THIS WEEK IN DAVIS

MUSIC
The Souterrain
Friday, 8 p.m., free
202 E Street
Known for their sweet folksy sound, local band The Souterrain will play a free show at the chic Riki Design on E street. The band is made up of Laura Norton on vocals, Sham Shirley on guitar, David Sachs on double-bass and Kelsey Brewer on percussion. Support local music and businesses by checking out this event.

The Lascivious Career of B Flat: Expressing Gender and Sex in Early Music
Monday, 4 p.m., free
Room 266, Everson Hall
In this free event on campus, the music department is putting on a night of music which focuses on the theatrical explanations to the B-flat note through Renaissance repertoire. Musicologist Dr. Bonnie J. Blackburn will be hosting the event and holding discussions on the various topics.

AT THE MOVIES
A Clockwork Orange
Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., free
Chemistry 194
Entertainment Council presents the free screening of A Clockwork Orange. The 1971 film, which is considered a cult classic, was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. The film analyzes topics of social, political and economic issues associated with government and culture. Warning: the film features violent images and explicit material.

THEATER/MONDAVI
Salaam Bombay
Monday, 7 p.m., $5
Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center
Salaam Bombay is a film which depicts the lives of street children living the in tough social, political and economic state in Bombay (today known as Mumbai, India). Krishna is the main character. Through various struggles, he learns to survive on the harsh streets where he is exposed to issues of prostitution and the drug market. This film won an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film in 1989.

ART/GALLERY
Comfort and Joy: A Celebration of Fiber Art
Today to Nov. 29, Mon-Sat 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fri 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sun noon to 5 p.m., free
The Artery Gallery, 207 G Street
The Artery Gallery celebrates an understated medium: fiber. The exhibition will feature works such as hand-knitted hats and silk scarves. Featured artists include Lucy B. Della Rosa, Chris Dewees, Lisa Erskine, Julia Kehew, Marjan Kluepfel, Robin Lynde, Sharon McCallum, Vicki Plutchok, Jan Schubert, Connie Taxiera and Sara Helen Yost. Each artist shows their own unique style through their manipulation with fiber as a choice medium.

LITERATURE
Oak Grove Community Cypher
Friday, 4 p.m., free
The Oak Grove Gazebo, Arboretum
Spoken word and ciphering has become a large part of the Davis community. And better yet, its growing quickly. Arguably a branch extending from UCD spoken word group Sick Spits, the Oak Grove Community Cypher group will host their weekly ciphering session Friday. Go with an open mind and you’ll be in for a real treat.

UYEN CAO can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

The last words uttered by the crazed Roman Emperor Nero, before he took his life, were “Qualis artifex pereo.” For the many Latin illiterates out there, a rough English translation would be somewhere along the lines of “What an artist the world loses in me.” With today’s weak economy and numerous budget cuts, there really is a serious loss of artists as many of them would rather trade their passion for a more financially stable path, like a nursing degree. In addition, local school districts with a lack of funding due to budget cuts simply can’t afford to provide as many artistic outlets as they would like for their students to explore.

The theatre and dance department here at UC Davis has come up with a way to combat that problem. The T&D department just launched the Institute for Explorations in Theatre, Dance and Performance this year and it is currently accepting applications from interested students, as well as any staff or faulty member on campus, until Nov. 21.

Professor Lynette Hunter, chair of the theatre and dance department, sees IETDP as a grand opportunity for Davis students to take advantage of.

“The idea behind the Institute is to encourage an understanding of these activities as producing creative insight and new knowledge that contributes to the mission of universities to open up new ways of understanding each other and the world,” Hunter said. “We believe people need to be encouraged to see the areas of theatre, dance and performance as valuable to culture and society as a whole.”

The new program was originally conceived by faculty member, Professor David Grenke, a former principal dancer at the Paul Taylor Dance Company and choreographer. Grenke’s idea for the program was that it would have a dual purpose: for students to not only have an outlet to perform, but also to use it as a research activity in the department and on campus.

Professor Jon Rossini, a popular faculty member of the theatre and dance department gave more information about Grenke’s goal of intertwining performance with research.

“The hope is that it will draw attention to the intersections of research and performance, provide opportunities for individuals outside of theatre and dance, and advance the thinking about performance as a mode of doing research,” Rossini said.

Hunter further elaborates on what she, as well as the entire department, hopes students can gain from the Institute.

“On a really basic level the Institute is there to get students, faculty and staff from all over the campus involved in theatre, dance and performance,” Hunter said. “The Institute is a departmental response to this interest, to open up our facilities and knowledge to a much wider audience.”

Applicants don’t have to have years of training in any art form, but are advised to at least be familiar with theatre, dance, or performance so that they can have a clear idea of what type of art research they’d like to pursue.

“I think that the Institute offers a unique laboratory environment in which artists can feel safe to experiment and explore with concepts and ideas without feeling constrained by ticket sales, audience review or by failure,” said Production Manager Eric Steggall. “As part of the application process, the applicant specifies what they need from us and if it requires no audience attendance, if they simply need a room to rehearse in then that is what we provide.”

There are about two more weeks before applications are due on Nov. 21.

“We encourage everyone interested to apply, and since this is the first year of running, ask that you also be patient. We have to work around the Season of the Department to release facilities. We hope things will run smoothly, and are open to surprises,” Hunter said.

More information and guidelines for applying can be found at http://theatredance.ucdavis.edu/events/itdp.aspx.

MICHELLE RUAN can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

In review
J. Edgar
Opens Friday at Regal Davis Stadium 5, 420 G St.
Run time: 137 minutes
Rated R
*** ½ stars

J. Edgar Hoover is one of those unfortunate political figures to whom history has not been especially kind. Is it possible to truly understand anything about a guy who bounces back and forth between paranoid Communist-phobe and cross-dresser in the public eye? But surely there must have been a man behind the mockery. At least, that’s what director Clint Eastwood would have you believe in his skillful, emotional biopic J. Edgar.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the misunderstood title character, aging 50 years in the process with the help of some seriously heavy-duty makeup. The story moves as a series of flashbacks, switching between an aging Hoover dictating his memoirs in the 1970s and a young Hoover rising to power as the groundbreaking director of the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1930s.

But make no mistake — this is not the story of J. Edgar Hoover, Crime Fighter. Rather, it is the relationship between Hoover and his longtime associate Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer, best known as the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network) that serves as the emotional and narrative core of the film.

Hoover agrees to interview Tolson for a position on his staff after his letter of recommendation announces that he has “no interest in women.” And when Tolson agrees to take the job on the condition that the two never miss a lunch or dinner together, Hoover breaks into a rare smile and says he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Current opinions about Hoover’s sexuality, and the true nature of his relationship to Tolson, range from denial (by Hoover himself) to assertions by historians that Hoover was gay. Regardless, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) and Eastwood treat Hoover and Tolson’s friendship with more tenderness and understanding than most filmmakers treat heterosexual relationships. The moment when the two men are forced to come to terms with their love, and what to do with it, is heartbreaking.

Leonardo DiCaprio proves yet again, as he did in The Aviator and Catch Me If You Can, that he knows his way around a biopic. His Hoover is socially awkward and baffling neurotic, and he does a fine job recreating Hoover’s overly formal accent.

But if DiCaprio is good, then Hammer is great as the lovestruck, loyal Tolson. With a single look and smile, we learn everything we need to know about his feelings for Hoover. Here is a fresh face in Hollywood worth looking out for.

Eastwood, forever in our hearts as “The Man With No Name” in 1960s and ‘70s Westerns, has experienced somewhat of a rebirth in the last 10 years as a director. His films, like Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, Invictus and Flags of our Fathers, often feature an older man in crisis. Does he use himself for inspiration?

Fans of Eastwood’s work will recognize J. Edgar’s gray-blue color palette, unhurried pace and piano score. It’s all very well-suited to Black’s understated but powerful screenplay. But he and Eastwood make a noticeable error. In centering the film on Hoover and Tolson’s relationship, they neglect explanation of Hoover’s incessant Communist-hunting, wiretapping and secret-file-keeping — the sources of Hoover’s tarnished public image. Hoover’s mother (The incomparable Dame Judi Dench) is meddling and prejudiced herself. But is she to blame? Hard to tell. The film offers virtually no other explanations.

Still, I remind myself that this is not Hoover, the Crime Fighter’s movie. I cannot imagine such a moving, sensitive film about a romantic relationship between two men being possible even 20 years ago. For that reason alone, history owes J. Edgar another look.

ERIN MIGDOL can be reached at features@theaggie.org.