Author: Liam Otten

Modern dance solos and duets will share the stage with hip hop, ballet, flamenco, West African and classical Indian dance when Washington University presents Dance CloseUp Sept. 6-8. The intimate, informal concert — which has helped launch St. Louis’ fall performing arts season since 1995 — showcases new and original works by dance faculty in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences.

Good design can be many things: a book, a poster, a smart phone. But increasingly, designers are being asked not only to create objects, but to address large-scale social problems, from poverty to sustainability to eating disorders. In September, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts will launch its fall Public Lecture Series with two speakers, Jon Kolko and Cynthia E. Smith, who are rethinking the role of contemporary design.

How do you recreate a live event? It’s a pressing question in many fields, as scholars, historians and arts institutions struggle to archive and preserve choreography, performances, installations and other works that, by their nature, can be fleeting.In September, Washington University in St. Louis will present Reperformance, an interdisciplinary symposium exploring the means, methods and difficulties of restaging live work. ​

Graham Paul, consul general of France in Chicago, will discuss “France and the Future of Europe” at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19. Immediately following the lecture, Paul — on behalf of the French government — will formally recognize WUSTL alumna Elizabeth Gentry Sayad as a Chevalier (knight) of L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

WUSTL’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and Tarlton Corporation will build a sample “intelligent house” next to the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Aug. 18. The project comes as part of preparations for Design with the Other 90%: CITIES, a major survey exhibition illustrating the profound, transformative and sometimes lifesaving power of innovative design.

“What do I want?” asks Jane Eyre. “A new place, in a new house, amongst new faces, under new circumstances.” Annie Loui sympathizes. Since the early 1980s, the St. Louis native has created ambitious theatrical hybrids for prestigious venues around the nation. On Sept. 7 and 8, Loui will return to St. Louis and launch the 2012-13 Edison Ovations Series with an original adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s beloved novel.

Solar lanterns. Bicycle-powered cell phone chargers. A personal water-purifier the size of a large straw. Today, some of the world’s most creative, challenging and sophisticated design is found not in museums or showrooms, but in the poor, makeshift urban settlements that collectively house nearly a billion people. This fall, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present Design with the Other 90%: CITIES, a major survey that aims to expand contemporary definitions of just what constitutes “good design.”

Three local arts organizations will team up to host Contemporary Night Out, an evening of short, informative programs focusing on the world of contemporary art. The free event, which takes place from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2, will begin at Washington University’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, then proceed to the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis in Grand Center before ending next door at The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. Each stop will feature food and drinks as well as a short interactive presentation.

As a medium, drawing lends itself to the theoretical and experimental. This fall, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis will present Notations: Contemporary Drawing as Idea and Process, an exhibition of more than 60 Minimalist, Conceptual and Post-Minimalist works by 39 artists, dating from the late 1950s to today. Drawn primarily from the renowned collection of Sally and Wynn Kramarsky, the exhibition focuses on practices that emerged during the postwar period — a time of great innovation in drawing — yet which continue to influence contemporary practitioners.

Talk about climbing the walls. In Leo, the gravity-defying new show from Berlin’s Circle of Eleven, the acrobatic star, Tobias Wegner, is trapped in a room seemingly absent the laws of physics. Leo is one of two striking works of physical theatre set to launch Washington University in St. Louis’ 2012-13 Edison Ovations Series this fall. In all, the season will feature 14 events by nationally and internationally known dance, theatre and musical artists.