Arts

MayDay Parade- 39th Annual MayDay Parade and Festival: Sunday, May 5, 2013

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre’s annual MayDay Parade, Ceremony, and Festival has been a vibrant example of art as community building in the Twin Cities area for 38 years.

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Minnesota Community Sings at Powderhorn Park May 18: Bring a friend, make history

Almost one hundred years ago, right here in our Minneapolis parks, something amazing happened almost every summer night. People streamed from their homes by the thousands to sing together in the Minneapolis parks. In Powderhorn Park, sometimes more than 25,000 people showed up to sing songs in one big voice.

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Corcoran Park rock band camps

By now, most of you know that during the past few years I have been using a school-of-rock model to teach music at Corcoran Park. I always welcome interested kids and young adults. At present, we could really use a bass player or two. In any case, after playing at intermediate levels for some time, the next phase is the Corcoran Park Rock Band (CPRB), where we will work on ensemble playing and students will get to rock out.

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Folwell School of Performing Arts and Heart of the Beast Theater to host Duniya Drum and Dance with Fode' Bangoura

Twin Cities resident Fode' Bangoura a djembefola/master drummer from Guinea West Africa has performed and taught around the globe. Each spring Fode' hosts a West African drum and dance conference that features professional master drummers and dancers from West Africa. This year's 6th annual conference beginning on May 16th includes artists originally from Guinea, Senegal, and Cote de'Ivoire, and culminates in the West African All Stars performance on May 18th. Many of these artists have performed with national ballet companies from their home countries. West African drum and dance is very high energy and exhilarating to the participants and audience. The workshop classes take place at Folwell School & the performance at Heart of the Beast Theater (HOTB). For more information, visit www.duniyadrumanddance.org or contact Heidi Traore at heidi [at] duniyadrumanddance [dot] org or 612-670-8768.

The return of sublime ridiculous perfection: All My Children

September 23, 2011 was a sad day for me. I said last goodbyes to friends, er... characters I'd known since childhood as All My Children went off the air. Yesterday the citizens of Pine Valley returned to my life, this time via hulu and various other online sources.

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"I Love to Eat": James Beard tells all at Illusion Theater

Gary Geiken in I Love to Eat. Photo courtesy Illusion Theater.

Attention foodies: Garry Geiken serves up a delicious impersonation of legendary American foodie James Beard in Illusion Theater's production of I Love to Eat: a love story with food. The one-man show is more character study than drama, but Geiken succeeds in bringing a fascinating character to life. During the performance, Geiken prepares some of Beard's signature onion sandwiches, and a few lucky audience members get a chance to taste them.

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2013 Newport Beach Film Festival: What it's like to be a juror

Welcome to the Jungle

The 14th annual Newport Beach Film Festival started April 25 and ends this Thursday, May 2. After the extravagant weeklong festival ends, they will have screened over 350 films, screening at five different venues and at times occupying 12 screens at once. I knew very little about this festival, other than a few key programmers—Max Naylor, Amanda Salazar, Adam Gentry, Jay Winterstein, and executive director Gregg Schwenk—whom I had met in previous years attending Sundance standing in lines, sitting near one another at screenings, and meeting up at parties. (On opening night, I was blown away by the fact there were some announced 500 volunteers that would work over 50,000+ hours, year-round and during the festival to make this event happen!) This past January at Sundance, I was asked to participate at the festival as a jury member and there was no way I was going to say no.

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Remembering John Munger: The best of his writing for the Twin Cities Daily Planet

Video by 3 Minute Egg, 2008

Along with the rest of the Twin Cities arts community, I was saddened this week to learn of the death of John Munger, a great talent, enthusiastic supporter, and vibrant presence on the Minnesota dance scene for decades.

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Movies that could become blockbusters in the sweet, sweaty days of summer 2013

In the days of spring, you can hear them coming. Stand in a movie theater lobby and cock your head to the side just right, and you’ll feel more than hear a rumble emanating from the horizon. Okay, so it’s more likely the sound of movie trailers in nearby theaters that you’ll be hearing and feeling, but isn’t it more epic if the noise comes from the mystical regions of beyond? At any rate, the roar of the summer blockbuster cannot be ignored when April and May spring upon you. For decades the warm summer months have been a time when even on the sunniest of days and the most star-streaked of perfect nights, people have chosen to retreat to the air conditioned caverns of movie theaters. So what compels us to discard perfect outdoor conditions in favor of a cushioned seat in a dark room? The answer: summer blockbusters.

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