picks

TCDP TOP PICK | Becky Olstad's "Ringside at the Circle of Discipline": Boxing photos at Augsburg College

07/26/2012 (All day) - 08/21/2012 (All day)
TCDP TOP PICK: There's no art exhibit this season with a cooler name than Becky Olstad's Ringside at the Circle of Discipline—and the photos aren't too shabby either. These intimate photos of young boxers at a Lake Street gym are a compelling reason to make your first—or your second, or third—visit to the Gage Family Art Gallery at Augsburg College. - Jay Gabler

SATURDAY PICK | Square Lake Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary

By Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

Photo by Sharyn Morrow (Creative Commons)

The music festival circuit seems to get more and more crowded every summer, but the Square Lake Festival has been sticking it out for a decade now with a mix of top-notch music and fascinating film in the beautiful environs of Square Lake. The organizers are pulling no punches this year, with scheduled music acts including the Pines, Retribution Gospel Choir, and the unstoppable Spider John Koerner. The International Novelty Gamelan will perform a film score, and Food Pyramid will bring everything to a close with a barn dance party. Fortunately, camping is available.

FRIDAY PICK | West African dance master William Atchouellou shares his craft in Minneapolis

By Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

Photo courtesy Duniya Drum and Dance

After his first-time African class with Duniya Drum and Dance, Bobby Kahn wrote, "I left a sweaty mess complete with a bruised ego and sore hands, but man oh man, did I have some fun along the way!" Whether you're a first-time student of African dance or a seasoned vet, you won't want to miss your opportunity on August 9 and 10 to learn first-hand from William Atchouellou, a native of Cote d'Ivoire who spent a decade in Minneapolis leading the Afro-modern group Les Gitanes and is now based in Montreal.

WEDNESDAY PICK | Milo Greene headline at 7th Street Entry

By Morgan Halaska, TC Daily Planet

When The Civil Wars came to the State Theatre last fall, they brought along Milo Greene to open. After their opening set, my friends and I pooled together $5 to purchase the group's four-song EP. I wasn't alone, as a barrage of TCW fans also pushed their way to the merch table to get their hands one of the limited copies. I think it's safe to say that Milo Greene cultivated their fan base on that tour. And I expect a lot of those fans to be back at 7th Entry to see them this time as headliners (with Family of the Year opening) on Wednesday, August 8. The ragtag group that makes up the enigmatic Milo Greene will be promoting their 36-minute, self-titled debut album. I'm hoping they'll do their cover of Sufjan Stevens' "Chicago" again as a filler.

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TUESDAY PICK | At Honey, any given Tuesday is Only Every Tuesday

By Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

Courtesy Geoffrey Fischbein

As though Minneapolis didn't already have a wildly disproportionate amount of Tuesday nightlife, singer-songwriter Geoffrey Fischbein is taking residence at Honey for a weekly bill sponsored by KFAI. Second Tuesdays will always include I Like You, third Tuesdays will always feature Broken Lines and Public Joy, fourth Tuesdays will always include I Like You and Sherbetty, and first Tuesdays—starting with August 6—will be booker's choice. The first Only Every Tuesday will feature Clap Chapple, Squares, the Mayfly Rocks, Chihuaha City, and headliner Fischbein.

MONDAY PICK | Lean your head into Poetry Row

By Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

Photo by Adam Annabel (Creative Commons).

Among the many other things happening on 13th Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis, there are multiple venues featuring regular events with poets; thus the would-be moniker "Poetry Row." Among those venues is Maeve's Cafe, which on August 6 is featuring one of its monthly "Sessions at Maeve's" events, in this case showcasing poets Ryan Collins, Traci Brimhall, Kyle McCord, and Glenn Shaheen. Berets, bongos, and absinthe optional.

SUNDAY PICK | At the Walker Art Center, a rare glimpse into Depression-era Minnesota life

By Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

Courtesy Walker Art Center

Today, making a movie is as easy as pulling out your phone—but in the 1920s, moviemaking equipment wasn't something the average person carried around in his pocket. That's what makes the James Dimond Home Movie Collection so valuable: the Dimond family captured life in the Midwest between 1927 and 1935, including visits to Minnehaha Falls and Camden State Park. The movies are now in the collection of the Walker Art Center, where they are screening daily until September 16.

SATURDAY PICK | Heavy metal (literally) at Franconia Sculpture Park

By Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

Photo by Mick T. (Creative Commons)

Count on the joyfully twisted minds at Franconia Sculpture Park to turn the pouring of molten metal into family fun. "Come and be part of art history," invites the park in advertisements for the annual event at which cast-metal artists (that is, artists who work in the medium of cast metal) lead workshops and help attendees make their own little sculptures. You'd better go and make a sculpture, otherwise what will your kids have to debate whether or not to throw away when you die?

FRIDAY PICK | Caroline Smith and Mike Myers, together at last

By Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

Music and movies in the park have become a staple of Twin Cities summers, with local park boards emulating the success of the two big-dog series run by the Walker Art Center (in Loring Park) and Vita.mn (at the Lake Harriet Bandshell); it seems like there are more movies to be seen in Twin Cities parks this summer than there are available for streaming on Netflix.

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THURSDAY PICK | Minnesota Fringe Festival blankets the Twin Cities in performing arts

By Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

Joe Dowing's William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet On the Moon, featuring Kate Mulgrew as Lady Capulet

Individually, the shows are perforce modest: a one-man Hunger Games parody, a quick riff on Shakespeare, a dirty-song cabaret. But in total, the Minnesota Fringe Festival has become the most important thing to happen to the local theater scene since the 1978 founding of Theatre de la Jeune Lune. A generation of performing artists have now come up through the Fringe, going on to found their own companies and make lasting marks.

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