Arts

Musco Center

• By Arlene Winnick
• Photo Courtesy of Musco Center

When my grandson enrolled in Chapman College, I discovered the Musco Center for the Arts, their state-of-the-art venue in Orange.   Musco presents a wide variety of cutting-edge artistic programming as seen in their September’s calendar.

Founded by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, “two of the greatest virtuosos ever to emerge from Ailey” (New York Times), The Complexions Contemporary Ballet offers audiences an innovative mix of choreography styles from ballet to hip-hop. The powerful “Snatched Back from the Edge” leads the evening’s program.

When Quincy Jones labels a group “the future of vocal music!’, that’s one concert I don’t want to miss.  Naturally 7 redefines what it means to be an acapella group with a distinctive style they call “vocal play.” Using only their voices, mouths, and distortion effects, they become the musical instruments. 

The Saratoga International Theater Institute founded by stage legends Tadashi Suzuki and Anne Bogart redefines contemporary theater.   The company revisits The Medium – media theorist Marshall McLuhan’s groundbreaking meditation on technology combining a variety of theatrical influences from modern dance and Japanese avant-garde theater to 1920s expressionism and robotic physicality.

Lastly, bring toda la familia to see Disney’s Coco, newly transformed into a unique concert experience with a live symphony orchestra of professional and Chapman student musicians.  The Oscar®-winning film features Michael Giacchino’s beautiful score and beloved songs such as “Remember Me,” “Un Poco Loco,” and more!

For more details, click here.

Particular Histories

• By Cynthia Lum
• Photo By The Fowler Museum

The Fowler Museum at UCLA presents Particular Histories: Provenance Research in African Arts, an exhibition of early 20th-century African objects and accompanying archival materials that came to the Fowler in 1965 from the collection of Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936). This exhibition highlights the findings of a three-year project to trace the movement of objects collected during the colonial era. Provenance research (an investigation of an artwork’s past ownerships) is the crucial first step in linking objects with the communities that made and used them. 

Five case studies—spotlighting a Nigerian helmet mask, a brass figure group by a Mahoney court artist, a carved wooden throne from Cameroon , a series of gold weights from West Africa, and a carved wooden house post from Nigeria —are presented alongside Wellcome Collection archives. Each grouping takes visitors through the process of tracing the history of these works, a journey that reflects their changing cultural contexts, and sheds light on shifting perceptions of their value. “Particular Histories invites audiences to experience the challenge of reconstructing an object’s provenance when its history has been lost and or even omitted from past records,” said exhibition curator Carlee S. Forbes. “It is an exciting moment to redirect conversations about collections and collecting.” 

This exhibition aims to unravel the histories of African works at the Fowler and begin reckoning with the legacy of European colonization and its influence on the objects’ use and perception.

For details, click here.

Immersive King Tut

• By Caroline Lenher
• Photo By Patrick Hodgsdon

Since its discovery a century ago, the iconic gold and blue mask of the pharaoh, Tutankhamun – King Tut – has been the image associated with ancient Egypt, along with a story that has captivated the world. Millions of visitors have flocked to exhibits internationally to learn about the Boy King, see artifacts from his tomb and learn about Egypt’s most famous leader.

Los Angeles can now journey to more than 3.000 years ago with Lighthouse Immersive Ventures’ new exhibit, Immersive King Tut: Boy. King. Hero. and learn about the pharaoh from a unique perspective. Immersive King Tut takes visitors beyond the physical treasures found in his tomb or the stories recorded of his short life and into his passage into the afterlife. The story is known through the Amduat, or ancient Egyptian funerary text, depicted on the tombs of the pharaohs.

The Amduat, thought to be the oldest known illustrated story, comes to life through stunning video and ground-breaking animations in 360-degree projections for a truly immersive experience at the Lighthouse ArtSpace Los Angeles. In addition to the incredible images, this experience features a narrative to guide you through the journey, through King Tuts’ nightly battles in the afterlife and triumphant return each morning.

Tutankhamun ruled around 1332 – 1323 B.C., taking the throne at age nine until his death ten years later.

For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

Momix: Viva Momix!

• By Cynthia Lum
• Photo Courtesy of Segerstom Center

The Segerstrom Center for the Arts will present Viva Momix! at Segerstrom Hall on September 17. MOMIX, America ’s most prolific dance/theatre company has been astonishing audiences for more than 40 years with nothing more than light, shadow, props and the human body.

Known internationally for presenting works of astounding inventiveness and physical beauty, MOMIX is a company of unbelievable dancer-illusionists that has thrilled fans and been recognized worldwide as a maverick of creativity and invention. The company transports audiences from their everyday lives to a mystical fantasy world by combining athletic dance, riveting music, outrageous eye popping costumes, props, and pure talent to stage visually exciting and outrageously entertaining multimedia experience that will surprise and astonish audiences. Each production focuses not only on the beauty of the human form, but also on the beauty of nature, music, scenography, and life itself.  Winner of an International Emmy for Best Performing Arts Special, the company[‘s repertory has been broadcast to 55 countries.

Under the direction of Moses Pendleton, one of America ’s most innovative and widely performed choreographers and directors, MOMIX is on an endless search for another gravity. In VIVA MOMIX, the company mixes traditional MOMIX styles of fun and beauty in a two-act program that is sure to keep you at the edge of your seat. One of America’s most wildly creative companies, experience something surreal and surprising, experience the exceptional, experience MOMIX! 

For more, click here.