Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
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Thursday, December 12
Hubbard Street Dance Company presents their fall season Global Tapestry featuring a world premiere by Japanese choregorapher Toru Shimazaki, set to music by French dance and film composer Rene Aubry, as well as a piece by HSDC Artistic Director Jim Vincent set to music by Norwegian Group Bla Bergens Borduner. This evening at 8:00pm, at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park (205 E. Randolph Dr). Tickets are $20-75. For more information call 866-535-4732 or visit the website.
The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange presents the Chicago premiere of Ferocious Beauty: Genome a multimedia dance-theater work about the ways that genetic engineering could impact our lives. This serious subject is treated with a light touch--a funny dominatrix-like character named Miss TATA explains genetic concepts; another section of the performance "What if Scientists Were Choreographers?" features researches explaining (on a video projected on the back wall of the theater) what a dance about DNA would look like. This evening at 7:30pm at the Museum of Contemporary Art (220 E. Chicago Ave). Tickets are $10-24. For more information call 312-397-4010 or visit the website.
Caffeine Theater presents The Cure at Troy, a gorgeous adaptation of Sophocles' Philoctetes by Seamus "I made Beowulf fun again" Heaney. Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, is charged with the task of duping a guy with a smelly, gangrenous foot out of his magic bow. After realizing that he'd have to be a giant asshole to trick a crippled warrior out of a bow used to hunt food, Neoptolemus starts to feel really bummed out. But he takes it anyway. Tickets to this show, which runs through October 8th, are $12-15. This evening at 8pm, at the Side Project (1439 W Jarvis Avenue). For more information call 312-409-4778 or visit the website.
The Hyde Park Art Center presents Just Good Art, its annual benefit auction. The featured art can be previewed online and at the center starting September 15. Tickets are $30 for members and $35 for nonmembers, both of which include food from local restaurants. 7:30-11pm at 5020 S. Cornell. Call 773-324-5520 for information and reservations.
UK based choreographer Sue Davies collaborated with a linguist, a cardiothoracic surgeon, a landscape designer, and an architect on a new performance In Plain Clothes. The Dance Center of Columbia College (306 S. Michigan Ave.) presents the American premiere, performed by the Siobhan Davies Dance Company. This evening at 8pm. Tickets are $22-26. Call 312-344-8300 for more information, or visit the website.
The Chicago History Museum (formerly known as the Chicago Historical Society) reopens today after an extensive renovation. Come see the first El train car, Norman Rockwell's painting of the Marshall Field's Clock, and more. Plus, lots of dance troupes, the Jesse White Tumblers and other acts will be performing throughout the weekend. Open today 9:30am to 4:30pm, Sunday noon to 5pm. It's free all weekend and big crowds are expected, so you might want to make a reservation. More info here.
Festivities around the Art Institute's launch of Silk Road Chicago will fill the museum and its steps starting at 10 AM, with live music, giveaways, dance performances, and more. Free with museum admission, and if you are one of the first 200 folks to show up, your admission will be free, too. 111 S Michigan. For more information, visit the website.
Several exhibits connected with Silk Road Chicago open today: Art of the Islamic World, The Art of Buddhism, Tang China and the Silk Road, and Icons of Divinity. Until 30 June. 111 S Michigan. For more information, visit the website.
Local band, Branches, puts on a show in celebration of their Record Release tonight at Beat Kitchen. Opening are Crap Engine, The Black, and Pony Pants. The show starts at 9pm at the Beat Kitchen located at 2100 W. Belmont. This show is 18+, and tickets are $8. For more information, call (773) 281-4444.
Following a musical program of church choral music in Latin, Nahuatl (indigenous Aztec) and other languages, curators of The Aztecs and the Making of Colonial Mexico will discuss the exhibit they created. This event, which begins at 10 AM, is followed by curator-led tours in English at 12 N and 2 PM, and in Spanish at 1 PM. 60 W Walton. Free. For more information, visit the website.
The Illinois Science Council presents "From Clouds to the Cosmos," an event composed of two lectures. The first lecture will be "Weather Forecasting and Why It's Wrong" at 1p.m., followed by "String Theory and Cosmology" at 2:00 p.m. The event will be held in the Baldwin Auditorium at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine's Lurie Cancer Center, located at 303 East Superior Street. The event is free and open to the public. Visit illinoisscience.org for more information.
If you registered (by 15 September) to participate, you're eligible to pick up plants at one of three locations across the city: North Park Village Nature Center, the Garfield Park Conservatory, or St. Ailbe's Church. Arrive between 9 AM and 10 AM to check in and attend a presentation about taking care of your new plants. For more information, click here (pdf).
For today only, a couple of museums in Chicago will be participating in Museum Day, a one-day celebration in which museums around the country offer free admission. The participating Chicago museums: The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture (6500 S. Pulaski) and Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (756 N. Milwaukee). Please see the museums' corresponding Websites for hours and directions.
Yoga at 8 AM, Pilates at 9 AM, and Bollywood-style dance from northwest India at 10 AM, led by instructor Shamila Khererpal, on the Great Lawn. If you need more incentive than taking in the amazing skyline views while working up a sweat, consider this: it's free. For more information, visit the website.
Ever wonder about the physics of the curve ball? The science behind Cracker Jack popcorn? The anatomical impact of the seventh-inning stretch? Three scientists will discuss these topics at this 11 AM presentation in the McCormick Room. Part of Chicago Science Expedition. Free, but reservations are required: fill out the online form, email ihc [at] prairie [dot] org, or call 312-422-5880. 2430 N Cannon. For more information, visit the website.
This 1950 Billy Wilder film starring William Holden, Cecil B. DeMille and a slew of other notable actors plays tonight as part of LaSalle Bank Cinema's Mustache Cinema Classic Film Series. Also playing is the 1938 serial "The Spider's Web #12: The Spider Falls." General admission to the 8pm show is $5 and $3 for seniors and children. 4901 W. Irving Park. Call 312-904-9442 for more information.
Hey, remember "Flagpole Sitta?" Sure you do. So Many Dynamos and Probably Vampires open. 3159 N. Southport, 10 PM, $12.
Get free health info, tests and screenings this weekend at the NBC5 Healthy Lifestyle Expo at Navy Pier. Open September 30 from 10am to 5pm and October 1 from 10am to 4pm, the event features dozens of exhibitors and lots of demonstrations. Best of all: it's free. Get more information from NBC5.