ARKANSAS TIMES TACOS & TEQUILA

THURSDAY 5/18. ARGENTA PLAZA. 6-9 P.M. $35-$100.

The main thing you need to know about the Arkansas Times Tacos & Tequila bash is that last year it involved publisher Alan Leveritt dressing up as a taco, his farm-tanned arms wrapped in a tortilla shawl, his torso bedecked with shredded Colby Jack and iceberg lettuce. This year, the possibility of such costumery looms large, as do other lures: a bevy of competitors vying to win your favor with their best taco offerings, including Santo Coyote, Big Whiskey's, The Cajun Trouxth, Dogtown Tavern and reigning champions Jimmy’s Jerk Chicken & BBQ, plus Hornitos Tequila-spiked cocktails. Many thanks to Tres Generaciones, Hornitos Tequila and Charlotte Potts State Farm Agency, sponsors of the event. Early Bird and VIP tickets (including special seating, catered dining, premium Tres Generaciones tequila, special parking and early entrance) are available at centralarkansastickets.com, and you must be 21 or older to enter. SS

All due respect to Tchaikovsky et al., you might be more likely to see a spark appear in a ballet fan’s eye when you mention works by living choreographers, or the chance to see a world premiere. In their time at Ballet Arkansas, directors Michael and Catherine Fothergill have remained devoted to keeping contemporary and new ballet compositions in the company’s repertoire, and though a program title like “New Works” might not ignite as much name recognition as, say, “The Nutcracker,” what happens on stage is perhaps a better indicator of where ballet is in 2023 as an art form: eager to innovate, committed to being in conversation with its cultural context and very much alive. This May performance features five world premieres in collaboration with the newly reopened Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in the museum’s intimate “glass box” space, and is followed by a Q&A with the choreographers. SS