Arts roundup: UC Davis offers slate of fall events; Seiwert film series debuts
Although we can’t gather together to experience live theater or concerts, Sacramento arts groups are ensuring we can still participate in new events on streaming devices in our own homes — black tie optional.
Mondavi Center’s ‘HomeStage’
Mondavi Center has launched a series of online events they are calling “HomeStage.” Events in this series will be accessed through mondaviarts.org, and are included in the Mondavi Center membership and available at no cost to UC Davis students.
One series of events in HomeStage is “Complete Works,” showing Thursdays through Sundays ending November 15. Shows take place at noon unless noted otherwise. “Complete Works” features condensed versions of Shakespeare’s plays, using everyday objects such as salt and pepper shakers for characters and a table for a stage. Sunday includes an after-show discussion with the performers via Zoom — those interested should pre-register for the discussion.
On October 7, HomeStage will feature Amirah Sackett & MR MiC. “Separation” is about the love story between music and dance in hip-hop culture, showing the connection of popping by Sackett and beatboxing by MR MiC and how the elements grew apart. It is inspired by the Arabic story of “Layla and Majnun” and presented in partnership with the Lied Center of Kansas. Sackett is an internationally known hip-hop dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Ahmed Zaghbouni, also known as MR MiC, is an international beatbox musician, voice impressionist and film director from Tunisia.
October 14 will be Virtual Open Mic Night on HomeStage. The event will be hosted by MC Denisha “Coco Blossom” Bland. It will include music, poetry, dance, spoken word, comedy, and storytelling. Virtual Open Mic Night is presented in partnership with ASUCD Entertainment Council and Sacramento Area Youth Speaks.
For more information on all events and membership, including HomeStage, check the website at mondaviarts.org.
UC Davis arts
UC Davis has reimagined its fall arts lineup to be viewed online. This fall the school will host three MacArthur Genius Fellows and celebrate the 100th birthday of founding art faculty member Wayne Thiebaud. Details about art, music, design, theater and dance events can be viewed at arts.ucdavis.edu.
Genius Grant recipient artist LaToya Ruby Frazier launches a lecture series on October 8. Frazier’s focus in her photography is to show the impact of systemic problems on individuals, relationships and spaces. In 2016, she spent five months in Flint, Michigan, photographing the effects of contaminated water on the people there. More recently, she photographed the family of Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in Kentucky in March.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby, who is a MacArthur Genius Fellowship winner, will give a lecture on November 12. Crosby uses paint, fabric, and photography to build domestic scenes that connect to personal and world events and history. She is a native of Nigeria living in Los Angeles, and has had solo exhibitions and art displayed at many art museums.
The UC Davis English department’s creative writing series is expanding to include writing students, faculty, and interdisciplinary collaborations with visiting writers to explore the intersection of writing, music, and art. Registration is required. More information about the creative writing series is available at lettersandscience.ucdavis.edu/events-calendar.
On October 6, Zinzi Clemmons, a visiting faculty member at UC Davis, will present her debut novel “What We Lose,” told in blogposts, photos, hand-drawn charts and hip-hop lyrics.
Theatre Think Tank
The UC Davis Ground and Field Theatre Festival has gotten a new vision and name — Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank. On October 15 and 16, they will livestream Anthony D’Juan’s play “This is How it Happened.” D’Juan is a Sacramento native, and his one-act play is a story about race, police and friendship focusing on a white police officer who kills a Black man. It is directed by Lyndsay Burch, associate artistic director at Sacramento’s B Street Theatre.
The popular hour-long Shinkoskey Noon Concert Series can be livestreamed starting in October. There will be nine fall concerts featuring Keyed Kontraptions, Kerstin Allvin, Dagenais Smiley, Susan Lamb Cook, and Marilyn Swan. These concerts showcase UC Davis faculty lecturers whose performance opportunities have been limited by COVID-19.
Seiwert debuts dance films
Contemporary ballet company Amy Seiwert’s Imagery is celebrating 10 years of the Sketch series with a dance film project. Amy Seiwert served as artistic director of the Sacramento Ballet from 2018 to earlier this year. Sketch Films: Red Thread will premiere Thursday, October 1, and new films in the series will premiere in October and November. On Mondays, the films will be released for free (look for the hashtag #MovieMondays), after exclusive access is given to the people attending the online premiere over the weekend. Through the series, the company hopes to present accounts of how different communities are affected by the pandemic, and raise awareness and support for mental healthcare.
The first film screened will be “Crack the Dark,” by Amy Seiwert in collaboration with Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmakers Kristine Samuelson and John Haptas. It is inspired by Sacramento-based Chef Patrick Mulvaney. An interactive question and answer time will follow. Other films will feature Sketch alumni Amy Seiwert, Ben Needham-Wood, Stephanie Martinez, and Jennifer Archibald. Films will screen October 1, October 16, November 5 and November 20. More information on the series is available on the website www.asimagery.org/sketchfilms. Cost is pay what you can.
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 10:42 AM.