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2023 Summer Arts Guide

Photo: “Entrances, Exits and the Spaces Betwixt” by Tangela Mathis at Crosstown Arts

If you’re looking for a retreat from the heat this summer, the Memphis art scene has you covered — with cool exhibitions, cool performances, and very cool experiences. Just take a look through our 2023 Summer Arts Guide, and you’ll see what we’re talking about.

Art For All will celebrate its inaugural Art for All Festival this weekend. (Photo: Courtesy We Are Memphis)

Art For All Festival

From Downtown to Whitehaven to Collierville and back, Shelby County’s government wants to make the arts inclusive and accessible to everyone countywide. Earlier this year, the Arts and Culture Nonprofit Subcommittee announced its “Art For All” campaign, a series of free arts and culture experiences. This Sunday, June 25th, marks its flagship Art For All Festival.

The festival will highlight a sample of what Memphis arts and culture organizations have to offer, with a variety of performances, installations, experiences, and more. Attendees can expect an interactive pop-up art gallery from TONE, demonstrations by the Mini Mobile Metal Museum, dance movement therapy from Image Builders Memphis, activities with Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, art activations from Orpheum Theatre and Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and performances by Opera Memphis and Hattiloo Theatre. The Museum of Science & History, the festival venue, will also offer activities linking art and science.

“Art For All [stems from] the fact that we have a multitude of organizations within Memphis and Shelby County with a variety of wonderful offerings that we want to bring awareness to and uplift,” says Nykesha Cole, Shelby County’s arts and culture liaison. “And we want everybody to have the opportunity to have access to arts and culture ’cause, truly, when you look at it, that is one of the most vibrant things in society.”

Museum of Science & History, Sunday, June 25, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., free

Collage Dance Collective (Photo: Courtesy Collage Dance Collective)

Memphis Dance Festival

This September, Collage Dance Collective will host its third Memphis Dance Festival, and already, the organization has confirmed top-notch talent for the day — Memphis’ own Lil Buck, dancers from New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (NYC), Alonzo King LINES Ballet (San Francisco), SOLE Defined tap company (DC), Nashville Ballet, of course Collage Dance Collective, and many more local dance organizations.

“We are really trying to curate something very special so that our community can experience these world-class national artists in their own backyard,” says Marcellus Harper, Collage’s executive director. “That’s meant to really get the community excited about dance and to elevate dance as a powerful transformative art in our community and our city.

“One of the taglines [of the festival] is, ‘Dance is for everyone,’” Harper continues. “So we’re hoping that really resonates throughout the festival, but also this focus on physical well-being, emotional well-being, how we prioritize those things. Whether it’s a physical wellness program or an emotional wellness program, movement is always a big part of that practice, so dance can really be great for the soul and the spirit, too.”

Collage Dance Center, September 16, free

Andrew Thornton’s Many Faces metalwork (Photo: Courtesy Andrew Thornton)

“We Are Here”

This month, the Metal Museum opened a juried exhibition of 40 works of art from 26 queer-identifying metal artists from across the country. For the exhibition, three jurors — matt lambert, Al Murray, and Memphian Lawrence Matthews — selected pieces they felt spoke to the intersectional spectrum of what it means to be a part of the LGBTQ community.

“Rather than the typical ‘the work looks like it’s queer,’ I think this show also really highlights that there are people from these backgrounds in all areas,” says lambert. “We’re making space for a lot of types of identity that include queerness, but it’s not just that. [The artists in the exhibit] place themselves [along] those spectrums, but for some it was an option to just be themselves, and maybe they don’t want to stress that part of them. Just applying [for the exhibition] already implies that they see themselves as part of this community.”

“[The exhibit] feels like it’s a celebration of LGBTQIA+ people,” adds one of the artists, Funlola Coker, “but it also feels poignant right now, especially given what’s happening not just in Tennessee but around America and the world, and how queer people are being oppressed. It feels really important to keep showing work like this and talking about it and supporting artists who talk about these issues because it’s a more nuanced expression of who we are.”

“We Are Here: LGBTQIA+ Voices in the Contemporary Metals Community” is on display at the Metal Museum through September 10th.

Zao Wou-Ki’s “Watercolors and Ceramics” is on display at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens. (Photo: Abigail Morici)

“Zao Wou-Ki: Watercolors and Ceramics”

In 2018, Zao Wou-Ki became the world’s third best-selling artist, after Picasso and Monet, with auctions of the late French-Chinese painter’s work generating $327 million, according to Forbes. Now, he sits at a comfortable 23rd ranking, above names as recognizable as Botticelli, Degas, Renoir, Banksy, O’Keeffe, Manet, Pollock, and Matisse. Yet, as Julie Pierotti, a curator at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, says, he’s not a household name in the United States. Even so, with its latest exhibit, “Zao Wou-Ki: Watercolors and Ceramics,” the Dixon is hoping to change that, with an impressive display of 80 works in watercolor and on ceramics, all drawn exclusively from European private collections.

Throughout his prolific and successful career, Zao channeled Chinese calligraphy in his abstract expressionist work on canvas, ink on paper, lithography, and engraving, and watercolor, bridging the artistic traditions of the East and the West. However, for the first time, his watercolors will be taking center stage in a museum setting at the Dixon.

“Watercolor [was] a kind of a constant medium for him,” says Pierotti. “He explored watercolor throughout his career, but with a lot of vigor in the last years of his life. He was known really for his oil painting, but these works really are authentic to who he was and what his artistic vision was.”

“For an artist who worked in a variety of media but has this kind of little-known dedication to watercolor, we feel like we’re showing, for those people who knew Zao Wou-Ki before, a different side to his career,” Pierotti adds, “and for those who didn’t know him, it’s a great time to get to know him.”

“Zao Wou-Ki: Watercolors and Ceramics” is on display at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens through July 16th. Accompanying the exhibit is “Susan Maakestad: The Expansive Moment,” on display through July 9th. Admission to the museum is always free.

Harmonia Rosales’ Beyond the Peonies (Photo: Courtesy Harmonia Rosales)

“Harmonia Rosales: Master Narrative”

At a young age, Harmonia Rosales fell in love with the Renaissance masters who wove tales from Greco-Roman mythology and Christianity in their paintings, but years later when she showed these paintings to her daughter, her daughter didn’t fall in love with them. “She was like, ‘They don’t look like me,’” says Rosales, “It just hit me that I didn’t want her to feel like her hair wasn’t beautiful, her skin wasn’t beautiful.”

And so Rosales took to the canvas to give her daughter the representation she was missing in the Western Renaissance paintings that have been celebrated for centuries. As an Afro-Cuban American, she turned to the Lucumí religion of her ancestors and wove those tales into her paintings, made in the style of the Renaissance paintings that once filled her imagination.

At first, her peers discouraged her from painting these stories centered around African and Black figures in the Renaissance style. Her advisors told her she wouldn’t be able to sell them, but Rosales didn’t care. This work made her happy. “To see us in there, our ancestors, our history in a format where it’s just as time-consuming, looks just like the Renaissance paintings — the priceless paintings, the most beautiful paintings of the world, can’t touch ’em, can’t buy ’em — I wanted to do that in order to empower us and see our history in the same light,” she says. “Inclusion, it’s all about inclusion. Seeing this is what I want for my children.”

Rosales intended these pieces to be public-facing, wanting to reach as broad of an audience as possible, just like the Renaissance masters she reimagines and reinvents. And thanks to the Brooks, she is one step closer to that goal as her first solo museum exhibition, outside of her home state California, opened this spring. Titled “Master Narrative,” the exhibition contains more than 20 breathtaking paintings completed over the past few years and closes this weekend.

“Harmonia Rosales: Master Narrative” is on display at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art through June 25th.

ON DISPLAY

“In the Moment: Art from the 1950s to Now”
Explore paintings, sculptures, and photography from the past 70 years.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, ongoing

“Build a Heaven of My Own: African American Vernacular Art and the Blues”
This group show explores how the musical and verbal tropes, meaning, and context of the blues not only share traits, but have informed the visual culture of African-American artists from Memphis.
Art Museum at the University of Memphis (AMUM), through June 24

(Photo: Courtesy Frederick Asbury)

Art at Artvision
Witness over 100 years of combined experience from artists E.P. Simon and Frederick Asbury, featuring works in realism, impressionism, expressionism in painting, drawing, photography, and computer-driven image-making. Guest artist Missy Isely-Poltrock (Kenosha, WI) will show her work through July 4th.
Artvision Fine Art Gallery, 484 N. Hollywood

“Passenger Pigeons and Ecological Tipping Points”
Experience the powerful collage art of local artist Jennalyn Speer, exploring the extinction of passenger pigeons and currently endangered bird species.
Morton Museum of Collierville History, through July 8

“Reimagining the Real: Ana M. Lopez & Natalie Macellaio”
These artists take everyday objects — air-conditioning fixtures, fences, road signs, and construction debris — and transform them into unique works of art as statements about power, privilege, and the environment.
Metal Museum, through July 9

“Susan Maakestad: The Expansive Moment”
Susan Maakestad highlights the marginal spaces of the urban landscape in her watercolors.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through July 9

Ed Hall’s Dancing in the Sky at L Ross Gallery (Photo: Courtesy Ed Hall | L Ross Gallery)

“Paper Palooza”
L Ross Gallery presents a group show of works on paper, featuring work by special guest artists Brantley Ellzey and Ed Hall.
L Ross Gallery, through July 22

“Boys 2 Men (If You Don’t See Black, You Don’t See Me) A Traveling Exhibition”
This show energetically focuses on the diversity of artistic expression within an African-American male pool of visual art creatives in Memphis.
Arkwings, through July 22; Art Museum at the University of Memphis (AMUM), September

“RE(de)FINED”
Johnson Uwadinma’s exhibition reflects on the fraught but integral relationship between humans and nature.
Urevbu Contemporary, through July 31

“Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Seas”
McLean Fahnestock presents videos from his “Stratagem” series, where the sea and sky flip and merge to generate a new, seductive yet false horizon.
Crosstown Arts, through August 6

“Entrances, Exits and the Spaces Betwixt”
Tangela Mathis presents contrasting aspects of personality, showcasing the yin and yang of pneuma.
Crosstown Arts, through August 6

“Edgewise: Exploring Pattern and Rhythm with Line”
Khara Woods presents a collection of paintings, sculpture, and creative devices.
Crosstown Arts, through August 6

Yangbin Park’s Clothline at Porch Window Gallery (Photo: Courtesy Yangbin Park)

“Echoes of Home: Memory and Belonging”
Yangbin Park reflects on his memories of home in this exhibition of prints on hanji paper.
Porch Window Gallery, Studiohouse on Malvern, through August

“Rich Soil”
Created by American artist Kristine Mays, the 29 sculptures in this exhibit are inspired by the movements and gestures of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations.
Memphis Botanic Garden, through October 1

“America at The Crossroads: The Guitar and a Changing Nation”
Explore America’s evolution through the lens of the guitar.
Museum of Science & History, through October 22

MoSH celebrates the guitar with two new exhibitions. (Photo: Collins Dillard)

“Grind City Picks: The Music That Made Memphis”
Learn about the evolution of notable music genres in Memphis through an impressive display of instruments, band merchandise, and photographs.
Museum of Science & History, through October 22

“Tommy Kha: Eye Is Another”
Photographer Tommy Kha explores themes of identity, (in)visibility, and sense of place in this site-specific installation for the Brooks’ Rotunda.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through October 29

2022 Accessions to the Permanent Collection
Take a look at the 24 objects the Metal Museum welcomed into its permanent collection last year. 
Metal Museum, through November 12

“The World in Pieces”
Beth Edwards showcases her contemporary still-life paintings, referencing and reinventing historical vanitas paintings with sensuous, metaphorical realism.
David Lusk Gallery, June 27-July 29

“Mud Huts to Paper”
Collierville artist Amruta Bhat offers a contemporary interpretation of the centuries-old practice of Madhubani painting, an ancient Indian folk-art technique.
Morton Museum of Collierville History, July 11-September 9

“Sally Smith: Adrenaline Rush”
Sally Smith’s canvases demonstrate her careful observation of the natural world and deft handling of oil paint.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, July 11-October 1

“To See With New Eyes, Richard Carr”
Blacksmith Richard Carr uses salvaged local materials to share his love of architecture, organic forms, and the Memphis community in this exhibition.
Metal Museum, July 16-September 24

“American Perspectives: Highlights from the American Folk Art Museum”
This exhibition presents 70 works of art from the collection of the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, July 30-October 8

“Black American Portraits”
The exhibition chronicles the many ways in which Black Americans have used portraiture from 19th-century studio photography to today.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, August 17-January 7, 2024

“Mary Sims”
David Lusk Gallery presents an exhibition of work by Mary Sims, who was celebrated for her extraordinary, stylized oil paintings based on both real and invented environments.
David Lusk Gallery, September 5-September 30

ON STAGE

Mary Poppins
The arrival of Mary Poppins brings whimsical imagination and a bit of magic to the Banks family of London.
Theatre Memphis, through July 2

Jersey Boys
The Broadway smash hit, chronicling the rise and eventual breakup of the legendary doo-wop group Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, makes its regional premiere in the Bluff City.
Playhouse on the Square, through July 16

Caroline Bowman as Elsa in Frozen (Photo: Deen van Meer)

Frozen
An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with sensational special effects, stunning sets and costumes, and powerhouse performances, Frozen is everything you want in a musical.
Orpheum Theatre, June 22-July 2

24 Hour Plays: Memphis
Witness this electrifying theatrical event as six new plays are written, rehearsed, and performed within a thrilling 24-hour time frame.
TheatreWorks@The Evergreen, June 24, 7 p.m.

Don’t Hydroplane
Winner of the 2022 NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition, Don’t Hydroplane follows a family as they navigate the difficult task of finding a final resting place for their loved one.
TheatreWorks@The Square, July 7-July 23

The Color Purple
The musical adaptation of The Color Purple features awe-inspiring soul, gospel, jazz, and blues vocals underpinned by raw dialogue and a masterful plot.
Hattiloo Theatre, July 28-August 28

(Photo: Courtesy We Are Memphis)

Karlous Miller: At the End of the Day
Karlous Miller is an American comedian, actor, writer, host, and co-founder of the 85 South Show. He began his comedy career in Atlanta, Georgia, and is widely known for his star roles in MTV’s Wild ’N Out, HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, and BET’s ComicView.
Orpheum Theatre, August 5, 7 p.m.

Billy Cherry … The Final Curtain
Bill Cherry pays tribute to CBS’s Elvis in Concert, the posthumous 1977 television special.
Halloran Centre, August 12, 2:45 p.m.

Sister Act
When a disco nightclub singer witnesses a crime, she is relocated to a convent for her protection. Her stay with the nuns helps her and the sisters, quite literally, find their true voices.
Theatre Memphis, August 18-September 10

The Prom
A group of Broadway stars comes to the rescue when a student is refused the opportunity to bring her girlfriend to the prom.
Playhouse on the Square, August 18-September 17

A Raisin in the Sun
Set on Chicago’s South Side, Lorraine Hansberry’s celebrated play concerns the divergent dreams and conflicts in three generations of the Younger family.
Hattiloo Theatre, August 25-September 24

Fat Ham
In a deliciously funny retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet set in the American South, William returns home after his father’s death and must confront corruption and betrayal.
The Circuit Playhouse, September 15-October 8

The Crucible
Based on events which took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, this tragedy tells the story of a village that becomes embroiled in a witch hunt.
Theatre Memphis, September 15-October 1

Father Comes Home from the Wars
An explosively powerful drama about the mess of war, the cost of freedom, and the heartbreak of love.
Hattiloo Theatre, September 29-October 22

Pictures at an Exhibition & Chris Brubeck Guitar Concerto
Memphis Symphony Orchestra brings you the world premiere of Chris Brubeck’s double guitar concerto, featuring both classical and blues guitar.
Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, September 30, 7:30 p.m.; Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, October 1, 2:30 p.m.

AROUND TOWN

First Wednesdays at the Brooks
Every first Wednesday the Brooks will have incredible live music.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, first Wednesdays of the month, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Munch and Learn
Every Wednesday during lunchtime, join the Dixon for presentations by local artists, scholars, and Dixon staff sharing on a variety of topics.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Wednesdays, noon-1 p.m.

Super Saturdays at the Brooks
The first Saturday of every month, the Brooks will have free admission from 10 a.m.-noon and art-making led by art educator Mrs. Rose. (PS: Every Saturday, admission is free from 10 a.m.-noon.)
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, first Saturdays of the month, 10 a.m.-noon

Free Family Day
On the second Saturday of each month, the Stax Museum offers free admission for everyone. There will also be food trucks, games and activities, arts and crafts for children, bouncy houses, face painting, balloon artists, and live music.
Stax Museum of American Soul Music, second Saturdays of the month, 1-5 p.m.

Oil Painting with Glynnis
In this class, students will paint a still life composition using oil paints.
Arrow Creative, June 25, 11 a.m.

Rich Sounds at the Garden
Join the Memphis Botanic Garden on the last Sunday of each month to enjoy performances and demonstrations from local arts and culture organizations.
Memphis Botanic Garden, June 25, July 30, August 27, September 24, 2-5 p.m.

Whet Thursdays
Enjoy a free after-hours event held at the Metal Museum on the last Thursday of the month with games on the lawn, food truck fare, live music, metalsmithing demos, and more.
Metal Museum, June 29, July 27, August 31, 5-7 p.m.

Public Art Yoga
UrbanArt Commission will offer free 45-minute outdoor public art yoga sessions this summer.
Various locations, July 8, August 12, September 9

Art Club with Joi Purvy
Decorate and take home your own terra-cotta pot with acrylic paint and gold foil!
Arrow Creative, July 10, 6 p.m.

Fairy Garden Planting Party (21+)
Put together your own unique fairy garden! All supplies will be provided, including plants, pots, soil, and decorations. Bring your own drinks and snacks to enjoy while you’re creating. This event is for adults only 21+.
Memphis Botanic Garden, July 21, 6:30 p.m.

Crown Me Royal Film Fest
This noncompetitive film festival showcases panels, workshops, and independent films from BIPOC behind-the-scenes filmmakers and creatives from all media platforms.
Various locations, August 4-6

Night at the Museum
Explore the Dixon galleries like never before as works step out of the canvas for an evening of special performances and music, activities, and much more.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, August 12, 5-8 p.m.

Marketplace in Motion
Shop colorful new prints, creative cards, and fun stickers to throw onto your new notebooks. Stop by Friday night to grab a cold drink while you shop, or bring your kids through on Saturday for them to pick out their own decorative school starter pack.
Arrow Creative, August 18-August 19

Art on the Rocks: Garden Cocktails & Craft Beer (21+)
Enjoy botanical cocktails, craft beer, and wine in the Dixon Gardens. Each admission ticket includes all drink tastings and bites from local restaurants along with live entertainment.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, September 8, 6-9 p.m.

Marketplace in Motion
Shop from local makers, grab a drink, and catch a football game with some friends.
Loflin Yard, September 23, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

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We Recommend We Recommend

Collage Dance Collective Presents the Memphis Dance Festival

Memphis’ own jookin’ star Lil Buck (Photo: Courtesy Lil Buck)

Even if you can’t dance and you can’t jive, you’ll have the time of your life at the 2nd Annual Memphis Dance Festival. Presented by Collage Dance Collective, the free event features all types of dancing, from ballet to jookin’ to tap and everything in between, with performances by Lil Buck, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from New York City, Chloe Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies from Los Angeles, Alonzo King LINES Ballet from San Francisco, Nashville Ballet, Memphis Grizz Girls, Ballet Memphis, New Ballet Ensemble, Collage Dance Collective, and many more.

“It’s important that Memphis gets to celebrate the talent that’s homegrown but also that we celebrate that we are worthy of national talent also being here,” says Marcellus Harper, Collage’s executive director. “There’s so much great dance here, whether it’s the ballet companies, the amazing jookin’ community, or our national pom squad. We wanted to create a festival that invites more people from the community to experience it.”

The festival, Harper says, will be like a “sample platter” of different types of dance and the different organizations and troupes, with the hope being that a taste of what these groups offer will lead to continued support. Just like with genres of music, Harper says, “There’s something for everybody. Dance is not monolithic, and we want to amplify that with this festival.” Attendees will also have the opportunity for informal meet-and-greets with the dancers.

Collage, for its part, will have both its professionals and its students perform. The professional company will perform two pieces inspired by Memphis, Harper says. One, titled “Wash,” reflects on the Mississippi River and all that it represents; the other, titled “Bluff City Blues,” celebrates the merging of Memphis blues music with ballet.

“When you think about Memphis, you think about music, blues, barbecue,” Harper says. “I want people to start thinking about Memphis as a dance city as well. You can’t have the blues without movement, and nothing pairs better with music than dance.”

2nd Annual Memphis Dance Festival, Collage Dance Center, Saturday, October 1, noon-4 p.m., free.

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We Recommend We Recommend

Iris Orchestra and Collage Dance Collective Partner to Present “Brazil by Night”

Collage Dance partners with Iris Orchestra. (Photo: Courtesy Collage Dance Collective/Iris Orchestra)

You don’t need to grab your passport for this night in Brazil, presented by Iris Orchestra and Collage Dance Collective. “It’s really like a street party indoors in Memphis,” says Rebecca Arendt, director of community initiatives and artist fellows coordinator with Iris.

The night of entertainment will consist of bossa nova melodies with “Memphis-soul seasoning” by the Deborah Swiney Quartet, a Brazilian feast by Carson Rodizio with caipirinha specialty cocktails, and a dance performance, scored by Iris musicians and artist fellows, under the artistic leadership of Iris’ Pedro Maia and Collage’s Fabio Mariano. The night will close with a samba party where guests can dance to DJ Alpha Whiskey.

The two organizations have been in conversation about this event since August 2020. “We knew we wanted to partner between the Iris Artist Fellowship Program and the Collage Dance Company,” Arendt says. They didn’t have a set plan of what that collaboration would look like at first, but when they looked around the Zoom room, they noticed that a few of the dancers with Collage and Pedro Maia, one of the two Iris fellows, were from Brazil. “As we were talking about what really spoke to us artistically, that really kept rising to the surface — wanting to celebrate the mutual connection the two organizations have to that culture,” Arendt says. “We felt that was really the best choice.”

The night promises to be a festive one, Arendt says. “From my perspective, it’s music that’s hard to sit still when you listen to it.”

“Brazil by Night: Where Art and Culture Collide,” Collage Dance Center, Saturday, April 9th, 7 p.m., $75.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Memphis is My Boyfriend: Inspired to Dance

Losing the “Covid 10” with fun classes at Collage Dance Collective (Photo: Courtesy Patricia Lockhart)

I have this saying, “I work on myself when it suits me.” And ever since 2020, when the world shut down and there was nothing to do, I’ve been dabbling in exercising. A long walk here, a hike through Stanky Creek there, PopSugar YouTube videos sprinkled throughout the week — I’ve done a little bit of everything. Through virtual classes offered by Fit4Mom and Downtown Yoga and outdoor exercise classes offered by Wolf River Conservatory, I was able to keep the Covid 15, a weight gain of 15 lbs., to a respectable Covid 10. But the way my body is set up, any weight gain was inevitable.

So at the beginning of 2022, I decided I wanted to switch up my workout routine. I spent most of January doing Zumba on my Nintendo Switch. But I found myself shortening the workouts. A 30-minute Zumba session turned to 15, and then quickly to 10. In February, my job had a steps challenge. So I was at least motivated to move more throughout the day so I wouldn’t “look bad” in front of my peers. It worked … mostly. But I was still in a fitness rut. Then a coworker mentioned wanting to sign up for an adult yoga class at the Collage Dance Collective. I knew that they had an amazing reputation for nurturing kids into incredible dancers, but I didn’t know that they extended their talent to adults, too. So I checked out their website and behold — dance classes.

Even though I love to dance, I didn’t want to engage in this new activity by myself. So I reached out to my best friend, my buddy, my forever date … my husband. His response came quickly and unstrained, “Immediately, no. No, babe. Not at all.” But I didn’t let the first “no” stop me. I asked a few more times throughout the week and surprisingly got the same answer. (A solid “no” if you weren’t sure.)

Not one to be thwarted, I decided to make it a Girls’ Date Night. So I reached out to a few of my girls and explained what I’d discovered. So, on a Wednesday, my sister and I arrived just in time for the Zumba workout. Here’s what I learned about myself: I have lost all of the cardio endurance I had gained in the past. My hips don’t really swivel or swerve. I can easily burn 500 calories in one hour. And Zumba is too much fun to be considered a workout.

I immediately signed up for Line Dancing on Friday, Yoga on Saturday, and Hip Hop Cardio on Monday. I had so much fun in Line Dancing. I clocked well over 4,000 steps while I moved and grooved. Because this was low-impact, I didn’t have to drag myself to the car afterwards. Hip Hop Cardio lets you listen to some of the coolest DJs while learning routines. So within three weeks, I found myself with a new exercise routine that didn’t feel like work at all. I absolutely love every dance class I have attended. So much so that I’ve signed up for the Adult Beginner’s Ballet Class. What do I know about ballet? Mostly nothing. Why did I sign up? Because I love adventures!

So now that I have an awesome exercise routine and can soon be called a ballerina, I needed an awesome reward to match it. There are three ways I reward myself: books, food, and experiences. And if I could mesh all three together — golden! With my TBR list being over 50 books and dancing at Collage being an experience within itself, the only choice left was food. But I wanted my food to compliment my new workouts, not hinder everything I’d done. I’m also not a lettuce type of girl. I need something flavorful and filling while being healthy at the same time. I found just the place right across the street.

Inspire Community Cafe serves some deliciously healthy foods. Coffee, tea, breakfast served all day, quesadillas, rice or quinoa bowls, chili, barbecue nachos, and smoothies! And that’s just the short version. I love their egg scrambles. Although, after a hard workout, there’s only one way to treat my inner child. That’s right — Choco-Monkey Pancakes! These pancakes are so delicious; they’re made from a gluten-free batter with chocolate chips sprinkled generously throughout the batter and topped with thickly sliced bananas. Usually, gluten-free bread items have a gritty taste to them, but I had honestly eaten these pancakes three or four times before I looked closely at the menu. All of their pancakes are gluten-free.

But if you’re not a pancake person, I would recommend an Egg-cellent. It’s scrambled eggs topped with your choice of veggies and meat. I ask for everything and the kitchen sink in mine. Pro-Tip: Get it with a side of toast and jelly. Oh, and an extra slice of bacon. The Breakfast Quesadilla is also delicious. But if you decide to go that route, be warned … it’s huge!

While Inspire Community Cafe serves breakfast all day, their lunch menu is not to be ignored either. The Slow-Cooked BBQ Chicken Quesadilla does not disappoint.

Both of these amazing places, the Collage Dance Collective and Inspire Community Cafe, can be found in Binghampton, at the corner of Tillman and Sam Cooper. The adult dance classes can range from $6 to $8 per class. A delicious meal at Inspire Community Cafe can range from $5 on up, depending on your appetite. But your experience at both places … priceless.

Gotta love it, mane!

Collage Dance Collective, 901-800-1873, IG: @collagedance;
Inspire Community Cafe, 901-509-8640, IG: @inspirecommunitycafe

Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. @realworkwife @memphisismyboyfriend

Categories
News Blog Theater

Collage Dance Collective Lands $3 Million Grant

A $3 million contribution from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and educator and philanthropist Dan Jewett has been given to Collage Dance Collective.

The gift follows the successful completion of two major efforts by the dance nonprofit: an $11 million capital campaign launched in the summer of 2019, and a $9 million center for dance that opened in December 2020.

Marcellus Harper, executive director and co-founder of Collage Dance, said, “We are indebted to our community for investing in us and preparing us for this moment and grateful to Ms. Scott and Mr. Jewett for trusting organizations of color to be leaders in the equity and inclusion work we know and understand on a cellular level.”

Collage has trained more than 3,000 students in the organization’s 12-year history. The nonprofit’s internationally touring professional company launches its 12th performance season in September and was recently invited to perform on the Kennedy Center stage in Washington D.C. in June 2022.

Kevin Thomas, Collage’s artistic director and co-founder, said, “Not uncommon to organizations led by people of color, much of our work these last 11 years has been bootstrapped and built from the ground up with rarely enough financial resources. This generous gift from Ms. Scott and Mr. Jewett helps us to focus more on the work and a little less on how we are going to pay the bills. It allows us to grow in our creativity, further refine our artistic product and take some artistic risk, which Black arts organizations rarely have the luxury to do because of funding inequities.”

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Cover Feature News

2021: Here’s Looking at You

If 2020 was the year of despair, 2021 appears to be the year of hope.

Wanna see what that could look like? Cast your gaze to Wuhan, China, birthplace of COVID-19.

News footage from Business Insider shows hundreds of carefree young people gathered in a massive swimming pool, dancing and splashing at a rock concert. They are effortlessly close together and there’s not a mask in sight. Bars and restaurants are packed with maskless revelers. Night markets are jammed. Business owners smile, remember the bleak times, and say the worst is behind them. How far behind? There’s already a COVID-19 museum in Wuhan.

That could be Memphis (once again) one day. But that day is still likely months off. Vaccines arrived here in mid-December. Early doses rightfully went to frontline healthcare workers. Doses for the masses won’t likely come until April or May, according to health experts.

While we still cannot predict exactly “what” Memphians will be (can be?) doing next year, we can tell you “where” they might be doing it. New places will open their doors next year, and Memphis is set for some pretty big upgrades.

But it doesn’t stop there. “Memphis has momentum” was Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s catchphrase as he won a second term for the office last October. It did. New building projects bloomed like the Agricenter’s sunflowers. And it still does. Believe it or not, not even COVID-19 could douse developers’ multi-million-dollar optimism on the city.

Here are few big projects slated to open in 2021:

Renasant Convention Center

Throughout 2020, crews have been hard at work inside and outside the building once called the Cook Convention Center.

City officials and Memphis Tourism broke ground on a $200-million renovation project for the building in January 2020. The project will bring natural light and color to the once dark and drab convention center built in 1974. The first events are planned for the Renasant Convention Center in the new year.

Memphis International Airport

Memphis International Airport

Expect the ribbon to be cut on Memphis International Airport’s $245-million concourse modernization project in 2021. The project was launched in 2014 in an effort to upgrade the airport’s concourse to modern standards and to right-size the space after Delta de-hubbed the airport.

Once finished, all gates, restaurants, shops, and more will be located in a single concourse. The space will have higher ceilings, more natural light, wider corridors, moving walkways, children’s play areas, a stage for live music, and more.

Collage Dance Collective

The beautiful new building on the corner of Tillman and Sam Cooper is set to open next year in an $11-million move for the Collage Dance Collective.

The 22,000-square-foot performing arts school will feature five studios, office space, a dressing room, a study lounge, 70 parking spaces, and a physical therapy area.

The Memphian Hotel

The Memphian Hotel

A Facebook post by The Memphian Hotel reads, “Who is ready for 2021?” The hotel is, apparently. Developers told the Daily Memphian recently that the 106-room, $24-million hotel is slated to open in April.

“Walking the line between offbeat and elevated, The Memphian will give guests a genuine taste of Midtown’s unconventional personality, truly capturing the free spirit of the storied art district in which the property sits,” reads a news release.

Watch for work to begin next year on big projects in Cooper-Young, the Snuff District, Liberty Park, Tom Lee Park, and The Walk. — Toby Sells

Book ‘Em

After the Spanish flu epidemic and World War I came a flood of convention-defying fiction as authors wrestled with the trauma they had lived through. E.M. Forster confronted colonialism and rigid gender norms in A Passage to India. Virginia Woolf published Mrs. Dalloway. James Joyce gave readers Ulysses. Langston Hughes’ first collection, The Weary Blues, was released.

It’s too early to tell what authors and poets will make of 2020, a year in which America failed to contain the coronavirus. This reader, though, is eager to see what comes.

Though I’ve been a bit too nervous to look very far into 2021 (I don’t want to jinx it, you know?), there are a few books already on my to-read list. First up, I’m excited for MLK50 founding managing editor Deborah Douglas’ U.S. Civil Rights Trail, due in January. Douglas lives in Chicago now, but there’s sure to be some Memphis in that tome.

Next, Ed Tarkington’s The Fortunate Ones, also due in January, examines privilege and corruption on Nashville’s Capitol Hill. Early reviews have compared Tarkington to a young Pat Conroy. For anyone disappointed in Tennessee’s response to any of this year’s crises, The Fortunate Ones is not to be missed.

Most exciting, perhaps, is the forthcoming Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda prose anthology, expected February 2nd. The anthology is edited by Memphis-born journalist Jesse J. Holland, and also features a story by him, as well as Memphians Sheree Renée Thomas, Troy L. Wiggins, and Danian Darrell Jerry.

“To be in pages with so many Memphis writers just feels wonderful,” Thomas told me when I called her to chat about the good news. “It’s a little surreal, but it’s fun,” Jerry adds, explaining that he’s been a Marvel comics fan since childhood. “I get to mix some of those childhood imaginings with some of the skills I’ve worked to acquire over the years.”

Though these books give just a glimpse at the literary landscape of the coming year, if they’re any indication of what’s to come, then, if nothing else, Memphians will have more great stories to look forward to. — Jesse Davis

Courtesy Memphis Redbirds

AutoZone Park

Take Me Out With the Crowd

Near the end of my father’s life, we attended a Redbirds game together at AutoZone Park. A few innings into the game, Dad turned to me and said, “I like seeing you at a ballpark. I can tell your worries ease.”

Then along came 2020, the first year in at least four decades that I didn’t either play in a baseball game or watch one live, at a ballpark, peanuts and Cracker Jack a soft toss away. The pandemic damaged most sports over the last 12 months, but it all but killed minor-league baseball, the small-business version of our national pastime, one that can’t lean on television and sponsorship revenue to offset the loss of ticket-buying fans on game day. AutoZone Park going a year without baseball is the saddest absence I’ve felt in Memphis culture since moving to this remarkable town in 1991. And I’m hoping today — still 2020, dammit — that 2021 marks a revival, even if it’s gradual. In baseball terms, we fans will take a base on balls to get things going before we again swing for the fences.

All indications are that vaccines will make 2021 a better year for gathering, be it at your favorite watering hole or your favorite ballpark. Indications also suggest that restrictions will remain in place well into the spring and summer (baseball season). How many fans can a ballpark host and remain safe? How many fans will enjoy the “extras” of an evening at AutoZone Park — that sunset over the Peabody, that last beer in the seventh inning — if a mask must be worn as part of the experience? And what kind of operation will we see when the gates again open? Remember, these are small businesses. Redbirds president Craig Unger can be seen helping roll out the tarp when a July thunderstorm interrupts the Redbirds and Iowa Cubs. What will “business as usual” mean for Triple-A baseball as we emerge from the pandemic?

I wrote down three words and taped them up on my home-office wall last March: patience, determination, and empathy. With a few more doses of each — and yes, millions of doses of one vaccine or another — the sports world will regain crowd-thrilling normalcy. For me, it will start when I take a seat again in my happy place. It’s been a long, long time, Dad, since my worries properly eased.— Frank Murtaugh

Film in 2021: Don’t Give up Hope

“Nobody knows anything.” Never has William Goldman’s immortal statement about Hollywood been more true. Simply put, 2020 was a disaster for the industry. The pandemic closed theaters and called Hollywood’s entire business model into question. Warner Brothers’ announcement that it would stream all of its 2021 offerings on HBO Max sent shock waves through the industry. Some said it was the death knell for theaters.

I don’t buy it. Warner Brothers, owned by AT&T and locked in a streaming war with Netflix and Disney, are chasing the favor of Wall Street investors, who love the rent-seeking streaming model. But there’s just too much money on the table to abandon theaters. 2019 was a record year at the box office, with $42 billion in worldwide take, $11.4 billion of which was from North America. Theatrical distribution is a proven business model that has worked for 120 years. Netflix, on the other hand, is $12 billion in debt.

Will audiences return to theaters once we’ve vaccinated our way out of the coronavirus-shaped hole we’re in? Prediction at this point is a mug’s game, but signs point to yes. Tenet, which will be the year’s biggest film, grossed $303 million in overseas markets where the virus was reasonably under control. In China, where the pandemic started, a film called My People, My Homeland has brought in $422 million since October 1st. I don’t know about y’all, but once I get my jab, they’re going to have to drag me out of the movie theater.

There will be quite a bit to watch. With the exception of Wonder Woman 1984, the 2020 blockbusters were pushed to 2021, including Dune, Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, the latest James Bond installment No Time to Die, Marvel’s much-anticipated Black Widow, Top Gun: Maverick, and Godzilla vs. Kong. Memphis director Craig Brewer’s second film with Eddie Murphy, the long-awaited Coming 2 America, will bow on Amazon March 5th, with the possibility of a theatrical run still in the cards.

There’s no shortage of smaller, excellent films on tap. Regina King’s directorial debut One Night in Miami, about a meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown, premieres January 15th. Minari, the stunning story of Korean immigrants in rural Arkansas, which was Indie Memphis 2020’s centerpiece film, lands February 12th. The Bob’s Burgers movie starts cooking April 9th. And coolest of all, next month Indie Memphis will partner with Sundance to bring the latest in cutting-edge cinema to the Malco Summer Drive-In. There’s plenty to be hopeful for in the new year. — Chris McCoy

Looking Ahead: Music

We usually highlight the upcoming hot concerts in this space, but those are still on the back burner. Instead, get a load of these stacks of hot wax (and streams) dropping next year. Remember, the artists get a better share when you purchase rather than stream, especially physical product like vinyl.

Alysse Gafkjen

Julien Baker

One of the biggest-profile releases will be Julien Baker’s Little Oblivians, due out on Matador in February. Her single “Faith Healer” gives us a taste of what to expect. Watch the Flyer for more on that soon. As for other drops from larger indie labels, Merge will offer up A Little More Time with Reigning Sound in May (full disclosure: this all-Memphis version of the band includes yours truly).

Closer to home, John Paul Keith’s The Rhythm of the City also drops in February, co-released by hometown label Madjack and Italian imprint Wild Honey. Madjack will also offer up albums by Mark Edgar Stuart and Jed Zimmerman, the latter having been produced by Stuart. Matt Ross-Spang is mixing Zimmerman’s record, and there’s much buzz surrounding it (but don’t worry, it’s properly grounded).

Jeremy Stanfill mines similar Americana territory, and he’ll release new work on the Blue Barrel imprint. Meanwhile, look for more off-kilter sounds from Los Psychosis and Alicja Trout’s Alicja-Pop project, both on Black & Wyatt. That label will also be honored with a compilation of their best releases so far, by Head Perfume out of Dresden. On the quieter side of off-kilter, look for Aquarian Blood’s Sending the Golden Hour on Goner in May.

Bruce Watson’s Delta-Sonic Sound studio has been busy, and affiliated label Bible & Tire Recording Co. will release a big haul of old-school gospel, some new, some archival, including artists Elizabeth King and Pastor Jack Ward, and compilations from the old J.C.R. and D-Vine Spiritual labels. Meanwhile, Big Legal Mess will drop new work from singer/songwriter Alexa Rose and, in March, Luna 68 — the first new album from the City Champs in 10 years. Expect more groovy organ and guitar boogaloo jazz from the trio, with a heaping spoonful of science-fiction exotica to boot.

Many more artists will surely be releasing Bandcamp singles, EPs, and more, but for web-based content that’s thinking outside of the stream, look for the January premiere of Unapologetic’s UNDRGRNDAF RADIO, to be unveiled on weareunapologetic.com and their dedicated app. — Alex Greene

Chewing Over a Tough Year

Beware the biohazard.

Samuel X. Cicci

The Beauty Shop

Perhaps a bit hyperbolic, but the image that pops into my head when thinking about restaurants in 2020 are the contagion-esque geo-domes that Karen Carrier set up on the back patio of the Beauty Shop. A clever conceit, but also a necessary one — a move designed to keep diners safe and separated when going out to eat. If it all seems a little bizarre, well, that’s what 2020 was thanks to COVID-19.

We saw openings, closings, restrictions, restrictions lifted, restrictions then put back in place; the Memphis Restaurant Association and Shelby County Health Department arguing back and forth over COVID guidelines, with both safety and survival at stake; and establishments scrambling to find creative ways to drum up business. The Beauty Shop domes were one such example. The Reilly’s Downtown Majestic Grille, on the other hand, transformed into Cocozza, an Italian ghost concept restaurant put into place until it was safe to reopen Majestic in its entirety. Other places, like Global Café, put efforts in place to help provide meals to healthcare professionals or those who had fallen into financial hardship during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, not every restaurant was able to survive the pandemic. The popular Lucky Cat Ramen on Broad Ave. closed its doors, as did places like Puck Food Hall, 3rd & Court, Avenue Coffee, Midtown Crossing Grill, and many others.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Working in the hospitality business requires a certain kind of resilience, and that showed up in spades. Many restaurants adapted to new regulations quickly, and with aplomb, doing their best to create a safe environment for hungry Memphians all while churning out takeout and delivery orders.

And even amid a pandemic backdrop, many aspiring restaurateurs tried their hand at opening their own places. Chip and Amanda Dunham branched out from the now-closed Grove Grill to open Magnolia & May, a country brasserie in East Memphis. Just a few blocks away, a new breakfast joint popped up in Southall Café. Downtown, the Memphis Chess Club opened its doors, complete with a full-service café and restaurant. Down in Whitehaven, Ken and Mary Olds created Muggin Coffeehouse, the first locally owned coffee shop in the neighborhood. And entrepreneurial-minded folks started up their own delivery-only ventures, like Brittney Adu’s Furloaved Breads + Bakery.

So what will next year bring? With everything thrown out of whack, I’m loath to make predictions, but with a vaccine on the horizon, I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that it becomes safer to eat out soon, and the restaurant industry can begin a long-overdue recovery. And to leave you with what will hopefully be a metaphor for restaurants in 2021: By next summer, Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman’s Hog & Hominy will complete its Phoenician rebirth from the ashes of a disastrous fire and open its doors once again.

In the meantime, keep supporting your local restaurants! — Samuel X. Cicci

“Your Tickets Will be at Will Call”

Oh, to hear those words again, and plenty of arts organizations are eager to say them. The pandemic wrecked the seasons for performing arts groups and did plenty of damage to museums and galleries.

Not that they haven’t made valiant and innovative efforts to entertain from afar with virtual programming.

But they’re all hoping to mount physical, not virtual, seasons in the coming year.

Playhouse on the Square suspended scheduled in-person stage productions until June 2021. This includes the 52nd season lineup of performances that were to be on the stages of Playhouse on the Square, The Circuit Playhouse, and TheatreWorks at the Square. It continues to offer the Playhouse at Home Series, digital content via its website and social media.

Theatre Memphis celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2021 and is eager to show off its new facility, a major renovation that was going to shut it down most of 2020 anyway while it expanded common spaces and added restrooms and production space while updating dressing rooms and administrative offices. But the hoped-for August opening was pushed back, and it plans to reschedule the programming for this season to next.

Hattiloo Theatre will continue to offer free online programming in youth acting and technical theater, and it has brought a five-week playwright’s workshop and free Zoom panel discussions with national figures in Black theater. Like the other institutions, it is eager to get back to the performing stage when conditions allow.

Ballet Memphis has relied on media and platforms that don’t require contact, either among audience members or dancers. But if there are fewer partnerings among dancers, there are more solos, and group movement is well-distanced. The organization has put several short pieces on video, releasing some and holding the rest for early next year. It typically doesn’t start a season until late summer or early fall, so the hope is to get back into it without missing a step.

Opera Memphis is active with its live Sing2Me program of mobile opera concerts and programming on social media. Its typical season starts with 30 Days of Opera in August that usually leads to its first big production of the season, so, COVID willing, that may emerge.

Courtesy Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Dana Claxton, Headdress at the Brooks earlier this year.

Museums and galleries, such as the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, National Civil Rights Museum, and the Metal Museum are functioning at limited capacity, but people can go and enjoy the offerings. The scope of the shows is limited, as coronavirus has put the kibosh on blockbuster shows for now. Look for easing of protocols as the situation allows in the coming year. — Jon W. Sparks

Politics

Oyez. Oyez. Oh yes, there is one year out of every four in which regularly scheduled elections are not held in Shelby County, and 2021 is such a year. But decisions will be made during the year by the Republican super-majority of the state legislature in Nashville that will have a significant bearing on the elections that will occur in the three-year cycle of 2022-2024 and, in fact, on those occurring through 2030.

This would be in the course of the constitutionally required ritual during which district lines are redefined every 10 years for the decade to come, in the case of legislative seats and Congressional districts. The U.S. Congress, on the basis of population figures provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, will have allocated to each state its appropriate share of the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. And the state legislature will determine how that number is apportioned statewide. The current number of Tennessee’s Congressional seats is nine. The state’s legislative ratio is fixed at 99 state House members and 33 members of the state Senate.

Tennessee is one of 37 states in which, as indicated, the state legislature calls the shots for both Congressional and state redistricting. The resultant redistricting undergoes an approval process like any other measure, requiring a positive vote in both the state Senate and the state House, with the Governor empowered to consent or veto.

No one anticipates any disagreements between any branches of government. Any friction in the redistricting process will likely involve arguments over turf between neighboring GOP legislators. Disputes emanating from the minority Democrats will no doubt be at the mercy of the courts.

The forthcoming legislative session is expected to be lively, including holdover issues relating to constitutional carry (the scrapping of permits for firearms), private school vouchers (currently awaiting a verdict by the state Supreme Court), and, as always, abortion. Measures relating to the ongoing COVID crisis and vaccine distribution are expected, as is a proposal to give elected county executives primacy over health departments in counties where the latter exist.

There is no discernible disharmony between those two entities in Shelby County, whose government has devoted considerable attention over the last year to efforts to control the pandemic and offset its effects. Those will continue, as well as efforts to broaden the general inclusiveness of county government vis-à-vis ethnic and gender groups.

It is still a bit premature to speculate on future shifts of political ambition, except to say that numerous personalities, in both city and county government, are eyeing the prospects of succeeding Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland in 2023. And several Democrats are looking at a potential race against District Attorney General Amy Weirich in 2022.

There are strong rumors that, after a false start or two, Memphis will follow the lead of several East Tennessee co-ops and finally depart from TVA.

And meanwhile, in March, the aforesaid Tennessee Democrats will select a new chair from numerous applicants. — Jackson Baker

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

This Week At The Cinema: Singing, Art, Poetry, Dance, and Gymnastics

Brown Ballerina

Toni Morrison, poet, Nobel laureate, and all-around advocate for empathy, curated an art show at the Louvre in 2006. The Foreigner’s Home is a documentary based on the exhibit and the conversations about “otherness” that sprung up around it. Indie Memphis will be presenting the film at 7 PM Tuesday, June 14, at the Malco Ridgeway.

The Foreigner's Home – Trailer from Rian Brown on Vimeo.

This Week At The Cinema: Singing, Art, Poetry, Dance, and Gymnastics

Wednesday, June 20th, Indie Memphis takes part in a special program with Collage Dance Collective. “Brown Ballerina” is a short film by director Chassidy Jade about one woman’s quest to dance at the highest levels of the art. Jade will be in attendance to discuss the film, and there will be performances by Shanna Wood and the Collage Dance Collective. Demand for this event has been high, so they’ve added a second screening.

Brown Ballerina Official Trailer from ChassidyJade :: CrownMeRoyalLabs on Vimeo.

This Week At The Cinema: Singing, Art, Poetry, Dance, and Gymnastics (2)

Wednesday night at Studio on the Square, Outflix is presenting their 2007 Jury Award Winner The Gymnast, a love story by Ned Farr starring famed arealist Dreya Weber.

This Week At The Cinema: Singing, Art, Poetry, Dance, and Gymnastics (3)

On Sunday at the Malco Paradiso, Turner Classic Movies presents West Side Story, the 1961 Best Picture winner which still holds the record for most Oscars claimed by a musical. Here’s Rita Mareno taking control of your screen with “America”. 

This Week At The Cinema: Singing, Art, Poetry, Dance, and Gymnastics (4)

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Renaissance and Resistance

Toni Morrison said that art must be beautiful and political. Nina Simone said that the responsibility of an artist is to reflect the times. James Baldwin said that artists exist to disturb the peace.

Artists set the tone for their cities’ cultural presence, and their work creates a lens for citizens to engage with tough issues facing their cities and their worlds. Memphis has never been a city devoid of amazing public art and talented artists, but I can’t be alone in feeling like we are beyond lucky to be witnessing Memphis’ arts renaissance — and the attendant art/artist resistance movements — right now.

We all know that Memphis is music. Music is protest and power, and our city’s musicians are producing some extraordinary sounds. My own musical predilections trend toward hip-hop, R&B, and soul, all genres that my ancestors used to reason and reckon with their realities. Marco Pavé’s Welcome to Grc Lnd promises to be a soul-stirring, historical look at resistance and existence in Memphis. IMAKEMADBEATS and his Unapologetic crew have been working for years to provide some nextwave musicology to the Memphis scene, and his work is without peer. Collectives like the PRIZM Ensemble not only craft moving works of musical art, but give us a glimpse of an inclusive musical revolution. The Soulsville Festival and Memphis Slim House serve as incubators of new, grassroots celebrations of Memphis’ eternal musical spirit and the communities that bear that spirit. Angel Street, the Memphis Music Initiative, and the Stax Music Academy ensure that Memphis’ children will carry that spirit of musical reckoning and resistance onward.

Art of resistance

Memphians’ artistic commitment to resistance goes beyond music. A beautifully hued photo of dancers from the Collage Dance Collective recently went viral and showcases Collage’s commitment to inclusivity in their troupe. This photo, alongside their RISE performance, show us what dance as an inclusive form of artistic resistance truly looks like.

The Baobab Filmhouse and Hattiloo Theatre show the complexity of existence for people of color throughout history and dare to imagine stories for them that do not rely solely on their pain.

The Indie Memphis Film Festival brings a diverse array of films and filmmakers to our city every year. Spaces and collectives that focus on multidisciplinary works of art — like the CLTV, Centro Cultural, the Memphis Black Arts Alliance, Young Arts Patrons, and story booth — provide space for Memphians to engage critically with art that challenges their perceptions of their place in the world and of art itself. The events that these collaboratives present, such as the Young Arts Patrons’ Young Collectors event, Centro Cultural’s Tamale Fest, and the CLTV’s Black in Amurica, spotlight collective cultural resistance to forces that would erase or oppress not just artistic production, but the rights and personhood of these community members. Each of these spaces spotlights talented local creators.

Gallery spaces like the Orange Mound Gallery, Memphis Slim House, Crosstown Arts, and the Memphis College of Art allow for public consumption of paradigm-challenging work from artists like Fidencio Fifield-Perez, Kong Wee Pang, Vanessa González, and Darlene Newman.

Andrea Morales’ photography gives us an unabashed glimpse at what Memphis-style grit actually looks like, and Ziggy Mack’s ephemeral shots provide a vision of Memphis’ best people and our alternative futures.

Joseph Boyd’s “It’s Beautiful Where You Are” and Vitus Shell’s “Protect Her” center black women as subjects of and inspiration for our collective struggle (94 percent of black women voted against our current political quagmire). Siphne Sylve’s art graces various areas of the city and proclaims a deep sense of love and pride for Memphis. Jamond Bullock’s murals provide much needed whimsy and color to everything they touch. Michael Roy’s engrossing work can be found from downtown high-rises to coffeehouse bathrooms and grants his unique complexity to a wide range of subjects.

The written and spoken word is important in determining what resistance looks, reads, and sounds like. Dr. Zandria Robinson’s “Listening for the Country,” featured in the Oxford American, invited readers to take a trip into an emotive space that helps citizens remember their essential humanity as they struggle with systems.

Public readings like the recent Writers Resist event, The Word, and Impossible Language reinforce that Memphis is full of revolutionary writers. Jamey Hatley and Sheree Renée Thomas are award-winning authors who dare us to address our pasts and consider our roots. The works of Memphis authors and poets like Courtney Miller Santo, Margaret Skinner, David Williams, Ashley Roach-Freiman, and Aaron Brame help us discover how deeply our shared experiences and histories connect us. And the work of those who balance writing with community building, writers like Richard Alley and Nat Akin, help us to see a way forward.

During times like these, when every day feels like an assault on our rational sensibilities, art helps us make sense of the swamp. It is only right that we, as Memphians, do our part to support these folks whose works help us right ourselves, mentally and emotionally. Artists, and the organizations that support them, need your help. Pay artists what they are worth. There is no reason why our city’s most talented and dedicated creatives and the organizations that support them should face so many financial roadblocks, given how much they contribute to our city’s well-being. If your resistance does not account for our artists and their art, then you should reconsider your resistance.

Troy L. Wiggins is a Memphian and writer whose work has appeared in Memphis Noir anthology, Make Memphis magazine and The Memphis Flyer.

Categories
News News Feature

Collage’s RISE

CREDIT: Jermel Tucker

Kevin Thomas, artistic director of Collage Dance Collective, watches intently as four dancers sway and lunge across the studio floor. The angular movements are athletic yet lyrical as the dancers, Brandye Lee, Daphne Lee, Bernard DuBois II, and Daniel Cooke, respond to the music, a repetitive, staccato piano movement that is echoed in their jumpy style. The performance is riveting.

January has shaped up to be an exciting month for the company.

First the company traveled to Manhattan to participate in a conference produced by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. This international meet-up, which showcases live works by theater, music, comedy, and dance companies, puts Collage in front of important decision makers as they ponder their upcoming seasons.

Jermel Tucker

RISE by Collage Dance Collective

Collage then took RISE, a concert inspired by the legacy and contributions of civil rights giants, to Washington, D.C., for a performance during the Dr. Martin Luther King weekend. The choreography of one piece features text from King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” address.

A Memphis performance of RISE takes place at the Cannon Performing Arts Center Sunday, January 22nd, at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $25-$40.

“When you come to see RISE, it’s a visual representation of our mission,” says executive director Marcellus Harper. “You get to see the trajectory of excellence and the themes that we’re addressing.”

Thomas and Harper founded Collage Dance Collective in 2006 while living in NYC. Theirs is one of the few classical ballets companies of color nationally. Thomas, a native of Montreal, Canada, received his training with L’Ecole Supérieure de Ballet du Québec and went on to dance with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Cleveland San Jose Ballet, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

“When I danced with Harlem, it was the first time I danced with other people of color. It was very empowering,” says Thomas. That experience fanned Thomas’ desire to launch his own company.

Harper grew up influenced by the rich arts scene of Washington, D.C. A double major at the University of Maryland in biology and theater, he eventually worked for Marriott in corporate marketing and event production before moving into nonprofit management. A position with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital brought the pair to Memphis in 2007. They believed their vision, to build a ballet corps of color and to make classical training available to African-American children, particularly boys, could fill a void.

“Today over 12 [black ballerinas] are living and working in Memphis,” notes Harper. “That progress is encouraging.”

Collage started modestly, renting rehearsal space from churches in Midtown while Thomas worked as artistic coordinator at New Ballet Ensemble. In 2009, Collage moved into their studio in the Broad Avenue Arts District and began the dance academy. An anonymous donor enabled the company to fully employ its nine dancers in 2015.

The company’s mission is to inspire the growth of ballet in Memphis’ African-American community and develop a knowledgable audience. Fifty percent of those who attend their performances say they’ve never been to the ballet, according to Harper. “We’re educating students and parents to see this art form and [promoting] understanding on how arts organizations are supported. We need community support beyond buying tickets,” he says. “We need people volunteering by serving on our board, by becoming donors who will support with financial resources to produce art of this caliber and grow it.”

RISE will give viewers a feel for their emotive, powerful style as the troupe interprets works by nationally known choreographers Kevin Iega Jeff and Thomas.

Come, be moved.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Top 20 Memphis Music Videos of 2016 (Part 2)

Dr. James Gholson leads Craig Brewer’s ‘Our Conductor – Artists Only Remix’

 Let’s do this.

10. Kphonix “When It’s Tasty”
Director: Mitch Martin
What goes with disco better than lasers? Nothing.

Music Video Monday: Top 20 Memphis Music Videos of 2016 (Part 2)

9. Hormonal Imbalance “That Chick’s Boyfriend”
Director: Jamie Hall
Rising Fyre Productions gives Susan Mayfield and Ivy Miller’s gross-out punk the no-holds-barred video they deserve. Not safe for work. Or life.

Music Video Monday: Top 20 Memphis Music Videos of 2016 (Part 2) (2)

8. “Our Conductor – Artists’ Only Remix”
Director: Craig Brewer
When the Memphis Grizzlies hired Craig Brewer to make a promotional video to help persuade Mike Connelly to stay, he gathered an A team of Memphis talent, including producers Morgan Jon Fox and Erin Freeman, cinematographer Ryan Earl Parker, assistant director Sarah Fleming, Brandon Bell, and Firefly Grip and Electric. Prolific composer Jonathan Kirkscey was tapped to write an inspiring score, which would be performed by musicians from the Stax Music Academy and members of local orchestras, and the Grizzline drummers. Dancers from Collage Dance Collective, joined jookers from the Grit N’ Grind Squad.

After a shoot at the FedEx Forum, Editor Edward Valibus cut together a b-roll bed to lay the interviews on. His rough cut turned out to be one of the best music videos of the year.

Music Video Monday: Top 20 Memphis Music Videos of 2016 (Part 2) (3)


7. Brennan Villines “Crazy Train”
Director: Andrew Trent Fleming
This unexpectedly poignant Ozzy cover was the second music video Villines and Fleming collaborated on this year, after the stark “Free”. Where that one was simple, this one goes big.

Music Video Monday: Top 20 Memphis Music Videos of 2016 (Part 2) (4)


6. Lisa Mac “Mr. Mystery”
Director: Melissa Anderson Sweazy
There’s no secret to making a great music video. Just take a great song, a great dancer, a great location, and some crackerjack editing. All the elements came together brilliantly for Sweazy’s second entry in the countdown.

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5. Marco Pavé “Cake”
Director GB Shannon
Shannon used the WREC building as the main setting in his short film “Broke Dick Dog”, and he returns with a cadre of dancers and a stone cold banger from Pavé. Go get that cake.

Marco Pavé "Cake" Music Video from VIA on Vimeo.

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4. Chackerine “Memphis Beach”
Director: Ben Siler

This three minute epic keeps switching gears as it accelerates to a Jurassic punchline. Its sense of chaotic fun took the prize at the revived Indie Memphis music video category.

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3. Yo Gotti “Down In The DM”
Director: Yo Gotti
It was Yo Gotti’s year. The Memphis MC racked up a staggering 101 million views with this video, which features cameos from Cee-Lo Green, Machine Gun Kelley, YG, and DJ Khalid. The video must have worked, because the song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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2. John Kilzer & Kirk Whalum “Until We’re All Free”
Dir: Laura Jean Hocking
Two things brought “Until We’re All Free” to the list’s penultimate slot. First, it’s a perfect example of synergy between music and image, where both elements elevate each other. Second is the subtle narrative arc; Amurica photobooth owner Jamie Harmon selling false freedom seems suddenly prophetic. The social justice anthem struck a chord with viewers when it ran with the trailers at some Malco theaters this spring. The parade of cute kids helped, too.

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1. Don Lifted “Harbor Hall”
Director Lawrence Matthews
Matthews is a multi-tasker, combining visual art with hip hop in his live performances and controlling his videos. His two videos from his album Alero feature his beaten up domestic sedan as a character. Its the total artistic unity that puts “Harbor Hall” at the pinnacle of 2016 videos. Because my rules limited each musical artist to one video, Matthews’ 11-minute collaboration with filmmaker Kevin Brooks “It’s Your World” doesn’t appear on the list. I chose “Harbor Hall” because of its concision, but “It’s Your World” would have probably topped the list, too.
Here it is, Memphis, your Best Music Video of 2016:

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Keep those videos coming, artists and filmmakers! Tip me off about your upcoming music video with an email to cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.