Scorpius Dance Theatre.
Photo by Ed Flores.

Summer can be a great time for experimental arts — audiences are receptive and fewer performances compete for attention. Last weekend’s Kick-A 2 Dance Showcase at Phoenix Theatre’s Little Theatre turned the spotlight on 20 talented choreographers assembled for a second year by Lisa Starry, director and choreographer of Scorpius Dance Theatre.

“We want it to expand to workshops next year,” says Starry, “get more people from outside of Arizona…turn it into a festival. These things just take time.”

Lauren Froderman. Photo by Vince Trupsin.

In the meantime, she raised visibility by inviting special guest artist Lauren Froderman, a Phoenix-born graduate of Greenway High School and the seventh-season winner of the television show “So You Think You Can Dance,” who joined the showcase for two performances.

Starry’s goal was to create an opportunity for choreographers to gain exposure. The roster mostly included experienced artists, but also featured an 18-year-old newcomer.

“Nope, they don’t have to be established,” Starry explains. “They (had) to submit their video or do a live audition by the deadline, and…I have a panel of judges. At this point, I’m only looking for modern, contemporary, jazz, or hip-hop. There are no tutus or ballet shoes.” She continues, “Contemporary is usually where you see your most versatile choreography…things that have to be highly entertaining and strong technically.”

Several candidates particularly appealed to Starry. “Chase Jarvis and Lindsay Green…are not dancers,” she says, “but they are kind of specialty act aerial artists.” Starry explains, “They said that they work with a pole, and I was a little hesitant because most people think ‘that’s what strippers use.’”

“So I tested them out,” she continues, “and they blew everybody away…it was awesome. It was like a male and female duet acro-pole performance…she’s like a toy ballerina, and he comes in and kind of tortures her, and she’s all over the pole, and…the first time I saw them my mouth just dropped.” Starry laughs. “It’s pretty cool. Major strength and flexibility.”

“Another choreographer is Angel Castro,” says Starry. “He works with me with Scorpius, but he’s starting to reach out…on his own right now.” She describes his all-female piece: “It’s strong, it’s very athletic…he does a lot of cool floor work. And he has…a little bit of a sexy appeal. I’m always attracted to people who bring out the sensuality in performers and make them look great — yeah.”

Scorpius Dance Theatre.
Photo by Ed Flores.

Starry trained at the Phoenix School of Ballet, later attending California Institute for the Arts and continuing on a six-month full scholarship to London Contemporary Dance School (now called The Place).

“Because of my education,” she says, “I started teaching and became the founder of Metro Arts, which is my full-time career. I founded the dance program…now I’m the Associate Head of School.” In that same year, 1999, Starry also created Scorpius Dance, the school’s professional residents. This August, she raises the profile of her troupe by taking Scorpius to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, capitalizing on last year’s successful appearance in A Vampire Tale at the Bram Stoker International Film Festival.

Kick-A featured several pieces by Starry herself, including a trio titled No More Walls. “It’s a dedication that I did for some of my friends who are working very hard to become citizens of the United States, and all of the hard and long steps they’ve had to take to get there,” says the choreographer. “So it’s kind of a serious piece…but it’s good.”

Another work used music by Philip Glass recorded by the composer and the Kronos Quartet. “I’m kind of going back on my old-school days of more classical, modern work,” Starry describes, “…inspiration of Paul Taylor…all my old training that I used to have when I was a younger dancer.”

Titled Rotation, Starry’s piece featured eight members “focusing on different types of circular rotations that the body can create in different patterns,” she says.

Director/choreographer Lisa Starry

Starry also offered a new creation incorporating Jack White’s “Love is Blindness,” from the recent film The Great Gatsby. “It’s an intense song,” she says with a smile. “I just gathered five dancers and choreographed something that matched the feeling and setting of his music.”

“I’m a fast choreographer, which is good and bad for me,” she continues. “It’s good because I can…get things done quickly, but also I’ve got to take a few steps back and try to process it more, because I can create more detail in my work.” Starry chuckles ruefully at her own impatience.

Plans for Scorpius going into next season include dancer auditions tomorrow evening, performances in Scotland, California, and Montana, and the 10-year anniversary of A Vampire Tale.

More information:

• Scorpius Dance Theatre
• Auditions for the 2013-2014 season take place on Wednesday, June 19, at 7 p.m.

On Buchanan St., behind Chase Field.

Artists Vito Acconci and Sophie Calle followed people (for Calle, until someone confronted her). At one time, Francis Alys walked into unfamiliar territory guarded by dogs and at another, pushed a block of ice around Mexico City until it melted. Paolo Nazereth walked from Sao Paolo, Brazil to New York, NY in a pair of flip-flops (he needed to see what was in between.)

Whether to execute a work or to just get out of the house, walking can provide great source material or at least allow a moment for quiet reflection on the place you’re in.

looking down at Adams and 3rd Ave

One foot goes forward, then the other. A pattern develops. Eventually, after doing this many times, the distance stretches and your body is some place else. When you’re out walking somewhere, there’s time to see the space around you and even stop and approach the things that interest you most. With the advent of Instagram, people can post a photo of that thing that no one else has ever noticed. When you’re out walking, it’s as if that little thing you noticed was just for you…until you share it with the universe.

Rio Salado at 24th Street

I rode my bike over the Rio Salado on 24th Street and saw a white crane wading in the shallow water. While out on a morning run, I navigate the back streets of South Phoenix before anyone is awake, running down dirt embankments going the wrong way down a one-way street. While walking through the grove of trees next to St. Mary’s Basilica during late summer, I become inundated with the singing of cicadas who seem to only gather in that safe, cool(er) spot.

a view of the I-10 from the 10th Street pedestrian bridge

Walking, running, biking—they are the processes that put our bodies in direct contact with the world around us. For artists, it can make one aware of how systems fit together, materials blend, colors merge and contrast, how light hits an object, how people move around each other and how every unit functions like a giant collage of complex, moving objects. For anyone else, it can give one a moment to slow down and take stock of the landscape, urban or otherwise, and how it just feels good to be able to move oneself forward in it.

“the rich potential relations between thinking and the body…the way walking reshapes the world by mapping it, treading paths into it, encountering it” — R. Solnit

Ten years ago, you may not have seen anyone walking the streets of Downtown Phoenix on a summer evening. But now, 110º doesn’t seem to stop anyone. This past Friday, as the temperature reached 111º right around 6pm, a bevy of Phoenicians were stepping out of air conditioned cars, houses and buildings to begin instantly sweating on the hot sidewalks. It has become standard practice now to throw heat exhaustion to the wind in lieu of walking the streets to socialize, see art and experience something new.

What was once underrated and scoffed at as being foolish, boring and even dangerous is beginning to be common practice in Downtown. There are more places now to walk to but there has never been a lack of places to walk. Within every landscape are smaller and smaller bits that pull and drag you in if you let them. While out walking, a person can let that different, sensorial world back in to admit that there is something more here than generalizations formed from the view of a car window.

————

References: Wanderlust, Rebecca Solnit; Walking, Henry David Thoreau, Walk Ways, Essay by Stuart Horodner, Independent Curators International; A Coast to Coast Walk, A. Wainwright

Artists, writers, musicians, performers…come prepared to discuss the project you’re working on and how it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Or, maybe you’ve felt uninspired to get started on anything?

Every creative person has been there at one point or another and sometimes all you need is a little nudge forward. Be prepared to also provide suggestions, encouragement and an open mind to the different ways that people work.

We will try to keep the meeting to one hour. So bring your coffee snobbery and your rutted self for us to commiserate, encourage and move each other forward.

If you go

What: When Brains Collide Meet-up

Date: Saturday, June 29

Time: 12 noon

Where: Cartel Coffee, 1 N. 1st St. (corner of Washington and 1st St.)

Subject for the next meeting: “Things Don’t Work”, technological, media and computer problems in a work in progress.

Do you have experience in Infill Development?

Has Infill Development affected your neighborhood?

Ever thought about improvements for the city process?

We want your input!

Phoenix has formed an advisory group to review our rules and regulations for Infill Development and provide some recommendations for streamlining. We received so much interest in participating in the infill discussion that we had to find a way for many folks to participate.

To that end we have scheduled a number of public meetings for folks to share their experience and suggestions regarding the Infill Development Process.  Staff will take feedback from these sessions to provide guidance and direction for the Infill Advisory Group.

To facilitate the discussions, we created targeted sessions for design professionals, contractors, developers/property owners, and neighborhood/community representatives.  Of course, anyone can come to any meeting they like, but the Infill Advisory Group thought it would be more productive to group folks by profession, background and interests.

To get involved and share your suggestions regarding the Infill Development Process, please attend one of the public meetings listed below and/or submit your comments via email to darcy.kober@phoenix.gov.

If you go

Where: All sessions are free to attend and will be held in the Historic A.E. England Building (between 1st and Central avenues, just north of Van Buren Street)

Questions? Call 602-495-5411

The Phoenix City Council awarded a contract for a new bike share program at its formal city council [on Wednesday]. The winning bidder, CycleHop, LLC, will begin the process of implementing a system of short-term rentable bicycles, which is expected to be in operation by December, 2013.

Photo courtesy of City of Phoenix.

During the first year of the contract, CycleHop, LLC will establish and operate a bike share network that will include up to 500 bicycles throughout the city of Phoenix. Access to the network can be obtained by making a reservation via the internet or a mobile device. Short-term bike share users will pay about $5 to access the system for the first hour and then pay $2 for each additional half-hour period, with a daily maximum rate of $25.  Annual members will pay less to access the system, with similar rates after the first hour of use.

“Phoenix deserves to be one of the most bike-friendly places in the country, and this new partnership is a great next step,” said Mayor Greg Stanton.  “By developing this bike share program, we’re reminding residents and visitors alike that traveling on two wheels is a great way to see what Phoenix has to offer.”

The bicycles provided as part of the bike share program will use a GPS-enabled locking mechanism designed to connect with special hub locations.  The bikes also will be able to lock at traditional bike racks if necessary.

Local First Arizona Celebrates Locally Owned Businesses During National Independents Week

In recognition of National Independents Week, Local First Arizona will honor locally owned and independent businesses across the state from Sunday, June 30, through Sunday, July 7. The nationwide Independents Week campaign, coordinated by the American Independent Business Alliance and known as “Indie Week,” takes place during the week of Independence Day with the purpose of enlightening consumers to the importance of supporting local businesses.

Final plans for the 2013 Independents Week campaign organized by Local First Arizona have been announced and will include the following:

Pledge and win! Arizonans are encouraged to “Take the Pledge” to shop local during Indie Week. Anyone can take the pledge by visiting www.LocalFirstAZ.com/Independents-Week. Those who pledge to shop local during Indie Week will automatically be entered into a contest to win a fantastic staycation! The staycation package includes a one night stay at the Noftsger Hill Inn Bed and Breakfast in Globe and a meal at A Step Back in Time Coffee & Deli in nearby Safford.

Save! The popular Golden Coupon is the ticket to saving 20% off purchases from local Arizona businesses. A list of participating businesses can be found by clicking here (businesses will be continually added through the month of June). Shoppers and diners can simply print out the Golden Coupon from the LFA website or pull it up on their smartphone and use it at as many participating locations as they please (some restrictions may apply). Some participating businesses include Pillsbury Wine Company, Frances Vintage, Urban Cookies, Sole Sports Running Zone, Desert Song Yoga, Noble Beast Natural Market for Pets, House of Tricks, Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch, The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, and many more!

Have fun! Several events will take place across the state during Independents Week to celebrate our local businesses with community members. Events include a pub crawl on Mill Avenue in Tempe; a film screening at The Loft in Tucson, a First Friday Party in Phoenix, and a beer dinner in Tucson presented by Food Conspiracy Co-op and Dragoon Brewing.

“Independents Week is especially important in Arizona during the slow summer months for many of our local business owners,” says Kimber Lanning, Director of Local First Arizona. “When we spend our dollars at local businesses, up to four times more money stays and circulates in the local economy, supporting local jobs, services, and communities. Our hope is that consumers will learn about the value of supporting local businesses during Indie Week, and then continue to support our independent businesses far beyond our weeklong celebration.”

Ballet Arizona’s “Topia”

Symphony Hall and the Orpheum Theatre are Ballet Arizona’s usual performance spaces, firmly in the heart of downtown. Occasionally, however, the troupe ventures outdoors for its free annual Ballet Under the Stars community performances and, for the second year, Topia at Desert Botanical Garden.

Artistic Director Ib Andersen

“The lighting and staging are better this year,” says Artistic Director Ib Andersen, a Balanchine protégé known for his appealing choreography. He created Topia last spring, crafting an instantly popular work on a large-scale outdoor stage for a production completely unique to the Valley’s environment.

Unusual aspects of Topia come from not only the open-air surroundings but also the sheer size of the endeavor. The 80-foot stage is considerably wider than Ballet Arizona’s typical indoor venues, generating logistical challenges of scale. It’s also set at ground level, a fundamental difference from the troupe’s elevated staging for Ballet Under the Stars.

“I wanted the dancers to be level with the audience and level with the desert,” describes Andersen, “so everything is a part of the ballet.” His concept incorporates the flora and fauna of the Garden in a show very specifically designed for its exact location.

Topia begins at sunset, even before the dancers take the stage, while shadows move across the Garden and change perspective on the looming Papago Buttes. As part of Andersen’s design, geological characteristics become integral to the ballet’s scenery.

Ballet Arizona’s “Topia”

His lightweight, minimalist costumes also reflect the colors and textures of nature, although his original intention would have used far less fabric. “I wanted them [the dancers] to be naked,” Andersen explains, “but it’s impossible.” He laughs. “It’s distracting for the audience, and not practical.”

Andersen continues, “But the dancers aren’t complaining about the heat — they’re not too hot because they’re wearing so little.” The men wear flesh-tone briefs, while the female dancers are clad in gossamer tunics.

The music for Topia is nearly the entirety of Ludwig van Beethoven’s sixth symphony, the “Pastoral.” “Beethoven is difficult to choreograph,” says Andersen, “because it’s so complete on its own. It’s enough without the dancing.” He felt able to use Beethoven’s music, he explains, only because the Garden and the desert sky create such a vast, open backdrop, resulting in a production not constrained by walls or ceiling.

All photos courtesy Rosalie O’Connor and Ballet Arizona.

If you go:

• Ballet Arizona’s Topia:
  Continues through Saturday, June 1 at Desert Botanical Garden
  (Discounts available for Ballet Arizona subscribers and Desert Botanical Garden members.)

• Back in downtown Phoenix at the Orpheum Theatre:
  The Spring Performance, featuring students from The School of Ballet Arizona
  June 1-2

• Make plans to attend a free Ballet Under the Stars performance in September:
  7 p.m. on Sep. 28 at Steele Indian School Park. Visit Balletaz.org for details

As Matt Moore says in the video’s opening seconds, “In April 2013, Clare Patey and I gathered a group of artists together to invite the City of Phoenix to dinner.”

The rest is history.

Feast On The Street 2013 a mini doc by Wayne Rainey, a Rainey Studios Production VF H264 – Broadband from Wayne Rainey on Vimeo.

Feast on the Street was supported in part by ArtPlace, the National Endowment for the Arts, Roosevelt Row CDC and The Steele Foundation.

Photo by Jon Willey courtesy of Arizona Diamondbacks

The Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) are offering free tickets to kids 12 and under with the purchase of a full-price adult ticket. The offer is valid for games May 25-26 for any section in the ballpark, excluding the All-You-Can-Eat section.

Every D-backs game offers tons of fun for kids, including the Sandlot, an area dedicated just for kids. The Sandlot is open for every D-backs home game and includes age-specific playground areas, Futures Field and a batting cage. D-backs Baseball Academy coaches offer free clinics at Futures Field in the Sandlot one hour before first pitch and at the end of the fourth inning. In addition, kids can sign up to be a part of the free Kids Club program in the Sandlot to earn prizes for every game they attend.

On Sundays, kids take over the game with several promotions including delivering the lineup card, taking the field with D- backs players, serving as the Chevy “Play Ball” kid and can run the bases after the game. Kids are also encouraged to arrive early on the last Sunday home game each month to catch the Sunday Sluggers Show, presented by Delta Dental, at Baxter’s Den in the Sandlot starting at 11:45 a.m. and features an appearance by a D-backs player.

The D-backs also offer Value Item pricing on six food items ranging from $1.50-$4 at various concession locations making every game affordable for families, including seven merchandise items available in the Team Shop priced below $10.

The D- backs continue to provide the most affordable fun for families and for the seventh consecutive year, the team has the lowest Fan Cost Index for a family of four, named by Team Marketing Report in April. In addition, the team’s official game program, D- backs Insider, is also distributed free to all fans in the ballpark during each homestand and offers a section just for kids.

Adult tickets for the weekend games start at just $12 and are available at the Chase Field Box Office, by calling 602.514.8400 or online at dbacks.com/kids.

Featured photo by Jordan Megenhardt courtesy of Arizona Diamondbacks.