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Hope Boykin returns to Philly, ‘Running Numbers,’ ‘74 Seconds,’ and RBG’s 88th birthday this weekend
Kyle V. Hiller
Spring is coming, and on this time-shifting weekend, there is an abundance of events to get you grooving for the promise of a new season. BalletX premieres new short films, Da Vinci Art Alliance opens two new virtual exhibits, and PDP and the Annenberg Center host intriguing dance performances. Also, Theatre in the X and the Arden run back two hit shows adapted digitally, just in case you missed them once upon a time.
New short films are premiering this week as part of BalletX Beyond. Starting March 10 at 7pm, new shorts by Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Stephanie Martinez, and Maddie Hanson arrive for streaming, with Q&As with the choreographers. The films will be available through August 31, 2021.
Subjective Perspective and Artful Saucer
Da Vinci Art Alliance opens two new exhibitions virtually this week. Starting March 11, Subjective Perspective and Artful Saucer will be available for prerecorded tours. Subjective Perspective is a collection of artwork that juxtaposes the unique perspectives held by more than 60 of DVAA’s artist members. The Artful Saucer show explores the phenomenon of UFOs as they’ve engaged the American public over the last 75 years, investigating extraterrestrial sightings using digital printmaking techniques to manipulate color, texture, size, placement, and transparency.
The Annenberg Center is presenting HopeBoykinDance for a world premiere performance on Thursday, March 11, at 7pm. Hope Boykin, an educator, creator, mover, and motivator has a storied history in the dance community, and danced with PHILADANCO as an original member of Complexions. The performance is a commissioned work that “seeks to change the words and ideas we use to describe ourselves.”
Theatre in the X will present a screening of their 2017 Malcolm X Park production Running Numbers by Cheyenne Barboza, directed by Starfire on Thursday, March 11, at 7pm. Inspired by the poem “Financial Aid” by Carvens Lissaint, Running Numbers is a drama about an inner-city high school senior whose dreams and desperation of going to college and overcoming his environment lead him to fast cash and dangerous situations. The performance is pay-what-you-can and registration is required.
Philadelphia Entertainment Workers will host a free, livestreaming event this weekend to benefit the Actors Fund. Jazz and theater performances are on deck for the event on Saturday, March 13, at 7pm on YouTube.
Informances with Philadelphia Dance Projects
Informances are expanded conversations between artists and audiences about the content of their work, ideas, and inspiration. The first 2021 Informance comes on Sunday, March 14, at 4pm with Irish choreographer John Scott, who presented his work in PDP’s Dance Up Close. The event is free or pay-what-you-wish and is streaming on Zoom. PDP will also screen Scott’s Dances for Inside and Outside, a work that looks at eight “vastly different and individual dancers” in a large space searching for safe space and trying to be together. RSVP for the show online via email at [email protected].
The Arden reinvented its 2019 hit as an audio drama, and the show debuts on Monday, March 15, running through March 28. The story observes a jury of six who have been deadlocked for over a week struggling to decide what is a “justifiable homicide.” Tickets are $30 per household.
Celebrating RBG’s 88th birthday with Opera Philadelphia
In collaboration with the National Museum of American Jewish History and the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Opera Philadelphia will present its new original performance, For the Love of Opera: Celebrating RBG’s 88th Birthday on Monday, March 15, at 8pm on Facebook Live. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an opera fan and advocate, and the performance lines up a selection of RBG’s favorite arias. The show will be available on-demand after the livestream.
Image Description: About seven dancers, dressed in muted brown, red, and blue long-sleeved shirts and pants, dance while wearing white masks that cover much of their faces. Their hands are waving in the air, performing on a dance stage that is dimly lit, casting some shadows against the black wall.
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