Your Weekend Outlook: Both lovely and lustful

[image]

Ragamala Dance presents "Ihrah: Sacred Waters" at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.

This is an exceptional weekend for dance. Whether you like modern, traditional, or a little bit of everything, this weekend's for you!

Ragamala Dance presents Ihrah: Sacred Water at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. Since time immemorial, river worship has been performed in India to respect the vitality of water as a life-sustaining force. Based on the poetic sanctity of these rituals, Ihrah: Sacred Waters is an evening length work set to a live south Indian orchestra and features a specially commissioned world premiere from composer Marc Anderson. Performances run May 20-23.

John Jasperse Company presents "Truth, Revised Histories, Wishful Thinking, and Flat Out Lies" at the Walker Art Center this Thursday and Friday. By juxtaposing varied styles of dance, performance, and music in a collage that bounces between the sincere and the ironic, John Jasperse asks us to examine what we believe, what we don't, and why.

The Ritz Theater presents the 3rd annual choreographers' evening, "Renovate." The event features new works by a wide variety of local talent. Performances run Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Stephen Epp and Dominique Serrand bring back their production "The House Can't Stand" to the Northrop Auditorium. One lone woman - a lifelong Republican, her husband dead, her children gone - receives a chance phone call that leads her on an attempt to prevent a terrible act of violence. Her pursuit takes her deep into the recesses of her mind and the landscape of the American past. Through May 29.

St. Paul's SteppingStone Theatre presents "The Magic Pot: Three Tales from China." May Ling, a young Chinese girl, finds herself in the middle of ancient fables about emperors, magicians and fabulous riches, that teach her about life, honesty, and true happiness, and pave the way for her own extraordinary adventure. Through May 23.

Form and Content and Traffic Zone Galleries in Minneapolis present "Love Never Dies," an international group exhibition which explores the themes of marriage, family, relationships, aging and generational change in the LGBTQ communities. The artwork includes collage, digital formats, film/video, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.

The Classical Actors' Ensemble presents "The Complete Sonnets Festival", staging all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets. The sonnets are divided into two performances - one on Friday night, and the other on Saturday night. If you want to down all of them in one fell swoop, on Sunday you can see both performances back to back. At Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis.

Here we go again. Puppetry of the Penis is back for another run in the Twin Cities, this time at Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis. Billed as a presentation of "the ancient Australian art of genital origami," it includes such installations as "The Pelican," "The Loch Ness Monster," and "The Hamburger." This Friday night at 7pm and 9:30pm.

Looking for something a little more family friendly? Swede Hollow Park hosts its first annual Plein Air Art Festival. Painters will paint, kids will be provided chalk to make their own art on the sidewalks, and former Hamm's Brewery employees will be on hand to share stories of the good old days. Saturday, May 22 beginning at 10am.

So that's what I've got - what are you doing this weekend?

• After five years, State of the Arts comes to a close
• Park Square’s second stage to open Friday
• Most critics find ‘Romeo and Juliet’ a dreamy delight