Taking the Center Ring

“Join the Circus”

7 to 10 p.m., Saturday, June 13

Rhythm Industry Performance Factory

1013 S. Tyndall Ave.

481-8003; rhythmindustry.org

If you’ve ever wanted to run away and join the circus, summer might
be the perfect time to do so. But before you pack up, come and see what
you’re in for at the “Join the Circus” event this Saturday, featuring
performances from the kids in the summer Rhythm Industry Circus
Camp.

After two weeks of arts-intensive training, the kids are ready to
show off what they’ve learned. After practicing four hours a day, the
kids have new skills: using stilts, twirling poi, banging on taiko
drums (larger than the kids are), creative ballet moves and acrobatic
stunts using aerial silk.

Karen Falkenstrom, a staff member at Rhythm Industry, sees this
performance as “a culmination of the kids’ very hard work.” She
explains that the groups at Rhythm Industry put on a revue show every
quarter, and that this show is dedicated to the kids who have been
working so hard.

The camp’s instructors will show off a bit, too. Members of Tucson
favorites Flam Chen and Odaiko Sonora teach at the camp, and will join
fellow Rhythm Industry performers including Butacaxé, Movement
Salon, Theatrical Mime Theatre and several others to put on the
show.

However, this is no formal dance recital, says Falkenstrom. By the
final act, everyone is usually running to the stage and dancing.
“It’s an informal kind of party,” she says.

A $10 donation is suggested. If you think you might want to join the
circus, too, you can check out tucsoncircusarts.com to see the
classes available from experienced performers—and find out which
act you’d like to master! —S.J.

Trail-Dust Twang

Slaid Cleaves in concert

8 p.m., Saturday, June 13

Old Town Artisans

201 N. Court Ave.

319-9966; rhythmandroots.org

If you’re in need of some kind of rockabilly-infused emotional
release, then you’re in luck. This weekend, Slaid Cleaves will be
performing songs from his new album, Everything You Love Will Be
Taken Away, right here in Tucson.

Cleaves—a man who has been writing and performing songs for
more than a decade now—sums up everything you really need to know
about him in 19 words on his Web site: “Slaid Cleaves. Grew up in
Maine. Lives in Texas. Writes songs. Makes records. Travels around.
Tries to be good.” His songs clearly descend from a life on the road, a
few lost chances and a love of Bruce Springsteen.

Cleaves has always been known for his songs’ country aesthetic and
his ability to create compact stories within those songs, but this
latest album can be seen as a slight departure from his last album of
original songs, Wishbones (2004), and his breakthrough album,
Broke Down (2000).

Although Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away, released in
April, maintains the solid songwriting and twangy guitar dedicated fans
will expect, Cleaves said in a recent press release that he “was very
concerned with the possibility of inducing yawns if (he) were to just
put out the same kind of record.” As a result, he approached
songwriting for this album a bit differently. The melodies for a few
songs on the album came to him in a dream, and several lines for the
song “Temporary” were lifted from tombstones in the cemetery near his
house.

It seems there is clearly a place for the macabre and the surreal in
Cleaves’ heart, and the show on Saturday will be a great chance to see
that live. Advance tickets cost $17, and can be purchased through
rhythmandroots.org; tickets at
the door will cost $20. —S.J.

No Strings Attached

New Kiva Motions Puppet Theatre presents Metamorphosis

1:30 p.m., Sunday, through July 12

Red Barn Theater

948 N. Main Ave.

887-5144

“I don’t do a lot of fluff,” proclaims Barbara Mocking—a bold
statement for someone who runs a puppet theater.

Mocking has been in charge of the local nonprofit New Kiva Motion
Puppet Theatre for more than 30 years. She says her puppeteering tries
to focus on the lessons that wise, 12-inch, handmade friends can teach
to children and adults alike.

New Kiva Motions’ latest show, Metamorphosis, discusses
life’s changes through the intertwined stories of a butterfly and a
little boy with a new sibling. While the butterfly undergoes changes
thanks to his biological life cycle, the boy experiences a more
fundamental, emotional change associated with growing up.

Mocking says the show, which she originally wrote for the
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, appeals to audiences of all ages, because
it’s “something that everybody has experienced, or will experience in
their life. It’s about trying to grapple with changes in your life that
you have no control over.”

Her approach to puppetry, which focuses more on content than perfect
puppet dance routines, comes from her theater background. She worked in
Chicago at the start of her career, and that early theater involvement
got her interested in puppetry. She learned early on that puppets were
the perfect vehicles for her to tell stories.

“The puppets for me are the actors; they are the means by which to
tell the story,” she says. What emerges is the most “fluff-free” story
possible, given the medium, Mocking explains.

Tickets to see Metamorphosis are $5; $3 tickets are available
to those with low-income bus passes or AHCCCS cards.
—A.B.

Life Is but a Dream

Opening reception for Dream

6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, June 13

Exhibit on display through Saturday, Aug. 22

Zoë Boutique

735 N. Fourth Ave.

740-1201; zoestyle.com

Ever had a dream that was so pleasant, you didn’t want it to end?
Well, this Saturday just might offer a similar experience.

Zoë Boutique will be opening a new art exhibit featuring work
from six local female artists, all of which is centered on the theme of
dreams and the surrealism created within them.

One of the artists, Andrea Peterson, recently moved to Tucson from
New York and uses a wide variety of materials (including oil, acrylic,
collage, pencil and encaustics) to create works that suggest a constant
vacillation between waking and dreaming. “We’re very excited about it,”
says Lissa Marinaro, the owner of Zoë. “This is one of her first
shows here.”

Other artists featured are locals Elizabeth Albert, Ella Alvarez,
KoKo Bellows, Kristy Lynn and Sylvia Sewell, whose works in different
mediums all echo the dream-like quality of Peterson’s. While most of
the featured artists work with paintings, others, like Sewell, use
photography to create that dreamy feeling. Despite, or perhaps
because of the differences in styles, Marinaro says she “really
felt all the artists would complement each other well.”

“Surreal would be the way to describe the art,” Marinaro adds,
explaining that most of the works on display have an obvious abstract
quality to them, and often include female subjects. Of Elizabeth
Albert’s work in particular, Marinaro says, “It’s pop; it’s fun; it’s
girly.”

The exhibit, continuing a six-year tradition at Zoë, will give
audiences a chance to see art with local ties and a surrealistic flair.
Marinaro insists the opening event will be informal and fun. “It’ll be
very laid-back,” she says, “not like a stuffy art opening. It’ll be a
nice way to start off your Saturday evening.” —S.J.

This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2009.