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'The 400 Bar hosted White Elephant earlier in December in a vaudeville, mixed-media performance incorporating dance, sketch comedy and theater. This time around, Lance Conrad and his dark rockers return to the stage with a one-track mind, and that is to offer some of the most intriguing and experimental beat-driven music the Twin Cities has yet to know. Between Conrad’s hypnotic vocals and the band’s eerie compositions, White Elephant is equal parts stunning and frightening.'~ Chris Koza, Pulse 'Is it short-attention-span syndrome, or are variety shows popping up all over town because you can get three or more art forms for the price of one ticket? The 400 Bar in Minneapolis is the latest surprising venue to try mixing live-performance genres with next Saturday's 'Vaudeville Laundry.' The show includes dance pieces by young choreographer Hannah Kramer, experimental rock by White Elephant (formerly the Alpha Centauri) and Brown Moses, and comedy theater by NOW.
Not exactly standard fare for the 400, a smallish West Bank mainstay for local rock acts. Owner Tom Sullivan said he likes trying offbeat events.
'We've had good crowds with unusual things,' he said. 'T.C. Boyle did a reading a couple of years ago. We had a classical cellist come and play straight-up Beethoven without the P.A. on Halloween a couple years ago, and it sold out. We've even done opera. People sometimes like seeing something different than they expect.'
Something like, say, dancers who make their moves all over the bar?
'Part of it's about crossing boundaries between the stage and the audience, taking it to dark parts of the bar you don't usually notice,' said Kramer, co-organizer of Vaudeville Laundry. 'We're also going to be drawing on a whole different type of audience -- people who go to rock shows.'
Kramer, who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2003 with a double major in dance and English, creates dances that comment on contemporary society. Her senior year, she used a treadmill in a piece performed at the U's Barbara Baker Center.
At the 400, two of Kramer's dances, both duets, were choreographed directly to fit the confined spaces in which they will be performed, a back corner of the bar and a ledge. The third is a group piece that, in keeping with the venue, 'is a commentary on the rock-star persona and rock culture,' she said.'~ Kristin Tillotson, Star Tribune |
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