOTT MOMADAY



N. Scott Momaday to speak at OCU. Photo provided.



 Oklahoma City University will host Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and storyteller N. Scott Momaday in a presentation at 7 p.m., Tuesday Oct. 30 in the Meinders School of Business at N.W. 27^th Street and McKinley Avenue. The presentation is free to the public.

For Oklahoma City University’s presentation, Momaday will read from his most beloved works and sign books after the event. Books will be available for purchase.

The event will open with a preview of a documentary by Momaday’s daughter, Jill Momaday.

Momaday received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1969 for his novel, “House Made of Dawn.” He is best known for his poetry and storytelling abilities. He is also an accomplished playwright, painter and drawer.

“Scott Momaday is at least a quintuple threat. He is a novelist, an artist, a lyric oralist, a historian and above all, a poet,” OCU President Robert Henry said. “He is a man of several worlds, worlds of the Kiowas of his birth and blood, the Navajos and Pueblos of his youth, the classical writers and contemporary scholars of his university days at Stanford and at the worlds where he has taught: Moscow, Siberia, France, Italy and others.”

Momaday is the founder and chairman of The Buffalo Trust, a nonprofit foundation supporting the efforts of indigenous communities to preserve and perpetuate their cultural identity. He was awarded the Presidential National Medal of Arts in 2007.

For more information, call (405) 208-5290 or (405) 208-5898.

From the press release.

OKC BALLET EXPLORES
HUMAN RELATIONS WELL
IN "DIRECTOR'S CHOICE"

Margo Sappington, choreographer of  "Cobras in the Moonlight."
Photo c. by Nancy Condit

By Nancy Condit

Artistic director director Robert Mills chose three of his favorite ballets to start his fifth season with the Oklahoma City Ballet last Saturday night at the Civic Center Music Hall. The audience was half its usual number, apparently because of an OU football game, but the stage was hot and the audience was enthusiastic.

The Oklahoma City Ballet continues to excel at contemporary ballet, as they showed Saturday night in Nicolo Fonte's "Left Unsaid," danced in flat shoes. The dancing was so good overall that this reviewer did not remember until the next day that Amanda Herd was perhaps the best of the six. Fonte's choreography, staged by Kevin Irving, seemed a natural evolution of ballet from the straight, precise lines of classical ballet to Fonte's curved lines of the women as they were lifted to curl around the men's waists as the men turned. And yet there were the straight lines of scissor kicked legs from one of the women, a surprising -- after you thought about it -- handstand from one of the men, a tug of war with Herd in the middle and a man on each side as the dancers danced with each other -- men and women, men and men. The violin adaggios by J. S. Bach suited the dance.

Also performing in this terrific ballet were Miki Kawamura, Callye McCollum, Josh Crespo, Gerald Pines and Yui Sato.

A note: the black backdrop was so dark that the men dressed in black in "Left Unsaid" and the dancers in "Cobras in the Moonlight" were difficult to see. That said the half-way raised backdrop in part of the dance brought back memories of Merce Cunningham's staging.

Anthony Tudor's neoclassical narrative danced "Jardin aux Lilas" ("Lilac Garden") told the story of an Edwardian couple's engagement party, which seemed to bring happiness to no one with Ernest Chausson's heavily portentious music, as Caroline is forced into a marriage of convenience. Miki Kawamura was very good in her interpretation of what the evening required of her, and her gestures of despair and longing as well as in her dancing. Tudor's choreography filled the stage with an active background of dancers who interacted with the main characters, evolving from earlier ballets in which the performing dancers were simply watched by the others.

Also performing major roles in this pointe ballet were Alvin Tovstogray, Ryan and Ezlimar Dortolina.

Margo Sappington's "Cobras in the Moonlight" showed four styles of tango through her tango-ballet performed in heels for the women. She wrote for the program, "These four tangos represent a journey toward the loss of anima...the fiminine principle." In the first Miki Kawamura was tossed around by Yui Sato.  In the second, Tovstogray used the senusous moves of a woman, and slicked back his hair, while Autumn Sicking became the man who watched. In the next Herd is fought over by Jerry Pines and Seth Bradley, and, in the last one Stephanie Foraker Pitts and Tye Love both appear in suits and fedoras, Pitts with a red carnation. This was placed to music by Astor Piazzola in what many would recognize as the classic music of the tango.

The striking costumes, with sparkling cobras on the dresses of the first three dancers, were courtesy of Kansas City Ballet.

Sappington's new ballet "Entwined" premiered Tuesday with Ballet Next at the Joyce Theater in New York City.

Mills led a very interesting panel discussion with Sappington, the stager for Tudor, and the stager for Fonte.
More on that later...

Reduxion Theatre Company NIGHT OF GRAND GUIGNOL 2012-2013 FIFTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON REDUXION THEATRE COMPANY BRING FIRST-EVER GRAND GUIGNOL PERFORMANCES TO OKC Oct 5-27  Reduxion Theatre Company (RTC) pushes boundaries once again as it produces the stage play "Night of Grand Guignol" in Oklahoma City. Grand Guignol (pronounced grahn gee-nyawl) theatre has roots in turn-of-the-20th-century French theatre, with themes exploring horror, sensationalism and seduction, often breaching common sensibilities. Grand Guignol plays lost popularity after World War II, but has recently experienced revivals in cosmopolitan cities like London and Washington, D.C. More commonly known and comparable, but not exact, examples of Grand Guignol-like plays include William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Sweeney Todd. "Oklahoma City audiences are as progressive as any major city's audiences and they're always thirsty for ground-breaking theatre. We think they're ready to experience Grand Guignol," said Tyler Woods, Reduxion's Executive Artistic Director. "Reduxion strives to present the classics in fresh ways, and with this collection of classic French horror and camp, we are presenting a style of theatre that, to our knowledge, has never before been seen in OKC.  This October, Reduxion brings Grand Guignol to the cultural doorstep of OKC and it is truly a thrill not to be missed!" Each performance of Reduxion's "Night of Grand Guignol" promises to challenge our humanity and titillate the senses. Featuring several vignettes per night, "Grand Guignol" performances cover topics like adultery, perceptions of beauty, mental disorder, love and pain. Reduxion plans an entertaining menu of "The Final Kiss," "Jack," "The Light House," "Guillotine," "Doing the Deed," "The System of Dr. Tarr and Mr. Feather" and "Kiss of Blood," as well as a few special surprises. Paying homage to original Grand Guignol performances, Reduxion's adaptations include gory special effects, violence, sexuality and risqué antics. "We're excited to present this provocative art form to Oklahoma City for the very first time," said Tim Berg, "Night of Grand Guignol" Director. the last performance s of Grand Guignol will run October 26 and 27, Friday and Saturdays venings, with Friday shows differing from Saturday shows. Reduxion recommends attending a Friday and a Saturday performance in order to experience all seven vignettes. Performances include adult themes and are intended for audience members 18 and older; no children, please. Grand Guignol serves as the special "Second Stage" opener for Reduxion's fifth season, entitled "Revolution." The "Revolution" season continues November 9 and will feature "Richard III," "Love's Labour's Lost" and "Tom Jones." Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for students, seniors and military with I.D. Show-times are 8:00 pm, with a special midnight performance. A free parking lot is adjacent to the theater. Additional street parking is available. Tickets are available for purchase online at reduxiontheatre.com or call 651-3191, or at the door, before each performance. ABOUT REDUXION THEATRE COMPANY About Reduxion Theatre Company: Reduxion's performance venue, the Broadway Theater, is located at 1613 North Broadway Avenue, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73103. For more details, directions or to order tickets visit reduxiontheatre.com. Reduxion Theatre Company is a non-profit corporation with a mission to professionally produce both classical and contemporary theater, enriching Oklahoma's cultural, educational and economic climate, attracting artists and audiences from around the world. THE REDUXION REVOLUTION SEASON FIFTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON About Reduxion Theatre Company                Reduxion Theatre Company 1613 North Broadway Ave Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73103 405-651-3191

From the email

    RACE DANCE COMPANY TO
   LEAD ZOMBIE AUDIENCE
   TO PHILHARMONIC

Thrill your little ghosts and goblins with an exciting Halloween concert, PHIL’S MONSTER MASH, in the BancFirst Family Series. At just $9 per ticket it’s a great way to introduce the fun of orchestral music to young listeners. The performance is one hour long with pre-concert lobby activities starting at 1:00 p.m. Learn the “Thriller” dance with the RACE Dance Company, decorate a pumpkin and then join in the performance with the Philharmonic! We’re giving “whistle fangs” to 700 children in the audience to play a special part in Cool Ghoul, a piece for orchestra. Music also includes The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The Chill of the Orchestra and more!

Get Tickets Online From the email

THE MAGIC LANTERN CELEBRATION
ON PASEO

Photo taken from a previous Magic Lantern celebration. Photo c. by Nancy Condit

In a time of light instead of fright, children of all ages, their parents and friends are invited to descend upon the streets of the Paseo Arts District to enter a world of their making on Sunday, October 28^th by Theatre Upon a StarDanceSwan.  Children can jump into their own creativity with a different twist to the Halloween tradition in the annual Magic Lantern Celebration. Community artists are offering children hands-on costume-making workshops from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., followed by a “Spin and Sparkle” where children can parade in their costumes from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

“This is a unique experience where children can be part of a multi-layered arts event involving wearable art, creative movement and a touch of theatre.  I am delighted to watch the children who attend become immersed in the creative process, their faces glow from inside out,” says Lorrie Keller of Theatre Upon a StarDanceSwan who designs the celebration.  “If you are wondering how this even found its name, come observe the children and parents who participate and you will see.  Our celebration is inspired by a verse from a past StarDanceSwan performance . . . We are all Magic Lanterns, lit by the light of imagination.”

All that children need to do is bring their active imaginations, wear everyday clothing, and be ready to find wonder in paper and bits of glitzy possibilities.   Discovering and Doing are the main ingredients needed to make the most of this event.  Awaiting children are all kinds of paper that can be twisted, crumpled, folded, ruffled, and embellished into fantastic sculptures to be worn over their clothing.  Children and parents can walk from studio to studio to build original costumes that include hats, make-up, a glowing surprise and a pumpkin friend. 

This is an opportunity for parents to be involved in the problem solving aspects of their child’s constructions.  Helping hands and brainstorming are important and engaging parts in this process.

The celebration will culminate in a grand finale when children can display their costumes during a street dance.  A giant winding pathway painted on the street in the shape of a pumpkin by artist Elizabeth Muller provides the setting for the spectacle of costumes.  The StarDanceSwan dancers and Steve McLinn of Ojas Music join children in generating spinning wishes and sparkling energy to awaken the dance in all.

From the press release

HARTEL DANCE GROUP
PRESENTS THOUGHTFUL
EVENING OF DANCE

By Nancy Condit

Continuing their practice of bringing the audience and dancers closer together, while presentig both completed and works in progress, Hartel Dance Group performed a evening of innovative, thoughtful, enjoyable dance last Friday night in their studio on the fifth floor of the Magnolia Building downtown at Northwest 7th and Broadway. The four dances were choreographed by Austin Hartel, artistic director.

"Network," with music by composer Aaron Robinson, was the pivotal piece of the evening, as dancers, including Hartel, performed some of their fabulous stands, like the one on the backs of her partner's calves as the dancers both faced away from each other.

Austin Hartel and another dancer perform one of his signature
non-traditional moves.
Photo c. by Nancy Condit

"'Network' is (concerned) with how social media works and (that) people expect instant on and off. What is really a relationship? 'I have so many friends on Facebook,'" Hartel said. In continuing staggered movie playbacks, the backdrop continued to reflect the dance as it echoed through different media, as they danced and after the dancers had completed the performance. 

Robinson's deep drums were also danced to in "Syncopated," as the dancers shook, leapt, and circled, leaning to the side in flat footed rhythm to the terrific recorded music. The four women appeared in bright red tube tops and brief trunks.

In "Superman" four women performed with bright red balls to music by Ted Nuggent. They slid over the balls, posed with them as they sat on the floor, and treated them as bowling balls in the enthusiastic piece.

"Stranglehold," the last dance, was very sexy as the four women danced in string tank tops and daisy dukes. The sexiest dancer extended her leg far above her head, four others swayed back and forth sensually, while a sixth held back, participating as little as possible, until the end.

The dancers were Christopher Castleberry, Thyrsa Da Rosa, Riley Daniel, Pamela Gimenez, Bethany Head, Sami Kropp, and Cameelah Pennington, and Austin Hartel. 

The seating was changed to incorporate both a section of bleachers to one side, and cabaret style seating, with small round tables and an assortment of chairs, keeping the space affordable for the dancers and viewers.

BUSY TIME FOR DANCE:
Hartel Dance Group
OKC Ballet,
Perpetual Motion modern
Dance Company

By Nancy Condit

October is one of the busiest times for dance. Look at the offerings just this week.

Hartel Dance Group will perform their last adult performance in "Network," with a party afterwards
with the company and audience, tonight at 8 pm. The place is the group's studio on the fifth floor of the Magnolia Building, 722 N. Broadway and 7th Street, in Oklahoma City. Tickets are $12, and can be purchased through the group's website, http://www.harteldancegroup.org/2012_season.html.

Preschoolers and up are invited to "put on your dancing shoes" and join them for modern dance, crafts and fun "right before lunch." Performances are Wednesday October 17th and 24th at 10 am, Saturday October 20th at 10 am, and Saturday October 27th at 4 pm -- "Wear your costumes and enjoy the
Oklahoma Gazette parade after the show."

Tickets for the evening performances are $12, and for the kids' performances $10. They can be purchased at the door, by calling 405.919.9331, or at www.harteldancegroup.org.

Oklahoma City Ballet's 41st season will open with "Director's Choice," three ballets "that are favorites of mine," writes artistic director Robert Mills. The contemporary ballet "Left Unsaid" by Nicolo Fonte, Antony Tudor's neoclassical ballet "Lilac Garden," and Margo Sappington's hybrid tango-ballet "Cobras in the Moonlight"will be performed at the Civic Center Music Hall Saturday, October 20th at 8 pm, and Sunday, October 21st at 2 pm.

Special events are a panel discussion led by Mills with one of the stagers from the Tudor Trust, and  choreographers Fonte, and Sappington on Saturday night at 7:15 pm in the south lobby of the Civic Center. On Sunday at 1:15 p.m. in the south lobby members of the Oklahoma City Youth Ballet will demonstrate and teach various dance moves that correspond to the choreographic styles used in the three ballets. This is geared toward the younger members of the audience.

 Ticket prices range from $12.50 to $55. Ask about the family four pack of tickets for $50. Tickets may be purchased online at www.okcballet.org, by phone at 405.848.TOES, or at the Civic Center Box Office, 405.297.2264.

Perpetual Motion modern Dance Company will complete its free performances in the Metropolitan Libraries on Saturday, October 20 at 2 pm at Southern Oaks Library, and Thursday, October 25 at 6:30 pm at Del City Library. The family friendly orgram by one of the best modern dance companies in Oklahoma is a successful presentation of dances for adults and young people, and is a great introduction for modern dance.

Perpetual Motion offers modern and aerial dance classes at City Arts to the public.  Check their website at
www.perpetualmotiondance.org.

HARTEL DANCE GROUP
PERFORMS NETWORK
FOR ADULTS AND KIDS
IN 2012 FALL SEASON
NETWORK

By Nancy Condit

 The Hartel Dance Group, one of the best modern dance groups in Oklahoma, will perform dance that "pushes the boundaries of the human body through the group's...hypnotic and enticing movements and shapes. The performances will showcase the joy and passion of the contemporary American art form" (from promotional material).

Evening performances for grown-ups will feature works by Austin Hartel, artistic director, and a collaboration with musician Aaron Robinson. There's a party with the group after the Friday night show. Adult performances are Wednesday October 17th, Thursday October 18th, and Friday October 19th at 8 pm. The place is the group's studio on the fifth floor of the Magnolia Building, 722 N. Broadway and 7th Street, in Oklahoma City. Tickets are $12, and can be purchased through the group's website, http://www.harteldancegroup.org/2012_season.html.

Preschoolers and up are invited to "put on your dancing shoes" and join them for modern dance, crafts and fun "right before lunch." Performances are Wednesday October 17th and 24th at 10 am, Saturday October 20th at 10 am, and Saturday October 27th at 4 pm -- "Wear your costumes and enjoy the
Oklahoma Gazette parade after the show."

Hartel Dance is also raising money for "Network," New Works, and Paying the Dancers October 17th - 27th on  their website.

Tickets for the evening performances are $12, and for the kids' performances $10. They can be purchased at the door, by calling 405.919.9331, or at www.harteldancegroup.org.

Hartel Dance Group is also raising money for "Network," New Works, and Paying the Dancers October 17th - 27th on  their website.

"DIRECTOR'S CHOICE" TO OPEN
2012-2013 OKLAHOMA CITY BALLET
SEASON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

By Nancy Condit

From Margo Sappington's tango ballet "Cobras in the Moonlight." Photo provided.

Oklahoma City Ballet's 41st season will open with "Director's Choice," three ballets "that are favorites of mine and ones that I knew audiences in Oklahoma would enjoy as well," wrote Robert Mills, in an email. The ballets are a commemoration of his fifth season as artistic director, and will be performed at the Civic Center Music Hall Saturday, October 20th at 8 pm, and Sunday, October 21st at 2 pm.

Nicolo Fonte's "Left Unsaid" opens the evening. "It is a beautiful contemporary ballet set to Bach violin concertos, danced in flat shoes. Nicolo has ballets in the repertoires of ballet companies all over the world."

"Anthony Tudor was one of the 20th century's greatest choreographers. We were very pleased to have been granted the rights to perform this work from his trust in New York City. The neo-classical narrative ballet, 'Lilac Garden,'  is set in the Edwardian era and danced on pointe. It depicts numerous guests at a garden party on the eve of one woman's marriage to a man she does not love but is promised to marry. Her real love is present, and we witness the couple's last moments together as they try to find a moment for one final kiss.  It is a touching work that I enjoyed dancing during my career."

The last work is Margo Sappington's "Cobras in the Moonlight," which she choreographed for Hubbard Street Dance Company in Chicago in l986. "We are the third company to have danced it since. I am not surprised because it is fabulous! It is set to four different compositions from Astor Piazzolla, the women are in high heels and the men are in tuxes. It is a hybrid of the tango and ballet. It is fast, exciting, and dare I say...sexy."

Human relations tie all the ballets together. Although Mills admits that the Edwardian idea of a forced marriage to someone they don't love, "the basic human elements of love, unrequited love, deceit and betrayal, all still exist. Although the other two ballets are abstract and have no story, they definitely have an undercurrent of human relationships, or maybe our relationship with ourselves, driving the choreography."

Special events are a panel discussion led by Mills with one of the stagers from the Tudor Trust, and  choreographers Fonte, and Sappington on Saturday night at 7:15 pm in the south lobby of the Civic Center. On Sunday at 1:15 p.m. in the south lobby members of the Oklahoma City Youth Ballet will demonstrate and teach various dance moves that correspond to the choreographic styles used in the three ballets. This is geared toward the younger members of the audience.

 Ticket prices range from $12.50 to $55. Ask about the family four pack of tickets for $50. Tickets may be purchased online at www.okcballet.org, by phone at 405.848.TOES, or at the Civic Center Box Office, 405.297.2264.

MODERN DANCE IN THE
METRO LIBRARIES
A SUCCESS

Photo provided

By Nancy Condit

With the new explosion of  dance in Oklahoma City, Perpetual Motion modern Dance Company has on stages, at arts festivals, in restaurants, and now, last night, Thursday, in the carpeted all purpose room at the Belle Isle Metro Library. This is part of the library series "Perpetual Motion: For the Love of the Dance."

Their dances ranged from "Hannah's Journey," in which they were dressed in long side-split light gold tunics with light deep silk pants underneath, as they emulated waving grain on their way.

Leah Watson's "Through the Fire," choreographed and danced by her, she "leaned on God for support in a difficult time. As I dance this piece over and over again, I (come to a deeper understanding) of it of what it means."

In "The Spaces In Between," or "Satori," the six women troupe used waist high white balls as they rolled in sequence on the  "We like to do dances that challenge us in our athleticism, as well as perform classic modern dance," said artistic director Michelle Dexter.

The last piece, "Vagabond," was a Norwegian one originally set by a Texas choreographer. The beat struck this writer as Hawaiian or Polynesian, and was, as promised, fun. Costumes were lacey tops with full pretty slip skirts.

Perpetual Motion offers modern and aerial dance classes at City Arts to the public.  Check their website at
www.perpetualmotiondance.org. They are on the performing artists roster of the Oklahoma Arts Council.
The National Endowment for the Arts and Metropolitan Library System also makes the series possible.

"We started a series 'Around the World' ten years ago, and then realised we had many artists right here at home," said Dana Morrow, outreach director of the library system.

Further performances are Sunday, October 14 at 2 pm at the Northwest Library, Saturday, October 20 at 2 pm at Southern Oaks Library, and Thursday, October 25 at 6:30 pm at Del City Library.

PERPETUAL MOTION
APPEARING -- FREE --
IN THE METRO LIBRARIES

One of the best modern dance companies in Oklahoma is appearing in the Metropolitan Libraries through October. Admission is free.

"This is the first time we have ever attempted to present modern dance in our libraries. We have a world class modern dance troupe right here in Oklahoma City. They are Perpetual Motion. Don't miss it!" writes

Dana Morrow, director of outreach at the Metropolitan Library System, in an email.