TBA Festival 2012: Previews & Picks

Portland’s greatest interdisciplinary festival, TBA Festival, is back in 2012 with some of the most diverse and impressive programming it’s had in years. Check out our picks in dance, theatre, performance, and music for a what’s what in local talent and international ideas.

Sam Green & Yo La Tengo – The Love Song Of R. Buckminster Fuller

Wednesday, September 12th @ 6:30pm and 8:30pm
@ Washington High School (SE Stark, Between 12th and 14th, Portland, OR 97214)
$20 Members / $25 General

Filmmaker Sam Green executes a “live documentary” witha live score by Yo La Tengo, as Green cues images and narrates a film that explores the utopian ethos of theorist and idea-weaver R. Buckminster Fuller. VIVIAN HUA

 

See all PERFORMANCE-related picks

 

Nora Chipumire – Miriam

Friday, September 7th, 8:30pm
Saturday, September 8th, 8:30pm
Portland State University: Lincoln Performance Hall (1620 SW Park, Portland, OR 97201)
$20 Members / $25 General

Zimbabwe-born choreographer Nora Chipaumire and dancer Okwui Okpokwasili explore what it is to be feminine, personally and in society. Chipaumire’s style is both rigid and delicate, befitting of true feminine ideals. VIVIAN HUA

 

See all DANCE-related picks

 

Brainstorm / Sahel Sounds – Global And Mobile Pop

Monday, September 10th @ 10:30pm
@ Washington High School (SE Stark, Between 12th and 14th, Portland, OR 97214)
$5 Members / $7 General

Local hyperpop band Brainstorm and African-inspired label Sahel Sounds curate an evening of projections, media, music performances, and more in a diverse celebration of cultural influences.This comes after Sahel Sounds and Brainstorm’s collaboration and 7″, where Brainstorm covered the music of Mdou Moctar. VIVIAN HUA

 

See all MUSIC-related picks

 

DANCE (cont’d)

Ten Tiny Dances

Saturday, September 8th @ 10:30pm
$10 Members / $15 General (Advance tickets with guaranteed seats available.)

This one-time event is an eternal favorite of TBA Festival. International, national, and local dancers perform intricate dances on a 4×4 foot stage, guaranteeing a sold out show every time. VIVIAN HUA

 

Kota Yamazaki / Fluid Hug-Hug – (glowing)

Sunday, September 9th @ 8:30pm
Portland State University: Lincoln Performance Hall (1620 SW Park, Portland, OR 97201)
$20 Members / $25 General

This exploration of Japanese dancer Kota Yamazaki’s butoh training brings together six dancers from around the world to bring together, without words, avant-garde and traditional ideas. Also follows with an amazing workshop in butoh, which takes place at Conduit Dance on Friday, September 7th at 10:00am. VIVIAN HUA

 

Faustin Linyekula / Studios Kabako – Le Cargo

Thursday, September 13th @ 6:30pm
Friday, September 14th @ 6:30pm
Saturday, September 15th @ 6:30pm
@ Winningstad Theatre Portland Center For The Performing Arts
$20 Members / $25 General

Congolese dancer Faustin Linyekula channels the deep-rooted hurt of his native country and turns them into hopeful movements with Le Cargo, his first solo dance performance. VIVIAN HUA

 

Chelfitsch – Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner, and the Farewell Speech

Friday, September 14th @ 6:30pm
Saturday, September 15th @ 6:30pm
@ Washington High School (SE Stark, Between 12th and 14th, Portland, OR 97214)
$20 Members / $25 General / All Ages

In this uniquely Japanese theatre performance, Chelfitsch uses three vignettes to explore the underpinnings of daily work life in Japan. Abdurdist humor and bizarre body movements abound in this 65-minute feature. VIVIAN HUA


PERFORMANCE (cont’d)

Ant Hampton & Tim Etchells – The Quiet Volume

Thursday, September 6th, 11:20-3:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
Friday, September 7th, 11:20-3:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
Saturday, September 8th, 11:20-3:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
Sunday, September 9th, 12:20-3:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
Tuesday, September 11th, 11:20-7:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
Wednesday, September 12th, 11:20-7:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
Thursday, September 13th, 11:20-3:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
Friday, September 14th, 11:20-3:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
Saturday, September 15th, 11:20-3:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
Sunday, September 16th, 12:20-3:40pm (Starts every 20 minutes.)
@ Multnomah County Library (801 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR 97205)
$8 Members / $10 General / All Ages

Quiet Volume explores “the strange magic at the heart of reading” through an internal
experience at Multnomah County Library. It’s hard to imagine what Hampton and
Etchells have in store for their two-person-at-a-time audiences. JAMIE WAECHLI

 

Andrew Dickson – Life Coach

Saturday, September 8th, 1:30-2:30pm
Saturday, September 8th, 3:30-4:30pm
Sunday, September 9th, 1:30-2:30pm
Sunday, September 9th, 3:30-4:30pm
Saturday, September 15th, 1:30-2:30pm
Saturday, September 15th, 3:30-4:30pm
Sunday, September 16th, 1:30-2:30pm
Sunday, September 16th, 3:30-4:30pm
@ The Mark Spencer Hotel Ballroom (409 SW 11th Avenue, Portland, OR 97205)
FREE / All Ages

Nowadays, who wouldn’t benefit from a little life coaching? Andrew Dickson offers a series of free public one-on-one coaching sessions. Anyone looking for guidance can apply to be one of Dickson’s subjects. Interested parties should email tbalifecoach@gmail.com. JAMIE WAECHLI

 

Biljana Kosmogina, Petra Kovacic, East Rodeo – Perforations

Monday, September 10th, 8:30-10:30pm
Tuesday, September 11th, 8:30-10:30pm
@ Washington High School (SE Stark, Between 12th and 14th, Portland, OR 97214)
$15 Members / $20 General / All Ages (Pass holder reservations required.)

Perforations offers the unique opportunity to see contemporary Serbian and Croatian
artists engage in a trio of site-specific performances. JAMIE WAECHLI

 

Keith Hennessy/Circo Zero – Turbulence (a dance about the economy)

Tuesday, September 11th, 8:30-9:45pm
Wednesday, September 12th, 8:30-9:45pm
Thursday, September 13th, 8:30-9:45pm
Friday, September 14th, 8:30-9:45pm
@ Imago Theatre (17 SE 8th Ave., Portland, OR 97214)
$20 Members / $25 General / All Ages

It’s not everyday that relevant political issues are explored through dance. Don’t miss
your chance to see the financial crisis embodied through Keith Hennessy’s Circo Zero. JAMIE WAECHLI

 

Gob Squad – Gob Squad’s Kitchen (You’ve Never Had it So Good)

Thursday, September 13th, 8:30-10:30pm
Friday, September 14th, 8:30-10:30pm
Saturday, September 15th, 8:30-10:30pm
Portland State University: Lincoln Performance Hall (1620 SW Park, Portland, OR 97201)
$25 Members / $30 General / All Ages

Watch the Berlin based performers of Gob Squad question authenticity and incite audience participation through their re-creation of Andy Warhol’s 1965 film Kitchen. JAMIE WAECHLI

 

Thu Tran – The Yes And No of Blacklight Food

Friday, September 14th @ 10:30pm
@ Washington High School (SE Stark, Between 12th and 14th, Portland, OR 97214)
$5 Members / $7 Genera

Host of the bizarre hyper-colored cooking show on IFC, FOOD PARTY, Thu Tran decided recently to hold everything she ate under blacklight. See the results via cooking demonstrations and dizzying documentation of her findings. VIVIAN HUA

 

Laurie Anderson – Dirtday!

Sunday, September 16th, 7:30-9pm
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall: Portland Center for the Performing Arts (1037 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205)
$15-75 / All Ages

Celebrate TBA’s tenth anniversary at the closing event of the festival with the sounds and stories of internationally recognized performance artist Laurie Anderson. JAMIE WAECHLI

 


MUSIC (cont’d)

Parenthetical Girls, Et Al. – (((GRRRLS)))

Wednesday, September 12th @ 10:30pm
@ Washington High School (SE Stark, Between 12th and 14th, Portland, OR 97214)
$5 Members / $7 General

Experimental pop musicians Parenthetical Girls pull in choreographer Allie Hankins, musicians Golden Retriever, and artist Jherek Bischoff in this large-scale interdisciplinary piece that pulls some ideas from a recent video shoot. Anything most likely goes. VIVIAN HUA

 

Claudia Meza – Listening to Space: Sonic City PDX

Saturday, September 15th @ 5:30pm
Water Avenue Project Lot
FREE

Local musician Claudia Meza (Explode Into Colors, Japanther) brings together local musicians and sound artists in an audio tour of naturally-occurring sounds in Portland. This ten-day installation, based off QR codes, ends with a live outdoor performance featuring music by local ambient, experimental, and electronic artists like Daniel Menche, Luke Wyland of AU, Matt Carlson of Golden Retriever, Eric Mast (E*Rock), and more, including Meza herself. VIVIAN HUA

Music is all around us if only we had ears. There would be no need for concert halls if man could only learn to enjoy the sounds which envelop him, for example at 7th and Broadway at 4:00 p.m. on a rainy day.John Cage

 

Voices And Echoes – Akio Suzuki, Gozo Yoshimasu, and Otomo Yoshihide

Sunday, September 16th @ 5:00pm
Portland State University: Lincoln Performance Hall (1620 SW Park, Portland, OR 97201)
$15 Members / $20 General

Japanese experimental artists explore experiences in a bizarre cross of genres and artistic disciplines. Poet Gozo Yoshimasu reads his work alongside contemporary noise artist Otomo Yoshihide and Akio Suzuki performs solo on arcane instruments. VIVIAN HUA

 

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Written by
Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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