FRIDAY, MARCH 27 THROUGH SUNDAY, MARCH 29 Chunky Move is one leading modern dance troupe to emerge from Down Under. The Aussie company is known for its genre-stretching works that involve everything from light shows to impressionistic poses. But lest you think this is an avant-garde exercise, rest assured that they have a great sense of humor. I Want to Dance Better at Parties was inspired by men’s stories of their adventures in dancing, and the show features documentary-esque projections of the subjects as dancers enact their stories in rhythmic form. The Boston premiere is at the Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Avenue, Boston, 617.478.3100). For tickets ($35), call World Music/ CRASHarts at 617.876.4275 or visit www.worldmusic.org.
SATURDAY, MARCH 21Some musicians make a media circus of their messy relationships. But those with fewer paparazzi on their trail harmonize in private life and in song. For evidence of the latter, we’ve long turned to the melodic couple Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips. They met while playing together in the New York art-rock band Luna. Before that, while he fronted the Boston-based band Galaxie 500, she provided the voice of the greatest animated girl rocker, Jem. They share a fondness for whimsical 1960s ballads and the era’s pop phenoms. Look for echoes of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood, not to mention Ann-Margret, when World Music/ CrashARTS brings them to the Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Avenue, Boston, 617.478.3100). They’ll perform their gauzy compositions from 13 Most Beautiful....Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests while the creative inspiration, originally filmed at the art icon’s Factory, is projected on stage. There are shows at 7 and 9:30 p.m. For tickets ($25), call 617.478.3103 or visit www.icaboston.org
Most city dwellers are well aware of the ICA’s upcoming Shepard Fairey exhibit (February 6th - August 16). Best known for his Andre the Giant and Obama artwork, the street artist recently popped by our offices for a chat and left us a little present on the side of our building on his way out. Thanks Shepard; looking forward to seeing more at your ICA exhibit. To see Fairey in action check out www.stuffboston.com/video.
If it looks like a Styrofoam cup and it squishes like a Styrofoam cup, it’s a Styrofoam cup, right? We thought so, too; then we saw the Tara Donovan exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Avenue, Boston, 617.478.3100) and we haven’t been able to look at everyday objects the same way since. With those Styrofoam cups, for instance, Donovan constructed a suspended, dramatic biomorphic, bubble-like sculpture. Buttons are the building blocks of a coral reef-like landscape that appears to have been inspired by a Bahamas snorkeling bender. There are also waist-high block-like sculptures, one of incalculable numbers of pins and another of toothpicks. So innovative and poetic is Donovan’s work that she scored the coveted MacArthur “genius” grant just before the show opened at the ICA in October. See the stuff you throw out transformed into dazzling compositions. It’s included with your admission ticket ($12; $10 for students and seniors) to the museum.
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