The Ritz Theater in northeast Minneapolis has been home to the Ballet of the Dolls for seveal years now, but ocassionally bring in some of their like-minded friends--troupes with a playful, similarly bohemian spirit. And this is one of those times: The Eclectic Edge Ensemble is performing this weekend only, July 17 to July 19, featuring a variety of jazz-dance incarnations, from rhythmic musings as Art Pepper plays to high camp.
Meanwhile, cinema buffs are anticipating the opening of the new Trylon microcinema in South Minneapolis. A venture of Take-Up Productions, the impresarios behind recent Hitchcock and film noir revivals (and whom I can never speak of enough, it seems, in this space), the Trylon will open with three weekends of Buster Keaton films, accompanied by the ever-popular combination of accordion and musical saw (what, you haven't heard this on KDWB?). With just 60 seats and a 20-foot screen, you could view it as somewhat claustrophobic or the screening-room of a movie star.
By the way, you may have head that the NEA helped out with enough stimulus cash to fund trumpeter-composer-bandleader Irvin Mayfield's position as jazz director at the Minnesota Orchestra. And now's the time to see what's in store--the performance of a new composition blending jazz and classical music that's the culmination of his first year on the job. That'll happen Thursday, July 23, when his quintet will also make its way through works by Gershwin, Ellington, and other composers who preceded Mayfield in mixing the genres. More to come closer to the show, but get your tickets now.
Posted on Thursday, July 16, 2009 in Permalink
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