Scene and Herd

Saturday, August 11, 2007

LET IT BLEED

Neighbors Gallery 800 E. Clarke St.
7pm
Let It Bleed opening ceremony
Free

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Yo, yo, yo homies... For those of you who enjoy the brevity thing, we have bolded all the pertinent information, so that you may scan this e-mail with ease. For those of you who enjoy a little more verbosity, dig in....

Thanks to everyone who came to our wicked-awesome pre-party last night! We had a fucking sweet time hanging with our buds and grooving on performances by Theresa Columbus, Chris Ferrera, The Degenerettes and The Bleeders. If you missed it, tho, don't feel bad...we've got two whole weeks of good shit lined up, starting TONIGHT!!!!

TONIGHT, AUGUST 11TH is the opening night of I Love Cooperation's big, juicy, amazing, two-week bonanza of female fantasmagoria, LET IT BLEED!!!!

Come join us at the hub of all of our activities, NEIGHBORS GALLERY (800 E. Clarke Street, Riverwest, Milwaukee...right at the four corners of awesomeness that are Riverwest Co-op, the CCC, Neighbors, and the Po-Fo).

The festivities start at 7pm tonight...come check out our beautiful space and see for yourself the much talked-about Vagina Town Menstrual Hut with your own eyes. Stay to peruse new visual work by Milwaukee artists (including but not limited to Anne Bisone, Michelle Dettloff, Christina Fredette, Allison Halter, Lindsay Hayden, Polina Malikin, Monica Thomas...).

At some point in the evening , we will be joined by our friend and L.I.B. in-house astrologer, Lisa E. Hilliard, who will be leading us in a crazy and totes mind-blowing OPENING CEREMONY! As part of the ceremony, Lisa tells us that she will be creating a special flower/gem essence to commemorate the event. To this end, Lisa (and we) requests that people coming to the opening festivities bring a flower or stone that has signifcance to you for use in her essence creation. She also requests that peeps bring a candle or two. Yessss! You love it!

Tonight's event will be absolutely, totally FREE. Zero dollars and zero cents, so you have no excuses.
Come hang with us!!!

Love to Love You, Babies!

- I Love Co-Operation!
for more events info online, stop by our blog: http://www.myspace.com/ilovecooperation, or contact us at:

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Thursday, August 09, 2007

I Love Cooperation

"It's not about catching up, it's about doing what's next"

So you've got this idea that the old wooden futon frame you're getting ready to throw out could be made into a workbench or table of sorts. The only problem is, you don't have the tools to cut the frame down to size, nor do you have the cash to buy them. What are your options? Wouldn't it be awesome if you could look at a quick list of names and phone numbers posted on your fridge to see who has access to a workshop, or at least has the items you need to start your project? I met up with a couple of ladies last week who are trying to answer that question right now. Allison and Lindsay, aka I Love Cooperation aka Dites Donc aka Connexxxion/Reflection have been working on a social network that just might help a sister out when it comes to finding the right woman for the job.

Yes, I said, 'Right woman for the job'. I Love Cooperation is putting together a resource guide filled with information from who has what tools to who has what skills - and all the contributors are women. Earlier in the year a survey was sent out to every woman in their address book asking for a list of any tools, skills or resources they'd be willing to share - and so far the feedback has been brilliant. Responses have ranged from play date offers for fellow mothers to free laundry facilities and proofreading of student papers. Also, this isn't a guide for free-loaders, so far, only those that have offered their services are able to take advantage of this wealth of options.

The creators of this guide, Allison Halter and Lindsay Hayden, are feminists without any long explanation of which kind of feminist or why or how. Before anyone gets snarky about talking about feminism, let me clarify first - this guide isn't about man-bashing. In a recent interview with these two ultra-busy ladies, we got to talk about the philosophy surrounding the I Love Cooperation resource guide.

VS: What is feminist about this guide?

ILC: The guide takes into account a bunch of different aspects regarding empowering women. This guide will nurture value for skills, things we can do, not just for our sensitivity or whatever. Women should take pride in their skills, be more boastful, less shy about being good at something. Its also a way to be proactive in a collective way - it is easy to get isolated and become competitive in that stereotypical "catty" way.

VS: It is easy to become isolated and see women only as competition.

ILC: Yeah, at least, that's how popular culture paints us. This guide is created in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration. Basically, we will all win more if we cooperate and collaborate (Allison). For women it isn't about catching up - it is about doing what is next (Lindsay). The way we see it, it isn't about repairing wrongs, it is about taking the next step, about moving on. Women need to see that there is space for them to show their stuff and be proud of it. This guide should not be branded as "feminist lit", it is just published by feminists and you don't have to call yourself a feminist to contribute.

VS: So the debut of this resource guide is coming up. You two have planned an event in the month of August called Let it Bleed". Tell me a little about that.

ILC: The event is going to be two weeks and will feature all women artists, performers and teachers. The audience is open to anyone who wants to come, but it is a showcase for women talent. We are also musicians among many things, and this event spawned from a few different ideas. Traveling as our performance/music group Dites Donc we participate in a lot of group shows. We were in this one show where there were 100 bands, and only two were bands of women. This was at an event where progressive politics were supported, but hardly any women groups performed. It is kind of like LadyFest, its all volunteers performing, teaching and organizing the events.

VS: What is the goal for all this?

ILC: We want women to step outside the sociodrama created by popular culture. We want women to know they can depend on each other to get things done. This resource guide is a way to make those connections, this event is a way to promote the idea.


About the Organizers:
Allison Halter and Lindsay Hayden have been collaborating under a variety of names since 2003, and have produced independent performance art shows ("Fash Attack!!"), a feminist dance band ("Dites Donc!"), and simultaneously participated in two rival dance troupes ("CONNEXXXION" and "reflection"). I Love Co-Operation is the umbrella term for their collaborations past, present and future. They have participated/performed in Milwaukee's 2005 Performance Art Showcase, Plan-It-X-Fest (Bloomington, IN), Catch that Beat (Astoria, WA) as well as a number of independent shows in Milwaukee. They have taken both Fash Attack!! and Dites Donc! on national tours to their audience's great delight.

For more information about the event, specific performances, etc:
ilovecooperation (at) gmail.com

Dates: August 11-28th at Neighbors, 800 E. Clarke Street, Milwaukee, WI

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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Project Runway at LELA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Heather Loomans or Stephanie Sherman

(414) 727-4855

(262) 364-6376 (414) 687-7072

,

PROJECT RUNWAY AT LELA

Secret Challenge to be Revealed, Completed, and Judged During Gallery Night

On the evening of Friday, July 27th the five remaining fashion designers for Project Lela--a Project Runway style competition--will be at Lela, the Historic Third Ward boutique, to complete the project's third challenge as part of Gallery Night.

A secret challenge will be revealed to the designers as the second part of Challenge Three upon their arrival at 6:00 p.m. They will then have two hours to complete it before three judges evaluate each outfit based on the achievement of the specific task, originality, wearability, and construction. At 8:30 p.m., two participants will be eliminated from the competition.

Project Lela began on June 27th with a total of ten designers. The first challenge consisted of one man's pant leg, a man's T-shirt, and one yard of fabric of each designer's choice. The participants used these elements to create an outfit that could be transformed from day to night for a 20-something woman. A week later the outfits were judged and three designers were eliminated from the competition.

For the second challenge, the participants had three days to create a garment from two yards of muslin fabric. The following Saturday at the Milwaukee Outdoor Public Market, they were assigned a secret challenge--purchase between $18 and $20 worth of goods from the market to incorporate into the garment but not to be used as accessories. After an impromptu runway show, two more participants were eliminated leaving five for the remainder of the competition.

On August 25th, the section of Broadway Street between St. Paul and Buffalo streets will be closed off for the Lela Fashion Show. The final three designers of Project Lela will show a four piece collection at this show, and the winner of the competition will be announced.

Project Lela-Gallery Night Competition

Friday, July 27th

Lela

321 N. Broadway

6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

All garments from the Project Lela competition can be viewed at Lela, the fashion-forward women's boutique in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward. Visit the store at 321 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, WI 53202. Store information is available at (414) 727-4855 or http://www.lelaboutique.com.

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Friday, July 13, 2007

Traveling Art Circus

The Scene:
Traveling Art Circus presents: "To Kill a Roommate" and "The Misadventures of Mr. Crinklebine the Goldfish"
When: August 1 & 2, 7pm
Where: The Miramar, 2844 N. Oakland Ave., Milwaukee, WI
How Much: $10

The Traveling Art Circus has been around for a few years. Founding members Dan Grenda and Mark Edwards, both Milwaukee natives, met up by chance in San Francisco almost eight years ago and started the group, eventually returning to Milwaukee. Cesar Gamino, also a Milwaukee native, performed with them in their Milwaukee debut at the 2006 Sketch and Improv festival. Since then TAC has been writing and performing around town bringing absurdist comedy to sometimes incendiary topics both political and social.

In a recent interview with Dan, Mark and Cesar, VS asked the trio what an audience could expect at their upcoming show. Without giving too much away - they gave me this general run down:

VS: What can the herd expect when they come to your show?

TAC: "To Kill a Roommate", written by Dan Grenda, will appeal to anyone who has ever cohabitated with someone not related to you. Imagine all the worst roommate stories you've ever heard - we've written a character that is all of them. The play opens with an original song with musical stylings by Lodi Bruekhuizen, a classically trained violinist. Most of the shows all contain original musical material, although there are some adaptations of well known songs. All the actors have a strong physical presence and the humor runs from toilet jokes to thoughtful rhetoric.

"Misadventures of Mr. Crinklebine the Goldfish", written by Mark Edwards, delves into the psychological relationships people have with their pets. This short play features a woman obsessed with her goldfish Mr. Crinklebine, her friend who tries to point out this obsession, a mad taxidermist and of course, Mr. Crinklebine (played by Mark Edwards). Also featured are all original songs, again with the musical accompaniment of Mr. Bruekhuizen.

VS: How do the shows get written?

TAC: Often the idea will start out with one writer producing the bulk of the script. Other collaborators will help add to it, creating a well rounded production with many influences. Our inspiration comes from current issues in politics and long standing social issues. For example - our last show, "What the Hell is a Grimace Anyway" featured characters modeled from the Enron guys, Ronald McDonald and Grimace and Virginia Woolf.

VS: If you missed the last show; a quick run down:

TAC: Ronald and Grimace are devious criminals, with McDonalds having been discovered putting mind control additives in the milkshakes. The Enron guys, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling are the axis of evil and there's a jail break.

VS: So are you guys a comedy group or a theatre group?

TAC: We're primarily theatre. We're not improv, we write and rehearse our shows. We write mostly comedy, but it’s mostly in a theatrical setting. Absurdist comedy.

VS: What is the mission of Traveling Art Circus?

TAC: We try to promote local talent, local artists, actors and musicians. In the past we've tried to feature various artists, we'd like to keep doing that.


* * *

When not writing, producing, directing and acting in their shows, each member of the Traveling Art Circus has a day job - like most of us. Dan is a bartender for an upscale Brewer's Hill restaurant, Mark is a second grade teacher and Cesar is a practicing real estate mogul and filmmaker. Who knows, could these guys be the next Beckett, Pinter and Genet? I'm not a theatre critic, but I wouldn't have much to say if I didn't go see their show. Given Milwaukee's sometimes abysmal social events calendar for the mid-week, I think it'd be a good choice. What's more - they may be giving out DVDs of their last performance. Can you beat that?

In short - go see The Traveling Art Circus at the Miramar Theatre located at 2844 N. Oakland Avenue on August 1st and 2nd at 7:00pm! -VS

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Friday, July 06, 2007

Milwaukee Sketch & Improv Fest Goes National

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Matt Kemple 414.698.8991


Milwaukee Sketch & Improv Fest Official Website

2nd Annual Milwaukee Sketch & Improv Festival

The Milwaukee Sketch & Improv Festival, a two day celebration focused on promoting sketch and improv comedy in Milwaukee, will take place on August 10 and 11th, 2007 at the historic Times Cinema. Six shows will offer audiences 12 different professional sketch comedy and improvisation groups from all over the country. Shows will take place Friday and Saturday 8pm, 10pm, and Midnight.

Founded in 2006, the first installment was an opportunity to focus on the local comedy and sketch teams in and around Milwaukee, emphasizing new and original work, as well as local talents. The goal was to give all the comedy groups in town an opportunity to work together in a new way, and the first year brought 9 local sketch comedy and improvisation groups together for the first time. The teams that shared the stage for the first time have gone on to collaborate on shows, fostered new teams, and have had successful performances all over Milwaukee.

Two events make this festival truly unique, the Friday Night Improv Jam and the Saturday Night Video Jam. These midnight shows will offer Milwaukee never before seen entertainment at a reduced ticket price. The Friday Night Improv Jam is an opportunity for all performers to meet and interact with one another. Participants will be placed with people from different groups to perform short-form improv sketches. This is a fun way for performers to work with others from all parts of the nation. The Saturday Night Video Jam is a showcase of recorded sketches and clips, giving the various groups involved in the festival an opportunity to show off an additional aspect of their talents. The Saturday Night Video Jam promises to bring audiences new and innovative work never before seen in Milwaukee.

This year, the event will be an even bigger and better festival. There will be groups performing from all over the Mid-West and as far away as Oregon, making The Milwaukee Sketch & Improv Festival a true national event! With three shows a night, each packed with different teams from a variety of locations, the whole weekend will be a mix of hilarious improvisation and the best of the best in sketch comedy.

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