Unbranded: Conversations in Performance

Emerging artists abound in the Twin Cities, showing us what's hot and cool, and pushing the current aesthetic envelope. But what about mid-career artists who are still creating nontraditional work, trying stuff out, unwilling to be categorized or pigeonholed? A group of them have been getting together regularly at the Ritz Theater to talk the talk (how to keep their ornery individualism and pay the bills as they mature) and walk the walk (they've been creating subversive new works and showing them to one another). Now some of our smartest, most productive artists are ready to show and tell. Choreographer Paula Mann and media artist Steve Paul, who started it all, will present a quartet of four men who execute miniature murderous acts. The divinely idiosyncratic Laurie Wieren and some of her most talented colleagues will unravel a Tourettic journey of dance, accordion, song, and untidy stories. Composer Michelle Kinney and friends will riff on the light and energy waves emanating from their instruments, among other things. The maverick actor Charles Campbell will strip performance elements down to basics, and Gulgun Kayim will explore the artificiality of the stage through pain and manipulation. Be there or be square.
Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Starts: April 9. Continues through April 12, 2008