Thursday 16
LENS LOG. The PCC Art Gallery offers a photographic touchstone with Images: Tucson at the Millennium.
Held in conjunction with the Tucson Museum of Art, the show features work by amateurs, students and professionals of all ages and backgrounds. The aim is documenting Tucson's unique environment and the people who shape this dusty old burg. That includes shots of domestic life, urban development, city events and even a few turn-of-the-century parties.
Images: Tucson at the Millennium continues through April 2 in the PCC Art Gallery, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Call 206-6942 for details.
FLITTING FETE. Learn about the desert's nighttime denizens with bat expert Ronnie Sidner.
A winged aficionado and ecological consultant, Sidner replaces all the silly myths about these mysterious mammals with cold, nocturnal facts. Her slide show focuses on bats' fascinating biology and conservation needs.
Free lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in the UA Water Resources Research Center, 350 N. Campbell Ave. For information, call 795-2704.
TOO HIP. Pull on your big britches and bop over to the Velvet Tea Garden for the Hip Hop Globalfication Party.
The lineup for this planetary blast includes R.o.I., Mad Lad, M.C. Rev. Fun Yung Moon, Red Dirt Specimenz, Mankind, L.O.U.T., and "special guests."
Show time is 9 p.m. in the Velvet Tea Garden, 450 S. Sixth Ave. Cover is $2 until 11 p.m.; the fashionably late pay $1 more. Call 388-9922 for details.
Friday 17
WHEELS AFLOAT. Rolling grace takes center stage when Arts for All presents Wheelchairs Can Dance.
Seattle-based dancer/choreographer Charlene Curtiss brings her Light Motion company to town for this singular event. "The exploration of integrated dance and artistic wheelchair movement has created an entirely new profession in the performing arts," she says, "which frequently leaves audiences stunned, enthusiastic, and forever changed. Light Motion integrates these new creative concepts with mainstream professional productions, thereby adding to society's changing expectations of people with disabilities."
For her part, Curtiss has been choreographing, performing and teaching integrated dance since 1985. Her work has been featured on NPR, the NBC Today Show, ABC News and CNBC.
Show time is 7:30 p.m. in the PCC Center for the Arts, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Tickets are $12, $8 for seniors and students, $6 for children under 12, available at Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, Hear's Music, and the Arts for All box office. For information, call 622-4100.
MYSTERY MADNESS. Rub shoulders with literary sleuths at the 10th annual Left Coast Crime Convention.
This heavy-weight gathering gives mystery fans a chance to meet their favorite authors. That makes it a must for everyone hooked on mysteries or true crime, and those craving insight into the world of writing and publishing.
This year's guest of honor is internationally known author Sue Grafton, famous for her Kinsey Millhone series. Tentative panel discussions include Dance on the Table, Shoot Out the Lights, tackling the influence of Western myth and history in contemporary mystery fiction; Amateur Sleuths With Interesting Day Jobs; The Female PI: How's She's Changed in the Last Decade; and Historical Mysteries.
The Left Coast Crime Convention runs daily through Sunday, March 19, in the Holiday Inn City Center, 181 W. Broadway Blvd. For registration and other information, call 621-3793.
Saturday 18
HIGHLAND HELL. Even as the sun warms Tucson, Lori Berenson remains a prisoner in the bone-chilling highlands of Peru, wasting away in an unheated prison cell. She's been held on charges -- trumped up, many say -- that she was a collaborator with the feared Shining Path guerrilla group.
Now the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is hosting a discussion with Phyllis Menard, local organizer for the Free Lori Berenson Campaign. The meeting gathers at 2 p.m. in the Northwest Neighborhood Center, 2160 N. Sixth Ave. For details, call 622-5743.
CREATIVE JUNKET. Get the big picture when the Tucson Arts District hosts the Spring 2000 Open Studio Tour.
This self-guided junket visits the workshops of more than 100 of downtown's best artists, displaying their work in 35 locations. The work varies as much as the studios, from sculpture, ceramics and painting to printmaking, photography, wood-work, tile and performance. Featured artists include stone sculptor Ed Davenport; painter Mariana Carreras; weaver Crane Day; and ceramist Martina Thies, among many others.
Tour runs from noon to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow. Maps are available at all tour locations, or see the Tucson Arts District's insert in last week's issue of The Weekly for studio descriptions, schedules and map. For information, call 624-9977.
FREAK FEST. Whip your funky noodle into a frenzy at Le FreakShow, a "multi-cultural, multi-media feast for the senses."
That ain't no exaggeration, folks -- this little soiree features everything from fire performers, puppets, music and contortionists to drag queens, Kung-Fu tap dancing and an "all-out battle for dance hall domination!"
Did we mention Psycho Disco, the "ultimate super-freak dance floor extravaganza?"
Line up for fun at the Mat Bevel Institute, 530 N. Stone Ave. Admission is $5, $4 for freaks in full costume and for those donating two items to the Tucson Community Food Bank. For details and show time, call 623-3475.
BUTTERFLIES AFOOT. The Tucson Regional Ballet soars with Why Butterflies Fly Crazy.
This family-oriented showcase includes a variety of classical and contemporary ballets, highlighted by the title piece, an original work with music composed, performed and directed by local talent Mary Redhouse. Developed from a Pueblo Indian legend, the colorful costumes and narration combine for a powerhouse of dance.
Performances are at 2 and 7 p.m. today, and 2 p.m. tomorrow, in the TCC Leo Rich Theatre, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $12, $10 for seniors, students and children, available at all Dillard's outlets, the TCC box office, and by phone at 791-4266.
Sunday 19
EAST MEETS WEST. Traditional Indian raga meets East/West fusion with a performance by Sanjaya at the UA Flandrau Science Center Planetarium.
Their name comes from India's beloved scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, and means "divine insight" or "impartial, intuitive self-analysis and introspection."
If that sounds like a perfect match for the New Millennium, then this is the band for you. Comprised of longtime local favorites, Sanjaya features Pete Fine on sitar, Stefin Gordon on tanpura, and Todd Hammes on tabla.
For this show, the boys premier three new, original compositions -- two traditional ragas and a selection from their self-titled CD. The performance includes Flandrau's great Under Arizona Skies presentation.
Show time is 7:30 tonight at the UA Flandrau Planetarium, on the northeast corner of Cherry Avenue and University Boulevard. Advance tickets are $10, available at Antigone Books, Zip's University, and by calling 881-3947. Tickets cost $12 at the door.
DEEP THOUGHTS. Get a timeless perspective with Native American speaker and healer Bear Heart.
A highly respected Muskogee Creek elder and medicine man, he's also a "road man" of the Native American Church, and a regular on radio and television. But his adeptness at straddling traditional and modern worlds is evident in another way: Bear Heart holds an honorary degree in humanities from St. John's University in Louisiana, and is an adjunct consultant to the Memorial Psychiatric Hospital in Albuquerque, N.M. For public appearances, he weaves together inspiring and often humorous anecdotes, demonstrating how ancient tribal wisdom has striking relevance in our hectic New Millennium world.
Bear Heart speaks from 2 to 4 p.m. in UMC DuVal Auditorium, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. Donations of $5 to $10 are suggested, and reservations are requested. For reservations and other information, call 626-7473.
Monday 20
TIME OUT. Gentle Ben's Brewing Co. combines gourmet suds and expert sound with a performance by Colorado-based singer-songwriter Jim Edfors.
Arriving in anticipation of his May release, Take Some Time, Edfors has often been compared to Dan Fogelberg and Kenny Loggins. His style ranges from light jazz and acoustic pop to contemporary rock and roll, and he's been a regular performer at the Grand Canyon's Bright Angel Lodge for nearly a decade.
Jim Edgors performs at 9:30 p.m. in Gentle Ben's Brewing Co., 865 E. University Blvd. Cover charge is $3. For information, call 624-4177.
DEUX AMORE. The romantic blend of cello and piano reign with an appearance by Nancy Green and Rex Wood.
Presented by the UA Faculty Artist Series, this pair of topflight performers tackle works by Schumann, Chopin and Mendelssohn. "Great beauty of tone and inner warmth," Westdeutsche Zeitung says of a recent Green performance. She "played with complete freedom and the music acted as a rich, sweet wine that one loved more and more."
Show time is 7:30 p.m. in UA Crowder Hall, on the south end of the pedestrian underpass at Speedway Boulevard and Park Avenue. Tickets are $10, $8 for UA employees, $6 for seniors and $5 for students, and available by phone at 621-1162.
Tuesday 21
PREDATOR AND PREY. Suffering from shrinking habitat, the Sonoran Desert's big birds of prey are often relegated to urban treetops and powerlines.
You might see them gracefully swooping through your neighborhood -- a sight tinged with sadness. But the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum celebrates these majestic, threatened creatures with its Raptor Free Flight Program, allowing visitors up-close glimpses of barn owls, Harris hawks and American Kestrels.
"What we want is birds in flight close against the blue clear sky," says Jim Dawson, a raptor biologist for the museum, and one of the world's leading Harris Hawk experts. He emphasizes that the Free Flight Program is not a "bird show." Instead, he calls it an opportunity for visitors to see raptor behavior up close. "The point is to minimize human involvement and exhibit (the birds') natural movements and affairs in a completely free environment. The raptors are not trained to perform."
Raptor Free Flight Programs take off daily at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the ASDM, 2021 N. Kinney Road. Regular museum hours are 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $8.95, $1.75 for children ages 6 to 12, and free for children under age 6. Call 883-2702 for information.
RICH MAN, POOR MAN. John Schwarz dissects bull markets and dire straits in Poverty, Affluence, and the Pursuit of the American Dream in the 21st Century.
A longtime UA political science professor and leading expert on our national underclass, Schwarz has garnered a Pulitzer Prize nomination for his latest book, Illusions of Opportunity: the American Dream in Question.
John Schwarz lectures at 7 tonight at the Hacienda del Sol resort, 5601 N. Hacienda del Sol Road. Admission is $10, and advance registration is required. For registration and other information, call 621-3938.
Wednesday 22
GIVING A GRUBSTAKE. The Tucson-Pima Library and Tucson Community Food Bank ask you to ponder the plight of those less fortunate.
Their Food for Thought campaign encourages folks to drop off non-perishable food items at any library branch, especially canned meats and tuna, canned soup, dried milk, cereals, and canned fruits and vegetables.
When you make your donation, enter the Food for Thought drawing by writing a favorite thought, saying, poem or title of a work about food or hunger on an entry form at your local library. All entries go on display, and the drawing will be held April 1. Three winners -- one child, one young adult and one adult -- will each receive a certificate to an area eatery.
Food for Thought runs through April 1. For information, call 791-5647.
