Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog » sufjan stevens

This Saturday, I Dare You to Come

Anne Laker — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:56:37 +0000

Last Sunday, The Toby overflowed with thirsty fans lapping up the sounds of edgy string quartet Osso and Bloomington-based songster DM Stith, with his sweet voice and dark ideas. They also couldn’t stop watching The BQE, the first film by musician Sufjan Stevens, who jammed the screen with a triptych of imagery in homage to a crazy traffic artery in New York called the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. I had to be the one to stand at the Toby doors and turn people away for this sold-out show – I hated doing so and was very bad at it.

A full house (Photo by IMA Photography Dept.)

Osso (Photo by IMA Photography Dept.)

DM Stith and Osso (Photo by IMA Photography Dept.)

But I hope we have that same problem Saturday night November 7 at The Toby for Caddy! Caddy! Caddy! What’s that, you say? Caddy is an elusive character in the novels of William Faulkner. We describe the performance as southern-gothic-meets-Japanese-avant-garde. Ill-fitting wigs, chalky white faces, and 4-point barbed wire are the visuals. Slow, grotesque movements are the path to the unconscious. Oguri (below) is the single name of the Los Angeles-based dancer who created Caddy!

Oguri (Photo by Steven A. Gunther)

Oguri is a master of butoh, a radical yet subtle style of Japanese dance. The first person to perform butoh was Tatsumi Hijikata, in 1950s Japan. Here’s how Oguri himself tells it: “In Japan, there was folkdance, ballet, and modern dance. Performers presented seven-minute pieces for a classy, sophisticated audience. Hijikata comes along half naked and shines the light in the audience’s eyes. He killed a chicken on stage, and the little girls fainted and he was kicked out. After he was expelled, people sought him out because he seemed so cool, and at the time, many people had the same antiestablishment sense.”

Hear ye, hear ye. If you are antiestablishment in Indy, I am summoning you to The Toby this Saturday for Caddy!, which invites you to consider your nightmares. To look into “the mirror which thaws fear.” To observe disconnection. To confront pain.

The Nutcracker it is not. And, anybody with a ticket stub from a recent Toby event gets in half-price; students of any age are free with ID. I dare you to be there…

Visit the IMA Blog tomorrow for a full interview with choreographer and dancer Oguri.

The Pharmacy

Kate — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:59:43 +0000

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

Blog: Vogel Appliance Blog

Flashy? No. Practical? Oh yes. If you’ve ever wondered how much dish soap you really need, this blog is for you. This local appliance blog gives you tips and tricks that might help you save serious moolah come the winter season. And it’s coming soon.

ArtBabble Video: Jean Shin: Common Threads

Artist Jean Shin and Curator Joanna Marsh discuss the exhibition Jean Shin: Common Threads at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Topics include: new work commissioned by the American Art Museum titled Everyday Monuments, a cityscape constructed from losing lottery tickets called Chance City, and Unraveling, an installation inspired by the complexities of the Asian American Art community.

IMA Work of Art:

Still Life with Profile of Laval by Paul Gauguin

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mattgrieser:

What a great evening at the IMA! Saw Osso, DM Stith, and The BQE with Q&A w/Sufjan Stevens. All were incredible!