http://www.artscatter.com a Portland-centric arts and culture blog Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:25:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en By Bob Hicks I've just posted this story at Oregon Arts Watch on last night's opening show of Skinner/Kirk Dance Ensemble's run at BodyVox Dance Center. Four good dances, including Josie Moseley's splendid new Flying Over Emptiness. Pictured above: Eric Skinner and Daniel Kirk in Moseley's new dance, a tribute to ... http://www.artscatter.com/dance/link-skinnerkirk-and-moseley/ By Bob Hicks With Mrs. Scatter on the road eating fresh pineapple and downing margaritas with childhood friends, Mr. Scatter and the offspring have been batching it the last few days. While that’s led to a somewhat more relaxed sense of structure (oh, my goodness: is it midnight already?), the basics have ... http://www.artscatter.com/general/scatter-update-deemers-hyperdrama-mothers-of-god-women-with-whips/ By Bob Hicks When we talk about culture here at Art Scatter, we like to think it’s almost as wide as life. It could be historical, or political, or social, or personal, or purely aesthetic. It might be Madame Butterfly, Puccini’s opera about a fatal clash of moral sensibilities, which returns ... http://www.artscatter.com/general/mochitsuki-not-pinkerton-its-a-new-year/ By Bob Hicks Hal Holbrook's back in town on Saturday, riding the horse of his magnificent one-man show Mark Twain Tonight!, and even as Holbrook noses up on 87 years old it's bound to be a helluva show. A couple of weeks ago I chatted on the phone for about an hour ... http://www.artscatter.com/general/hal-holbrook-meets-the-twain-again/ Thomas Nast/1871 By Bob Hicks The national political season is getting good and nasty these days, and we here at Art Scatter World Headquarters are pretty pumped about it: blood sports do that to us. We're especially excited about the literary possibilities. In  recent days we've added some astute veteran political observers to ... http://www.artscatter.com/general/live-from-tammany-its-politics-2012/ By Bob Hicks I've just put up this post at Oregon Arts Watch about two extraordinary feats of endurance: Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton's star-crossed quest in 1914-17 to trek 1,800 miles across the Antarctic continent, and Lawrence Howard's captivating three-hour solo telling of the tale at Portland Story Theater. Give it ... http://www.artscatter.com/general/link-shackletons-amazing-voyage/ By Bob Hicks Seeing it as our duty to help sort out this most perplexing of civic seasons, we here at Art Scatter World Headquarters have hired our first political correspondent. He's a veteran newspaperman named Eugene Field, and we're proud to add him to our mix. Here is Mr. Field's first ... http://www.artscatter.com/general/mitt-and-newt-on-to-florida/ By Bob Hicks Something's Got a Hold on Me. Etta James, that incredible American voice, died today from cancer at age 73, and although she urged us to "Don't Cry Baby," a few collective tears are going to tumble down. Etta touched on blues and country and rhythm & blues and soul ... http://www.artscatter.com/general/cry-like-a-rainy-day-etta-james-73/ By Bob Hicks Over at Oregon Arts Watch I've posted Ready, aim, fire: on Portland stages, a shot in the dark. It's an account of my weekend adventures viewing the premieres of Joseph Fisher's (I Am Still) the Duchess of Malfi at Artists Rep and Jason Wells's The North Plan at ... http://www.artscatter.com/general/link-shooting-stars-on-portland-stages/ Art Scatter chief correspondent Martha Ullman West sends along this note about the Portland memorial service for Mark Goldweber, the founding ballet master of Oregon Ballet Theatre, who died last month from lymphoma at age 53. Goldweber, who made and kept many friends here, moved on to ballet-master positions at ... http://www.artscatter.com/general/mark-goldweber-memorial-january-22/