Trisha Brown:
Dance and Art in Dialogue

Postmodern dance legend Trisha Brown is the subject of a major exhibit opening at Skidmore College’s Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery this weekend. Brown, who emerged from the Judson Dance Theater in the early ’60s and formed her own New York City-based company in 1970, became best-known for her revolutionary dance vocabulary. Instead of drawing on traditional movements, Brown took her inspiration from natural body movements and gestures taken from daily life. It was, critic Marianne Goldberg said, something new: “Brown’s gestures did not look like anything seen before. She traveled beyond the known lexicon of modern dance.”

This multimedia exhibit, arranged by independent curator Hendel Teicher, includes drawings, paintings, costumes, photographs and sets. There will also be, screening continuously, what the museum calls an “extensive” selection of videos of Brown’s work over the years, as well as examples of her collaborations with visual artists like Robert Raushenberg, Nancy Graves, Fujiko Nakaya, Donald Judd and Terry Winters.

The exhibit opens at the Tang Museum (Skidmore College, 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs) on Saturday (Feb. 1), and runs through June 1. The museum is open from 10 AM to 5 PM Tuesday through Saturday. The opening reception is also Saturday, from 6:30 to 8 PM; before the reception, the museum will present Trisha Brown and Hendel Teicher: Dancer and Curator in Dialogue, at 5 PM. Admission to the museum is free. For more information, call 580-8080.

An Evening with Lily Tomlin

Comedienne Lily Tomlin has a career that spans both decades and genres. She’s done lots of movies (like Nashville, which earned her an Oscar nomination, and 9 to 5), TV spots (a role on Murphy Brown and appearances on numerous other shows), and recordings (mostly in the early ’70s—she was even on a Barry Manilow album in 1980). However, Tomlin is perhaps best-known for her talent in taking on different personalities, some of whom are practically as well-known as the actress herself. Everyone knows Edith Ann, the little 5-year-old girl in the very big chair. And who can forget Ernestine the telephone operator?

Lately, the actress has been up to some interesting things, like performing in a tour of life partner Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. Also, Tomlin and Wagner are collaborating with the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the Silva Watson Moonwalk Fund to establish the Lily Tomlin Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center in Hollywood, with a goal of raising money to provide services for people living with HIV and AIDS. Currently, Tomlin is touring, performing her array of characters for fans around the United States.

Iron Horse Entertainment presents An Evening with Lily Tomlin at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (corner of Second and State streets, Troy) on Saturday (Feb. 1) at 8 PM. Tickets are $55, $45 and $35, and can be ordered by calling the Music Hall box office at 273-0038.

Blackloud

Jimbo Burton, aka Blackloud, was a founding member of one of the area’s favorite stoner-rock ensembles, Small Axe, who came out kicking in the ’80s and continue in the new millennium sans Burton. The bassist left the band last summer to forge his own path, one he’d like to share with you tomorrow (Friday) at the Chapel + Cultural Center on the RPI campus.

Burton’s material features the bass as the lead melodic instrument—and we mean balls-to-the-wall rock & roll bass sans noodling—and combines it with vocals, drum machines and synthesizers. A rhythmic stew with electronic currents (it’s a big, big stew after all), Burton’s solo stuff veers stylistically from the sound of his former band, but we still think that if you’re a fan of Small Axe, you’ll likely be a fan of Blackloud.

Blackloud’s performance—which also will include the debut of Burton’s video for the single “Slipper,” created by Sleight of Hand Productions—is the first show of many scheduled by the Chapel + Cultural Center’s new director, Metroland contributor J. Eric Smith. The season continues with music, lectures and art exhibits, including guest speakers Alice Fulton (March 4) and author Christopher Ringwald (March 20); nationally acclaimed violinist Deni Bonet (April 11) and Ambient Night featuring Sara Ayers, Mindspawn and Dreamstate with video by Twisted Pair (April 25); and an ongoing art exhibit, Uncovered Treasures: Contemporary Latino and Latin-American Art, which runs through February.

Blackloud will perform tomorrow (Friday, Jan. 31) at the Chapel + Cultural Center (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy). The show starts at 8 PM, and tickets are $5, $3 students. Call 274-7793 for information.