Hot Times at Old Town

Appearing below are selections from the hard copy Hot Times. The objective is to highlight activities at the School and in the larger community, especially those featuring or of special interest to teachers and staff. Your suggestions are welcome. Enter a comment (under any item); it will come to me rather than automatically appearing.

Reggio’s Holiday Show — look for it in December ‘08!

On December 9th 2007, Reggio performed his annual program, “The Nut Tapper.” This spirited Christmas show put a new twist on Tschaikovsky’s holiday classic. Instead of ballet, Reggio uses percussive dance to tell his story, drawing fascinating rhythms from multiple traditions, including Spanish gipsy flamenco, Mexican Zapateado, Appalachian clogging, and — of course — American tap dancing.

You can enjoy this show In December 2008 at the Athenaeum Theatre. Many families make this show an annual part of their holiday season. Call the theater and ask about the 2008 dates. It will be a reminder to the theatre of Reggio’s popularity.

Filed under: Interesting elsewhere by Skip | November 9, 2007 | Comments (0)

Dark Morris: Dancing the Sun Down

If you enjoy energetic activities and want something ENTIRELY different, consider Morris Dance. Morris is a traditional performance dance involving almost athletic moves, marching, and distinctive costumes. These outfits usually include white pants and shirt, black shoes, leather pads covered with large bells tied around each leg below the knee, and brightly coloured ribbons attached at various places. A vest, double-baldric, or suspenders is usually worn over the shirt. The dances are unusual and fun, performed by an eclectic, interesting group of folks – very open to observers and future participants. (They’re happy to dance with no observers; that’s how much fun it is).

A good introduction to Morris dance was watching their celebration of Halloween. This year, as in the past, Chicago’s Ravenswood Morris joined Morris dancing teams all around the world to dance the sun down – an old tradition known as “dark Morris.”

If this unusual celebration has caught your attention, think about getting acquainted with this group and their unusual way of celebrating life through this age-old form of dance. For more information on Morris Dance, see www.RavenswoodMorris.org.

Filed under: The joy of dance, Interesting elsewhere by Skip | October 29, 2007 | Comments (0)

The Exquisite Corpse Lives! (At least for a while)

This is about an art show that begins November 1st.

Want to impress a friend with your non-conventional taste? Or shock your Aunt Hazel, visiting from Kansas City? Visit our favorite funky café, The Heartland, in November. They’re having an exhibition by a circle of young, Chicago-based artists working with the “exquisite corpse” technique developed in Surrealist circles during the 1920s.

In one picture, a man’s ear and nose turn into the wings of a bird. In another, a jester remains stoic as her coattails turn into carnivorous swans. Nearby, a winged bird reconciles itself to being rooted to the ground like a tree. These uncanny creatures are just a few of the “exquisite corpses” that make up Constraining Play, this new exhibit of more than three dozen provocative drawings that will be on display from November 1 to November 29th.

The technique relies on accident and serendipity: Separate artists draw the top, middle, and bottom of each piece. The first artist draws the top portion and extends her drawing a centimeter below the first fold. With the top folded out of view, the second artist incorporates the fringes of the first artist’s drawing into his own composition. Then, the third artist follows suit, drawing the bottom portion based on cues provided by the second artist.

Such signs of freedom and constraint, which are interwoven in many of the figures, can prompt critical reflections on the social and psychological worlds within which we are enmeshed. Like the exquisite corpses in this show, our lives today are structured by a mixture of freedom and compulsion, pleasure and misery.

This technique regained popularity more than a decade ago through an exhibition at the Heartland Café entitled “Totems Without Taboos: The Exquisite Corpse Lives!” During November, the Exquisite Corpse will live again!
The Heartland is open seven days a week; check their schedule at heartlandcafe.com.

Filed under: Interesting elsewhere by Skip | October 25, 2007 | Comments (0)

For a Non-Spooky Halloween Experience….

This sounds like good family fun. The Garfield Park Conservatory is hosting a free “Creatures of the Night” family program on Saturday, October 27th.

They’re using the up-coming Halloween as a teaching opportunity about night dwelling animals that have special adaptations, or “tricks,” that help them roam in the dark. Live nocturnal animals, like fruit bats, spiders, owls, and more, will make a rare daytime greenhouse appearance. Children and families can “learn an adaptation trick, and get a treat” at each of these special critter stations. Other fun activities include spider plantings, nectar cups, and spooky popcorn hands.

This free biological shindig will run from noon to 3 p.m.

Filed under: Interesting elsewhere by Skip | October 18, 2007 | Comments (1)

Sconefest, October 19-21

This unique event is having its third anniversary — a weekend of festivities accompanied by pan after pan of those funny, bumpy, little baked things emerging from the oven. Let me add a modifier to that - those WONDEFUL, funny, bumpy, little baked things.

The venue is the Pickacup Coffee House at 1813 Dempster in Evanston, where Carol Kent is the proprietess and baker. All the baked goods are from her oven in the back room, and that includes everything from cookies to quiches. Last week her offerings included a chocolate cheesecake, almond scones, ginger scones, and chocolate chip cookies -but the selection is always changing. Once last year she made pineapple macademica nut muffins which one patron described as “the best proof to date that God exists” (and, presumably, that he and Carol are very chummy).

Pickacup (named after what you do before getting your coffee) is a friendly, old-time, independent coffee shop — free wi-fi, comfy chairs, tables, and a small stage that welcomes performers. On the lineup for Saturday are some groups from the School — harmonica classes at 2 pm and Two for Road and Friend at 7 pm — but also everything from the Story Lady at 9 am (for the kids), bellydancing at noon (for dads), and Electric Medicine (for anyone who needs a dose) at 9 pm.

There are also performances on Friday night and Sunday.

Pickacup is easy to reach by car: in Evanston at Dodge and Dempster. Dodge is a continuation of Chicago’s California Avenue (2800 West) and Dempster is a big cross street, the third after Howard. You can go North on Western and turn left on Dempster or go North on McCormick and turn right. 1813 Dempster is on the northeast side of the street, next to a Burger King. Street parking is usually easy.

Filed under: Interesting elsewhere by Skip | October 14, 2007 | Comments (0)

For something a bit weird….

Restless on a Thursday night? Think of grabbing a friend or two and visiting Ginger’s Ale House, 3801 N. Ashland for their pub quiz. When you become a regular (one visit will do), Rich Burns will send you an advance listing of the topics, like Berry Mania, Noses in History, Sports Records, etc. This rarely proves useful, however, as the questions are at most vaguely related to the already-vague fields. Silliness prevails, though and Rich awards points for incorrect answers if they are creative. Your $5 contribution goes to the Lance Armstrong Cancer Foundation and the Franciscan Outreach Association. The provender is….pub food and they always have a beer of the month. For details call (773) 348-2757. It’s mostly a young crowd, but includes Jim, an older OT student who was last year’s city-wide pub quiz winner (big trophy on display at the pub); ask for him and say hello. Jim welcomes younger partners who know recent music, movies, etc. (The quiz is in the back, back room. Keep walking back).

Filed under: Interesting elsewhere by Skip | October 13, 2007 | Comments (0)

A Walk through the Blues

Have you heard about the city’s downloadable tours? The Explore Chicago folks have set up a new service providing adventures sitting at home or via mp3 when you’re out and about. The first of these is a Chicago Blues tour, narrated by blues legend Buddy Guy. This jiffy summary includes tasty samples of the music, visuals, and even maps. The files download amazingly fast from their site, and, of course, are free: www.downloadchicagotours.com (Sign of the times: language options include Mandarin Chinese - hen hao!)

Worth a visit is Buddy Guy’s club at 754 South Wabash. One of our own bluesmen, Eric Noden, will be playing there Friday, September 28th.

Filed under: Interesting elsewhere by Skip | September 24, 2007 | Comments (0)


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