Events Search
Beach Blanket Babylon
Jazz, Lounge & Cabaret, Rock & Pop, Dance-Performance Fridays, 8 p.m., Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m., Sundays, 2 & 5 p.m., Wednesdays, 8 p.m. and Thursdays, 8 p.m.415-421-4222
Science on a Sphere (SOS)
Museums Ongoing510-642-5133
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Dance-Performance Sun., March 14, 3 p.m.510-642-9988
One night in 1958, a curious crowd filled New York's 92nd Street Young Men's Hebrew Association to watch Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's first performance. Little did audience members know they were witnessing the birth of a national treasure. The de facto ambassadors of American modern dance return next week for their annual residency at Cal Performances, where their emotionally and physically powerful dancing wins jubilant ovations. This year's tour honors the twenty-year tenure of artistic director Judith Jamison, who took the helm after Ailey's untimely passing in 1989 and will retire next year. Three mixed bills include a trio of Bay Area premieres along with Hymn, Jamison's Emmy Award-winning tribute to Ailey. The beloved Revelations closes each performance. Visit CalPerfs.Berkeley.edu for date-specific programming. At Zellerbach Hall (Bancroft Ave. at Telegraph Ave., Berkeley) Tuesday-Sunday, Mar. 9-14. Tue.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sat. 2 p.m.; Sun. 3 p.m.; $36-$62. 510-642-9988 or AlvinAiley.org
$36-$62Beyond Gravity
Dance-Performance Sun., March 14, 3 p.m.510-841-6500
While most dancers strive to overcome gravity, the aerial dancers of Isabel von Rittburg'sAscenDance Project attempt to deny its existence. Their stage is a climbing wall, and their technique demands astonishing physical gifts and intrepid disavowal of Newtown's law of gravity. As the dancer/climbers lift each other with beautifully defined arms, then furl and unfurl using breathtaking core strength -- not a rope in sight -- they take performance into new dimensions. For two weekends at the Ashby Stage (1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley), the East Bay troupe will scale the heights, and plumb the depths, in Beyond Gravity, its first home season after several years of performing at arts festivals and corporate events across the country. If you dare, try aerial dance for yourself in one of their workshops. Fridays-Saturdays, Mar. 5-6 and Mar. 12-13, 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Mar. 14, 3 p.m.; $10-$25. 510-225-8844 or AscenDanceProject.com
$10, $20, $25Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Dance-Performance Sun., March 14, 3 p.m.510-642-9988
Mindful Parenting
Personal Growth Sun., March 14, 10 a.m.510-268-0696
When your toddlers spill the milk, your tweens obsess, and your teens trash the house, respond as Buddha would. At the East Bay Meditation Center (2147 Broadway, Oakland) on Sunday, Mar. 14, Shahara Godfrey leads an interactive, all-day workshop titled "Mindful Parenting," designed for parents and guardians and focusing on the various challenges presented by kids at various ages and stages. 10 a.m., discretionary donation; preregistration required. EastBayMeditation.org
discretionary donationAwakening the Dreamer
Religion & Spirituality Sun., March 14, 1:30 p.m.Spirituality and environmentalism join forces at Awakening the Dreamer, a symposium on Sunday, Mar. 14, at Richmond Unity Church (351 28th St., Richmond). Drawing upon messages received and lessons learned during meetings with indigenous shamans in the Ecuadorian Amazon, its facilitators will address questions such as "How did we get here?" and "Where do we go from here?" 1:30 p.m., $10-$20. AwakeningtheDreamer.org
$10-$20Cult Classic/B- Movie Drunk Fest
Social Events Sun., March 14, 9 p.m.510-652-3820
Produced on a six-figure budget, the 1983 flick Liquid Sky follows a bisexual, cocaine-addicted fashion model and her male doppelganger (both played by Anne Carlisle) on the night of a UFO landing in Manhattan. It's chock-full of synthetic, lo-fi new-wave music, lecherous old women (who predate the term "cougar" by two decades), odd seduction scenes, and overdone makeup. An instant midnight-movie classic, the film goes well beyond "so-bad-it's-good." In fact, it garnered several international awards and has shown remarkable staying power. Liquid Sky screens this at this Sunday's B-Movie Drunk Fest, a fund-raiser featuring popcorn, hot dogs, drink specials, theme-oriented makeup, sassy hecklers, and a new-wave dance party to follow. The fun starts at 9 p.m. at White Horse Inn (6551 Telegraph Ave., Oakland). Free. Drink proceeds will go toward painting the walls in the dancefloor room. WhiteHorseBar.com
freeSoul Motion Workshop
Dance-Participatory Through March 14510-848-4878
Described by its creators as a "movement ministry of conscious dance," Soul Motion turns dance techniques and spontaneous expressions into an ecstatic practice whose adherents hail its ability to enlighten, awaken, and transform. At Western Sky Studio (2525 8th St., Berkeley) on Friday through Sunday, Mar. 12-14, Scott Engler and Zuza lead a Soul Motion workshop. 12:30 p.m., $225. TransformativeDance.com
$225Martin Lawrence
Comedy Through March 14, 8 p.m.510-465-6400
It sure would be nice if we could remember comedian Martin Lawrence for something other than the drag character Sheneneh, or the tagline "Damn, Gina!" Best known for his eponymous Nineties-era sitcom, Lawrence is also a gifted stand-up artist who will do just about anything for a laugh -- even if it involves homoeroticism, scatological references, or an ugly, ruffled, hoochie-mama outfit. He's an animated, foul-mouthed, and overlooked comedian (in a recent Facebook post, local comedian W. Kamau Bell compared Lawrence to Chris Webber -- "a #1 overall draft pick who never lived up to his potential"). Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 13-14, Lawrence is poised to make a comeback with two 8 p.m. sets at the Paramount Theatre (2025 Broadway Ave., Oakland). $42.75-$77.50. ParamountTheatre.com
$42.75-$77.50Kirk Boyd Launch Party for "2048"
Literary Events Sun., March 14, 7:30-8:30 p.m.510-653-9965
Signal Flow
Experimental & Avant-Garde, DJ & Dance Sun., March 1415th Annual Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair
Literary Events Sun., March 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.(415) 831-2700
Family Square Dance:
Blues, Folk & Country, All Ages Sun., March 14, 3 p.m.510-525-5054
This Week's Feature
FEATURE
Oakland Pot Doc Is Defrocked
It's hard to get in trouble for running a pot prescription mill in California, but one local doctor was so bad, he lost his medical license.
