IT'S DEPRESSING to think that war is eternal, but it's hard to deny when Aquila Theater, seeking to honor Veterans Day, reaches back to one of the oldest stories we have — and it's about soldiers, destruction and the effects of war on a culture that's had too much of it.
That's right, "The Iliad" (now set during WWII) has come to the Clarice Smith Center. It's such a compelling tale that it's lasted longer than a lot of civilizations and it still rings true.
» Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive, College Park; Tue. and Wed., Nov. 11 and 12, 8 p.m., $35; 301-405-2787. (College Park)
Photo courtesy Aquila Theatre
"IN A VIOLENT WORLD, can you fight for peace?" asks David Dorfman, the artistic director of David Dorfman Dance.
Such a contradictory-sounding moral tangle is typical of the New York City-based contemporary dance-theater troupe, and of its chief choreographer and message-shaper. Dorfman is as discontented with villainy as he is bored by chilling smugly on the side of the angels, and his work settles in between excruciatingly fine lines — faith and fanaticism, radicalism and violence, activism and the abuse of power.
It's not comforting entertaniment, but entertainment it is. Dorfman's dancers are athletic and versatile, befitting his aggressive choreography. And forget about leotards and tutus — DDDance's latest work, "Underground," outfits the dancers in everything from street clothes to hard hats.
Continue Reading "Peace Movement: David Dorfman Dance Troupe" »
"The reason we got into playing 'Purple Haze' by Jimi Hendrix in the late '70s," says the Kronos Quartet's David Harrington, "is because people were saying the orchestras in the United States were gonna fold. And I got to thinking: '[Crap], I never played the 'Rite of Spring"!'" Meaning Stravinsky's riot-inducing masterpiece. "So I got a friend to make a version for Kronos. Then I thought, 'What if they want an encore; what are we gonna do?' That's how we got into playing Hendrix."
Makes perfect sense — 30 years later in our genre-blurred iPod world.
"It's an incredible time for music," says Harrington whose quartet plays two shows in College Park this weekend. "It's possible to have access to many corners of the world of music right now." Like Alim Kasimov, from Azerbaijan. Or Toumani Diabate, from Mali. "Damon Albarn's also doing a new piece for us. It feels like there's something that musicians are focusing in a new way."
THE ARTIST RHA GODDESS believes in empowering people — and be it by analyzing cultural taboos, shattering societal misconceptions or breaking down barriers, she's doing it. With an upcoming performance ("LOW: Meditations Trilogy Part 1") at the University of Maryland, the artist and playwright wants you in on the action, too.
"I think, in terms of the interactive dialogue of 'Who Got Next?', my hope is that people are looking very squarely at themselves: 'Where does this live in me?' 'What is my opportunity?' 'Where does my leadership potential lie in the midst of this?'" the Brooklyn-based performance and hip-hop artist said.
"And I think for people who walk out of 'Low,' it's also a conversation of empowerment as it relates to the issue: 'Where am I in relation to this issue?' 'Do I care?'"
Continue Reading "Power to the (Girl) People: Rha Goddess" »
RHA GODDESS BELIEVES in empowering people — and be it by analyzing cultural taboos, shattering societal misconceptions or breaking down barriers, she's doing it. With an upcoming interactive dialogue ("Who Got Next?") and performance ("LOW: Meditations Trilogy Part 1") at the University of Maryland, the artist and playwright wants you in on the action, too.
"I think, in terms of the interactive dialogue of 'Who Got Next?,' my hope is that people are looking very squarely at themselves: 'Where does this live in me?', 'What is my opportunity?', 'Where does my leadership potential lie in the midst of this?', 'How can I begin to transform my own reality?'" Goddess said. "And I think for people who walk out of 'LOW,' it's also a conversation of empowerment as it relates to the issue: 'Where am I in relation to this issue?,' 'Do I care?,' "Are there other people in my family who this affects?,' 'Does this affect me?,' 'Even if [the result is] as basic as talking with the people in my life about what I experience, what do I want to do about that?'"
"Who Got Next?" will be a conversation on the role of women in mainstream American culture, while "LOW" is a 75-minute solo piece focused on the single character of Lowquesha, a young woman who journeys through the hardships of the mental health system.
LEGENDARY THEATER DIRECTOR Peter Brook briefly stops at College Park with his production of "The Grand Inquisitor," an adaptation of Fyodor Dosoyevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov."
In this powerful play starring Bruce Meyers, Jesus returns to 15th century, Inquisition-bound Spain, and the Cardinal Grand Inquisitor has a few things to say.
» Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Kogod Theatre, University of Maryland, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive, College Park; Oct. 1-3, 8 p.m.; $35, $7 students; 301-405-2787. (College Park)
Photo courtesy of Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
STEVE O'HEARN, one of Squonk Opera's artistic directors, wants to believe. And he wants to do it in College Park.
"Well, we're sending out a message of greeting," O'Hearn said of Squonk Opera's latest production, "Astro-rama," which will feature music, projected images and a 50-foot radio tower to send the Squonkers' message to the cosmos. "Of course, there are scientists that claim this is a caveman walking into a savannah and saying, 'Here, kitty kitty,' and the only cats around are Siberian tigers, but if there are predatory species that hear our call, the only thing we can do is signal our good intentions."
And O'Hearn's "good intentions" revolve around a production that, much like Squonk Opera's previous local play, "College Park: An Opera" — which was performed at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (CSPAC) at the University of Maryland in Nov. 2006 — rely on music and humor to draw in audiences.
With "Atro-Rama," which runa at CSPAC from Sept. 24-26, the Pittsburgh-based group is doing what it does best — injecting imagination into a local culture to great effect.
Continue Reading "Hello, Klaatu! Squonk Opera's 'Astro-rama'" »
THERE AREN'T MANY PEOPLE who can make you run out and buy the latest Silverchair record, particularly if you've heard the first Silverchair record.
But Sean Gray is a persuasive evangelist for music he loves.
In a world increasingly given over to niche radio — from WPGC's "American Badonkadonk" to WAMU's "Car Bomb Update" — "DNA in the DNA," the show Gray hosts with Nicholas Szczepanik from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays, is all about the big ears.
It helps that WMUC 88.1 FM, the University of Maryland's student-run station, isn't exactly a 50,000-watt flamethrower. With only 10 watts at their disposal, the DNA guys are free to play what they please.
"We're trying to get away from the Pitchfork-Media-blog mid-2000/late-2000 aesthetic and way of thinking. Because it's very one-dimensional to me," Gray says. "They have such power over everything," Szczepanik adds. "It's kind of irritating."
"I know a lot of people that ... don't even read the review; they just read the number," Gray protests. "We just throw that standard out the window," says Szczepanik.
Continue Reading "No Static This Time: 'DNA in the DNA' Festival" »
PICKING A PLACE TO LIVE is hard! Sure, you could think about property value and crime statistics, but wouldn't you rather focus on revolving restaurants and other important things like that when you're thinking about what to look for in your new neighborhood?
1. COLLEGE PARK, MD.
Relive your misspent youth, and your WWII days, just off the Green Line.
You may have gone drinking at the college bars — like the cavernous Town Hall, the dive bar with pinball machines and a colorful, cheap-beer-enjoying clientele — of College Park. The neighborhood combines suburbia with cozy bungalow houses, bikes parked on the porches, all screaming of academia.
You can rent a one-bedroom place starting around $1,050, take the Green Line anywhere you want to go, take in a physics lecture at the University of Maryland, and then play pinball all day and night while swilling affordable suds. Yes, yes, yes — but you can also do something far more exciting in College Park: You can eat at 94th Aero Squadron, a World War II-theme restaurant that sits next to College Park Airport, the country's oldest continuously operated airport. There is weekly hand dancing at the 94th Squadron, too. That's D.C.'s answer to the jitterbug, in case you didn't know.
» 1 br: $1,050-$1,100
» 2 br: $1,300-$1,500
2. DEL RAY, VA.
Serenity off the Yellow and Blue lines
Del Ray is either the calmest or most stressful place on Earth, depending on what you make of the more than of six "relaxation" or "stress-relieving" shops on its small, quaint and entirely charming main street. Massage shops, day spas, a place advertising "authentic" pilates — if you need stress relief, this is your place.
But also, if you need custard, the Dairy Godmother is there to fill that need. Buy cheeses from Cheesetique, local meats (Let's Meat on the Avenue) or hats (try Tops of Old Town). Del Ray also has a number of gift shops, a gallery featuring monthly rotating exhibits of local artists, an upholsterer, a handful of tasty restaurants including the famous St. Elmo's Café and the less famous Al's Steak House ("no cell phones permitted"), a dog bakery and other amenities that make this charming neighborhood a way to live in a great small town right next to a Metro stop.
It also lets you buy comics and exotic plants from one of the greatest shops ever: the Exotic Planterium and Card & Comic Collectorama, a dusty, treasure-filled store whose owner, Dennis E. Webb, grows many of the plants from seed, and collects everything from Sweet Valley High dolls in their original packaging to old Spiderman comics. Webb has operated the shop right on the main drag for 34 years. So, go buy a plant from him. Plants are relaxing, too.
» 1 br: $1,050- $1,350
» 2 BR: $1,500-$2,200
Continue Reading "Renter's Guide: Check Out These Six Hot D.C. 'Hoods" »
EACH YEAR, the University of Maryland's National Orchestral Institute hosts a different group of musicians between the ages of 18 and 28 who want to hone their symphonic skills. Although the players change, the NOI's performances, held each Saturday in June, always blaze with an enthusiasm rare in an orchestral concert.
For James Ross, a professor at the university and the NOI's artistic director, cultivating this enthusiasm is just as important as making sure everyone's on beat.
"If you're not in the act of doing something that you're really committed to and enjoying, then there's no particular reason why people should ... pay a fair amount of money to sit and watch you not enjoy what you're doing," Ross says. "No rock group would survive that long with that kind of approach to what they do onstage."
Continue Reading "A Passion for Playing: National Orchestral Institute" »
Addison Road