Indianapolis is My Home

28
Jan

The Souls of Our Feet at Pike Performance Arts Center

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Art, Concerts, Cultural Events, High Schools, Northwest Side, Pike PAC, Theater, Things To Do in Indy

On Saturday, January 19th it was a frigid day to be outside, but it was also a good night to be at the Pike Performing Arts Center with my daughter. You see, we went on a Daddy Daughter Date to go see "The Souls of Our Feet: A Celebration of American Tap Dance".

My daughter has taken some dance classes, including tap, to introduce her to the art and she got exposed to the true art of dance that night.

"The Souls of Our Feet" is part of a National Endowment for the Arts "American Masterpiece: Dance" production for the 2007-2008 season. The dance group is Tapestry Dance Company (Jaqueline Coleman, Katelyn Harris, Jason Janas, Brenna Kuhn, Tasha Lawson, Tony Merriwether and Matt Shields), Executive-Artistic Director is Acia Gray and special guest was Dianne Walker who was a cast member of the great tap movie entitled "TAP" with Gregory Hines.

The production was great. They would start off with a video projection of a specific scene from history that highlighted the roots of tap dance in performance. Then the jazz trio would start playing the music and the video scene would fade as the live dancers stepped into the light and began doing the routine that was introduced in the video segment. The transition and fading from recorded audio and projected video to live sound and dancers was a tremendous expression.

I found a YouTube video of clips of various segments from the performance as it was done in an opening performance back in November. The clips are almost identical to what we got to see live at Pike PAC.

What a great show.

See the video after the jump

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05
Oct

Cirque Dreams Comes to Butler’s Clowes Hall

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Clowes Hall, Concerts, Cultural Events, Downtown, Theater, Things To Do in Indy

During college I first became familiar with Cirque Du Soleil I was instantly intrigued by their productions and imagination. I had spent lots of time in theater focusing on lighting and stagecraft. At one point I stumbled across an open call for lighting help for one of Cirque’s world touring company productions. Regretfully, I finally got a letter letting me know they had filled the position months earlier and apologized for the ad still running in the paper I saw.

With all that admiration, I’ve yet to make it to one of their shows, but now I have a chance to see them as they’ll arrive in Indianapolis later this month.

In the ongoing tradition of spectacular touring productions, Neil Goldberg and Cirque Productions have once again reinvented the circus with European flair, imaginative theatrics and world-class acrobatics. CIRQUE DREAMS Jungle Fantasy is an all-new adventure that takes audiences soaring into a magical forest through the air and on stage. An international cast of graceful aerialists, spine bending contortionists, vine swinging characters, strong men and balancers bring this jungle dream to life in a lush, Broadway setting filled with wildly unpredictable designs, special effects, inventive choreography, puppeteering and dazzling costumes. CIRQUE DREAMS Jungle Fantasy is an exhilarating journey the entire family can experience together.

Have you seen Cirque Du Soleil perform? What did you think?

14
Aug

All-Indy Pass

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Art, Business, Childrens Museum, Colleges, Concerts, Dining, General, Indiana Fever, Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Indians, Indianapolis Zoo, Special Events, State Fair, Theater, Things To Do in Indy

My wife and I have been wondering lately why Indianapolis doesn’t have a citywide pass that would get you into a variety of attractions for a single, annual fee.

We’re members of the Indianapolis Zoo, The Indianapolis Children’s Museum already and would be interested in buying a membership to NCAA Hall of Champions, Indiana State Museum, Connor Prairie, Eagle Creek Park, etc.

There are loads of different events that happen across the city on a regular basis, it seems like an Indy City Pass would be a great idea for somebody to implement. You could even incorporate restaurant discounts, free parking and similar items.

Even thinking about it a little bit more, it would be great to be able to choose one game to attend for each sports team: Pacers, Colts, Indians, Fever, Ice and maybe even local college sporting events.