UW News

October 11, 2012

Arts Roundup: Music, art, theater — and the Chamber Dance Company

UW News

chamber dance company dancers

The Chamber Dance Company will perform Oct. 11-14 in Meany Hall. Shown here are dancers Wilson Mendieta and Megan Brunsvold.Steve Korn

The Dance Department’s Chamber Dance Company will pay homage to the daring women who helped shape the first half-century of modern dance in its 2012 concert, “Women Pioneers of Modern Dance: On their Own.”

The dance concert is a highlight in a busy week in the arts that includes a new Henry Art Gallery exhibit, several Burke Museum events, new work from The Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media and the first play of the season by the Undergraduate Theater Society. Temperatures and leaves are dropping, but the arts are warming up nicely as autumn deepens.

plein air henry art gallery exhibit title Trouville Harbor

“Trouville Harbor,” by Eugene Louis Boudin, part of the Henry Art Gallery’s “En plein air” exhibit.

Exhibit: “En plein air,” through Feb. 16, 2013. An exhibit of work from the Henry Art Gallery’s  permanent collection along with that of French Algerian contemporary artist Neïl Beloufa. Featuring paintings by Boudin and Corot and photographs from the Henry’s important holdings of French photography, including the work of Eugene Atget, Henri Lartigue, Charles Marville, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and others. In the North Galleries.

Also: The Henry offers guided 30-minute tours on Saturdays at noon. Free with museum admission. Email for more information at tours@henryart.org.

Chamber Dance Company: Women Pioneers of Modern Dance: On Their Own,” Oct. 11-14. The company pays tribute to five women pioneers of modern dance. The performance will feature nine solos choreographed between 1906 and 1944 by Ruth St. Denis, Ethel Winter, Helen Tamiris, Jean Erdman and Mary Wigman. Advance notes state, “Together this unique band of pioneering artists blazed a path across the stage over the first half of the 20th century and gave rise to the newer artistic voices we appreciate today.”

The company was founded in 1990 by Hannah Wiley and is composed of candidates for the Master of Fine Arts degree in dance. A Seattle Weekly critic once called the troupe “a vibrant company with terrific repertory…[making] this annual concert one of the best in Seattle, local or otherwise.”

Tickets are $10-$20. There will be a lecture 30 minutes before each performance in the west lobby of the theater. For more information, visit online.

University of Texas Faculty Reed Trio, 5:30 p.m. Oct. 14. The trio’s guest recital will include works by Mozart, Tansman, Spisak and Villa-Lobos. In Brechemin Auditorium. Tickets are $15, cash or check at the door.

poster for Crocodile in the Yangtze: The Story of a Westerner Inside China's Alibaba.com“Crocodile in the Yangtze: The Story of a Westerner Inside China’s Alibaba.com,” 5:30 p.m. Oct. 15. A behind-the-scenes look at China’s Internet revolution. Director Porter Erisman will be on hand for questions. Part of the Foster School of Business’ Entrepreneur Week, Oct. 15 – 19. In Shansby Auditorium, 192 Paccar Hall. The film is free, but registration is requested.

“Short Takes on Capturing Nature,” 7 p.m., Oct. 15. An evening of fast-paced talks on the enduring relationship between the human imagination and the natural world. Ten experts from UW and beyond will have six minutes each to discuss topics ranging from cave paintings to the Hubble Space Telescope. What are we after when we attempt to “capture nature”? Presented by the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the Neptune Theater. $5 at the door, $4 online (fees apply).

David Montgomery

David Montgomery

“The Rocks Don’t Lie,” with David Montgomery, 7 p.m., Oct. 17. How one of the great stories in biblical history shaped geology. Montgomery, a MacArthur fellow and professor of Earth and space sciences, presents a surprising perspective on Noah’s Flood, taking readers on a journey across landscapes and cultures.

At the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, $5, free for members.
Also at the Burke (learn more at the museum’s events page):

  • After-work happy hour, 5-7 p.m. Oct. 11.
  • New docent training, 2-5 p.m. Oct. 12.
  • National Fossil Day at the Burke Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 17.
DXARTS concert Music of Today: New Digital Music by the Next Generation

The Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) presents “Music of Today: New Digital Music by the Next Generation,” Oct. 17 in Meany Hall.

“Music of Today: New Digital Music by the Next Generation,” 7:30 p.m. Oct. 17. The UW School of Music and The Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media co-sponsor this series featuring new works and modern classics by faculty, students and guest composers. This concert, in Meany Hall, features works by students Ivan Arteaga, Hector Bravo-Benard, Shih-Wei Lo, Stelios Manousakis, Marcin Pączkowski and Anthony Vine. Tickets are $12-$20.

“Five Flights,” Undergraduate Theater Society, Oct. 18-28. A comedy by Canadian playwright Adam Bock in which siblings deal with a large aviary left by their late father. The New York Times wrote of one production, “Mr. Bock isn’t much interested in conventional theater. Instead he mixes effervescent dialogue with incongruous structure until your head is spinning.” Directed by Dylan Ward, in Hutchinson Hall’s Cabaret Theater. Tickets are $5-$10.

Author Neal Stephenson, 6 p.m., Oct. 18. UW School of Law Professor Ryan Calo moderates a discussion with best-selling author Stephenson and a panel of interdisciplinary commentators to about the technical, legal and policy dimensions of his book Reamde, an adventure thriller involving a tech entrepreneur. Also featuring Takayoshi Kohno, UW professor of computer science, discussing security. Reception 5-6 p.m. W.H. Gates Hall. Register online.

Next week: Pianist Craig Sheppard performs Debussy.