Results tagged “dance”

ART: Women's Art Movement (W.A.M.) explores the scary and sweet sides of pop-surrealism in their latest group show, Dollhouse Monsters invade Polk Gulch. The participating artists of W.A.M. will be disguised in pre-Halloween costumes for the festivities, and encourage attendees to dress in costume as well. Everyone who stops by the gallery will be entered in a costume contest to win an iPod. The exhibition runs through November 7.

DANCE: The all-female Chitresh Das Dance Company presents the world premiere of Sita Haran, a dramatic staging of one of the most popular stories from India's great text, "The Râmâyana," told in the Kathak style of dynamic movement, drama, rhythm, and music. There will be a pre-show discussion and an after-show reception.

MUSIC: It's a night of geographically diverse rock at Cafe Du Nord, featuring Australia's The Drones (dark/bluesy/psychedelic), Los Angeles' Model/Actress (noisy/high-energy indie rock), and SF's The Spyrals (ethereal/shoegaze/Brit-popesque). The Duke of Windsor will spin tunes between sets.

DANCE: Come learn the polka at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival's open-air dance party at Jessie Square with Big Lou’s Polka Casserole, who are devoted to reminding audiences that polka was once rock 'n roll for Eastern European immigrants and their descendants.

FILM: It's $3 Movie Night, featuring A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil, an inspirational documentary about environmental innovations that transformed Curitiba, Brazil, into one of the most livable cities in the world, and The Story of Stuff, which examines the underside of our production and consumption patterns and compels us to create a more sustainable world.

It's been a busy day for the Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu Dancers, who started their Hit and Run Hula at Pier 39 this morning, bused over to the Ferry Building, made their way to the stage at Union Square, stopped at the Apple Store, the Cable Car Turnaround, were kicked out of the Westfield Mall food court by security (figures), and quickly ambushed the BART station instead. They spent this afternoon at Dolores Park, the Castro, Academy of Sciences, and should be on their way to Ocean Beach for a picnic right about now.

Wow, there's a lot of day-time events happening this weekend. We are fried from putting this all together. Time to get outside!

PERFORMANCE: Joe Goode Performance Group presents Traveling Light, an installation combining dance, language, irony and reflection, which will take the audience on a journey through the vaults and chambers of the oldest stone building in San Francisco. Production and lighting design by Jack Carpenter, and music and sonic landscape by Jay Cloidt.

ART: San Francisco artist Brian Barneclo, whose colorful, retro-esque murals adorn high-profile locales, such as the SF Bay Guardian building, Kilowatt, and NoPa, will be showing his new body of paintings at the District wine bar now through October. They're all for sale, so get there soon to nab one....

It's another weekend with lots of fun daytime events. Here are a few big ones. Bonus: all of them are free! ALL WEEKEND Renegade Craft Fair Over 200 DIY artists from across the country and abroad will be selling their handmade goods at this second annual event. From clothing and accessories, to stationary and concert posters, with everything from bath products and ceramics in between. Fort Mason, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., free.

ART: Tonight is the start of The Crucible's 9th Annual Fire Arts Festival, an open-air exhibition of interactive fire art, performance and the largest collection of outdoor fire sculpture on the West Coast, which benefits The Crucible’s arts education programs for youth and adults. The fest is at a new venue this year, which is three times larger, and will give attendees much more "bang" for their buck. The festival runs through Saturday, and there will be a free shuttle running between the West Oakland Bart station and the Fire Arts Arena.

For 13 years strong, people have gathered in Golden Gate Park on Sundays to do the Lindy Hop. That is, until two weeks ago when SFPD officers stopped the jazz-swing fun. Why? Well, it seems that these brazen dance kids didn't have a permit for this street-type swing dancing. So, the fuzz gave "people 20 minutes to break down their speakers," forcing some 200 people to beat it. Fortunately, after many, many, many angry people complained by sending letters to City Hall, they were given a permit and the Lindy Hop dances again. (CBS 5 has a full report.) The Lindy happens every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the south sidewalk area of JFK Drive, between 8th and 10th Avenue.

FILM: This week's feature at Bad Movie Night is Rocky IV. Filmed at the height of the cold war, the statuesque Ivan Drago uses the highest technology to train for the fight of the century against Rocky, who meanwhile runs in the cold Russian snow with an oxbow. Guess who wins?

DANCE: As part of the International Queer Tango Festival going on all weekend, the documentary Tango with a Twist interweaves stories about a group of amateur dancers -- gay, straight and "fluid," who embark on a journey of discovery to the birthplace of tango, Buenos Aires, Argentina, under the protective wing of their Sydney tango teacher, Anne-Maree Therkleson. Then there will be a dinner show at Peña Pachamama, featuring performances by Christy Cote and Darren Lees, Count Glover and Chelsea Eng, plus Christy dancing with Chelsea, with live music by Odile Lavault, bandoneon, and Marco Casasola, piano.

ART: Tyson Ayers, a Bay Area music composer, instrument builder, and multimedia installation and performance artist, presents the Sound Cave, a small room built out of piano parts. When someone crawls inside, the strings on the walls capture any sounds the person creates and echoes them back for long periods of time. "Each sound board is tuned according to various scientific and sound healing principles with the intention of positively affecting a participant's mind, body, and spirit."

DANCE: Get a free beginner salsa lesson at Salsa in the Square, a salsa music and dance festival happening every third Wednesday through October. Immediately following the lesson, test your skill to the live sounds of Anthony Blea y su Charanga.

MUSIC: Master trumpet player Herb Alpert, of the delightfully cheesy Sergio Mendes and Tijuana Brass fame, and his wife, singer Lani Hall will perform an intimate night of American and Brazilian jazz featuring Bill Cantos (piano), Michael Shapiro (drums), and Hussain Jiffrey (bass).

Before growing into the acclaimed DJ and electronic music producer that he is today, Tiga got his first exposure to music touring the Goa region of India with his DJ father in the 80s. Now based in Montreal, he's now released four albums, including 2001's acclaimed Mixed Emotions, and the popular 2006 disc Sexor. He has a new album, Ciao, which bridges the gap between IDM (intelligent dance music) and more heady, heavy electronica (hear some here).

FILM: There's still a few remaining nights of film noir at I Wake Up Dreaming. Tonight's double feature is Women in the Night (8 p.m.), "one of the rarest of 40s B noirs, which tells the grim story of women captured by the Nazis and forced to serve as “hostesses” at the Shanghai Officer’s Club," and Under Age (6:45 and 9 p.m.), "an astonishingly frank B oddity about young wayward girls who are lured into the dangerous world of prostitution by sinister pimps and racketeers."

FILM: In celebration of Harvey Milk's birthday this past Friday, the Castro is screening both Rob Epstein’s Academy Award-winning 1984 documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk and Gus Van Zant's feature film Milk back-to-back through Thursday.

DANCE: Liz Roman and Dancers, who were recently featured in SFist's Photo Du Jour, present their newest building romp At Play. Roman and her dancers/collaborators will move audiences through the halls, stairwells, fire-escapes and doorways of Dance Mission Theater for a site-specific exploration of the venue. (There are also three more showings next weekend, May 22-24.)

Reminiscent of Donna McKechnie's "Tick Tock" number from Stephen Sondheim's Company -- which featured McKechnie power dancing on moving elevators within a 1970s metropolitan landscape of marriage, love, sex, song, and Stritch -- ThinkSketchDesign came across this scene yesterday in Osage Alley. Apparently, "a small crowd gathered to watch dancers practicing a routine on twin fire escapes. Music was playing from somewhere as they danced in and out of their doors, up and down the fire escape stairs and ladders."

by Tiffany Maleshefski

For those of you who went out last night to one of the many parties going on, here is Barack and Michelle Obama's inaugural dance. They were serenaded by Beyonce, who later, after the dance, went back stage and broke down in tears over the new administration. Sasha Fierce told an ABC reporter that yesterday was "the most important day of [her] life, that Obama made her want to "be smarter" and "be more involved." Aw. Good luck with that, B.

Had enough of the Christmas cheer? Laying low on amateur night, aka New Years Eve, with its $50 covers, vomit-saturated Muni buses, and good-luck-getting-a-cab b.s.? Then this Saturday night is where the real party is! Come one, come all to the KnockOut for "Broken presents: Silent Night, Deadly Night," a free, Post-Christmas dance party mixing the best of old-school goth, industrial, new wave, and indie. SFist will be there (we'll be the ones wearing black and burgundy).

Shrug off your post-Halloween blood-sugar hangover. Find your galoshes. Then dust off your umbrella-ella-ella-ella-ey-ey-ey and get out there in the rain to go see some excellent dance tonight!

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Andanza Spanish Arts and ODC Theater present an invigorating, original work, showcasing the eclectic and rich music and dance traditions of Spain/Mexico. Zarzuela, Classical, Folkloric and Flamenco forms will be exquisitely performed in Aire y Gracia through dance, voice and live music, by a cast of 15 world-class artists.

Can you believe Flashdance is turning 15? Not in years, but in incarnations. The fifteenth in the irregular series of dancing flash mobs happens tonight at 7:30. Where, you ask? In the seat of power! Or at least, right outside the seat's window, on Van Ness by City Hall.

Public Displays of Musical Affection busts out into a (more or less) seamless choreographed routine to Bjork's screechy but sublime "It's Oh So Quiet" in Union Square. Wee!

FILM: Those crazy bitches at Femina Potens Gallery are at it again. This time they plan on teaching you prudes out there how to make your very own blue movie at Hot Queer Film & Porn. Shine Louise Houston of Pink and White Productions, Dana Dearmond director for Vivid Alt, Julie Simone director for Abigail Productions and Julie Simone Productions, Trouble Royale for Trannywood Productions, Madison Young director for Madison Bound Productions, and Morty Diamond director of Trannyfags and Trans Entities will be on-hand for a Q&A and vegan cookie binge. Hot Queer Film & Porn is also an open mic-like night where the public is invited to show their very own "hot erotic films" and sordid amature porn. Sort of like XTube, only IRL. Nice.