Performance
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Shacks and Shanties: a temporary art project
The “Shacks & Shanties” project is a South Side Chicago installation initiative organized by Faheem Majeed. Shacks were constructed as platforms for artistic performances and installations. I attended one such installation/performance, titled “Ghana Must Go” after the infamous plaid patterned tote bags that are so prevalent in West Africa. I talked to Faheem Wajeed as…
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Opera-Matic’s New Moon on the Lagoon
In this audio piece, I eavesdrop on rehearsals for Opera-matic’s very cool New Moon on the Lagoon, an “evening lullaby parade”, featuring a 15 foot tall giant moon that will be lit up from within by projections of facial expressions. It’ll be happening Friday May 10th and 11th, 2013 at the Humboldt Park Lagoon in…
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Record Store: where you can’t buy anything, but you can listen to everything.
I’ll be spinning for the opening of this… The record store is completely modular and made to encourage the kind of listening-based cultural interchange that makes record stores awesome. Over 4,000 records on loan from community members’ collections. None of them are for sale, but visitors can listen to them all: from “Belly Dancing Favorites”…
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Melodic Expansions: David Boykin Expanse with DJ Ayana… pass it on.
Psssst… David Boykin Expanse with DJ Ayana. It’s a righteous situation at a secret location. RSVP info@perpetualrebel.com for more info.
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Louder Than a Bomb in Concert: english class heretics.
Featuring work by LTAB all-stars, alumni, and co-creator Kevin Coval Friday, August 5 & 6, 2011 7:30pm Zacek McVay Theater TWO NIGHTS ONLY! This will be one of the most exciting nights at the Victory Gardens this summer! Don’t miss out on ENGLISH CLASS HERETICS: LOUDER THAN A BOMB IN CONCERT! The stage artists…
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Ladies Ring Shout: performance as a way to community
The Ladies Ring Shout as a Performance was born of a weekly workshop, dialoguing space, and “jam session” for women. Participants talked, wrote and moved in the spirit of collaborative experimentation and explored what an urban feminine discourse looks and feels like. What are our notions of an Urban Feminine? What is her legacy to/for…
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version 11: the new chicagoans
This Month, Chicago welcomes back both springtime and Versionfest (BTW, I think I saw a daffodil on South Shore Drive the other day). Organized by the good folks behind local Arts & Culture publication Lumpen, the Fest runs from April 22nd until May 1st in Bridgeport (a neighborhood that’s been going through a lot of changes…
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Passing Strange: a righteous afro-rock opera comes to Chicago!
“Passing Strange“, the Tony-winning black rock-opera is righteous, and it’s being staged in Chicago featuring local soul revivalists JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound… and my chica: LaNisa Frederick. Amen. Passing Strange is the coming-of-age story of “Youth” (Daniel Breaker), a kid growing up somewhere in LA in the seventies. He is disillusioned because he doesn’t fit the common…
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Theaster Gates’ Dorchester Projects
What do you get when you mix a maverick artist with strong community ties and an Urban Planner? For one thing, Theaster Gates. For another, the Dorchester Projects, pictured above. Theaster has been purchasing properties in the Woodlawn/Grand Crossing neighborhood for a few years now, and has quietly acquired the stock of the former Dr. Wax record…
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thaw out with the groove conspiracy!
Chicagoans… Thaw out this Thursday (and every Third Thursday) with Simeon Viltz and DJ Ayana at the Groove Conspiracy. The revelry starts at 10pm. Dance, eat, drink, play pool, and catch a classic movie with subtitles (past features include The Best of Soul Train, Monkey Hustle, and The Last Dragon). Morseland is located at 1218 West…

