The Memphis Grizzlies headed to Boston for a Sunday afternoon game on national television, and it didn’t go well.
Let’s get into it.
How do you solve a problem like the Boston Celtics? I don’t know, and clearly the Grizzlies don’t either.
Boston beat them on the boards, on the assists, and from three-point range. Getting cooked from outside is not a new phenomenon for this Grizzlies team, but the disparity in three-point shooting was on display and it was not a good look. Trading two-pointers for threes on the other end of the floor isn’t going to give the Grizzlies the outcome they want.
Also, getting beat on the offensive glass, 14-3, highlighted just how much Memphis misses Steven Adams. Xavier Tillman Sr is a lot of things, but a 7-foot kiwi that feasts on rebounds is not one of them.
The Celtics played nine players in Sunday’s matchup, and eight of them scored in double figures. In contrast, the Grizzlies played 10 players and only five of them scored in double figures. Jaren Jackson Jr getting into foul trouble was also a hindrance that hurts even more with Adams out.
Ja Morant mentioned recently that he wasn’t stressing over any Western Conference teams, but the Celtics were on his mind. Sunday’s matchup shows that match-up remains a valid concern for Memphis.
Grizzlies’ fans did get their first look at Luke Kennard, who put up 4 points and 3 rebounds in his Grizzlies debut. Kennard was a trade deadline move that is supposed to get more three-point shooting for Memphis. They are definitely going to need it for the stretch run after the All-Star break.
Ja Morant had a game-high 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Morant struggled from distance, shooting 0 of 4 from beyond the arc.
Desmond Bane finished the night with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks, while shooting 3 of 7 from beyond the arc.
Jaren Jackson Jr closed out with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Jackson fouled out in just over 20 minutes of playing time.
Dillon Brooks ended up with 11 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists, while shooting 3 of 7 from three-point range.
Brandon Clarke led the bench unit with 14 points and 2 rebounds, with a very efficient 7 of 8 field goal attempts.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies will be returning home to FedExForum for their final game before the All-Star break. They will host the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, February 15th. Tip-off is at 7 PM CST.
Bruce Newman is a folkie. By day, he’s an entertainment attorney. Wednesday mornings, he’s the host of Folk Song Fiesta on WEVL, but he’s not just a fan. Newman writes and produces his own music, which we’ve featured before on Music Video Monday.
“Last week, we hosted a breakfast which included Janis Ian and other folk legends at Folk Alliance in Kansas City. Janis told us that her big songs such as ‘At Seventeen’, ‘Jesse’, and ‘Society’s Child’, were very painful to write, and she received death threats and had things thrown at her when she performed them. She told us it was well worth it; those songs and those things needed to be said,” Newman says.
“During the last few years I have been especially sick and tired of the beatings, the mass shootings, and the racism that has now become commonplace, with our leaders doling out much of it. One particular day hit me; when I went to a rally against the oil pipeline in Boxtown (the formerly enslaved community in South Memphis) I saw the abject poverty which stems from years of institutional racism. I’m not ashamed; white privilege sunk in again. I think everyone should put that on their bucket list; go to a rally in Boxtown and see what reality is.”
Newman’s new song “My Brother Is Weary” is a call for empathy and understanding across races, classes, and religions. The song features performances from Eric Lewis, Susan Marshall, Reba Russell, Gerald Stephens, and Shawn Zorn. The video was directed by longtime Newman collaborator Laura Jean Hocking (who, full disclosure, is my wife, and I helped out on set at Black Lodge.)
“My love of folk music starts with Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Josh White, and all who came before and after, including Zimmy [Bob Dylan], and the music they created to champion the exploited workers and the downtrodden. I have come to study the music from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, such as that from the SNCC Freedom Singers, the CORE Freedom Singers, Cordell Reagon and Bernice Johnson, and Phil Ochs, to name just a few. As a young kid growing up in New York, I marched for Soviet Jewry, and now having lived in Memphis for half of my life, I see the issues just have a different name, but intolerance is the common thread. Given the opportunity to speak out for whatever the injustice is, we should, because we are all brothers and sisters.”
If you’d like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Brandon Clarke dunks and Rudy Gobert made a business decision to get out the way. (Credit: Joe Murphy/NBAE for Getty Images)
It has been a troubling few weeks for Grizzlies fans, but our fearless ballers appear to be turning it around. A new rivalry between Memphis and Minnesota has sprung up after their playoff series last year. During the regular season, the Grizzlies have defended their home court well, and Friday night’s victory gives them eight consecutive wins against the Timberwolves at home.
Let’s get into it.
This was the first game after the NBA trade deadline for both teams, and the landscape looked a little different for Minnesota, since former Grizzly Mike Conley was traded to the Timberwolves from the Utah Jazz. Conley made his season debut for his new team as their starting point guard, notching 9 points in the loss.
Minnesota had no answer for Ja Morant — or the Grizzlies’ exceptional offensive production in the painted area.
The Timberwolves won the three-point battle, hitting 15 of 37 of their attempts to the Grizzlies 10 of 25 from distance. But their 45 points off three-pointers was no match for the Grizzlies 72 paint points.
This game was the perfect example of what Memphis needs to do when the outside shots are not falling – drive to the basket and finish around the rim — not ill-advised contested three-pointers five seconds into the shot clock. Looking at you, Dillon Brooks.
The Grizzlies’ trade deadline moves were in part to alleviate their ongoing three-point shooting woes. Memphis said goodbye to Danny Green and is bringing in a top-five three-point shooter in Luke Kennard from the Clippers. Kennard is expected to make his Grizzlies debut Sunday night against the Boston Celtics.
A win in Boston would be the perfect sign that all is right with the world and the Grizzlies are indeed back.
By The Numbers:
Ja Morant led all scorers with 32 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals, while shooting 3 of 7 from three-point range. Related: Morant was selected to be a replacement starter in the upcoming All-Star game. Number 12 is just THAT guy.
Desmond Bane put up 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Bane struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 1 of 4 from the long line.
Jaren Jackson Jr closed out with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 4 blocks.
Santi Aldama and Brandon Clarke combined for 32 points off the bench on 12 of 15 shooting, including Aldama going 3 for 5 from distance.
The Grizzlies are hitting the road again, briefly, against the Boston Celtics on Sunday, February 12th. This is going to be an early one, with a 1 PM CST tip-off. Be advised, there is no local broadcast for this one, just the national one on ABC.
The memory of Tyre Nichols will forever be honored in Tom Lee Park.
The Hyde Foundation, a major donor to the park’s $60 million renovation, announced Friday it will name the canopy in the park for him. “Sunset Canopy” will honor “his family’s example of leadership, healing, and love.”
Nichols was a photographer who loved watching sunsets over Shelby Farms Park, his mother has said.
A ceremony in Tom Lee Park Friday will mark the honor.
Nour Hantouli is a Memphis native who has been involved in activism for almost a decade. In 2014 they began to pursue tattooing, and was eventually able to make it a full-time job. As a result, Hantouli took a step back from organizing work, however they said that community care is “still a cornerstone of my practice.”
Hantouli has more than 10 years of organizing work under their belt. “I got involved in activism when I lived in Middle Tennessee around 2010,” said Hantouli. “The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro was moving to a new location and building a facility to accommodate its members, and there was some really ugly pushback from a small group of ignorant racists. I joined a group that provided support to the Muslim community. They ultimately succeeded in their project and established themselves as a massive source of community care themselves, hosting events that provide things like free meals and domestic violence care kits to anyone who needs help.”
After moving back to Memphis, Hantouli joined the Socialist Party, helped found the Memphis Feminist Collective, participated in the Mariposas Collective, and provided auxiliary support to groups like Mid-South Peace and Justice and Black Lives Matter.
Recently, Hantouli combined their passion for organizing work and tattooing through a mutual aid fundraiser at their shop, Second Skin, at 1296 Peabody Avenue.
According to Hantouli, Aylin Lozano Bravo, a local organizer, activist, and who Hantouli refers to as a “wonderful human,” learned that her father, 45-year-old Lino Lozano “was found beaten and run over by a vehicle.”
To help the family with bills and other needs, Hantouli is offering a set of designs at their shop around the theme of “healing and community care.” The entire amount of each sale will be donated directly to the family.
“We have all struggled at some point in our lives, whether it’s mental health, addiction, abuse, physical illness or injury, or any other catastrophic life event,” said Hantouli. “When we come together to support each other, we can channel that pain into healing. Self-care evolves into community care, and we are stronger together.
The Flyer talked to Hantouli about their inspiration for their designs, why they chose to combine tattooing and organizing work, and more.
Memphis Flyer: How did you get into tattooing?
Hantouli: I was in Chiapas, Mexico, for a language and solidarity program facilitated by a group known as the Zapatistas. While studying there, I got tattooed to commemorate the experience. My Spanish was quite terrible then, and it was a long process in which I had to communicate about the design with the artist via my sketchbook.
When I got back to Memphis, I got offered an apprenticeship if I was willing to return to Mexico. It was about that time I realized my bartending and serving days were reaching their expiration date. I knew it was time to do something else, or, frankly, I didn’t think I was going to make it.
I’d been making art for as long as I can remember, but it was never presented as a smart, or even viable, career path, and working in restaurants drained all the motivation and energy I needed to be an artist. I’d been missing it terribly, and as soon as the idea of learning this craft took hold, I knew it would never leave me alone.
What made you want to open your own shop?
I was in Chiapas, Mexico, for a language and solidarity program facilitated by a group known as the Zapatistas. While studying there, I got tattooed to commemorate the experience. My Spanish was quite terrible then, and it was a long process in which I had to communicate about the design with the artist via my sketchbook.
When I got back to Memphis, I got offered an apprenticeship if I was willing to return to Mexico. It was about that time I realized my bartending and serving days were reaching their expiration date. I knew it was time to do something else, or, frankly, I didn’t think I was going to make it.
I’d been making art for as long as I can remember, but it was never presented as a smart, or even viable, career path, and working in restaurants drained all the motivation and energy I needed to be an artist. I’d been missing it terribly. As soon as the idea of learning this craft took hold, I knew it would never leave me alone.
What made you want to open your own shop
Opening a shop was the furthest thing from my mind, being so fresh in the industry. It’s becoming more common around the country for others in the early years of their career, of course, but it’s just not a thing in Memphis yet. I always knew I wanted to carve out a space that was genuinely safe, accessible, cozy, and a welcoming place for all of our complexity, all our meaningful moments, and all our desire for our stories to be retold through art, the things that make us human.
One of the biggest difficulties for me, personally, in the industry has been the toxic norms around gender, sexuality, and neurodivergence. It’s worth mentioning, even though I do not experience it, that these norms are also massively oppressive in terms of race. It’s a reasonable and normal difficulty to find a shop where you fit in as an artist and as a member of a team. Then you add queerness to the mix, and the window shrinks. Then you add autism to the mix, and it becomes exponentially more difficult to find a place that has the capacity to accept the unconventional ways you need to successfully structure your practice, and trust that you can thrive when you have that acceptance.
Despite this, I planned on speaking with other artists around town. There are several reputable shops where I know people personally who share a lot of my values and do amazing work, but I was also under a lot of pressure, traumatized from past experiences, and just itching to get a machine back in my hand after leaving my last post.
That’s when Jason Morgan from Rose Quartz Body Emporium contacted me on Instagram to see if I was interested in checking out a spot in their building. Rose Quartz is Memphis’s first piercing-only shop. They liked the idea of having a tattooer in the building with them. I thought, “that’s crazy,” but I spoke with their landlord anyway. Next thing you know, I’m signing a lease. Now I am work neighbors with a business that values the full humanity of all their body artists, as well as their clients. The decision to open up a neighboring studio, Second Skin, has been the best crazy decision I ever made in my life.
The dream, however, is not to work alone, but to be a part of a collective with other artists. A collective where both resources and costs are shared fairly, we are motivated by similar values, and we can all learn from each other and share positive, creative energy.
How did you decide on a theme for your designs?
My experience tells me that empathy is a powerful force. Some of the most generous souls I’ve organized with in the past have been the people who have struggled. When we struggle, and we find strength in the compassion from others, it can overwhelm us. When it overwhelms us, it can create an urgency to pass it to others.
My designs centered around the struggles we can overcome with the help of others. Addiction, suicidal ideation, illness, loneliness. That speaks to a lot of people. They are very human things. The feedback was tremendous. Tons of people responded, talking about their own obstacles, and saying things like “I’ve been wanting a tattoo, and I just took this as a sign that the time was right.”
For the past few years, it’s been difficult to retain a faith in humanity, I’ll be honest. It feels like the pandemic, economic crisis, misinformation chaos, and the responses I’ve seen to these things have dragged my soul through broken glass. The privilege of helping facilitate something like this has been healing for me, too.
Why did you feel like this was a good way to raise awareness and money?
In 2021 I did a “Thanksgiving” fundraiser for NTV Rites, a local indigenous organization run by people I used to participate in activism with. I knew I wanted to stay involved in local political movements and community support, but it was hard at the time. Traditional shops can be expensive to run, and often charge artists as much as 50 percent of their earnings to work there, when we are also responsible for purchasing our own equipment and supplies. Now, I work for myself and it affords me the financial stability, time, and energy to use art to do other things I love. I’d been planning on making these solidarity projects a more regular thing.
When I saw my friend Aylin post on Facebook about her father’s horrific attack, my heart hurt for them. Aylin and I were both participants in the Mariposas Collective, which is an organization founded in 2018 to assist families seeking asylum who were recently released from detention centers at the U.S.-Mexico border. She advocates so hard for vulnerable populations, and is always a light and a powerful presence in the movement for justice. And I know her father to be a generous person and a devoted father. I just knew it was the time to do something. This career offers me a kind of visibility that I figured I’d use to reach out – and as I’ve learned from activism, compassionate people abound in Memphis. They came through. All the available appointments have been booked, and currently, we have raised over a thousand dollars in a matter of days.
Robot servers come to El Porton Mexican restaurant. (Credit: Alice Kerley)
I heard El Porton had robots — as in mechanical creatures — to serve food. So, I asked family members to join me the other night for dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the Poplar Plaza shopping center.
Sure enough. They have two robots, which they call “Bella I” and “Bella II.” They are programmed to bring your meals to your table.
“I’m glad the robot brings tortilla chips and not micro chips,” my quick-witted nephew said.
My niece Alice Kerley and I took videos of the robotically-served dinner. I had the chicken enchilada dish called “Yolanda.” I also had guacamole and a horchata (large, no ice) to drink. Everything was delicious.
But I had to wait a bit for my dinner because, unfortunately, I showed my great-nephew, Bennett Michael Kerley, who is 2 years old, how to press the “Finish” button, which sends the robot back to the kitchen. As a result, I thought my meal was going to cost around $13.50 for the food and drink, plus $15,000 or so for the robot.
But we had a great time. And we can’t wait to get back to see Bella I and Bella II again.
El Porton is at 3448 Poplar Avenue.
So, here’s the video I made, which gives you more information about the robots and our dining-with-robots experience.
Robots — they’re like cute cats — are serving at El Porton on Poplar Plaza.
The Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) is seeking state and federal help to study the health impacts of emissions from Sterilization Services but says the company is operating within its legal rights.
The company uses ethylene oxide (EtO) in its South Memphis facility to sterilize medical equipment. The gas is odorless and colorless and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wasn’t aware emissions could raise cancer rates until 2016.
Now, the EPA says EtO emissions from the facility could pose a risk to those living in the neighborhood around it. The agency held public meetings in Memphis last year to warn the residents but said there was little they could do. While the EPA is working on new laws to reduce EtO emissions, companies like Sterilization Services will likely have up to three years to comply with it.
On Thursday, the SCHD said it is working with the EPA and the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) to educate and inform the residents around the facility at 2396 Florida Street. It has asked for a public health assessment and a health consultations from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
The department has also asked the TDH’s Cancer Registry to study the incidence of cancer around the facility. The review will determine cancer rates around the facility compared to those in other parts of Shelby County. Once complete, the study will be released to the public.
The department will also meet with residents to help them understand health risks and find the health screening and treatment resources available to them.
SCHD will update the Shelby County Commission on the situation next month.
The department cannot, however, force the company to immediately reduce EtO emissions, it said Thursday. Sterilization Services now meets current federal, state, and local legal standards of emissions, the department said, and cannot be “legal standards higher than existing ones.” But the department said it is aware of the risks.
“The people of South Memphis face inequitable health, social, and environmental conditions in comparison to many other parts of Shelby County,” said SCHD director Dr. Michelle Taylor. “Achieving environmental justice is a part of (SCHD’s) mission to promote, protect and improve the health of all in Shelby County.”
The statement on Sterilization Services from the SCHD comes after the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) urged action on the matter earlier this week in a letter on behalf of Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP). The letter says local laws allow the health department to act when air pollution creates an emergency situation and this situation is one, MCAP said.
“It has been six months since the (EPA) released updated information on the dangers of ethylene oxide to humans and almost four months since the EPA held public meetings in Memphis,” MCAP board president and co-founder KeShaun Pearson said in the letter. “Since then, the (SCHD) has yet to update the impacted community members about the status of Sterilization Services of Tennessee or engage with us in a meaningful way.
“South Memphis residents deserve to breathe clean air, and we demand immediate action from the (SCHD).”
Tennessee medical professionals could lose their license if they provide gender-affirming care to minors with a new law now under consideration by the Tennessee General Assembly.
the proposed legislation says that these procedures can “lead to the minor becoming irreversibly sterile, having increased risk of disease and illness, or [suffer] from adverse and sometimes fatal psychological consequences.”
This legislation also allows civil litigation against a healthcare provider who performs such procedures. These lawsuits could be brought within 30 years from the date the minor reaches 18 years of age, or within 10 years from the date of the minor’s death if the minor dies. It also allows relatives of a minor to bring a wrongful death action against a healthcare providers in such cases under certain conditions.
In October of 2022, the Flyer reported that Tennessee law currently allows for access to gender-affirming healthcare for youth.
Jace Wilder studies and teaches transgender policies for the Tennessee Equality Project.
“We really have to keep a critical eye on what is the goal of our legislature, and what initiatives or what funding they’re getting to really just continue to police and criminalize a minority group of people,” Wilder said.
The Flyer was able to talk with Wilder, about gender affirming care for minors, misconceptions around the procedures, and what could be next for trans youth in Tennessee. — Kailynn Johnson
Why would doctors choose not to delay care for minors who are transitioning?
Jace Wilder: So, one of the things that gets left behind a lot is the narrative of the effects of delaying care. That includes suicide rates going up. That one has been proven over and over again. Lack of access to care, lack of actual equitable care, and — even more so — not having support from both family and from medical providers proves to have worse outcomes for those youth that have to delay their care.
When they see laws like this, that prohibit them from accessing their own care, they automatically can see that their state doesn’t really care about them, or care about their health care access. So, when it comes to delaying care, you’re also reinforcing that isolation.
Whenever we go into doctors’ offices, the assumption right now is that you just go in, and you get on hormones, and you get surgery, and it’s all just kind of like this one movement. But the reality is that, according to both [World Professional Association for Transgender Health – WPATH], which is the organization that provides the standards of care for trans people…is that doctors can just sometimes provide counseling to families about how to respect and encourage their trans child after they come out, provide education for those parents, who may be not ready to take that step with their child about accessing health care, or accessing HRT and surgeries, and continue to counsel them.
This bill will eliminate the ability to even have those conversations because it’s seen as coercion…and can be declared child abuse of a parent to just ask their doctor about how to care for their trans kid.
You mentioned that one of the harmful effects of this bill would be that trans youth would believe that their state doesn’t care about them. The text of the bill states that, “the legislature must take action to protect the health and welfare of minors.” Do you believe that this statement contradicts the actual legislation?
JW: It ignores the actual wishes and desires of the trans youth. What they’re doing is ignoring years and years of advocacy and science from both scientists who care and doctors that actually care for trans youth, and the families that have seen the positive effects of transition or have seen the positive effects of just providing support for trans youth. It’s ignoring all that in favor of acting like a hero, while villainizing a minoritized community. They’re just ignoring what is actually wanted by trans youth and their families.
You also talked a little bit earlier about how a lot of people kind of have this misconception that there is just one approach to trans healthcare. Do you think any of these misconceptions have contributed to the legislature pushing for this legislation to be passed?
JW: I think that some of the misconception comes from…one, the speed of it. The standards of care that they are provided with show that there are certain ages in which they are already not allowed to give hormone replacement therapy or puberty blockers.
They, also already laid out who is allowed and who is not allowed to have surgeries, and all hospitals, any hospital or medical clinic with any kind of accreditation, that would make it legal for them to even function have to follow those standards of care because they’re implemented by the hospitals.
A lot of times we get stuck in this narrative that it’s all this one giant conspiracy to speed up the process to transition people who should not be transitioned. The reality is people are actually struggling to even access the care in the first place, and when they do it takes a really long time to get through that process, if they even do by the time they’re 18.
What do you all think is next for trans healthcare in Tennessee?
JW: We’re seeing is this escalation to even saying that trans people who are 25 — legal adults who can vote, legal adults who can drink, who can serve for their country — these individuals don’t have the right to determine their own health care, based off of this weird idea that the state knows best. But this only for this very small group that cannot be heard in their own legislature.
It’s just going to push and possibly extend out to the age of 25. In fact, [Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland)] kind of mentioned that alongside [Daily Wire host] Matt Walsh in the House committee hearing that just happened.
We’re also seeing that in the drag queen bill they labeled drag as impersonation of another gender, meaning that we’re really getting on that ledge of going back to the 1980s. It’s drawing back to that idea that impersonating another gender is somehow criminal, and that being another gender than you were born as is a criminal act. So, we are seeing the full on policing and criminalization of trans folks at this point.
Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant contesting a shot from Chicago Bulls' Nikola Vucevic on February 8, 2023 (Credit: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
The “most hated” team in the NBA, as defined by Ja Morant, got back on track with a win on Tuesday night at FedExForum.
Memphis was on a three-game skid and needed to stop the bleeding. The home team beat the Chicago Bulls 104-89 behind dogged defense, outpacing the Bulls 32-14 in the final period. Fourth-quarter execution on both ends of the floor had been an issue for Memphis during their most recent slump.
After the game, Jaren Jackson, Jr.talked about getting over the hump. He said, “I think we just made more shots that we had been taking all game, locked in on defense a little bit more. We changed some coverages around. I thought our coaches were great today; they’re always, but today, they just knew exactly what was going on.
“Just getting stops, rebounding,” Ja Morant on fourth-quarter execution. “Obviously, these recent games, we’ve been giving up too many layups, second chance points. We were back, pretty much, to our defense. Later, we’ll be able to get out. People know that.”
All-Star 12
Morant led Memphis with 34 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, in his 30th career 30-5-5 stat line. Morant returned after being sidelined with an injury in the loss against the Toronto Raptors. Despite controversy and distractions, Morant let his play on the court do all the talking Tuesday night.
Morant says he has a better day when his daughter Kaari is with him. Maybe Kaari can be the team’s good luck charm.
Jackson Jr. finished with 24 points, five blocks, (four in the first quarter) and two steals in 34 minutes of action. The Michigan State alum was the tone setter from the start.
“I [was] just feeling it out like I normally do,” said the 23-year old on his first quarter performance. “Just trying to see what was going on and just was feeling it out. I wasn’t really thinking that much stuff. I don’t really like to think that much. I just kind of just do whatever.”
“He and I talked yesterday (Monday),” said Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins on Jackson’s performance. “And it was more about the offensive stuff, and obviously he was phenomenal tonight, just the post threat physicality.
“He had a couple great kickout slasher three-point shots out the post, but he’s going to do what he does defensively, so you don’t have to really coach him up much there.”
Jenkins added, “He did a phenomenal job setting the tone. He had nine points early, had probably like five blocks early, something like that. He definitely set a tone, but he carried it out for four quarters and had a phenomenal game tonight.”
“That’s pretty much what we’re doing,” Morant said about Jackson Jr. setting the tone for the game. “He’s pretty much playing the four for us. Most teams nowadays try to swing one to four. No team should be able to do that versus us with him being the forefront. Our messages to the team, to each other is to find him, and we’re going to dominate whoever is guarding him. It’s clicking for him. We’ve seen how well he’s been playing. [The Bulls] came out with a lot of energy and locked in on the defensive end, and he got some big stops for us and allowed us to get going early.”
The Grizzlies could use more of this for the remainder of the season and beyond from Jackson Jr., who is the team’s best all-around player.
The Grizzlies host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday at 7pm CT in the final regular season match-up. The Timberwolves has a 2-1 edge Memphis looks to even the season series.
In 1971, three Dartmouth students — a cross-country skier majoring in English, a fencer majoring in philosophy, and a pole vaulter on the pre-med track — enrolled in a dance composition class. They had no dance experience, and their teacher had no faith in their technique. For an assignment, they created a comedic dance, themed around walking, on a squash court. Today, that dance, titled “Walklyndon,” is the oldest dance in the repertoire of Pilobolus, the dance company that formed out of this moment of exploratory movement.
Decades later, Pilobolus still performs this dance, and will perform it this weekend at Germantown Performing Arts Center, along with selections from performances throughout its 50 years. “We’re like a TARDIS [from Doctor Who] in a way,” says Matt Kent, the group’s artistic director. Indeed, the pieces, ranging in length, take audiences through different times, taking inspiration from antiquity, to the Elizabethan era, to the present day.
The style is experimental, holding no rule of dance too high. After all, as Kent says, “[The original students] didn’t know what to do; they also didn’t know what not to do. And so they created a vibe of collaborative improvisation that yields non-traditional dance vocabulary.”
For one of the pieces in this tour, Pilobolus has collaborated with Indigenous storyteller Darlene Kascak from the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. “The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation,” Kent explains, “are the people who have belonged to and cared for and lived and worked on the land that Pilobolus lives and works on now in Washington, Connecticut.”
The piece explores an Indigenous myth about the Wendigo, a cannibalistic monster created from greed. “It’s become a symbol of colonial greed and more recently corporate greed,” Kent says.
And while there are heavy moments like this in the show, there is also laughter. “The world doesn’t need artists at this moment to tell everyone how shitty everything is — we already know that,” Kent says. “I hope that people leave our show feeling restored, that they’ve been able to laugh, that they’ve been able to feel that they’ve let something wash over them. That it gives them something to think about, but also that they can just kind of enjoy for the beauty that it is.”
Plus, for those looking to embrace the Pilobolus experience even further, the company is offering a free class, open to anyone, dancers and non-dancers alike, ages 14 and up. “It’s so much fun,” Kent says. “And it is not a class where anyone is asked to do movement that they’re gonna fail at. It’s a no-fail zone. … Like I said, we came out of non-dancers, so we know a thing or two about having people be comfortably out of their comfort zone and find ways to express themselves.”
To register for the class or purchase tickets to the performance, visit the links below.
Pilobolus Master Class, University of Memphis, Saturday, February 11, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., free.
Pilobolus, Germantown Performing Arts Center, Saturday, February 11, 8-10 p.m., $25-$75.
