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Wednesday-Sunday • 17-21
Inner Engineering
ISSUES & LEARNING
For his recent appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev bent the ears of countless governmental and corporate leaders. The yogi comes to the Detroit area this week to teach a five-day course in Yoga Kriyas, which Vasudev calls "inner engineering." This practice is said to help uplift spirits, and strengthen the body and mind. At the St. Clement Banquet Center, 19600 Ford Rd., Dearborn. To register, call 866-424-4742. $275 per person.
Thursday • 18
The Healing Power of the Arts
ART/ISSUES & LEARNING
It's predictable when the arts community champions the virtues of art therapy, but when a professional boxer is the one singing its praises, people take notice. After boxer Katie Dallam was permanently disabled (and almost killed) in a boxing match in 1996, both she and her family feared a grim future. The once-independent Dallam's struggle with pain and suicidal tendencies left her a shell of her former self — and it was not until she began to use painting as a means of therapy that she made strides in the healing process. Today, Dallam shares her firsthand account of healing through art. 7 p.m., artist reception at the Art Experience (inside of Summit Place Mall), 315 N. Telegraph Rd., Waterford; 248-456-8158 ext. 202. $25 donation required.
Friday • 19
Joe Lovano, Susie Ibarra, Jessica Williams, Jackie Allen
MUSIC
Call it a harmonic convergence of jazz and improv with four outstanding national acts playing more or less simultaneously. Grammy-winning tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano performs at the Max with his quartet, and then plays arrangements of Thad Jones tunes and his own with the Wayne State University Big Band under the helm of Chris Collins. (Max M. Fisher Music Center, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-576-5111; tickets remain for 10 p.m. show only at press time.) A few blocks away, the iconoclastic percussionist Susie Ibarra looks east in collaboration with Min Xiao-Fen (pipa and voice) and Okkyung Lee (cello). (Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave.; 313-833-7900; 6:30 and 8 p.m.) In Ann Arbor, pianist Jessica Williams, whose recent live Max Jazz discs have been spellbinding, performs at Kerrytown Concert House (415 N. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor; 734-769-2999; tickets remain for the 10 p.m. show only at press time), while not far away Chicago singer Jackie Allen performs at the Firefly in support of her first Blue Note disc. (207 S. Ashley St., Ann Arbor; 734-665-9090, 9 p.m.-1 a.m.) Theme song for the night: "Who Could Ask for Anything More?"
Friday • 19
Still
ART
It may seem more like a scene out of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein than a fine art offering. Nova Scotia's Robyn Moody uses towering water-filled columns, tea kettles, catch-basins, PVC tubing, live fish and audio to create a water regeneration ecosystem. His latest installation, Still, at Artcite in Windsor, is a statement about technology and its inherent toll on the environment. Moody says, "With a rising awareness of the delicate balance of the environment — but with a reluctance on the part of some governments and industry to respect this balance — Still becomes like a giant iron lung; a survival tool for the six goldfish dependent on the clean water that this mechanized construction produces." Opening reception 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 19, at 109 University Ave. W., Windsor; 519-977-6564. Ends June 17.
Saturday • 20
Fear and Faith Parade
COMMUNITY/THEATER
Join hundreds of local community activist-types for the Fear and Faith Parade. In celebration of the Matrix Theatre Company's 15th birthday, the marchers — including several folks with giant handmade puppets and masks — will meet outside of the Holy Redeemer Church in southwest Detroit. The parade will end at Clark Park, where the theater company will give a performance of the Fear and Faith, a play about Detroit's revitalization. Meet before or at 10 a.m. at the Holy Redeemer, 5671 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit. Call 313-967-0999 or visit matrixtheatre.org for more info.
Saturday • 20
David Barr
ART
Local sculptor David Barr is perhaps best known for his public sculpture Transcending, two steel half arcs with bronze reliefs honoring Detroit's labor movement. Created in collaboration with fellow sculptor Sergio DeGiusti, the nearly 60-foot-tall work has high visibility at Detroit's Hart Plaza. But this spring, he offers us the opportunity for a more private encounter with his art. Barr is holding an open house, welcoming metro Detroiters to roam through his home and extensive sculpture garden and check out his new works. The artist, who was born and raised in the city, creates colorful, geometric, site-specific sculptures, referencing the constructivist era, that really pop in his lush, green gardens. 1-5 p.m., Saturday, May 20, at 22600 Napier Rd., Novi; 248-348-0668.
Sunday • 21
Bebop Jazz Concert
MUSIC
Pianist Claude Black came of age in the Motor City alongside such other committed boppers as Barry Harris and Sir Roland Hanna. He's been ensconced in Toledo so long that the jazz scenesters there lay claim to him, but Detroiters can argue otherwise when Black comes back home from time to time. He'll be in good company on this trip, performing with Steve Wood (saxophone), James Wendell Robinson (drums), Peter Domingus (bass) and Derrick Gardner (trumpet). First Unitarian-Universalist Church, 4605 Cass Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9107; $25, $5 for children under 12; includes afterglow.
Tuesday • 23
Dungeons & Dragons Comedy Improv
COMEDY
While they warn that a modicum of tolerance is necessary, the folks over at the Dreamland Theater say that no prior knowledge of the game Dungeons & Dragons is required to enjoy their newest theme night — Dungeons & Dragons Improv Comedy Night. The host (er, Dungeon Master) will walk audience members through the nuances of the game, while the actors keep the ball rolling. Through scene work and short-form improv, the players will act out a randomly generated storyline in real time. Audience members roll the dice, determining whether a character lives or dies. 8 p.m. every Tuesday in May at the Dreamland Theater, 44 E. Cross St., Ypsilanti; 734-657-2337.
Tuesday-Wednesday • 23-24
Luna Moon Cabaret
MUSIC/DANCE
It's pretty much jazz and dance 101, but that's no reason not enjoy some classics. Local song-and-dance troupe Luna Moon Cabaret does Fosse, Ella and Peggy Lee in an old-school offering that'll make you wonder which retro-fad is your fave: the debauched Weimar Period, the heady Harlem Renaissance or the days of dames and five-martini lunches? Keep it sexy at the Firefly, 207 S. Ashley, Ann Arbor; 734-665-9090.
Eve Doster is the listings editor of Metro Times. Send comments to [email protected]
