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Backyard wrestling, eating contests, re-enactment play, Halloween hijinks—Cameron Jamie takes inspiration from some of contemporary mankind’s most primitive social pastimes. While they may not be great showcases of civility, these subjects do make for grotesque, amusing, and ultimately thought-provoking study in this artist’s first solo museum exhibition. Through film, video, performance, photography, sculpture, and drawings, … Read more

The Great Gatsby is a notably contemporary choice for a company best known for its Shakespeare. But by honoring both the spirit of St. Paul’s favorite son and the opulent Jazz Age epitomized by his classic novel, the company is making quite the symbolic statement for christening its glamorous waterfront playhouse. A second Minnesota son-made-good … Read more

What Momentum does for choreographers (see above), Fresh Ink does for playwrights. Among our top picks is Boldly Going Nowhere, a one-man, five-character study put on by Theatre Latté Da veteran Tod Petersen. As wear-tested at the Minnesota Fringe Festival two years back, it demonstrated Petersen’s uncanny ability to pick up the speech patterns and … Read more

These days, Stockholm, Wisconsin, is a sweet daytrip for retirees looking to buy Amish quilts or decorative objets from discerning folks who’ve escaped the big-city rat race. But in 1854, this town was the promised land for two hundred Swedish settlers; their compatriot, Eric Peterson, had left Bjurtjärn for America with his two brothers, who … Read more

While taking tango lessons from an Argentine national, local choreographer Gerry Girouard became interested in the famous Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo—a group whose mission since 1977 has been to track down missing Argentine children, many of whom were born to political prisoners. By teaming his own dancers with Off-Leash Area Productions, a theater … Read more

This year’s lineup of fresh Minnesota dance includes inspired moments like the pairing of the gorgeous music of Spaghetti Western String Co. with Live Action Set, an inventive company of clowns, dancers, and stage performers. Their piece is titled “Percussionist,” even though, yes, Spaghetti Western is a string quartet; it’s the bodies in movement that … Read more

Imagine paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a house you’ll never set foot in—because it doesn’t exist. Every day, legions of people buy virtual merchandise online, including real estate, tools, weapons, and creatures, in a real economy surrounding MMPORGs, or Massively MultiPlayer Online Role-Playing Games. If you aren’t involved in these games yourself, you … Read more

It only seems like the Turf Club is too small for the sound—and audience—Dave Alvin can generate. Actually, this scruffy and resilient little bar is a great place for a songwriter who has never asked for much in the way of attention, yet who also remains a dependable source of solace or entertainment (whichever you … Read more

Here’s a lineup showcasing the new sound of the Twin Cities rock scene that will have legions of fans and new converts scurrying home to write on their blogs, blissfully if also slightly hearing-impaired. The Plastic Constellations have been together since their days at Hopkins High School more than a decade ago, but the rock … Read more