Our picks of this week's events
We are obsessed with burlesque. We admit it.
DANCE
Badass burlesque
What better way to celebrate the coming of Valentine’s Day than to get all aroused with the ladies of Hell on Heels Burlesque Revue? Trade in the boring old dinner-flower-chocolates dance and take that special someone for a pre-Valentine’s Day night of bawdy burlesque action at 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave. in Linda Vista. The troupe of hot rockabilly girls will perform some saucy moves that’ll tease audiences with multi-layer striptease action, glitter pasties, ’40s-inspired hairdos, a tattoo or two and, of course, real nice booties. The event promises some exotic flair this go-round—the lovely ladies have drawn inspiration from Mexico, Germany and ancient Egypt. There’ll even be a naked-lady buffet, where the brave can sample tasty Valentine-themed treats off of, well, naked ladies. $12 at the door, $10 if dressed in vintage clothing. www.mypace.com/hellonheelsburlesque.
The man: Peter Kalivas is quite the man about town, but not in the playboy sense. He’s a dancer and choreographer who’s performed with almost every major dance company in San Diego (not to mention a few dozen companies across the U.S. and Europe). For the last five years, Kalivas has been at the helm of The PGK Project, a San Diego-based contemporary dance company that gets so many invitations to perform in other places that they hardly have time to perform at home. Good news, though: Kalivas and PGK are back in San Diego at the San Diego State University Studio Theatre, ENS 200, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1 and 2, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3, with Full Circle, a show that features a guest company from New Jersey, his former stomping grounds. www.the pgkproject.com or 619-594-1996. $10-$15.
NIGHTLIFE
Sh-sh-shake it
If the bubbles hanging from the ceiling and the elephants painted on the wall aren’t enough to keep you entertained at North Park’s Bar Pink Elephant (3829 30th St.), perhaps the new ’60s dance night, Shake Shack, will do the trick. From 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, San Diego’s Jeff Graves and Siavash Ghamaty and Tijuana’s Astronauta Jackson will dose you up with soulful dance jams and rare funk that’ll leave you yearning for yesteryear. If you dress in ’60s gear, by the way, Astronauta Jackson will play any song you want. www.barpinkelephant.com.
ART
Piecing together
The word “spam” is now recognized in Vietnamese culture. Though the smoke from the war cleared slowly, but the rate of change has increased exponentially as the socialist country has become more and more entangled with capitalism and felt the pull of the global market. The blending Vietnamese culture is the subject of artist Dinh Q. Le’s After the War, an exhibition featuring a video installation and 10 large-scale photo weavings—strips of photographs weaved together to create one large, textured graphic—that comment on the country’s impending change. After the War opens at the University Art Gallery at San Diego State University with a slide lecture at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, in Room 100 of Nasatir Hall. A reception will follow. artgallery.sdsu.edu or 619-594-5171.
SPOKEN WORD
More than rhyme
Poetry that invokes beautiful scenery is nice, but words that pack a political punch are a lot more exciting. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Central Library, 820 E St., Downtown, the Red CalacArts Collective and collaborators will be verbally boxing the status quo with Palabras de Poder: Rebel Writers from the New Latin America. Poets include Cesar Cruz, Paul Flores, Sara Eslava and Irene Castruita, a former member of Los Able Minded Poets, who will likely get a good gut shot in with her powerful piece read with the accompaniment of live music by Esteban Cardoso. www.sandiegolibrary.org, www.myspace.com/calacalandia. Free.
FILM
Movin’ on up
Now in its fifth year, the San Diego Black Film Festival just keeps getting bigger and better. Things kick off Thursday, Jan. 31, with a reception and opening-night films and wrap up Sunday with an awards ceremony, held at the SD Wine and Culinary Center, 200 Harbor Drive. In between, there’s the Shaft/Superfly party, several filmmaking panels (held at the downtown Borders) and more than 100 independently made films, including the world premieres of Lady Magdalene’s starring Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols, Nobody Knows (The Untold Story of Black Mormons) and King of the Evening, which stars Lynn Whitfield, Tyson Beckford and Glynn Turman (who played Baltimore’s mayor on The Wire). All screenings are at the Regal UA Theaters in downtown’s Horton Plaza, and most tickets run $10 a pop, though there are various festival pass options. A complete lineup and show times are available at www.sdbff.com.
LECTURES
Rappin’
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson has a pretty full schedule. Between appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher and BET, teaching at Georgetown, writing 14 books and being named one of Ebony’s 100 most influential Black Americans, he’s earned himself a nickname: “The Hip-Hop Intellectual.” Somehow, between all this, Dyson finds time to lecture across the country. Catch his speaking series at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the gymnasium at Southwestern College, 900 Otay Lakes Road in Chula Vista. Certain to give people who think “rap is crap” something to marinate on, the talk will explore the relationship between the civil rights and hip-hop generations. www.swccd.edu. $10-$20.
MUSIC
Sparking interest
Imagine the intense pressure of a Juilliard audition. Go ahead. We’ll wait. It’s horribly stressful—only the best make it in, and only the best of the best make it out. A group of Juilliard graduates who’ve learned to loosen up now that they’re out in the real world will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, at Qualcomm Hall, 5775 Morehouse Drive in Sorrento Valley. The America’s Dream Chamber Artists, as they call themselves, are here to show off the skills their $50,000 student loans bought ’em, but they aren’t doing it just to help themselves dig out of debt. The young musicians are fundraising for San Diego fire victims. Juilliard must be doing something right. www.adcany.org or www.eosdesign.net. $12-$25.
Published: 01/29/2008
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