Tucson Weekly: City Week (February 5

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Thursday 5

BIG CHILL. Beating the peak becomes a metaphor for even larger themes in Patrick Meyers' K2, presented by the PCC Theater Department.
City Week The setting is an icy ledge high on K2, the world's highest mountain. Two climbers, Taylor and Harold, deliberate on the Big Chill when Harold suffers a broken leg and is unable to descend. Their philosophical dilemma is highlighted by a breezy Greek chorus representing the spirit of the mountain.
Performance is 8 tonight in the PCC Black Box Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Performances continue at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday, through February 14. Tickets are $7, $4 for students and seniors, and available at the PCC Center for Fine Arts box office, the West Campus cashier, and at the door. For information, call 206-6986.
BIG PICTURE. Peter Smith, of the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, helped create the remarkable camera that recorded surface images of Mars on July 4. Now he brings that big picture down to earth with a discussion of the Mars Pathfinder landing, sponsored by Arizona Photographic Collectors.
Free lecture is at 7:30 p.m. in the Sabbar Shrine Temple, 450 S. Tucson Blvd. Call 529-5072.
YEAR OF DANCE. Hard to believe how time flies, how it pivots, parades and prances. And its hard to believe Tucson's venerable Orts Theatre of Dance is already leaping into its 14th season with a concert featuring four premier performances, all under the skilled hand of artistic director Anne Bunker.
Preview performance is 10:30 a.m. in the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. All tickets are $5. Performances continue at 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. tomorrow, and 8 p.m. Saturday. Advance tickets for upcoming performances are $8, $6 for seniors and students, and are available at Antigone Books, Bentley's, Silverbell Trading, or by calling 744-4004. Tickets are $2 more at the door.

Friday 6

TALENT IN TANDEM. Top-notch musical talents Stefan George and Pat Maloney combine forces for an evening of story and melody. A longtime Tucsonan, George has undergone countless incarnations, from his days with the ornery Brain Damage Orchestra to his current solo work and performances as half of the Arm and Hammer duo.
Maloney hails from northern Arizona, and recently made an appearance at Austin's heavyweight South by Southwest music conference. His latest CD, The Loneliness Birds, has also garnered plenty of praise.
Performance is 8 tonight in the Friends Meeting House, 931 N. Fifth Ave. Tickets are $5, with a $1 discount for Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association, Tucson Blues Society and KXCI members, available at the door. For details, call 624-9006.
SPATIAL BODIES. Founded in 1973, the Pilobolus Dance Theater is known for constantly redefining the possibilities of bodies in space and time, combining dance, drama, acrobatics and sculpture to create fantastic forms out of their own movements. "Pilobolus is that rarity of rarities: a profoundly serious artistic enterprise that has successfully reached out to a popular audience," reports the New York Daily News. "If you've never seen Pilobolus at work, now's the time."
And now's your chance. The current troupe--featuring a half-dozen young dancers--returns to Tucson to celebrate is 25th anniversary with two performances in UA Centennial Hall, located on campus inside the main gate east of Park Avenue.
Pilobolus will offer a full-length performance at 8 tonight. Tickets range from $23 to $36. Tomorrow, the troupe presents a one-hour, no intermission matinee performance at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $10 to $20, half-price for students and children under age 18. All tickets are available at the Centennial Hall box office, Dillard's, the TCC box office, or by calling 621-3341.

Saturday 7

SOUNDS OF TIME. These days he's the reigning granddaddy of that fine all-American sound known as bluegrass music. And tonight, Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys bring their timeless mountain sound to Tucson.
A native of the Virginia hills, Stanley began his career in the late '40s with his brother, Carter. "We were interested in the old-time sound right from the start," Ralph says of the Stanley Brothers. "I don't know anybody else who really sounded like us, except maybe the Carter Family, and a group from North Carolina called Mainer's Mountaineers."
In 1992--some 50 years after they began playing--Ralph and Carter Stanley were inducted into the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Now, at age 70, Ralph continues his 52nd year of singing and playing this special brand of homegrown folk music. Performance is 8 p.m. in the Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. Advance tickets are $14 and $20, and available at Hear's Music, Mars-Hall Music Center and the Folk Shop. Tickets will be $3 more at the door. For information, call 296-6412.
CULTURAL THREADS. Native Seeds/ SEARCH is a Tucson group working to preserve the traditional crops, seeds and farming methods that have long sustained native peoples. Today they enlarge that cultural picture with a weaving presentation by ethnologist and NS/S co-founder Dr. Barney Burns.
For decades Burns worked in Mexico, where he documented and helped stimulate a revival of native dye plant cultivation among the Mayos of southern Sonora and northern Sinaloa. He's also co-author of The Other Southwest: Indian Arts and Crafts of Northwestern Mexico. His slide presentation will include dyes and equipment, a discussion of the current state of weavers and weaving, and plenty of Mayo ethnobotany. Gorgeous Mayo blankets and other craft items will be up for sale.
Presentation runs from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Arizona Historical Society auditorium, 949 E. Second St. Admission is $8, $6 for NS/S members. Call 622-5561 for details.
HAUNTING MELODY. Violinist and UA professor Mark Rush says he got the name for his chamber music ensemble in a rather unusual way. "The seed for Coyote Consort was planted one night while listening to a group of coyotes raising a ruckus not far from our house here in Tucson. An idea for a mixed chamber music ensemble had been brewing for some time, as had the desire to present concerts in a new way...Coyote Consort seeks to program exciting chamber music masterworks, many of which are infrequently heard in live concerts."
Tonight, the group will display its innovative skills with a debut concert at the UA. Besides Rush, the group includes his wife, pianist Tannis Gibson; flutist Judith Pearce; clarinetist Jerry Kirkbride; and cellist Nancy Green.
Performance is 8 tonight in UA Crowder Hall, located in the Music Building at the southwest corner of the pedestrian underpass at Speedway and Park Avenue. Tickets are $20, half-price for students and children under age 18, available at the Centennial Hall box office, the TCC box office, Dillard's, or by calling 621-3341.

Sunday 8

ONE AMONG MANY. Music from the '60s right up through the '90s sets the tone when Singles Unlimited hosts its Singles Dance Parties every Sunday night in Gotham in the New West. Everyone between the ages of 21 and 61 is welcome at these mix-and-match extravaganzas, which also feature free gourmet chow, along with cake and coffee.
Event runs from 6:30 to 1 p.m., with food served between 6:30 and 8 p.m., in Gotham in the New West, 4385 West Ina Road. Admission is $6. Call 888-8002 for details.
SEASONAL SPOTTINGS. Spend an educational day in the lush grasslands of southern Arizona when the Tucson Audubon Society hosts its Winter Sparrow Workshop. You'll learn how to tell different species apart, along with details about their natural history and habitat. And there's a chance you'll also spot hawks, antelope or deer along the way.
Event is $25, $15 for society members. For time, location and other details, call 624-4745.
VISUAL DIARY. Perhaps best known for his ceramic tile and relief art, Andrew Rush prefers to document his travels through the United States, Europe and Mexico with watercolors and a brush. A number of those visual footnotes appear in his new exhibit, Travelogue.
"The medium is easy to take along," Rush says, "and is my way of contemplating the world as I travel...a dimension that photographs never capture."
Exhibit runs through March 1, with an opening reception from 3 to 6 p.m. today, in Las Mañanitas Gallery, 1070 E. Miles St. Regular gallery hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For information, call 388-9911.

Monday 9

AND THE BEAT GOES ON. They've been around since 1957, and prior to the 1980s, their record sales were second only to the Beatles. In the '50s and '60s, they repeatedly landed on the charts with smash hits like "Tom Dooley," "MTA," "Scotch and Soda" and "Worried Man Blues." Now the Kingston Trio bring their eternal sound to Tucson for a pair of performances.
Amazingly enough, the trio still includes original members Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds. Rounding out the vocal group is George Grove, who's been on board since 1976. They're backed by Paul Gabrielson on bass, and Ben Schubert on fiddle and guitar.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow in the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets are $18 and $20, with $1 senior discounts, available at the Arizona Theatre Company box office, Dillard's, or by calling 622-2823.
VISIONS REVEALED. Ever stroll through an art gallery, pausing to gaze thoughtfully at strange and exotic works, only to wonder just what the hell they're supposed to mean?
Well, you're not alone. Luckily, today Tucson Museum of Art Docent Laurie Dryden helps enlighten us on the deeper meaning of it all with a lecture titled Picture, Picture, What are You Saying? She'll discuss the link between emotions and art, and a work's often hidden language.
Free lecture is 1:30 p.m. in the TMA, 140 N. Main Ave. For details, call 624-2333.

Tuesday 10

PUPPET MASTERS. We know they possess enormous resources and vast power. But sometimes it's not clear just how many strings multi-national corporations really pull on the global stage, and how they relentlessly manipulate public opinion.
Award-winning journalist and UA professor Jacqueline Sharkey discusses this troubling state of affairs with a lecture titled Multinational Corporations: How The Media Covers Them and Their Effects Upon U.S. Military Involvement.
She'll review the history of news reporting on global business dealings, and how financial considerations often drive our military adventures. That's no trifling matter, when decisions on how these issues are covered--or whether they're covered all--is made in the boardroom. Such a situation can squash any hope for meaningful discourse, and rock the very foundations of a free and democratic society.
Free lecture is 7 p.m. in the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4831 E. 22nd St. Call 623-8905 for information.

Wednesday 11

FAMILY TIES. The Johnstone twins were separated at birth when their mother was forced to give one of them away. Years later they happen to meet. One wealthy, one poor, and both unaware that they're twins, they become tight friends. Only their eventual rivalry over the same woman threatens to rip apart this latter-day bond in the Arizona Repertory Theatre's production of Willy Russell's Blood Brothers.
Performance is 7:30 tonight in the UA Laboratory Theatre, located in the Drama West Building at the southeast corner of Park Avenue and Speedway. Performances continue at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday through February 28, with 1:30 p.m. matinees on February 15, 21, 22, 28, and March 1. Tickets are $17, $15 for seniors and UA employees, $12 for students, and are available by calling 621-1162.
FEMININE PERSPECTIVE. Nationally recognized authors Pat Mora, Susan Power and Lorraine Lachs will share their personal pilgrimages at Women Writers' Journeys: Real and Imagined, a conference sponsored by the Women's Studies Advisory Council.
Mora writes poetry, nonfiction and children's books. Her most recent works are Aunt Carmen's Book of Practical Saints and House of Houses, and she's known for her powerful Hispanic literary perspective. Susan Power is author of Grass Dancer, a multi-layered portrait of the North Dakota Sioux, and will soon publish her second novel, Strong Heart Society, which centers on the Native American community in Chicago, where she was born and raised.
At age 59, Lorraine Lachs gave up teaching and turned her long-held fascination with China into an engaging novel. Flowers for Mei-Ling explores how Chinese political and historical forces shape the title character and those around her. See the Books section for details.
Together, Mora, Power and Lachs will share their own stories, "reveal the creativity that has kindled the feminine spirit, and acknowledge the joy, anger and sorrow that has given birth to the treasure that is their writing."
Event is 7 p.m. in the Doubletree Hotel, 445 S. Alvernon Way. Cost is $25 per person, and includes a dessert buffet. Tickets are available at the UA Women's Studies office, Antigone Books, The Book Mark, Borders Books and Music, or by calling 621-7338.

City Week includes events selected by Calendar Editor Tim Vanderpool. Event information is accurate as of press time. The Weekly recommends calling event organizers to check for last-minute changes in location, time, price, etc. To have material considered, please send complete information at least 11 days prior to the Thursday issue date to: Tucson Weekly, P.O. Box 2429, Tucson, Arizona 85702, or fax information to 792-2096, or email us at listings@tucsonweekly.com.

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