Weekend Best Bets
Dancers have high-stepped, waltzed and boogied on the old hardwood floor in the ballroom at the Elk's Lodge for almost a century. This weekend, dozens of dancers will stomp, shuffle and slide to the drums and singing of the Gathering of the Tribes.
The powwow will feature 16 performers from New Mexico with the group Black Eagle and another large group, the Northwest Medicine Horse Singers from the Yakima tribe in Washington. Yupik and Athabaskan dancers from Mount Edgecumbe High School will bring their styles to Juneau as well. Brycene Neaman of the Medicine Horse Singers will be featured as a flutist and hoop dancer.
In addition to the drumming, dancing and singing, arts and crafts tables will be set up and fry bread and Indian tacos will be served.
The gathering is open to all and starts at 6 tonight and runs to midnight. Saturday the powwow will go all day, from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Admission is $10.
Violinist Gilles Apap returns to Juneau for his fourth performance, this time with the Colors of Invention. The group features accordion, bass and cymbalum, which is a large hammer dulcimer-like instrument.
I've seen Apap several times and come away from each concert completely satisfied. His playing is masterful and seemingly effortless. He is charismatic and entertaining on stage and he makes classical music accessible.
A friend told me he thought Apap was a little out of line to name his band the Colors of Invention; he thought it seemed disrespectful to Frank Zappa - of the Mothers of Invention. I'm sure the similarity is not lost on Apap, but there's no disrespect intended. It is an appropriate name.
Apap has arranged some classical pieces, particularly Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" for this new, unusual configuration of instruments. These provide new "colors" for the compositions. These musicians are a little too high-caliber for this to be a gimmick, and it promises to be a good concert. The ensemble also suits other styles, and Apap plans to include some Gypsy music and waltzes.
There will be two shows, at 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, at Northern Light Church. The concerts are sponsored by the Alaska Folk Festival and tickets are $20 at the door.
"The Winter's Tale" runs two more weekends at Perseverance Theatre. You get your money's worth - "The Winter's Tale" is almost three hours long and gives you two plays in one. The first half offers an intense drama with a jealous and half-crazed king abusing his power and his family; the second half is like a classic fairy tale.
The acting is very good and passages of dialogue are phenomenal. Guest designer Laurent Berger has given the play a sort of "Forbidden Planet" meets '80s Robert Palmer rock video look, the way someone in the 1960s might have imagined people in the 21st century would be doing Shakespeare.
"The Winter's Tale" runs tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m. The final show is 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2.
Singer and songwriter Sarah Hanson performs from 7-9 tonight at the Back Room at the Silverbow. Hanson grew up in Juneau and has made a couple of recordings of her original songs. She's been out of town for the past year and a half and this is a nice chance to see her perform. She'll be joined by a few back up musicians.
Northern Light United Church is sponsoring a coffeehouse, it hopes with live music and other performers, beginning tonight at the church on 11th Street. Organizer Greg Boettner said he hopes to provide an alcohol- and smoke-free environment for folks on Friday nights. He'd like to get performers to sign up in advance and schedule the entertainment. Tonight he has coffee but no one committed to perform, so he's planning more of an open mike scene. The event, from 9 p.m.-1 a.m., is not religious or evangelical, he said. To sign up or learn more call 586-3131.
Riley Woodford can be reached at rileyw@juneauempire.com.