DANCE
Ballet Arkansas company members show off “Bold New Moves,” 6:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday at Argenta Plaza, 510 Main St., North Little Rock. The program features three world premieres choreographed by company members David Cummings, Deanna Stanton, Kerridwyn Schanck, Meredith Loy and Murray McCormack, “to music from Arkansas recording artists, classical composers, indie-folk rock and electronica,” according to a news release, and, new this year, a question-and-answer session. North Little Rock Tourism is the co-sponsor. Food trucks will vend “libations and culinary delights,” according to a news release. Admission is free. Visit balletarkansas.org or facebook.com/events/1160720628476471/1163888838159650.
The ballet performances coincide with Argenta Dogtown Throwdown, 4-10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, during which Main Street from Broadway to Fifth Street in North Little Rock is closed for outdoor dining and entertainment. Visit northlittlerock.org.
MUSIC
Men’s Chorus opener
The River City Men’s Chorus performs “The Music of Craig Courtney,” 3 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, at St. James United Methodist Church, 321 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock, and 3 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Mabee Fine Arts Center at Ouachita Baptist University, 410 Ouachita Ave., Arkadelphia. Courtney will conduct his “Ukrainian Alleluia” and “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” a commissioned piece by the chorus honoring conductor David A. Glaze. Admission is free. Doors open one hour prior to the performance and seating fills up quickly. Call (501) 377-1080 or visit rivercitymenschorus.com.
The Dalí Quartet — (from left) Jesús Morales, cello; Carlos Rubio, violin; Adriana Linares, viola; and Ari Isaacman-Beck, violin — performs Thursday at Little Rock’s Christ Episcopal Church. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
Quartet concert
The Dalí Quartet — Ari Isaacman-Beck and Carlos Rubio, violins; Adriana Linares, viola; and Jesús Morales, cello — open the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock’s 2024-25 season, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Little Rock’s Christ Episcopal Church, 509 Scott St. The program: String Quartet No. 1 in d minor by Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga; Suite Latina for String Quartet by Juan R. Ramírez; and the String Quartet No. 14 in c-sharp minor, op.131, by Ludwig van Beethoven. Admission is $25, free for students of all ages. Visit chambermusicLR.com.
The Muses Project’s “Opera Classics Mix: Sing to Love” features music from operas “La Traviata,” “La Boheme” “Madame Butterfly” and “Carmen” and musicals including “Les Miserables,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “The Secret Garden,” Thursday in Texarkana, Friday in Hot Springs Village and Saturday and Sunday in Hot Springs. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
‘Opera Classics Mix’
The Muses Project presents its fall opera concert, “Opera Classics Mix: Sing to Love,” featuring music from Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata,” Giacomo Puccini’s “La Boheme” and “Madame Butterfly,” Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” and modern-day musicals including “Les Miserables,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “The Secret Garden”:
◼️ 7 p.m. Thursday, Cabe Hall, Texarkana Regional Arts & Humanities Center, 321 W. Fourth St., Texarkana. Call (903) 792-8681 for tickets and information.
◼️ 7 p.m. Friday, Woodlands Auditorium, 1101 DeSoto Blvd., Hot Springs Village.
◼️ 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Muses Cultural Arts Center, 428 Orange St., Hot Springs.
Tickets for the Hot Springs and Hot Springs Village concerts are $35. Call (501) 609-9811 or visit themusesproject.org.
ART
Art market, open mic
Dogtown Creatives, which, according to a news release, is “a meet-up for artists, writers and creatives of all kinds that encourages networking and growth,” holds its inaugural Argenta Library Art Market and Open Mic 6-8 p.m. Friday at the Argenta Library, 420 Main St., North Little Rock. It’s a collaboration with Beautywood Books. The event will also feature an open mic at which area writers and performers can share their work. Admission is free. Call (501) 758-1720 or visit NLRlibrary.org.
“A word for what binds,” 2022, oil and charcoal on canvas by Angela Fraleigh, and “Victory Lap,” 2019, acrylic and paper on canvas by Vitus Shell, are on display through Nov. 20 at Arkansas State University’s Bradbury Art Museum in Jonesboro. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
A-State exhibitions
Three exhibitions open with a 5-6:30 p.m. reception Thursday at the Bradbury Art Museum, Arkansas State University’s Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro:
◼️ “Contemporary Classic,” paintings by Vitus Shell of Black community members that pairs Byzantine icons with collaged 20th-century advertisements; “photoshop-esque” distortions and “postmodernist absurdity” to form a whimsical take on the royal portrait by Carlos Gámez de Francisco; reimagining of women from historical paintings by Angela Fraleigh; paintings of masculine “dudes” posed in the same positions as French oriental odalisques by Klaire Lockheart; and a video titled “Impossible Sites” by Ayam Waldo that layers Mesopotamian artifacts with footage from the Persian Gulf War.
◼️ “Meaningful Disruption” and “Overture,” portrait photography by Chantal Lesley and Benry Fauna.
Shell will give an artist talk at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, preceding the reception.
Admission to the reception and exhibitions is free. The shows will remain up through Nov. 20. Museum hours are noon-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. Call (870) 972-3434 or visit BradburyArtMuseum.org.
Katherine Strause’s portrait of “Sister” Rosetta Tharpe and Virmarie DePoyster’s portrait of “Candace” are on display through Oct. 16 at the South Arkansas Arts Center in El Dorado. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
El Dorado exhibitions
The South Arkansas Arts Center, 110 E. Fifth St., El Dorado, holds a reception, 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday for two exhibitions:
◼️ “From Almeda To Zilphia: Arkansas Women Who Transformed American Popular Song,” oil paintings of 30 Arkansas women who have had a significant impact on the music world by Little Rock artist Katherine Strause, in the Lobby Gallery.
Strause’s portraits, which include figures from gospel (Sister Rosetta Tharpe), opera (Marjorie Lawrence), blues (Sippie Wallace), folk ballads (Almeda Riddle), dance-pop (Beth Ditto), classical (Florence Price) and country (K.T. Oslin), are also featured in a new book published by Et Alia Press. The center will host “An A-Z Evening,” a celebration of the book, at 7 p.m. Oct. 3 that includes stories and songs from the book, a book signing and refreshments. Seating is limited. Tickets are $15, $10 for center members, free for students.
◼️ “Beyond Labels,” pastel portraits by Virmarie DePoyster, in the Merkle and Price Galleries.
Both exhibitions are on display through Oct. 16. Center hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Admission is free. Call (870) 862-5474 or visit saac-arts.org.
Pine Bluff’s ARTx3 Campus hosts Tinkerfest 2024 Saturday. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
ETC.
Tinkerfest I
Little Rock’s Museum of Discovery, 500 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, is hosting its 13th annual Tinkerfest, a daylong event “celebrating the creative, hands-on, do-it-yourself spirit that sparks curiosity and innovation,” according to a news release, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. The event will include a variety of interactive stations at which participants can build with recycled materials, experiment with circuits and robotics, create art from everyday objects and engage in crafting and building options. Admission is $12, $10 for children. Presenting sponsor is Kiewit-Massman Construction. Visit museumofdiscovery.org or tinkerfest.org.
Tinkerfest II
Engineer and launch rockets and build hovercrafts and flying saucers at Tinkerfest: Liftoff, 1-3 p.m. Saturday at The ARTSpace on Main’s ART Yard, 623 S. Main St., Pine Bluff. Sponsor is the Pine Bluff Area Community Foundation. Admission is free. Call (870) 536-3375.
