Nov 30

I tend to like art that admits its own artifice and shows its inner workings. I love the Pompidou Centre in Paris, for example, because the high-tech arts complex sports an architecture that wears the insides outside. I love theater where characters step outside the action and address the audience. It’s part of what I love about readers’ theater and radio plays. In a radio play, the audience sees the actors create the sound effects. There’s no wizard behind the curtain; it’s an art that’s upfront and honest.

About a month ago the TAMU-T English Club and Drama Department staged a radio play at the new Bringle Lake campus, and now the Southwest Arkansas Arts Council is presenting “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” at the Paul W. Klipsch Auditorium in Hope, Ark., Dec. 9-12. The play depicts various actors at a 1940s radio station, each of whom plays several characters in what’s become a traditional holiday tale. Director Mark Gunter says the crew utilizes a wind-making device and cereal is used to mimic the sound of crunching snow. We’ll have an advance story in Friday’s Gazette. You can also find out more by calling SWAAC: 870-777-8200. Tickets are $10 for adults, $2 for students through college.

- Aaron Brand

Popularity: 1% [?]

Oct 15

A little bit of West Africa is headed to Hope, Ark., in the form of Bi-Okoto Drum & Dance Theatre and School of African Cultures next Thursday at 7 p.m. What brings the Cincinnati-based group down to our corner of Southwest Arkansas? A mission to educate people about African dance and music, and, in conjunction with that, the culture that creates those traditions. I talked with company manager Jeaunita Olowe recently about the group’s background and approach to performing. It should be an interactive evening and inspire people to get up and move. Olowe pointed out that there’s great variety found in African dance—after all, it’s a huge and diverse continent. Submitted photos below show the group’s performing energy. It’s positive, engaging, and fun. We previewed the show in today’s Accent page: Bi-Okoto shares African dance, drums.

- Aaron Brand

Popularity: 2% [?]

Feb 25

“Experience Excitement” is the name for a night of professional ballet from the Illinois-based international dance company USA Ballet coming to Hope, Ark., in a little more than a week. On Saturday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Paul W. Klipsch Auditorium in Hope City Hall, they’ll perform selections from classics and more contemporary work—”Sleeping Beauty,” “Don Quixote,” and “La Esmerelda” among them. Tickets are $10 for adults and $2 for students K-college; call the Southwest Arkansas Arts Council at 870-777-8200 to purchase them. There are also pre- and post-performance parties. Tickets for those shindigs can be purchased by calling the same number. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Ken Bello, the dance company’s co-founder, is working with local dance students by providing master classes, giving local dancers valuable lessons to hone their ballet skills on the stage. 

More info on USA Ballet: USABallet.org. 

- Aaron Brand

Submitted photo: 

illusions-12

Popularity: 1% [?]