Todd Snider at UARK
Highlights
Todd Snider is back. Snider will be in town Friday night promoting his new album, “The Excitement Plan,” a mix of social commentary, gypsy recession recovery plan and soul-folk. The new release is rumored to be one of his best, which is no surprise with the crack team backing him on the project…musicians Jim Keltner and Greg Leisz and legendary producer Don Was. Snider will play the UARK Bowl on Dickson Street at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $17 at George’s Majestic Lounge. Doors at 6 p.m.
The Trey McIntyre Project
Choreographer Trey McIntyre will bring his dance company to Walton Arts Center for an 8 p.m. performance on Friday. McIntrye and the dancers will talk with the audience before the show from 7 to 7:30 p.m. The Trey McIntyre Project burst onto the scene with its debut performance at The Vail International Dance Festival three years ago. Their eclectic repertoire ranges from dance set to New Orleans jazz to The Beatles to the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. McIntyre began his career in 1989 as a choreographic apprentice with the Houston Ballet. He has since created more than 70 works pieces for the Stuttgart Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, New York City Ballet and Ballet de Santiago (Chile). He has served as resident choreographer for Oregon Ballet Theatre, Ballet Memphis and The Washington Ballet. In 2003 he was named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch.” He established Trey McIntyre Project in 2004 and last year launched a full-time dance company operating out of Boise, Idaho. Tickets are $18-$30.
Dance
Two dance performances are taking place this weekend, something special for our little corner of the world. Here’s what’s up.
NWA’s own Dance Coalition will present its annual spring concert Saturday and Sunday at the Springdale Performing Arts Center at 1103 W. Emma Ave. The program will include new choreography in many styles of dance including classical and contemporary ballet, lyrical, modern dance, hip hop, belly dance and musical theater. Choreographers presenting there work are: Emily Viator, Beth Hickman, Sean Burnett, Candice Jackson, Amanda Dooly, Stephanie Thibeault, Desert Fire Belly Dance and Sally Ashcraft. All of the dancers and choreographers are Arkansas artists. There will be a musical theater adaptation from “Wicked,” performances to the music of Kate Bush, Dave Grusin and Common and many others. Performances are at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Tickets are $15 adults and $8 for children age 12 and younger. Call 422-6132.
OMNI
The OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Equality is presenting two events this week that will offer a close-up look at the effects of military actions and war. Monday at 6 p.m. at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street, Dud Hendrick, president of Veterans for Peace in Maine and professor of Peace Studies at the University of Maine will speak on “Sorrows of Empire.” Hendrick is traveling the world making a film about the impact of U.S. military bases on indigenous people. After his talk, there will be video footage shot by Hendrick of the Inughuit people who were displaced to make way for the Thule Air Base in Greenland. Hendrick is in Arkansas to meet with people from the Marshall Island whose lives were impacted by atomic bomb testing in the Pacific. There will also be a discussion led be Bill Williams, former president from NWA Veterans for Peace. A free event.
At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night, OMNI’s Culture of Peace film series continues at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. The one-hour film, “Voices of American Troops from the Battlefields of Iraq” reveals the pride and pain of family members as they read the last letters sent to them from loved ones who lost their lives in Iraq. Following the film, Dr. Robert C. Mock Jr., assistant vice chancellor at the University of Arkansas will speak about how to meet the needs of returning soldiers in the classroom and in the community. A free event.
