Tucson Weekly: Cheap Thrills (June 11

Cheap Thrills DANCING HEARTS: With a cast of more than 300 performers, Creative Dance Arts pushes the envelope of student talent. Today they present their annual concert, to include a range of works from beginning through advanced levels, and covering classical and contemporary ballet, lyrical, modern, jazz and tap dance. This year's outing will also feature the complete ballet from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and other numbers that have landed this troupe awards throughout Arizona.
And they don't shirk in the details: backdrops, costumes and special effects for today's show arrive in Tucson via scenic studios in California.
Free performances are at 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday, June 13, in the TCC Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. For information, call 887-5658.
DIFFERENT CUT: Author Tom Robbins once called him "the Paul Gauguin of the Northwest." Now artist Victor Stevens has settled in Tucson; and he reveals that altered perspective in his new exhibit, Sonoran Visions.
Steven says the change hasn't greatly affected his style, though: "I'm not a genre painter. My vision is humanity. Often I start by painting a very graphic image of the land, a person or an animal...then negate the banal, the obvious...to discover a vision."
Sonoran Visions is on display through June 27 in Old Pueblo Frameworks and Gallery, 6290 E. Grant Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Call 885-0746 for information.
LIVING LEGEND: Mr. City Week was just a punk kid when he first rubbed shoulders with the legendary Buddy Miles, while CW was hustling tips as a waiter in a downtown eatery. It was the early '80s, and Miles was making a brief stop in the Old Pueblo en route to L.A.
The big man was quiet and reserved, as was his comely companion. They both ordered stiff margaritas, and before long were knee-deep in towering topopo salads and music biz conversation.
Through it all, the percussionist tapped his thick fingers on the table to some hidden beat, even when he raised a napkin to his lips.
"Just perfect," he then said, glancing towards CW, and reaching up to adjust his dark red bandanna. "Just perfect."
CW was beside himself. Just perfect? Was that brief phrase pregnant with hidden meaning?
Was this lowly waiter slated to become head roadie for a musical master? Was this his entre into the high-voltage world of top-shelf rock and roll? Had that coveted 15 minutes finally arrived?
Miles just pointed at his empty margarita glass. "That was the perfect margarita, my friend," he said jauntily. "How's about another?"
Well, Miles moved on to new musical frontiers, and CW eventually became a powerful calendar editor--just another sublime moment in just another bland chowhouse.
Now Buddy Miles, former Santana lead singer and a veteran performer who's played with everyone from Hendrix to The Band of Gypsies, returns to Tucson for one performance only at the Rialto Theatre. And maybe, just maybe, CW will make time for a nostalgic chat.
Buddy Miles performs at 9 p.m. Friday, June 12, in the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. Advance tickets are $6, available at Hear's Music, Yikes and Guitars Etc. Tickets are $8 at the door. For details, call 740-0126.

Home | Currents | City Week | Music | Review | Books | Cinema | Back Page | Archives