photograph courtesy new ballet ensemble
Springloaded.
Ballet All Day
The Secret World of Jack Robinson, Jack Robinson Gallery, 44 S. Huling
Friday-Saturday, April 8-9, 7 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9 p.m.
Springloaded, The Halloran Centre, 225 S. Main
Saturday, April 9, 7 p.m.; Sunday, April 10, 2:30 p.m.
I’ll just get straight to the pointe on this one. See what I did there? I hope it won’t take too big of a leap — or, dare I say, grand jeté — of faith for you to trust me with your weekend plans after that bad pun. Regardless, you should let these two works of art speak for themselves.
The Secret World of Jack Robinson, presented by Tennessee Ballet Theater, unearths the long-hidden images of New York-based photographer Jack Robinson, who photographed icons like Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ralph Lauren, Joni Mitchell, Tina Turner, and Elton John. Participants will be led through the Jack Robinson Gallery and will be seated to view the dances in the different gallery spaces. The gallery and bar will be open 30 minutes before and after each show. Tickets ($30) can be purchased here.
Meanwhile, Springloaded, presented by the New Ballet Ensemble, celebrates compassion amid hardship. Choreographed by visiting international artists and alumni, Springloaded features the world premiere of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Dances by Kim Jones, along with new works by Michael Medcalf, Elizabeth Corbett, and Broadway’s Maxx Reed, among others. Tickets ($15-$25) can be purchased here.
photograph courtesy collage dance / iris orchestra
“Brazil by Night”
Collage Dance Collective, 505 Tillman Street
Saturday, April 9, 7-10 p.m.
Eliza Doolittle once sang, “I could’ve danced all night,” but she never got the chance to attend Iris Orchestra and Collage Dance’s “Brazil by Night,” where the music, as Iris director of community initiatives Rebecca Arendt says, is “hard to sit still when you listen to it.”
The night will consist of an authentic Brazilian feast by Carson Rodizio and performances by Collage dancers and the Iris musicians, including the Iris Artist Fellows. Bossa nova melodies by the Deborah Swiney Quartet will begin the night, and a samba party, where you get to do some dancing yourself, will conclude this celebration of international culture and art.
Tickets ($75) can be purchased here.
photograph courtesy simon peel / unsplash
Love Food Hate Waste
Memphis Made Brewing Company, 768 S. Cooper
Saturday, April 9, noon-4 p.m.
Taste buds will dance, and your heart will go pitter-patter at this free, fun, family-friendly event all about reducing food waste. For this event, Memphis Made has crafted a free specialty beer made from surplus bread from Bring It Food Hub as part of the bread-to-tap initiative, where brewers partner with local bakeries to transform unsold bread into a new brew. As you sip on the tasty beverage, watch live chef demos and learn how you can reduce food waste in your own home. Plus, music and games will abound for folks of all ages to enjoy.
Register here. Feel free to bring non-perishable food items to donate to support the efforts of Mid-South Food Bank, Cafe Congo of First Congregational Church, and For The Kingdom’s Feed The Block program.
photograph courtesy stefan cosma / unsplash
Shelby County Star Trek Day
Black Lodge, 405 N. Cleveland
Friday, April 8, 5-9 p.m.
Tuesday, April 5th, marked First Contact Day, a pre-holiday of sorts celebrating when the Vulcans will first make contact with humans — in 2063, according to Star Trek lore. When celebrating this day in 2378, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok insists that Vulcans do not dance but eventually, with a brief shuffle, Tuvok proved that, yes, Vulcans can dance. Can they dance well? That’s neither here nor there, but my fellow humans, you can join in on the dance of celebration at the Shelby County Star Trek Day extravaganza.
On this holiday, officially recognized by Shelby County, the only city or county in the nation to do so, you can expect trivia and costume contests as well as Star Trek-themed food and drinks — think: Romulan ale and Klingon blood wine — and a screening of the best tearjerker episode. Former NASA astronomer Jeremy Veldman will be there to give a presentation on why our solar system lacks the most common type of planet in the universe (at least as it seems in Star Trek). Plus, David Gerrold, science-fiction writer who penned the beloved original Trek series episode “The Trouble With Tribbles,” will make a remote appearance.
Oh, and we can’t leave out our very own writer and the Memphis Flyer’s TV/film critic Chris McCoy’s presentation. McCoy will discuss “how the utopian fiction of Star Trek intersects with the very messy, real-life concept of justice in all its forms” with Steve Mulroy, law professor and the former Shelby County commissioner who declared Star Trek Day as his last official act.
photograph courtesy mosh
“Isaac Hayes: Black Moses Gives Back” Grand Opening
Museum of Science & History, 3050 Central
Saturday, April 9, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
What’s dancing without music? A bunch of nonsense (or a bit of performance art that goes straight over my head). What’s music without dancing? Still pretty enjoyable, even if you don’t know anything about chord progressions or what-have-you. So whether you’re a dancer or a music-listener, you won’t want to miss out on the opening of MoSH’s “Isaac Hayes: Black Moses Gives Back” exhibit.
The fun and colorful exhibition, featuring Hayes’ unique dashikis collection, introduces a side of Isaac Hayes that you might not know. Rather than focusing on the artist’s illustrious musical career, the exhibit turns to his interests in Black pride, Afrocentrism, and his humanitarianism and philanthropic efforts in Ghana and Memphis.
At the opening, you can enjoy live music, starting at 11:15 a.m., by Ekpe Abioto, the musical philanthropist and founder of the Memphis African Jazz Ensemble, which performed at Isaac Hayes’ funeral. Meanwhile, the exhibition curator will be available to answer all your questions, and you can enjoy activity stations that investigate traditional African textiles, including making your own kufi hat.
Admission is $18 for adults, $17 for seniors, and $13 for children.
[photo: courtesy MoSH]
