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Visual Arts: Theater: Dance: Food: Outdoors:
Small
but Excellent "La Petite XII" (through Jan. 25) and Christine Sundt's art jewelry transform the Alder Art Gallery in Coburg into a small contemporary version of Ali Baba's treasure cave. The annual "La Petite" is a juried fine-art exhibition of two- and three-dimensional artworks that do not exceed 10 inches in any direction, completed within the last three years by artists residing throughout North America.
Every genre and medium is represented in "La Petite" — paintings, prints, collage, photography, fiber arts, jewelry, ceramic, glass and metal. The three-dimensional works are particularly engaging. Part pods, part exotic shells, Michael Hampel's (Chelan, Wash.) spherical forms, hollowed from walnut root and holly, are lovely in their simplicity, as is Danielle Crissman's (Toledo, Ohio) copper flower, Ambit. John Barkhimer's (Bowling Green, Ohio) metal isopod (probably a pillbug) is irresistible in terms of whimsy, form and craftsmanship. Also noteworthy are one of local sculptor Jud Turner's imaginary steel fossil vertebrae and Danielle Ferreira's (Albuquerque, N.M.) metal objects that are playful takes on the life of seedpods. The art of the hand-made book is well represented by Carol Burch-Brown's (Blacksburg, Va.) DNA Notebook, while Patricia A. Onorato (Westwood, Ma.) provides foldable and portable watercolors with her Cape Cod: Four Views, which fit into a hand-made case. Paper is the medium in Dorothy McGuinness' (Seattle) woven Golden Pyramid, but JoAnn Kelly Catosos (Ashley Falls, Ma.) uses traditional bark for her basketry. I found the glassworks uninspired, with the exception of Helen Tegeler's (Carbondale, Il.) Pod, with its fragile transparent sheath tearing open over a red seed. Fiber art oscillates between cute and kitsch. But there are some fine examples of ceramic objects, such as Alice Abrams' (Lexington, Ma.) stylized Buffalo; C. Carlson's cool, delicate, porcelain eyeglasses; Jennifer Hill's (Portland) fun Dotted Mini-Teapot; Caroline Holder's (Brooklyn, N.Y.) ingenious miniature world in Kitchen Window and Recess Vase; Dwain Naragon's (Westfield, Il.) classic, impeccably executed porcelain vessels; and Joan Rosenberg-Dent's (Santa Barbara) porcelain Handkerchief Pot. In jewelry, you will find unusual and lovely combinations of elements. Jaci Crissman (Toledo, Ohio) weaves silver and gold, integrating them to fiber-optic fibers or feathers in her elegant creations. Beth Green (Kent, Ohio) uses silver, copper and a reflector for her wonderful, monumental ring Incidence/Reflection, and a magnet, a computer key and a pun for her brooch, Digital Attraction. Youngsoon Chon's (Northport, Ala.) fun pieces incorporate sterling silver, laminated wood, rubber and stainless steel. And for a different twist on wearable art, Ananda Khalsa (Boulder, Colo.)'s pendants are delicate miniature acrylic paintings framed in silver. Local art-jeweler Christine Sundt just added 35 new pieces to her permanent display at the gallery. Each of her architectural, highly polished works is unique and possesses a name. Sundt favors sober, clean lines, but the result is luxurious. Necklaces such as Berry Nice, Green Glow and Siboney are strikingly elegant in their simplicity. Sundt has a predilection for pendants, which range from the fiery red-and-amber of Translation, whose structure recalls Chinese monumental architecture, to the exquisite black-and-silver minimalism of Negative. A combination of both is found in Mappa Mundi. Sundt's other work includes Ingrained, from a single metal, form and pattern, to a variety of components, shapes and textures in Tango. Sundt creates both the simple opalescence of Stacked Deck and the magnificence of Sunburst, the stylized Empress G jade figure as well as the abstraction of Ancient Landscape. When it comes to two-dimensional art in La Petite, the collection of mixed-media and collage works is rather bland, though Sidnea D'Amico's (San Francisco) Whimsey pieces are fun and less predictable. Weakest is photography. Traditional landscapes dominate painting such as, most engagingly, local artist Marsha Wells' watercolors of the Willamette Valley, so reminiscent of Maurice Prendergast. Barbara Andolsek's (Ridgecrest, Calif.) coastal views in oil and Ralph Fontenot's (Manhattan, Ks.) gouache, all sky over a narrow golden wheatfield, also catch the viewer. Sandee Burman (Milwaukee, Ore.) paints fine old-fashioned oil landscapes and in the same vein, Jeffery Craven Rigby's (Ida.) gouache, A Day To Remember, stands out for superb craftsmanship. Jurors this year were Hester Coucke, curator of the Corvallis Art Center; Jerry Williams, UO professor emeritus and publisher of the QuARTerly; and Dena Brown, curator of the Gallery at the Airport. You will find much to enjoy in this exhibit.
No
Mistakes Here No script. No set. Just lights, fellow actors and an audience. Sounds like a nightmare, doesn't it? But for the New York City-based improvisational comedy team Chicago City Limits (CCL), it's the perfect setting for fun and hilarity.
For more than two decades, the traveling troupe has been doing their thing, getting rave reviews and making people laugh across the country. Founded in Chicago by George Todisco and by actors participating in a workshop at The Second City, the troupe moved to New York City in 1979. The following year the ensemble opened their own theater and have been performing ever since, racking up more than 7,500 performances. The show relies heavily on audience participation with the actors getting suggestions, stories and ideas from the audience, then using those as jumping off points for the entire show. For the holidays they've titled their performance "Revenge of the Reindeer." They occasionally use sketches, bare-bones outlines for the comedy, focusing on politics and, of course, the holidays. "Our political humor is smart and funny," said Bernie Kravitz, one of the members of the troupe. With three years under his belt, he's one of the senior members of the current group. "The show starts with the blues. We get a word suggestion from the audience and then we all improvise a verse." Another thing CCL does is an improv musical, something you're unlikely to see anywhere else. The whole thing is created on the fly using a suggestion from the audience. Hoooo-eeee!!! That should be interesting. "The misconception is that we've thought up all this stuff in advance but really, we're just doing it one step at a time," Kravitz said. Since nothing's set in stone, even a horrific mistake can look like it was intentional, part of the plot. "If someone screws up, there are four other people there making it look like an amazing thing just happened," Kravitz said. "Mistakes make something unexpected happen and in comedy, that's a good thing. There's a saying in what we do, 'There are no mistakes, just gifts.'"
An
Easy Nut to Crack For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story of The Nutcracker, (prolonged, sequestered jury duty; desert island; witness protection program), please allow me: It was first performed in chilly St. Petersburg by the Imperial Russian Ballet in 1892. The ballet follows adolescent Clara through one memorable Christmas Eve when her beloved godfather brings her a wooden Nutcracker as a present. As Clara sleeps, the Nutcracker springs to life, kills a giant mouse and takes her on a midnight journey to a marzipan castle. Now that's what I call a first date!
And say what you will about czarist excess. They may have ignored the starving masses, but darn if they didn't make some dance with staying power. For more than 100 years, audiences have been reveling in the nuttiness of this holiday favorite. But The Nutcracker almost wasn't. The librettist Petipa hated the original Hoffmann story, grumbling that it lacked a leading ballerina's role. Enter the Sugar Plum Fairy. Add an indelible Tchaikovsky score. Shake up the theatrical snow-globe with a century of kitchen-sink production assists, which have included live bears, tap dance numbers, sleighs, sleds, rolling beds, inverted filigree baskets suspended by balloons, and you have a daffy classic on your hands. Over the years, the dance has been through a multitude of incarnations in London (1934), San Francisco (1944) and New York City, (1954). The latter's choreography by Balanchine is the gold standard, the one we all know, the most copied. Some choreographers, Nuriyev and Barishnakov among them, have tried to rev the plot up by delving into the dank psychology of it all: Drosselmeyer as a father figure? Hmm, that's not much of a stretch. Or The Nutcracker himself as a Bubblegum Boyfriend? Let's see. He's pleasingly asexual; he can't talk; and he won't have a chance to break Clara's heart before he's turned back into a frozen lump by morning. (Why did so many young girls go to see Titanic?) Has anyone ever just said "enough already" to this treacle? Sure, in 1996 Mark Morris turned the whole canon on its ear, setting his hip The Hard Nut in the seamy shag-carpeted splendor of late-1960s suburbia. But despite various guises, The Nutcracker is like a holiday dinner: Audiences have expectations. So if we're creating a traditional version today, where is the room for invention? Artistic Director of the Eugene Ballet Company Toni Pimble defers to the individuality of the performers to keep things fresh. In changing up bits of stage business and keeping things lively, Pimble says her performers add characterization. "The good dancers are theater people, too." They better be strong performers, because once the holiday season is off and running, EBC has five weeks to cover seven states, 20 venues, and stage 34 performances. And if that's not enough of a reason to stuff a dancer's (or tech crew's) Christmas stocking with extra-strength ibuprofen, then ruminate on the quintessential terror of live theater — many, many kids. In each venue, EBC dancers take on wrangling a bumper crop of local children through their jubilant performances after only one rehearsal. Can you imagine trying to do your job while herding a passel of exuberant moppets? This breakneck touring and outreach is borne of survival. By developing liaisons among smaller regional theaters, EBC has persisted, while larger companies have folded. Companies like EBC depend on the annual audiences for traditional fare, in order to provide dependable weeks of work for its dancers, and to support and promote more diverse projects throughout the season. And EBC is managing to stay out of the red by creating educational programming in every place they tour. In towns such as Gillette, Weed and Billings, EBC dancers are in the schools, in glamorous cafeterias and gymnasiums, working with students and providing hands-on contact with the artistry and athleticism of dance. Grouse as you might, The Nutcracker is a delightful tradition, and while you're busily baking gingerbread cookies or making construction paper reindeer, or whipping yourself into a froth of holiday over-spending, why not make seeing some dance a part of the festivities? Here in Eugene, the last performance, Sunday Dec. 19th, will be at a reduced ticket price, underwritten by decidedly un-imperialist local home improvement center, Jerry's, who are graciously pro-grout and apparently also pro-dance. More places should be. And if, even after this elucidating history lesson, you still feel grumpy about begrudging the time for The Nutcracker, at least you can do what many depend on to relieve discomfort: Think dark thoughts to amuse yourself. Where are those live bears when you need them?
Restaurant
Row By the end of the holiday season, we'll have more opportunities to raise our glasses and our forks as downtown Pearl Street welcomes three new restaurants: Mezza Luna Pizzeria, Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine and DISH Comfort Cuisine at the Downtown Lounge. With Café Xenon, Ambrosia, and Adam's Place as strong anchors, the addition of these three new restaurants helps elevate the two-block radius around Pearl and Broadway to the status of a new "restaurant row." Sandy Little from Mezza Luna calls it "Eugene's own Pearl District," comparing it to Portland's burgeoning art and restaurant center with the same title. Little and business partner John Fitzgerald dreamt up Mezza Luna after meeting at a pizza parlor in Portland. Fitzgerald, one of the founders of Portland's Bella Faccia Pizzeria, describes Mezza Luna's fare as New York/New Jersey style pizza with a gourmet flair. The forthcoming pizza eatery, located at the base of the Eugene Hotel building, boasts as many vegetarian and vegan toppings as meat selections. With a beer and wine bar, pizza aficionados can expect to enjoy a pizza slice with toppings such as cashew spread, roasted red and yellow pepper and marinated tempeh, along with a pint of Pabst, for around $5. Fitzgerald and Little plan to stay open until midnight on weekends, hoping to catch the late-night crowd coming home from art and music events. Mezza Luna, along with Sweet Basil next door, both occupy spaces originally designed for retail on the 900 Pearl Street block. Once cramped, dingy consignment shops, both restaurants now feature exposed, 13-foot ceilings, skylights, counter seating areas and a vast kitchen. Max Stabin, one of the partners behind Sweet Basil and co-owner of the Campus Inn, estimates that his new Eugene restaurant will seat more than 80 people. The restaurant's aesthetic revolves around a giant mural of Bangkok's floating market on its north wall. Paths of turquoise blue colored floor paneling dip and dash around the dining area, adding to the floating market illusion. "It's like you're coasting through water," Stabin said. Already an established name with two restaurants in
Portland, Sweet Basil is famous for its classy yet traditional presentation
of Thai cuisine. Another partner, Kuraya Chulacharit, founder of Kuraya's
Thai restaurant in Springfield, created most of Sweet Basil's dishes.
She says the restaurant's focus is on the more elegant side of Thai
food. Her menu includes deep-fried trout with cashew nuts, and apple,
papaya and mango chutney, as well as traditional selections such as
Sweet Basil's signature curry, a red curry peanut sauce with bell pepper,
carrots and A diverse wine list, created by Broadway Market co-owner Angus James, adds to Sweet Basil's highly anticipated Eugene opening. James used his wine expertise to perfectly pair wines with certain dishes, "something many Thai restaurants fail to do," Stabin said. Sweet Basil will also feature a full service bar and
will be open until 2 am on Just an alleyway away, Mark Stern extends the home-cooked fare of his well-known Carte Blanche soup cart to DISH Comfort Cuisine, a full-scale restaurant inside the Downtown Lounge. Stern hopes that offering hearty foods that feed the soul as well as the body will evoke memories of family and friends. Stern's grandmother is the influence behind his recipe for matzo ball soup. Other DISH offerings will include a slow-cooked pot roast and grilled pork chops. Stern also plans to feature an extensive a la carte menu with an array of veggies and side dishes. "Our focus is on service, quality, nice preparation and balanced eating," he said. To better accommodate the restaurant, the dining area of the Downtown Lounge will undergo a facelift, with new tables, chairs and partitions, giving it a softer, more intimate feel. Once the restaurant makes its grand opening in January, it will offer lunch, dinner, happy hour and late night menus. Mezza Luna (933 Pearl) Sweet Basil
Wild
in the Winter
We humans may feel a little chilly from time to time during the western Oregon winter, but the Willamette Valley is the bird equivalent of the Bahamas for hundreds of species that migrate here from their summer homes in the far north. One species that is quite rare and very unusual in its extremely limited range is the Canadian dusky goose. The dusky goose winters almost exclusively in the Willamette Valley and nests in the summer only in Alaska's Copper River Delta. Dusky goose populations plummeted after a double whammy of habitat contraction. First, the once extensive Willamette Valley wetlands were paved over or converted to agriculture. Then, the devastating 1964 Alaska earthquake uplifted large sections of the Copper River Delta, turning marshy foraging grounds into dry land. One of the last productive habitats for the geese is found just about 30 minutes north of Eugene at the W. Finley Wildlife Refuge. To get there, drive Hwy. 99 north from Eugene. Five miles north of Monroe take a left on McFarland Road at the RFP Family Store and drive a half-mile to a large parking area at McFadden Marsh. This large created wetland is lousy with noisy flocks of geese. If you can't tell from their brown chests, the duskys can be picked out by the orange collar that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives them when they're young. From the road or from a wildlife blind a short walk from the parking area, you'll also be able to pick out pintail ducks, wood ducks, mallards, mergansers, cormorants, egrets and magnificent snow-white swans. There's another excellent wildlife viewing area another half mile down McFarland Road. On your way back to Eugene, consider stopping at the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area at the very end of Royal Avenue (take Airport Road from Hwy. 99, hang a left on Greenhill and then a right on Royal). This wind-swept marsh always has lots of red tail hawks and osprey. From here or from the boat launch areas on the north side of Fern Ridge Reservoir (accessed off Clear Lake Road just past the airport) you can often see large numbers of bald eagles during December and January. A little closer to home, you can see large numbers of cormorants roosting in cottonwoods during the late afternoon and evening at Delta Ponds, on the east side of the Willamette River about a quarter of a mile downstream from the Valley River shopping mall. There are good views from the northwest corner of the VRC parking lot. Another good evening roosting spot for cormorants is along the riverbank in Island Park in Springfield. Lane County is not just for the birds. On the coast, gray whales can be seen fairly close to shore on their way to calving grounds in Baja from their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic Ocean. You can spot the gray's distinctive tall geyser of water from high viewpoints around Cape Perpetua north of Florence. Some 70 percent of the world's population of gray whales will pass by Oregon from Dec. 25 to Jan. 10. On the way to Cape Perpetua you can usually spot sea lions and seals on rocky outcroppings around Strawberry Hill (the Sea Lion Caves, incidentally, are well worth the price of admission). If it's land mammals you want to see, and you're not afraid to do a fair bit of driving, there are two elk viewing areas that you can almost always see elk from during the month of December. The first is the Long Ranch viewing platform on Highway 20 east of Sweet Home (about six miles east of the small village of Cascadia). Almost 40 elk wintering here. The early morning or late afternoon are the best times to see them. An even better bet is the Dean Creek viewing area three miles east of Reedsport on Highway 38. There are several pullouts from which a herd of almost 100 animals can be seen. It may seem cold and wet as you tramp around looking for birds, whales and other animals, but for many of these critters who are used to the Arctic, Lane County's a regular tropical paradise.
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