City Week

EROS OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Friday, July 25

The Screening Room

127 E. Congress St.

One of Susan Griffin's greatest books explores the life blood of her (and our) quotidian experiences with an eye toward this question: What makes a community?

Twenty media artists, all women--some working in video, others in film, yet others in installation or computer-based images--have gathered to try to answer this question. Their work is on view at a show at MOCA this summer, part of the Lights, Camera, Action cumulative exhibit continuing through mid-August. Their videos and films can be seen this week on the big screen, and they look much different outside the warehouse gallery setting. Sit in the dark and see what unfolds.

All of the artists use a camera to investigate the meaning of identity. Vikki Dempsey, the curator of the Camera section and the screening, says, "By exploring identity, they're in the process of communion. and only as they are in communion with themselves, can they find community with others."

The hour-long screening consists of various approaches to this theme. There's humor, as in the case with Carol Leigh's video. Mother's Mink is a comedy about status, domination, murder and her brother's bar mitzvah. The video tells the story about Leigh's efforts to obtain respectability as an artist and to secure funding for a video about her mother's mink.

In Proposition, Genesis, Digression, Jennifer Beth Guerin documents a performative video--a video within a video--in which a guy shaves his entire body from the neck down. By appropriating Geoffery Hendricks' 1971 images, Guerin aims to expose our gendered differences.

Nicole Koschmann continues the moments-of-discomfort-in-familiar-spaces theme. In Burkha Dreams, the veil or burkha becomes a metaphor for both restriction and protection. And here, it's the desert that represents a dangerous space.

Peggy Ahwesh's 1989 video, Martina's Playhouse, is the oldest investigation in the collection. A little girl oscillates from narrator to reader to performer, and from the role of baby to that of mother in a Pee-Wee-esque trip through the artificial construct of femininity.

The screenings begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission costs $3. The Screening Room plays host the following two Friday evenings with more experimental women filmmakers--Michelle Citron and Chantal Akerman are on the bill on Aug. 1 and Aug. 8, also at 7:30 p.m.

For details, call 622-2262.

MORE INDIE FILM, PLEASE

Friday, July 25

St. Philip's in the Hills Church

4440 N. Campbell Ave.

Many women risked their lives to resist the Nazi Occupation and deportation of Jews in war-torn Europe. But at a time when women didn't vote or have a bank account or work outside the home, four brave individuals joined the Resistance and had the courage to stand up against fascist violence.

Sisters in Resistance is a 2003 documentary by Maia Weschler. It's a production of Independentiens and it's part of the Religion in Film Series sponsored by Tacheria Interfaith Spirituality Center.

The documentary follows remarkable stories of arrest, beatings, jailing and deportation to concentration camps. These women talk about their experiences and also how they've acted against subsequent forms of violence.

Come for the screening that starts at 7 p.m. Stay for the discussion that follows. It's all free. For questions, call 299-6421.

SONGSTRESS OF THE SAGEBRUSH

Friday, July 25

Hidden Valley Inn

4825 N. Sabino Canyon Road

Miss Crystal is the gal who gets the fancy moniker. She's played by Glenda Young in Star Spangled Saddles, performed in the cool, elegant and air-conditioned Crystal Palace dining room.

The musical salute to the great American West kicks off this week for its nearly four-month run through Nov. 9. The Western dinner theater revue features the Songstress as well as Sally, played by Trisha Hart Ditsworth, Marlene Montes as Pearl, Sean Zimmerman as Tex and Jack Neubeck as Sam the bartender. Khris Dodge directs the lively Western band--he also plays piano--and Dave Walton drums while Jim Kennedy strums the guitar and toots on the harmonica.

Obviously, it's a place to bring the whole gang. Adults get in for $13.95 and kids under 12 get in for $7.95. There's a separate show menu including kids' portions.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for dinner and the show starts at 7 p.m. Matinees start at 3 p.m. Performances take place Thursdays through Sundays. Call for reservations and exact show times at 299-4941.

See you there, pardner.

STAVE OFF THE SUMMER DOLDRUMS

Saturday, July 26

Mat Bevel Institute

530 N. Stone Ave.

Did you know that part of the root of the word "zeitgeist" is spirit or ghost? It makes sense that the Zeitgeist jazz series, an improvisational smorgasbord that channels musical strains from all kinds of ghosts, is named as such. It's time for their first summer concert in the Jazz at the Institute series.

New York-based alto sax player Rob Brown teams up with Tucson's guitarist Matt Mitchell and Santa Fe percussionist David Wayne. The evening promises to be full of freewheeling music making.

Brown is poised somewhere in that netherland between being a rising star and an established veteran. (I guess it's in the ear of the beholder.) Most recently, he's been the featured horn in the quartet of legendary bassist Henry Grimes, who's just revived his own career after a 35-year absence. Brown has 12 recordings under his own name and he's performed with the likes of Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Roy Campbell, Jr. and many others.

Matt Mitchell seems to be the busiest musician in Tucson. That's probably due to his versatility. Trained in classical guitar at the UA, he surprises everyone with his playing continuum: backing singers, playing Latin jazz, even his membership in the industrial/Klezmer trio, El Creepy, the Moroccan jazz outfit, D'Oud, and the totally wacked-out collaborative The Friends of Shooby Taylor.

David Wayne was initially inspired by his Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart exposure. He started playing drums as a teen in South Florida. He ultimately wended his way west, landing in New Mexico, where he's been a fixture on the Santa Fe free improv/weird jazz/noise rock scene. His present associations include the Zimbabwe Nkenya Quartet, Protuberance, Stefan Dill Trio and Every Other Breath.

The funky sounds get started at 8 p.m. Tickets at the door cost a mere 8 bucks. Call 882-7154 for all your information.

COLOR ME RED

Saturday, July 26 and Tuesday, July 29

Wild Oats Foothills Market

4751 E. Sunrise Drive

Just what is Colorpuncture Chromatherapy? Lynn Younger of Healing Lights has the answer: It's a noninvasive form of acupuncture that uses crystalline colored light frequencies. So there.

Find out more in her free lecture from 2 to 3 p.m.

Also on Saturday, Paula Frey of Synergy Chiropractic Care talks about which nutritional supplements are best for you. She'll discern between Vitamins A, B and C and much more from 4 to 5 p.m.

And on Tuesday, it's your chance to get answers to questions about a wide range of natural treatment protocols--bio-oxidative therapy, colon therapy homeopathy, herbology and acupuncture, to name a few. Dr. Dennis Best, of the Best of Health Alternative Clinic (now there's a convenient last name), tells all from 7 to 8 p.m.

To register for any of these free lectures, call 299-8858.

FANCY TRANCE

Saturday, July 26

Zuzi Little Theater

738 N. Fifth Ave.

Some folks on the New Age circuit dub Rasa's recordings the "Best New Age CD" for 2000 and 2001. Come hear why.

Rasa is Kim Waters on vocals in Bengali and Sanskrit and Hans Christian on strings and electronics. Their transcendental music from India and beyond is inspired by the Vedic traditions--a modern reinterpretation of classic devotional love songs and chants. They combine traditional and modern elements in their music to reflect an unearthly beauty. The mood invoked is one of reverence and mediation. Donovan says, "It's top-quality devotional music that takes one to the highest realms."

Get on board for the journey. It starts at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $12 in advance at Govinda's or $15 at the door.

Questions? Call 331-3108.