Shows, speaker events, live music and more to check out in Davis this March
By JACOB ANDERSON — arts@theaggie.org
“On the Slant – A Mini-Symposium” (Manetti Shrem Museum, Friday, March 4, 11 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.):
This symposium explores the curious fame of a step stool purchased at a thrift store in 1965. William T. Wiley and Bruce Nauman, enamored by the eponymously slanted object, spurred an artistic movement among those who found something beautiful and inexplicable in it, culminating in a 1966 exhibition at San Francisco’s Berkeley Gallery, which brought national notoriety to the stool. The symposium will accompany an exhibition at the museum titled “William T. Wiley and the Slant Step: All on the Line.” If you can’t make it in person, they are also offering a virtual livestream of the event.
“Clouds from a Crumbling Giant” (Wright Hall, March 3 through March 5):
This upcoming collaborative piece between Granada Artist-in-Residence Shinichi Iova-Koga and the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance promises to be a musical experience that “follows the birth and death of a species, an empire, a universe, a flower,” according to the show’s website. “Time unfolds on stage like a wheel revolving, seeming to follow a path that becomes the snake eating its own tail. Behind the curtain, vibrations emerge to shape the earth, the rocks, the people.” Iova-Koga, the director of the physical theater and dance company inkBoat, fuses elements of Japanese and Chinese stage tradition, from Noh theater to Daoist internal arts, in his works. This new production promises to innovate even further — check it out.
“UC Davis Symphony Orchestra: ‘Pastoral Moods’” (Jackson Hall, Sunday, March 5, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.):
Come see UC Davis’ orchestra if you’ve got an itch for something classical: Christian Baldini, director and conductor, will be leading our own musicians in Antonín Dvořák’s “Symphony No. 8” and the premiere of Miguel Farías’ “Violin Concerto.” If you haven’t had the opportunity to catch the university’s orchestra yet, this is a fantastic chance to see what the buzz is about.
Bill Smith Lecture: ACLU Staff Attorney Taylor Brown (UC Davis School of Law, Wednesday, March 9, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.):
Taylor Brown, an attorney with the ACLU specializing in LGBTQ matters, will be speaking later this month at the School of Law. Brown fights against discrimination towards transgender people in employment, schools and health care, pushing back against decades of embedded transphobia in America’s public institutions. She has also helped support and defend those living with HIV. Her talk is sure to be interesting, and will also be available online on March 9.
“Tremble Staves” (UC Davis Arboretum, Saturday, March 12, 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.):
UC Davis’ Department of Music will be offering a unique performance on March 12. “Tremble Staves,” a multi-movement work by Raven Chacon, will move between various locations in Davis in a narrative inspired by Navajo creation stories. Numerous instruments will be on display, including dowsing rods, broken mirrors, an amplified fishing rod, an oxygen tank and even water. The performance will be free, so anyone interested in the unique experience will have the opportunity to attend.
Written by: Jacob Anderson — arts@theaggie.org
