Arts & Events

THURSDAY, OCT. 8 -more-

The lights go up onstage at the Gaia Center, the chords of a piano are heard (Rona Siddiqui, in the “orchestra” she makes right in front of the stage with her fine accompaniment of the action) and we see a young woman showing us a dance very familiarly while telling a joke. But the joke’s in Brazilian Portuguese. Is it about the dance? Or is she dancing to the joke? Or are joke and dance both expressions of her exuberance, joie de vivre? -more-

The name Julien Duvivier may not immediately register in filmgoers’ minds. Like many other masters of the craft whose mastery extended into many genres—King Vidor and F. W. Murnau, for instance—Duvivier’s varied output did not lend itself to the cult of personality. -more-

When Dreams Are Interrupted, the evocative title of the site-specific dance and multimedia performance that Purple Moon Dance Project will present at the South Berkeley home of the group’s founder, Jill Togawa, Oct. 9 and 10, only hints at the sense of discovery in personal and local community history that Togawa and the other company members have brought to this performance piece since deciding to create something about the real—and long-term—impact of the Japanese-American internment during World War II. -more-

Periodically I see something that is so stupid that I have to reset my stupid gauge, re-evaluate the relative stupidity of all the other things I see, and give all the other builders, handy-folk and homeowners a little more slack because they didn’t perform this particularly odious act. As you may have surmised, I was recently privy to such an act and it is both fascinating and incredibly stupid. So without further ado, I present for you the mysterious, eternally exploding water heater. -more-

THURSDAY, OCT. 8 -more-