Saturday news and reviews
Art
Ta-coumba Aiken, "In the Spirit" and in the zone at Metro State's Gordon Parks Gallery
Aiken is asking for help in deciphering the mystery that he has created. The exhibit is meant to be an interactive exercise: notebooks are available throughout the room, and visitors are urged to write down what they see and how they feel about Aiken's work.
- David Jarnstrom, TC Daily Planet
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If you're tired of all the lovey dovey Valentine's Day themed hoopla that happens around this time of year, get yourself over to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where you can check out the small, but wonderfully morbid collection of Death characterizations in the "Bad to the Bone" exhibit, located on the third floor.
- Sheila Regan, City Pages
Dance
Dolls give familiar tales a playful twist
Little Red Riding Hood meets Goldilocks on the way to Grandma's house, and the rest is up to Ballet of the Dolls in a family-friendly, fairy-tale mash-up.
- Caroline Palmer, Star Tribune
Movies
"Justin Bieber: Never Say Never": A giant 3D encounter with the Jesus of Pop
Justin Bieber is more God-fearing than me, and why wouldn't he be? It would be impossible to be Justin Bieber and not believe that there was some higher power that brought you into being, because how could a mortal womb birth such preternatural perfection? His nickname should be the Jesus of Pop.
- Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet
"Gnomeo and Juliet" puts a twist on tradition
What made this particular adaptation so delightful for a couple of nerdy English Ph.D.s was its unapologetic meta-conversation with the play itself.
- Katie Sisneros, TC Daily Planet
Music
Rock violinist David Garrett is pleasant enough but needs to mix it up
Can classical and "classic rock" merge to create some ideal musical catharsis?
- Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press
Zhao Jiazhen in the midst of a mini-tour of the Twin Cities
Being one of the most famous performers of the ancient instrument the Guqin (or "Chinese Zither"), Jiazhen displayed much nuance and mastery, producing a variety of tones, harmonies and melodies on the seven-stringed instrument that finds its roots and traditional songs stretching back some 3,000 years.
- Danny Sigelman, City Pages
Waaves, Best Coast a split decision at Varsity
Between Williams' blasé attitude, his trio's bratty and seemingly boozy antics (see also: "We love you, Milwaukee!") and the fact that their main artistic statement seems to be playing Descendents-style skater-punk with ample reverb on top to disguise it as hip, psychedelic indie-rock, Waaves proved to be quite the underwhelming buzz band.
- Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune
The Radio Dept. at the 7th Street Entry: Sleepy-sexy Swedecore
Wikipedia probably has it right: dream pop is the most accurate way to describe their sound. Watching the sold-out show Wednesday night at the 7th Street Entry felt like just that, a dream. A lucid, fanciful dream played in slow motion and set at a latitude so far north that sometimes the sun doesn't come out for weeks.
- Sarah Heuer, TC Daily Planet
We talked about their never-ending touring, new music, the Beatles, and the epic battle between pirates and ninjas.
- Michelle Los, Examiner.com
DJ Heather: 5 questions with the Chicago house mainstayThe latter house producer/label owner spoke to the City Pages about her native Chicago, WMC and the big blizzard.
- Jen Boyles, City Pages
Stage
'Mean' seeks to enlighten, not scold
A new play about bullying asks its audience to check the mirror before saying it's someone else's problem.
- Graydon Royce, Star Tribune
Drama is adrift in reverent play
Playwright Brian Grandison has affection for his characters. His play, though, tends toward simple historic proclamation.
- Graydon Royce, Star Tribune
The 71-year-old still does between 30 to 50 dates on the road each year.
- Amy Carlson Gustafson, Pioneer Press