ON THE TOWN

The Arts and Entertainment Magazine of West Michigan

Attention Readers

by Joanne N. Bailey

Friday October 24, 2008, 5:15 PM

A Happy Ending To Start the Season

Artists push the envelope, that's what they're known to do. City ordinances, however, are designed to keep people safe. You can see where I'm going with this, can't you? I won't tiptoe around the issue: it seems there was some confusion about the city's policy on getting a permit for any event that will have forty-nine or more people expected to attend. The confusion had an impact on an Activesite program earlier this year and put the popular annual Tanglefoot Studio sale on the shelf.

But like the ending of a good holiday tale, instead of flinging paint at each other, city officials and representatives of the art community got together to cut through the red tape by streamlining the assembly process. Basically, the city gave the artists a license to push the envelope. So watch out Grand Rapids, I think events similar to what Activesite hosted at the former Grand Rapids Art Museum building last month are only the tip of the iceberg. For all of those Tanglefoot lovers, it is eighteen and counting as "Tanglefoot 18: On Again" will be in full swing November 21--23, with more artists: Red Hydrant Studio's Alynn Guerra and Carlos Aceves, Nikki Wall Studio, Elaine Dalcher Studio, and of course Tanglefoot Studio's Michael Pfleghaar, Tommy Allen, and Tim Gunnet.

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The Buzz

by Various

Friday October 24, 2008, 5:09 PM

e-studio

Wouldn't you love to get the inside scoop on how Irish science-fiction writer Peadar o Guilin (pictured) got his first book, The Inferior, published? Want to know more about Osnat in Danit Brown's Ask for a Convertible? Well, Schuler Books & Music can link you up through its newest edition, E-Studio web chats. An author, along with interested readers, log onto a chat room through Schuler's website, www.schulerbooks.com The chat room is monitored so readers' questions are posted for the author to answer. Everyone who logs on can see both the questions and the replies. Simple enough, right? Get connected! Brown is online November 10 and o Guilin follows November 19. All chats begin at 8 p.m. Shelby Wittum

Doug Benson

So who's having the best week ever?

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Luck Be a Lady

by Joanne N. Bailey

Friday October 24, 2008, 5:04 PM

Expect to be charmed when two-time Grammy Award-nominated artist Karrin Allyson takes the stage this month at St. Cecilia Music Center.

The first time I heard Karrin (pronounced CAR-in) Allyson was during a media event this past summer announcing St. Cecilia Music Center's 2008--2009 season. Suddenly I was flipping through papers to read her bio: friends helped her cover the expenses of a CD that happened to land with a DJ/record producer, which got her a record contract that lead to rave reviews putting her in the company of Ella Fitzgerald and Shirley Horn and two Grammy Award nominations. All I could think was "Where have I been?" As luck would have it, Allyson was able to squeeze me into her schedule before jet-setting to Europe for a one-night performance and then back to the states for a tour that leads her to Grand Rapids this month.

OTT: What's your earliest recollection of being introduced to music?

Allyson: Well, my mom was a classical pianist. My grandparents were musicians, and not. I come from a line of ministers, so there was music. I started off on classical piano and went to the University of Nebraska, Omaha, to study music with an emphasis on classical piano. It was there that I discovered jazz.

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The Music of Dance

by Joanne N. Bailey

Friday October 24, 2008, 4:57 PM

"You know, when I wake up in the morning, I just go," said Savion Glover. "I never really stop and think about should I put my hat on this way or that, not thinking that little JoJo down the street would be copying that. I'm more conscious about it now and tell the kids that it's not about the shoes or what kind of shoes...it's all about the dance."

Ever since Glover walked into his first tap-dance class, he was hooked. "I was a drummer in a group called Three Plus," he said during a recent phone interview. "We were performing at a club in New York, and my mother signed me up for tap classes. I fell in love from the door...so you can blame it on my mother."

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When Words Are As Mighty As Stone

by Katerie Prior

Friday October 24, 2008, 4:49 PM

Local poets accept the challenge to create their own written work inspired by the work of sculptor Jaume Plensa.

If you haven't heard of sculptor Jaume Plensa, you soon will. The Spanish-born artist is quickly becoming one of the most renowned sculptors of the twenty-first century. His innovative work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. In Millennium Park in Chicago, his most famous work, the Crown Fountain, a tower covered by a LED digital video screen that displays the faces of Chicago residents, spouts water into a granite pool.

Since October, an exhibition of Plensa's works is appearing throughout Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park: in the galleries, across the gardens, and in the Lena Meijer Conservatory and the Sculpture Park. When the exhibition ends in January, one work will stay; Plensa's I, you, she, or he... will serve as a permanent reminder of a show that explored the role of language, text, and communication through sculpture and how that leads people to a greater understanding of what unites humanity.

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Kicking Spectacular

by Laurie Hekman

Friday October 24, 2008, 4:35 PM

The Rockettes high step into the holidays as they perform at the Van Andel Arena this month.

She walks in with her perfect white teeth dazzling behind smiling red lips, blue eyes sparkling, and head to toe in a Christmas costume that shows off those famous high-kicking legs. Alexis Thebolt has been a Radio City Rockette since 2004 and is a recognized experienced veteran because of the years she has been a part of the team.

Thebolt is one of the "swing" dancers on the twenty-four-member traveling troupe, which means she can dance, kick, and sing from multiple vantage points in the show.

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In the Heat of the Battle

by Katerie Prior

Friday October 24, 2008, 4:30 PM

Over the last five years, Todd VanTongeren, one of the organizers at Art Battle, has seen it all: artists with a fine arts background creating breathtaking paintings and sculptors working in clay, plaster, or stone. He's seen traditional artists blowing glass or welding unusual art as well as watched unusual artists making plaster molds of themselves or portraits from their own hair. Hair? Think hair stuck to the shower wall, VanTongeren explained. And the result? A captivating and strangely beautiful artwork that took first prize in 2006. "It was the most talked about piece of the performance," he said. "It was just really unique."

That's the point of Art Battle, an annual event where forty artists from across the Midwest meet for one night to create innovative art in front of an audience. In addition to music, food, and specially-priced beverages, the audience gets to view the works and then vote on the final products. The audience favorite receives a $1,000 cash prize.

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