Shana Nys Dambrot
Modern surrealist dance at an outdoor stage, weirdos welcome outside MOCA Geffen, opera at the Ford, classical takes on Dylan at the Huntington and Skirball, new art at Thinkspace, and a pop-up benefit tribute to a skateboard shredder.
Heidi Duckler Dance: The Chandelier, at the Wallis
Thursday, August 12
Heidi Duckler Dance: The Chandelier at the Wallis (Outdoor Stage). Live dance returns to The Wallis with the world premiere of Heidi Duckler Dance’s The Chandelier, a site-specific work on our pop-up outdoor stage. Taking the audience on an epic journey, The Chandelier is based on the radiant novel by Brazilian author Clarice Lispector. Duckler animates the book’s interior monologues and devises characters from odd fragments of dialogue to create a moving portrait of a family living amid the ruins of a colonial society. Through layers of imagery, acts of repetition and audience engagement, Duckler explores the contrasting ideas of impermanence and the irrevocable. 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; Thursday-Sunday, August 12-15, 8pm; $50; heididuckler.org.
Mexica warrior, Book 12 of the Florentine Codex on the conquest of Mexico (detail)
Friday, August 13
Reading: Nahua Voices on the Conquest of Mexico at The Getty (Virtual). August 13, 1521, marks the fall of the Aztec Empire (also known as the Triple Alliance), when the Mexicas surrendered to the Spanish conquistadors and their Indigenous allies, who took over the Mexica capital, Tenochtitlan, and its sister city, Tlatelolco (both today Mexico City). The historical narrative of this event, told from the perspective of the Nahuatl-speaking Mexicas, is captured in Book 12 of the Florentine Codex, an illuminated manuscript created in the late 16th century and based on eyewitness accounts of survivors of the invasion and war — a version of history markedly contrasting with that told by the Cortés and Spaniards. In commemoration of these events 500 years ago, a live public reading of Book 12 of the Florentine Codex in Nahuatl, Spanish, and English highlights the Mexica perspective on the conquest of Mexico and provides a powerful opportunity for active audience participation. Friday, August 13, 9am-5pm; free w/ registration; getty.edu.
Dynasty Handbag: Weirdo Night, at MOCA Geffen
Saturday, August 14
Dynasty Handbag’s Weirdo Night at MOCA Geffen (Outdoor). Dynasty Handbag, the performative alter ego of artist Jibz Cameron, returns to the stage after more than a year to host her acclaimed extravaganza, Weirdo Night — an evening of raucous performance and comedy featuring Amelia Bande, Marawa Ibrahim, Phranc, and Francesca D’Uva. Delicious plant-based takes on classic comfort foods will be available for purchase courtesy of Compton Vegan. 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo; Saturday, August 14, 6:30pm; free w/ rsvp; moca.org.
Long Beach Opera at the Ford: Pierrot Lunaire / Voices from the Killing Jar
Long Beach Opera: Pierrot Lunaire/Voices from the Killing Jar at the Ford (Outdoor). Why are women in opera so often depicted as prostitutes, sacrificial victims, or both? This double bill featuring solo operas written a century apart allows women to take control of their own narratives. In 1912, Arnold Schoenberg changed music forever with his atonal setting of 21 Symbolist poems for five instrumentalists and a female vocalist who is asked to perform something between speech and singing. A hundred years later, Kate Soper uses similar forces to bring to life eight famous women from world literature—from Don Giovanni to The Great Gatsby, from Shakespeare to Haruki Murakami—to unravel men’s depictions of women. Each work is a tour de force for vocalists who think far outside operatic conventions. 2850 Cahuenga Blvd; Hollywood; Saturday-Sunday, August 14-15, 8pm; $49-90; theford.com.
Alex Face and Huntz Liu at Thinkspace
Alex Face, Huntz Liu, Dovie Golden at Thinkspace. Alex Face’s debut U.S. solo show, Scorch and Drop, drops in on the artist’s signature character, a quizzical smoking baby that functions as an extension of his identity as an artist with a social conscience. Huntz Liu’s solo show, Strata uses his signature techniques of cutting and layering paper to compose meticulously cut shapes on different planes, reveling in both the physicality of material and its absence. New works by Dovie Golden, a Chicago-based painter. 4217 W. Jefferson Blvd., West Adams; Opening Reception: Saturday, August 14, 6-9pm; on view through September 4; free; thinkspaceprojects.com.
Allen Losi, Photo by Neil Blender (Subliminal Projects)
Sunday, August 15
Legends of Skateboard Art Pop-Up at Subliminal Projects. A one-day pop-up exhibition benefiting Skateboard Hall of Fame inductee Allen Losi. Known as one of the few skateboarders who rode out the near-death of skateboarding in the early 1980s, Losi pushed the technical limits and helped reinvent skateboarding for a new generation. Since 2012, Losi has been battling CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome), a progressive disease of the Autonomic Nervous System that has him fighting to manage intense chronic pain. The exhibition will launch an auction of tribute pieces by 20 iconic artists of skateboard art and culture, inspired by Losi and executed on models of Losi’s early 80’s skateboard shape, each handcrafted by legendary board maker Paul Schmitt. All auction proceeds will go to helping Losi get the treatment he so desperately needs. For more information go to helplosi.com, and follow Losi on Instagram @slowsi. 1331 W. Sunset Blvd., Echo Park; Sunday, August 15, noon-6pm; free; subliminalprojects.com.
MUSE-IQUE
Wednesday, August 18
MUSE-IQUE presents L.A. Composed: Dylan Goes Hollywood, at the Huntington & Skirball. From big brass beds to knockin’ on heaven’s door, Bob Dylan’s music and lyrics evoke powerful images and stories in our minds like no other songwriter in history. It is no wonder Dylan’s music has been featured hundreds of times in movies and paired with some of the most powerful and striking moments on screen. It also makes wildly good sense he found himself drawn to the City of Angels time and time again! In this performance, MUSE/IQUE explores Bob Dylan on the west coast and his quintessentially cinematic songs through the Hollywood lens. Wednesday, August 18-19 at The Huntington; Sunday, August 22 at The Skirball; muse-ique.com.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.