Collaborators Collide
Movement Salon and the Architects present Improvisologies
7 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 8
ZUZI's Theater
738 N. Fifth Ave.
Tucson's Movement Salon is collaborating with the Architects dance group on an all-new improvisation inspired by The Architects.
"They're the Movement Salon's mentors," said Kimi Eisele, co-founder of Movement Salon.
Four days of workshops with the two groups will culminate in a public performance on Sunday.
"Every day, you're delving into this form of improvisation where you're building skills; you're learning how to pay attention in new ways," Eisele said. "It's a very intense way of paying attention to not only what you're called to do, not only what's happening in the room, but your own response."
Kathy Couch, an adjunct artist with The Architects, is the set designer, Eisele said.
"She'll sort of design an installation in that space, and we work to create pieces within that installation. Now, not only are you paying attention to yourself and others, but you're also paying attention to the space and objects in that space," she said.
Though this performance isn't intended to offer a specific response to the anniversary of the Jan. 8 shootings, it probably will end up being influenced by the anniversary, Eisele said.
During a similar workshop that took place on the same week one year ago, "We went ahead and performed that weekend, and that was very much in our hearts and minds," Eisele said. "As artists, it will be on people's minds, so it will probably show up in their bodies too."
Tickets, which are available only at the door only, are $10 to $15.
A Destructive Love Story
Etcetera presents Gruesome Playground Injuries
8 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 8
Live Theatre Workshop
5317 E. Speedway Blvd.
327-4242
Etcetera, the late-night arm of Live Theatre Workshop, is presenting a new play with a painful subject—to say the least.
Gruesome Playground Injuries, by Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rajiv Joseph, follows the unfolding love story of two people who keep running into each other at hospitals and doctors' offices—after they've been injured.
"It's kind of a really interesting take on a love story between a boy and a girl," said Christopher Johnson, the artistic director of Etcetera who also stars in the staged reading, along with Lucille Petty. "It follows them from ages 8 to 38 ... from hospital room to hospital room. All these horrible things happen to them. It shows the different things that attract people to one another and asks, 'How much can you help a person that you're in love with?'"
The one-act play consists of scenes set five to 10 years apart. Johnson said it's a compelling love story between two characters whose destructive nature is often self-induced, if not self-inflicted.
"By the end of the play, they both have literal and figurative scars, either by having your eye blown out or your heart broken," Johnson said. "It's an interesting look at these injuries that you carry with you your whole life.
"I remember the first time I read it, being simultaneously overwhelmed by the horror and just thinking, 'It's the most romantic thing I've ever heard in my life,'" Johnson said. "It's a beautiful story."
Tickets are $5 and are available at the box office, which is open Tuesday through Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m. You can also order them by phone at 327-4242 or by emailing ltwreservations@qwestoffice.net.
Wishes Come True Through Performance
Make-a-Wish Dance Competition by Obscene Gestures Dance Crew
7:30 to 9 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 7
Berger Performing Arts Center
1200 W. Speedway Blvd.
820-2262
Hip-hop dance teams from around the state are getting together for a competition that will help pay for the Christmas gifts that a local dance crew gave to a needy family.
While selling tickets for the event, "We actually went and bought the gifts and went to the home of the people that were nominated online, so we actually gave them the gifts," said Tyson Thurman, a spokesman for Tucson's Obscene Gestures Dance Crew. "We made the wish of that family come true."
The competition involves eight dance teams from around Arizona: Element Dance Crew (Phoenix), Elektrolyttlez Dance Crew (Phoenix), United Dance Crew (Coolidge), Hidden Language (Tucson), Set 4 Life (Tucson), Demolition Dance Crew (Tucson), the Drop Company (Tucson) and the Drop Varsity Team (Tucson). Obscene Gestures will not compete but will perform several times during the show.
Cash prizes will be awarded to the teams that finish first, second and third. Two judges will pick the winners.
"The dancers that are competing are really great," Thurman said. "They're all amazing to watch—it's just a lot of fun to come out with your families and enjoy the teams."
Tickets are $6.50 in advance and $8 at the door, and they can be ordered at ogdance.com. Tickets for children 1 to 5 years old are $5, and there is no charge for infants (younger than a year old).
For more information about the event or the Obscene Gestures Dance Crew, visit the website, or search for the crew on Facebook.
Abstraction With Intention
David Moreno's Indigenous Intentions
Opening reception: 6 to 10 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 7
On display 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, through Saturday, Jan. 28
110 E. Sixth St.
398-6557
Abstract works by contemporary Yaqui artist David Moreno will grace the walls at Contreras Gallery this month, starting with an opening reception on Saturday.
Moreno—who credits his late father, artist Eulogio Moreno, with inspiring his art—paints with a unique vision, said gallery owner Eugene Contreras.
"I really like his art," Contreras said. "He just wants to do fine art for art's sake, and his abstract art reflects (that)."
Moreno, who is also a youth counselor with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, says on his website: "Painting for me is spiritual, and a part of me goes into every painting. I paint what I love, and on the canvas, I try to capture the essence of the human spirit."
Contreras said that Moreno delivers what many artists often can't: abstract art that people can enjoy.
"We have tried showing abstract art in the past, and it hasn't worked," Contreras said. But he added that Moreno's art is different. "When you look at his paintings, you can see a really special quality in them. It has a lot of meaning behind it. It captures his own spirit."
Contreras said that Moreno was the first artist he asked to show works at his studio when it opened 3 1/2 years ago.
"If it's David Moreno, we're always going to show his art here," Contreras said.
Entrance to the opening reception is free, as is entrance to the gallery. The exhibit runs through Saturday, Jan. 28.
