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APRIL/MAY
Immersive arts experiences exploring Indian culture through music, dance, film, comedy, food, fashion and more!
Indie Films India
Raj Suresh: 4,000 Dayss
Co-hosted by Fayetteville Film Fest.
Friday, April 24, 8pm | The Great eat Hall at Crystal Bridges | COMEDY
Monday, April 20, 7pm | Tickets $15 CHILDREN UNDER 12 FREE!
Mosaix Open House Äbhä by Parshwanath Upadhye and Punyah Dance Company Tuesday, April 21, 7pm | Tickets $10 | DANCE
Bollywood Boulevard Thursday, April 23, 7pm | FILM, MUSIC & DANCE
Arun Luthra’s Konnakol Jazz Project with Selvaganesh
A showcase of local Indian arts rts & artists, ® tist Falu. and Grammy -nominated artist Saturday, April 25, 10-4pm | FOOD, FASHION, VISUAL ARTS, MUSIC & MORE
A Conversation with Hasan Minhaj Saturday, May 30 | COMEDY
Friday, April 24, 7:30pm | MUSIC
”AN ENTIRELY FRESH, FUNNY & GORGEOUS NEW PRODUCTION. A REASON FOR CELEBRATION!” –NEW YORK MAGAZINE
APRIL 14-19 • 8 SHOWS! Broadway Sponsor:
495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville, AR 72701 waltonartscenter.org | 479.443.5600
2 | the performing arts issue
MAY 19-23 • 7 SHOWS! Mosaix Sponsors:
at crystal bridges + the momentary
Feb 22 - May 24 What does art in the United States look like in the year 2020? Find out in State of the Art 2020, a FREE exhibition at both Crystal Bridges and the Momentary that spotlights artists working around the country today, in communities large and small.
SPONSORED BY
CrystalBridges.org 479.518.5700
theMomentary.org 479.367.7500
CHRI STI E’S Stella Boyle Smith Trust Alturas Foundation
Trott Family Foundation
Bracken Darrell
Fred and Shelby Gans
National tour sponsored by Bank of America
Amy Casey, Highground, 2019, acrylic on cradled ampersand clayboard panel, 30 in. × 30 in. Courtesy: Private collection, Dallas, TX and Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL.
FREE
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APRIL 28-MAY 15
Celebrating the 11th anniversary of the Festival and the 10th year of the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, we invite you to revisit some of the most popular artists and music from years past! Visit artospherefestival.org for more events.
Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium Adventure: The Mystery of the Dinosaurs of the Deep An immersive experience that invites families to jump in and explore unknown ocean depths. APRIL 28 | Walton Arts Center
Windmill Theatre’s Beep A perfect show to introduce your little ones to the joy of live theater. MAY 1 & 2 | Walton Arts Center
Trail Mix Explore local trails paired with FREE artistic experiences. MAY 8 | Fayetteville’s Frisco Trail
Chapel Music Series
Artosphere Festival Orchestra
Exquisite music played in local chapels and architectural marvels.
Corrado Rovaris, Music Director Featuring premier musicians from around the world.
MAY 3 | Seraph Brass | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Fayetteville
MAY 6 | Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony Walton Arts Center
MAY 15 | Jayme Stone Hunt Chapel, Rogers
MAY 9 | Best of Artosphere Festival Orchestra Walton Arts Center
Artosphere Film Series FREE
Presenting FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Boy and the World, Mia and the Migoo, and Welcome to the Space Show. MAY 8, 11, 12, 13 | Walton Arts Center
MAY 13 | Live from Crystal Bridges: Vivaldi in the Museum | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Dover Quartet Hailed by The New Yorker as “one of the world’s finest young string quartets,” the Dover Quartet returns to NWA! MAY 10 | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Tickets On Sale Now! Support for Maestro Corrado Rovaris and Dover Quartet provided by Mary Ann & Reed Greenwood. Additional support provided by the Artosphere Sustainers Circle.
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DOWNLOAD THE ARTOSPHERE APP!
The Performing Arts Issue AL BELL: A MAN OF GREAT EXPERIENCE / PAGE 9 There are few individuals in the music industry today to whom the title “legend” can accurately be ned but Al Bell is most assuredlyy one of them. ned, n assigned,
T BLE TABLE OF O F CO C CONTENT CONTENTS ONTENTS ONTENTS NTENTS
OUT OF T THE BOX / PAGE AGE 111
Craig Colorusso’s olorusso’s work usually starts with sound. olorus ound. Tho Those e sounds transform into art installations such as “Sun Boxes.”
IN THE HE MOME MOMENT T / PA PAGE 17
After years e of bu ears buzz, T The e Momen Momentary, Crystal Bridge’s satellite expansion, has opened to the public.
DANCING NG T THROUG THROUGH OUG LIFE / PAGE 21
Ever-effervescent Lela Besom explains the roots of Explorative Dance Love.
ON Y YOUR UR T TO TOES OES / PAGE E 22 2
Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye ol olicoeur-Nye ye builds up entertainment e ertainment a and ccommunity omm ty with h his d direction irection at NWA A Ba Ballet Theat T Theatre. heatre.
CAUSING A SCENE IN CURSIVE / PAGE 24
Planning variety shows is no easy feat in a male-dominated field, but two local comedians are teaming up to change the name of the game.
LIGHTS UP / PAGE 28 A whole new world at TheatreSquared doesn’t happen overnight.
FOUNDER + PUBLISHER Kody Ford
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Julia M. Trupp
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jenny Vos
CONTRIBUTORS
Bella Bona Kai Drachenberg Summer El-Shahawy Dwain Hebda Wesley Hitt Lauren McCabe Lauren Rae Kat Wilson
DESIGN
Liz Kendall Julia M. Trupp
ARTWORK
Joshua Bradley Phillip Huddleston Chad Maupin upin u
THE T HE H E TEAM T EA EAM AM M COVER
Joëlle Storet, tt, “Worthey,” “W h hey,” ey,” inspired inspir nspir n p by by a photograph taken by Lauren Rae
ADVERTISING A DVERTI D ERTI N SAL SALES AL Diane ane New a Newcomb w m
EDITORIAL INTERN Jewell Parnell
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letter from the publisher I’m writing this letter five stories below ground in my coronavirus bunker. By the time you read this I will have sealed the door for three months until it’s time for our next issue. I’m excited to finally have time to watch every Netflix show suggested to me that I promised I’d check out. So, hey, the new issue is here! That’s exciting. It’s been a few years since we focused on the Performing Arts. Seems like a natural fit with the opening of the Momentary, the new Crystal Bridges satellite performing arts center. It’s a gorgeous facility and we had a great time celebrating its opening weekend. If you haven’t made it yet, do yourself a favor and go see the State of the Art 2020 exhibit, part of which is at Crystal Bridges. Or catch a show. They will be hosting a variety of performers in the coming months so you can find something you like. This issue was a fun one because we got to visit different aspects of performance, from genres such as comedy and dance to a behind-the-scenes look at theatre .. production. We love this cover by Joelle Storet, our first two-time cover artist featured on the cover of our Fashion Issue when we started the magazine n 2013. Her work has evolved so much it only seemed natural to have her again. So, now that we are in our seventh year in print, I want to thank you all for your continued support. We also couldn’t do this without our advertisers, so please show them some love. They could be throwing all their marketing money at Facebook or Google but they’re keeping it local. Thanks again for picking up this issue. If the supply chain fails catastrophically and the world falls apart, I’ve got toilet paper for sale at $40 a roll. Bitcoin only. Slide into my DMs.
Kody Ford
Founder + Publisher
letter from the editor My, how far we have come. Here we are, an entire year after our first issue together. Last year, we dipped our toes into fashion, got a little rugged in the great outdoors, broke an Idle Class record with the visual arts and wrapped the year up with tantalizing food and drinks. This year we plan to open a few new doors and revisit some favorite issues of the past. To begin, we’re bringing you The Performing Arts Issue. This is a personal favorite of mine—when I’m not absorbing the arts community for The Idle Class, you can find me doing improv with Rodeo Book Club (yeah, that’s a shameless plug). As always, there’s an excellent line-up coming your way. We have a few groovy stories that follow a genre near and dear to my heart, comedy, as well as articles on the graceful and enriching art of dance, the craft of technical theatre and a beautiful memorial for Allie Thompson, who was a cover artist for our first issue together last year. Like the first year of any relationship, this past year we have learned and fine-tuned what will keep this thing going. It hasn’t always been easy, and at times it has been uncomfortable to figure out what our future looks like. But being the second editor of this publication has been, as our friend Chad Maupin would say, “a goddamn delight,” and if I could plant a kiss of thanks on each of your foreheads, I would. I have learned so much, worked with so many great people, and there is still so much more to come. To all the writers, visual and performing artists, photographers, foodies, encouragers and empowering queens, and especially Kody, Jenny, Wendy, Case and James: thank you a million times for supporting me as editor, but most importantly, The Idle Class as the premier arts magazine in the Natural State. I think we’ve got a good thing going here. Taking inspiration from my forever-crush Fred Astaire, together as an arts community, we must “do it big, do it right, and do it in style.” Would you expect any different? Now, tie on those tap shoes and get ready to turn the page to the stage. Your friendly neighborhood editor,
Julia M. Trupp 6 | the performing arts issue
SPRING 2020
EVENTS a children’s book give-away, and more. Special exhibitions and events will be featured in area galleries on Friday, May 1, in conjunction with Hot Springs’ monthly Gallery Walk. Studio tours of area artists will be held Sa Saturday and Sunday, May 2-3.
Hot Springs Arts & the Park 2020 2 April 24—May y3 Hotspringsarts.org Arts & The Park, a 10-day celebration of the arts presented by Arvest Bank, will be held April 24—May 3, 2020 in Hot Springs. The event will feature a wide range of creative experiences including: artist studio tours, workshops, exhibitions, the Art Springs arts festival, children’s activities, performances, and more. Organized by the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance, Arts & The Park showcases the talent of recognized local and guest artists, while providing an opportunity for attendees to participate, learn, and appreciate the arts more fully. Arts & The Park will kick-off with a launch party on Friday, April 24, followed by Art Springs, the free 2-day outdoor art fair held at Hill Wheatley Plaza in downtown Hot Springs, April 25—26. Art Springs will feature curated arts and crafts booths, Chalk Walk, children’s activities, live music, poetry, performances, workshops,
Little Rock oc Larger Than an Life: L Works by Ray Allen Parker ker Boswell ll Mo Mourot Fine Art Reception: eption April 4, 6-9 p.m. boswellmourot.com swel Boswell Mourot Fine Art presents Larger Than Life: Works by Ray Allen Parker in the month of April with a reception on April 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. Parker was born in San Diego, California, in 1951 and grew up in rural Egypt, Arkansas. He earned a B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of Arkansas, where he took his first painting class. Following a three-decade career in retail communications and advertising, he returned to his lifelong interest in portrait and figure painting. In 2018, his painting, “Postpunk,” won the Contemporaries Award at the Delta Exhibition at w Arkansas Arts Center. He lives and works Arkan in Fayetteville with his wife Mary Jean. Fayet
Fayetteville ett
PHOTO / KAI COGGIN
Artosphere April 28-May 15 5 Artospherefestival.org val.org Walton Arts Center proudly oudly presents Artosphere: Arkansas’ Arts ts + Nature Festival, celebrating the 11th anniversary of the festival and the 10th anniversary of the Artosphere Festival Orchestra. Artosphere Festival celebrates art, music and nature with exciting performances, activities and events that the whole family can enjoy. Each year, Artosphere
spotlights artists and performers from around the world who are inspired by nature, and provides a creative framework for the community to discuss issues of sustainability and environmental awareness. This year’s lineup carries the festival’s sustainability and recycling theme to a new level by featuring return engagements of performers, shows and community events – the best of the first 10 years of the festival. Find out details and ticket information at artospherefestival.org Artosphere Trail Mix on Friday, May 8, will focus on Downtown Fayetteville and the Frisco Trail System featuring favorite returning artists including Bike Zoo, Papa Rap, The Crumbs and more. The event ends with a free screening of FernGully: The Last Rainforest in Walton Arts Center’s Walker Atrium. “Inspired by diverse and quality arts programming, Artosphere provides a platform for outstanding national and international artists, as well as the finest in local talent,” says Scott Galbraith, Walton Arts Center executive producer. “Each year, we take pride in presenting authentic artistic experiences through inclusive events and activities for kids, families and the entire Northwest Arkansas community to enjoy.”
Arte y Naturaleza Exhibition Fenix Gallery May 5-30 First Thursday Opening Reception— May 7, 5-9 p.m. The Arte y Naturaleza Exhibition will feature free performances by The Chinelos Morelenses Unidos, Lela Besom, and Explorative Dance Love starting at 6:30 p.m. Exhibition and events featuring local and international artists exploring the realities of environmental issues, environmental justice, and the critical relationship artists and humans have to the planet and all species. Artists will present their individual passions related to environmental themes on local and global levels. Exhibited Work will include poster art, video, paintings, mixed media, and an interactive community gallery space.
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Throughout the month Fenix will host public workshops and performances that will provide opportunities for the public to connect with and activate their own passion for nature through conversation, art making, and art experience. Fenix will donate 10 percent of sales from these events to environmental and species protection organizations of the artists’ choice. Follow @fenixfayettevilleart on Instagram for updates. To register for workshops and find out more information, email lbjane@live.com. Read the full list of Fayetteville events at idleclassmag.com.
Bentonvillee State of the Art 2020 020 February 22 to May 24 2 CrystalBridges.org dges.org TheMomentary.org omentary The Momentary Mom and Crystal Bridges Museum of American has unveiled the new exhibition, State of the Art 2020, Art ha which is on view at both locations, from February 22 to May 24. General admission is free for all. State of the Art 2020 spotlights the work of 61 artists from around the country and is a continuation of an exploration into contemporary art that began in 2014, when Crystal Bridges presented State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now. More than 100 artworks are featured in State of the Art 2020— most created within the last three years and several created specifically for the exhibition. At both The Momentary and Crystal Bridges, artwork will include paintings, sculpture, photography, video, performance and mixed media. At The Momentary, artwork can be found throughout the 24,000 square feet of gallery space. At Crystal Bridges, the exhibition features artworks throughout the permanent collection galleries, as well as an artwork near Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome on the North Lawn and an installation inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bachman-Wilson House on the south side of the grounds.
Eureka ka Springs S 33rd Annual May Festiva Festival of the Arts May 1-31 eurekaspringsfestivalofthearts.org fthear Every May, the city of Eureka Springs prings shines a spotlight on the arts ebrat the visual and performing with a month-long festival that celebrates arts. May Festival of the Arts showcases the works of more than 350 working artists that live in the community. Given the length of the festival and many venues available, every artist in Eureka Springs has an opportunity to show. Local artists will have tents set up for Art in the Park on Saturday, May 2 in Basin Spring Park from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Artists offering textiles, jewelry, painting, sculpting, and fine wood designs will be available all day to discuss their process and medium. Colorful, quirky, energetic and sometimes surprising, the ArtRageous Parade, the traditional kick-off the May Festival of the Arts, features a stream of floats, art cars, walkers, dancers, musicians, jugglers, and dance groups on Saturday, May 2 at 5 p.m. Just So Ozarks is a family arts festival being held on May 9 and 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is free and open to the public. With a love of storytelling and childhood adventures at its heart, the Just So Ozarks festival enables families to step outside and into a wonderland of outdoor and art inspired activities, performances and creative pursuits. There will be 35 different events and activities, at venues around town, during the weekend -- interactive art installations, activities, workshops, music, dance, circus, drama, magicians, stories and more. One of the month’s most festive and well-attended events is the annual White Street Studio Walk, which takes place May 17 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Historic White Street is the working address of a large number of local artists who welcome the public into their homes and studios to view their latest works. The third annual 3-D Chalk Art Festival featuring nationally acclaimed street chalk artists will be happening in the parking lot next to the court house on Main Street on Wednesday, May 12 from noon to 6 p.m. and Thursday, May 13 through Saturday May 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The artists will offer free workshops any time.
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A MAN OF
GREAT
AL BELL INTERVIEW / DWAIN HEBDA ILLUSTRATION / PHILLIP HUDDLESTON here are few individuals in the country today to whom the title “legend” can accurately be assigned, but Al Bell is most assuredly one of them.
T
Born in Brinkley, Bell’s career is defined by Stax Records in Memphis, which he joined in 1965 as director of promotions and later purchased. Booker T and the MGs, Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes and Otis Redding headline the roster of Stax artists who defined Memphis soul and, in a parallel (if funkier) lane alongside Detroit’s Motown, created the modern R&B musical genre. He resides in multiple halls of fame and received the Grammy Trustees Award in 2011, the award organization’s highest accolade. We got to chat with Bell about Stax and the ever-evolving music industry. Today, it’s acknowledged how Stax shaped the course of popular music. At the time, did you realize what sort of an impact Stax was having? To be candid and absolutely honest, during those days I had no idea. I just completed a documentary series on myself and in the process of doing so, I had to relive my life and relive
EXPERIENCE
my involvement in this music industry. I did not realize the kind of impact that we were having in many areas, from an artistic standpoint and from a business standpoint. What in today’s music most clearly demonstrates the Stax influence? I see artists where it’s obvious to me they were influenced by what we were doing at Stax, dealing with music as an art form. We focused on authenticity and originality and I see and hear that in Bruno Mars. I see it in Taylor Swift. I see it in Chris Stapleton. I really see it in Justin Timberlake. In many instances, as I have interacted with them personally, they say they were influenced and are influenced today by what they felt coming out of Stax Productions. Technology is everywhere, but in music it’s a double-edged sword, is it not? Artistically I see it as another tool that can be used improving what we do in recorded music production. We were one track, became two tracks, became stereo, then four tracks and so forth. The technological advancement helped, and it can do the same now. My concern is, one of the most important components in music is not a tangible. It’s something that people feel emotionally and when productions are done without the use of any authentic acoustical musicians or instruments, something is missing there.
Given this, do you retain your optimism in the transformative power of music? I certainly do, moreso now than even then. I’ve seen the results of what we did back then and see the influence as we move forward. What’s the most profound accomplishment of Stax? Those of us that viewed it from an artistic standpoint, like we did at Stax, the point was create that great music art form that people could feel. The music that was produced (at Stax) is more popular today than it was in those days, because it’s being heard by more and more people in America and the outside world on these various platforms. They are playing all that music and people are getting a chance to search around and find music they haven’t heard before. It’s having an influence on people, even today.
IG / AL_BELL_PRESENTS Dwain Hebda is an award-winning journalist and storyteller from Little Rock and president of Ya!Mule Wordsmiths. Nebraskan by birth, Southern by the grace of God, he’s got a thing for blues and brews, though not always in that order.
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Local DJ superstar Ambrosia Johnson discusses JGT LQWTPG[ KPVQ VJG OWUKE OKZKPI|NKHG
WORDS / SUMMER EL-SHAHAWY PHOTO / LAUREN RAE
“I quickly overcame my fear, worked overtime, took my brand ĂƒiĂ€ÂˆÂœĂ•ĂƒÂ?Ăž] >˜` Â?Ă•ĂƒĂŒ ˆ˜wÂ?ĂŒĂ€>ĂŒi` ĂŒÂ…ÂˆĂƒ “>Â?i‡`œ“ˆ˜>ĂŒi` ˆ˜`Ă•ĂƒĂŒĂ€Ăž] Ă€i>`Ăž to conquer and ready to entertain,â€? Johnson said.
Ambrosia Johnson is a DJing powerhouse professionally known as DJ Afrosia J whose gigs keep her guests vibing with the beat all throughout the night.
Johnson said the process of DJing isn’t as easy as some people think, and playing track after track isn’t everything a DJ does. She herself didn’t understand the complexity of the process until she began to practice the mixes she’d been hearing in her mind.
While she was studying broadcast journalism at the University of Arkansas, she discovered KXUA 88.3 FM, the college radio station. Through KXUA Johnson had access to festivals in the region and began nurturing her newfound passion: live music. Johnson began hosting a radio show on KXUA that highlighted local artists while also playing her favorite EDM tracks. After a while, Johnson began receiving calls from listeners who were local DJs, complimenting her mix sets. “These incredible DJs and musicians would eventually let me tag along to their live performances where they encouraged me and taught me the art of the craft, and soon after I began receiving calls for my own DJing opportunities,â€? Johnson said. As she started participating in the world of DJing, Johnson said she initially felt isolated because the mainstream artists were largely male.Through social media, however, Johnson has been >LÂ?i ĂŒÂœ w˜` > Ăœi>Â?ĂŒÂ… Âœv ĂœÂœÂ“i˜ ĂœÂ…Âœ ÂˆÂ˜ĂƒÂŤÂˆĂ€i Â…iĂ€] ˆ˜VÂ?Ă•`ˆ˜} *i}}Ăž Gou, UNIIQU3, DJ ShalĂŠ and Trudy.
10 | the performing arts issue
“If you are able to clearly hear the unique beats and melodies that are rhythmically intertwined in lyrical and instrumental tracks, quickly combine them without interruption, then you’re well on your way to becoming a great DJ,â€? Johnson said. DJing is now Johnson’s primary source of income, and to her, music means freedom. She said that often times, music is a metaphorical journey that provides people with an escape from stressors in their lives. Through beats, timing, and synchronicity, Johnson takes her audience where they want to go and said she feels overjoyed to make a living sharing these experiences with her audiences. Above >Â?Â?] ĂƒÂ…i Â?ÂœĂ›iĂƒ ĂœÂ…>ĂŒ ĂƒÂ…i `ÂœiĂƒ >˜` w˜`Ăƒ Â?ÂœĂž ˆ˜ w˜`ˆ˜} ĂŒÂ…i ÂŤiĂ€viVĂŒ timing and transitions to transport her audiences through space and time. “I take my audiences on a journey,â€? Johnson said. “A journey through my days of childhood, past heartbreaks, or maybe just a special uncharted journey that creates the perfect vibe that everyone will remember partying to in the future.â€?
OUT OF THE BOX WORDS + PHOTOS / KODY FORD Craig Colorusso’s musical journey started like many other teenage boys’—he did it for the girls. At age 14 he began playing guitar in the hope of receiving romantic attention, but music opened doors to him he had not previously conceived of. A high school athlete, Colorusso felt a connection between sports and music, enjoying the physicality of playing guitar. “[Guitar] felt different than everything else,” he said. “I knew right away it would be a long path. Part of the deal with my parents was to actually take lessons, so I learned 30 seconds of all my favorite Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath songs. My first teacher was an old rocker dude but later I hooked up with a younger guy and the lessons soon became more than just guitar instruction. Early on I was able to see the analogy of guitar and life and vice versa.” Over the ensuing years Colorusso toured with bands and became a multiinstrumentalist, but he began to crave more. While he enjoyed performing live, he did not like the barrier between performer and audience. During this period, he found himself more affected and inspired by paintings and sculptures than music. He said, “I wanted to create something without the barrier and, although I was a musician, I wanted sound to be just one of the many elements. The first piece was
MB 89. The first show was at the Words and Pictures museum in Northampton, Massachusetts. I made a wall of fabric back lit with some dimmers and played saxophone with some electronics for two hours. It was a performance meant to be treated like an [art] installation. The piece evolved to three cylinders of fabric and light and I would play bass clarinet in one of them for four hours. The whole room glows and breathes with light and sound.”
The musical art installation consists of 20 solar powered speakers, each playing a different note in a B flat chord. Each loop is different in length so the sounds change over time. Sun Boxes has traveled to 55 cities in 30 states.
These days Colorusso focuses on installations, each featuring music and sound. His work Sound Swings can be seen in Northwest Arkansas at Uptown Apartments + Shops. This collaboration with Modus Studios features a set of three swings that, when moving, play different parts of Colorusso’s work usually starts with sound. a composition. If all three swings were to move He hears things in his head first. He said, “I 24/7, the resulting song would last 55 days. have a lot of ideas. Some I like and some CUBEMUSIC, boxes of light and sound, have I feel obligated to make and stand before been featured at the Arts Center of the Ozarks them. There is an urgency with some of and Northwest Arkansas Community College. these ideas. I try and get those finished.” As for the future of his work, Colorusso plans to Wind has long inspired Colorusso. Once continue working with installations. while raking leaves at a landscaping job, he stood in silence and awe watching the trees “I feel immersed in installations, like I am actually sway and the leaves sizzle. “My boss asked part of the art,” he said. “I have a lot of energy me what I was doing and I said, ‘If I could and sometimes can’t sit still. I don’t like being a make sound like the wind why would I play spectator. I want to make work that encourages guitar?’ He said, ‘It doesn’t matter. Keep people to be present. I like systems that evolve. I raking.’” like things that glow, float and drone.” While on tour out west for MB 89, he took a / CRAIGCOLORUSSO.COM day of respite in New Mexico and stood in the desert, listening to the wind come out of nowhere, crescendo, and then mysteriously disappear. This inspired a piece he would create upon returning home—Sun Boxes.
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“Morgan’s Garden” 12 | the performing arts issue
JOËLLE STORET Fayetteville IG / @JOELLEELLEOJ
ARTVENTURES-NWA.ORG/JOELLE-STORET
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Storet graduated from the University of Arkansas with a background in Cultural Anthropology, Semiotics, Linguistics and Art History. Her bold palette and multifarious interests have allowed her to communicate her history through paintings, graphic designs, murals, and a whole host of other mediums. The emblematic connection/divergence between her African roots and her African American experiences is the thoroughfare on which she is currently exploring. She has had works exhibited in the United States, Vienna, Austria and Germany. How would you describe your style currently? I’ve been trying to evoke a style that emphasizes rigid forms that occupy a myriad of strange spaces. I’m very inspired by the space that I myself inhabit! People that I meet and engage with daily help shape what I go home with and release onto the canvas. It definitely helps to be surrounded by so many talented artists in the area. I am interested in capturing the charisma and personalities of my subjects, based on their composure, a bold strong selection of color and emphasis on posture and form. Painting and drawing my own interpretation of people has always been a passion of mine. How have you grown as an artist since we last covered you back in 2013? Wow. I’ve grown in countless ways since then. Not just in my technique and approach, but how I have come to understand the idea of being an artist in general. Advocacy is a huge thing for me. Being so involved with Art Ventures and the Fayetteville Arts Council has really motivated me to be more vocal about what inspires me and what I believe. There is so much talent around here and it is so amazing just to be a part of it. So many artists and creatives in NWA have left a permanent impact on me and I hope that I can be worthy enough to help advocate on behalf of the arts in this community.
“L’audace”
he work of Joëlle Storet is an amalgam of influences—comics like Tintin, her mother’s doodles, her African/European heritage and German Expressionism. It culminates in a style that is loose, whimsical, and vibrant. The Belgian-born Storet moved to the United States via Austria in 2001 where her family settled in Fayetteville. She took inspiration from a young age from Belgian comic books and the influence of one of the foremost novelists of the Congo in the 20th century, her grandfather Zamenga Batukezanga. She has since transmitted her Afro-European style and thematic expositions to the thriving artist community based in Northwest Arkansas.
How did you come to work at Art Ventures? It was Sharon Killian who found me and saw things that even I didn’t see. We started bouncing ideas off of each other and got really experimental on how we could engage longtime patrons of the arts while helping different micro communities find agency that they didn’t have before. We worked very hard finding artists of every kind of medium fill out various spaces illustrating the theme of whatever show we were putting on. Sometimes we looked across the street. Sometimes we scoured the globe. Many of the artists we showcased had never exhibited in public before. D’zart for example, is based in Algeria and a few others throughout the states. It seems like you’ve really grown in a lot of ways since going to work for Art Ventures. How has being the gallery manager changed you personally and artistically? Managing and facilitating the works of so many talented artists has enriched me in ways I could probably never fully express. It has also taught me patience. A lot of patience. Ha. I have learned so much from so many and it has definitely translated onto the canvas. I can see the difference when I look at old works of mine. Especially when you factor in all the strategies, theories, and emotions discussed from the countless artist talks we have helped put on--it has been a journey to put it mildly.
Read the full interview / idleclassmag.com INTERVIEW / KODY FORD PHOTOS COURTESY / ART VENTURES COVER PHOTO / KAI DRACHENBERG
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IG / @Rickatroid GALLERY: BOSWELL-MOUROT, LITTLE ROCK RICKYSIKES.COM
RICKY SIKES
What’s your favorite part of your process? Most challenging? My favorite part of my process is experimentation and using different painting techniques to communicate to viewers of my work in a variety of ways. Painting offers such a wide range of possibilities I don’t think ill ever get bored with it. Most challenging is the constant work attention a process of art making requires. Its not easy, however I do enjoy the hard work of the process as well. What are some of your greatest accomplishments as an artist? My greatest accomplishment so far is simply being able to make work that I like. It took me a while and a lot of sorting through unnecessary things for me to arrive at a place where I am making the kind of work I want to make.
KENNETH SIEMENS
IG / @leftyeyeball Kerplunk Creative, Bentonville Favorite hangout? His head
What are some of your greatest accomplishments as an artist?
I love storytelling with my art. I’m proud to put up these moments in galleries or in public spaces that give a glimpse into a moment, nothing I do is the complete story, it’s alway just one moment in a choose-your-own-adventure. My related pieces can be pieced together to create different narratives depending on how they are displayed. My favorite moments are when I get to cover long runs of gallery walls and set them up and see how people react—if they start to develop their own tales of wonder and woe or if they just slow down to engage in that moment. Has changing technology af fected how you connect with the public or aided your art mediums?
The accessibility of art and imagery in the digital medium makes it trickier to actually connect with people around art. Sure I get high engagement on Instagram, with likes and such, but the best interaction is when someone can see a piece in the real world, the scale and the texture uncompressed to the size of a phone. That interaction is even better the viewers can get a peek into why you do what you do. It’s funny, one of the most common questions is “how long does it take you to do that?” Which is a weird way to measure art. Are they doing an hourly rate calculation in their head? Are they judging if it was time well spent?
14 | the performing arts issue
Rbeng memories / becca bona
ALLIE A
bright red shirt. Hands smudged with charcoal. Warm afternoons tinged with cheap vodka and dappled sunlight. These colorful flashes weave together the memories I have of Carmen Alexandria “Allie” Thompson. I met Allie at our neighborhood elementary school. I remember her purposely walking slightly slower than everyone else, trailing along behind the boisterous group, taking in the scene, assessing the action. Her one-liners left my young brain buzzing even then. That early on she left me – a pudgy, nervous kid – with a feeling of warm acceptance. Like a theme in her artwork – that acceptance became a foundation for her persona. We would reconnect at Hendrix College. My memories of her then echo that open, curiosity she carried with her. During those years she was never far from charcoals or paintbrushes, often
hovering over a canvas or sketchpad – working on her latest assignment. It wasn’t until after college, though, when I essentially coerced her into an interview for Rock City Life that I began discussing artwork with her. A painter but also a printmaker – she was focused on themes of chaos, perspective, nature, anatomy, and biology – among others. I was particularly taken with her prints of Arkansas at the time. She placed an anatomically correct heart coupled with flowers inside the state outline. I watched her pieces change – as she paired flowers and leaves to skeletons and brains, she also began exploring lithographs, man-made structures, and mixed-media. The conversations we had about individuality and creativity still make brain buzz. She used to come to my sterile, one-bedroom apartment in SOMA once a month or so. We would talk about art and philosophy, post-college life and living in Little Rock. It was what we termed “brain food”– conversation you have that goes beyond meaningless small-talk. It was brimming with the stuff her artwork was attempting to capture – bursting with that sense of acceptance, of striving toward inspiration, and of driving that sharp curiosity of hers ever-forward. As she made her way into galleries and began having shows in the scene – she was still the same Allie. She was still the same artist with her own unique perspective and an exceptionally welcoming ear. I feel very lucky to have gotten to know her. Her art serves as ever-lasting brain food, and I know wherever she is now - she’s still that same lovely Allie.
Carmen Alexandria (Allie) Thompson May 25, 1990 - Jan. 20, 2020
The Idle Class | 15
The Foremost Collection of Black art representing local, regional, national and international contemporary art in all media
Louise Mandumbwa, “Noelle�, Digital Print, 2020
Featuring the work of
Ray Allen Parker Little Rock, Arkansas 5815 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501.664.0030 Miami, Florida 305.528.4971 www.boswellmourot.com
16 | the performing arts issue
"Ecce Femina", oil on canvas, 96" x 144"
T
he Momentary is out to expand the arts scene in Northwest Arkansas, building upon the legacy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. This satellite facility is a new contemporary art space for visual, performing and culinary arts throughout the region. Occupying a decommissioned 63,000 square-foot cheese factory, the new space offers the art and music of our times with galleries for exhibitions, performance spaces, artist-inresidence studios, culinary experiences, a festival field and more. General admission is free. Much like Crystal Bridges, the Walton Family founded the Momentary based on the vision of Tom, Olivia and Stuart Walton and with the support of the Walton Family Foundation. “Our family shares a passion for the arts and for this region of the country,” said Olivia Walton. “By witnessing how Crystal Bridges became an arts destination, bringing tourism and new audiences, new ideas and new perspectives to Bentonville, it was clear that there was more room to expand access to the arts in Northwest Arkansas.” The Momentary opened to the public on February 22 with a weekend of music, performance and art. Along with the unveiling of State of the Art 2020, which can also be seen at Crystal Bridges and is a sequel to their much-beloved 2014 exhibit, the weekend included TIME BEING, a Performing Arts festival. Performing Arts team of Cynthia Post
in the moment
WORDS / KODY FORD
Hunt, Pia Agrawal and Stuart Rogers along with Momentary Director Lieven Bertels curated TIME BEING. Internationally acclaimed musicians Courtney Barnett and FM Belfast performed along with harpist Mary Lattimore. Performances included Spokaoke with Annie Dorsen, A Study on Effort by Bobbi Jene Smith, and The Recipe by Kristin Worrall, a cooking show drawing upon the history of the area and facility that included University of Arkansas students. Another piece, First Things First by For You, drew its inspiration from the theme of the “The First Time I…” raised during the Meet the Momentary event in Fall 2019, where attendees were asked to complete postcards with that phrase. Those answers were used to write the piece, which featured local performers such as Lela Besom and Caitlin Turner and culminated in the Bentonville West High School Marching Band (directed by Albert Ortiz) playing the ’90s club classic “What Is Love” by Haddaway. Fayetteville resident and performer Laura Shatkus ran the show as project and production manager. One highlight of TIME BEING was the breathtaking performance by Bandaloop, an aerial dance troupe who gracefully moved through the air while suspended from the tower of the facility. Visually, the Momentary has art around every corner. Portuguese visual artist Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils, created unique signage produced by Justkids for the west-side of
PHOTOS / LAUREN RAE
the Momentary’s building, exploding the building’s name onto the exterior wall. A site-specific neon sculpture by artist Tavares Strachan titled You Belong Here, stretches 78 feet across and 25 feet high on the building’s east side, inviting patrons inside. A pattern titled Sway, featured on the exterior glass of the Momentary’s Tower, main entryway, and other spaces was created by Oklahoma-based artist Addie Roanhorse. A member of the Osage Nation, Roanhorse took inspiration from Osage attire to create the pattern, paying homage to the traditional owners of the land around the Momentary while also filtering light through the building. “After years of careful planning and consideration, we are thrilled to welcome all to engage with art in a whole new way,” said Lieven Bertels, director of the Momentary. “Artists are at the center of everything you see here. They create the work, they influence our design, they make the Momentary what it is. We are delighted to have this opportunity to spotlight today’s artists, the work they are producing, and the role they play in our everyday lives.” / THEMOMENTARY.ORG
The Idle Class | 17
18 | the performing arts issue
ART FOR EVERYONE
Voted Best Art Gallery 2019 in“Best of Northwest Arkansas�
A r t i s t Tal k s , M o n t h l y E x h i b i t i o n s , P o rtra i tu re & F i gu re D rawin g
March 21, 8 p.m. RĂ˜DE House // Al Bell Presents: A Soul Music Experience:
save the date
The music icon and Stax Records visionary brings class soul music live, featuring Motown Gospel/ Capitol CMG recording artist Evvie McKinney and members of the world-famous Hi-Rhythm Section under the direction of “Boo� Mitchell. Tickets are $29 for general admission, $12 for members at themomentary.org.
Also look for us at the following locations: Art Ventures - Faulkner PAC Art Ventures - Eclectic Kitchen Art Ventures - Pryor Center Image: Broken Beauty by Magnolia artist Oluwatobi Adewumi
www.artventures-nwa.org contact@artventuresnwa.org
March 29, 7 p.m. RĂ˜DE House // Sound for Andy Warhol’s Kiss:
A live performance and film commission accompanied by collaborators Bill Nace, Steve Gunn, and John Truscinsk, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth will premiere a partially improvised continual soundtrack for Andy Warhol’s hourlong film Kiss (1963-64) that captures close-ups of 14 couples kissing. Tickets are $39 for general admission, $31 for members at themomentary.org.
April 3, 7 p.m. Fermentation Hall //
We Live in Explosive Times | {the empty set}:
Using explosions as a visual medium, {the empty set} seeks to illuminate our paradoxical desire to detonate our own futures and revel in the collapse. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $16 for members at themomentary.org.
April 10, 7 p.m. / April 11, 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. Fermentation Hall // Arkansas New Play Festival:
In collaboration with TheatreSquared, a full weekend of new play performances is set for the second weekend in April. Audiences are invited to sit in on read-throughs and participate in an intimate conversation with the playwright and cast to help workshop the plays from the ground up. Tickets are $10, $8 for members at themomentary.org.
u-lbm] Cm; -u|Äś r_o|o]u-r_‹Ĝ lol;m|ov Ĺ? lou;ĸ The Idle Class | 19
20 | the performing arts issue
WORDS / SUMMER EL-SHAHAWY PHOTO / LAUREN RAE
Life
Dancing Ever-effervescent Lela Besom explains the roots of Explorative Dance Love Lela Besom is a dancer and the creative spark behind Explorative Dance Love, a community for dance and performance Besom created where people can come together and use dance as a way of personal exploration and expression. EDL welcomes people of all backgrounds, orientations and identities, and Besom said her mission is to provide an outlet for the human experience and create community central to dance. Besom said she grew up with somewhat quirky parents in a conservative society that didn’t match her progressive pattern of thought. As an only child, she was fortunate to travel and learned to observe and appreciate the creative spark in the world and within herself. For Besom, that spark is dancing. “I’m pretty sure I came out dancing,” Besom said. “My mom said in utero I would kick rhythmically for long periods of time. I’m not sure if that was me dancing or protesting or if there is a difference.” After studying visual arts at the University of Kansas, Besom turned her focus to practicing
zen meditation on a semi-monastic schedule at the Cambridge Zen Center in Massachusetts. After three years, she moved to Seattle where she began her involvement with DAIPANbutoh Collective dancing butoh, a type of Japanese theatrical dance that focuses on precise control of movement. Besom said she moved to Fayetteville to “Kon Mari,” inspired by Marie Kondo’s, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” Being in Fayetteville has allowed Besom to challenge herself as an artist while also being close to her family. Besom said that dancing means a number of things to her, depending on where she focuses her attention. This February she was invited by artist Guadalupe Anaya to Guerrero Negro, Mexico, to dance butoh and write poetry for the whales that gather there each year.
“Right now for me dancing is building relationships, strengthening connections, challenging myself, bringing attention and reverence to beings who are subject to the ill decisions of humans,” Besom said. “It’s putting myself in a space of awe, learning from and relating to whales, making a childhood dream come true, expanding consciousness, and sharing and taking action for positive change.” In her work at EDL, Besom helps people challenge themselves and allow for uncertainty. “I want to offer what I didn’t have growing up: a kind of crazy awesome creative dance community and experience that appreciates the depths of what it is to be human, and provide an art form that can help anyone live their life with more freedom, awareness, creativity, confidence, and actualization.”
Anaya’s organization, Stultifera Navis Institutom, does artistic creative work as well as scientific research and has received support from la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
The Idle Class | 21
ON YOUR TOES
Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye builds up entertainment and community with his direction at NWA Ballet Theatre.
WORDS / LAUREN MCCABE PHOTO COURTESY / NWA BALLET THEATRE
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22 | the performing arts issue
ÜiÛiÀ] i à µÕ V Ì >``ÀiÃÃ Ì >Ì i v Ì i L }}iÃÌ V > i }ià v À `> ViÀà > ` `> Vi V «> ià à ii« } >y >Ì Ü Ì w > V > iÝ«i Ãið À ] Ì i à ÕÌ ià V L } Ì i ÌÀ>` Ì > Ü Ì Ì i iÜ > ` Õ Ü ° > } > «À `ÕVÌ Ì >Ì V > i }iÃ Ì iÀÃ Ì LiV i Û>Ì Ûi VÀi>Ì Ûià v Ì i À Ü ] V ÕiÀ Þi Ã> `] > Üà `> Vi V «> iÃ Ì w ` > ` «À Ìi Ì i ÌÞ«i v i ÌiÀÌ> i Ì Ì >Ì Ü i V ÕÀ>}i «i « i Ì «>Þ >}i Ì `> Vi V «> ià > ` v Õ `>Ì Ã° º7i ÕÃÌ iÝ« Ài Ì i iÜ Ì>«iÃÌÀÞ v « Ãà L ÌÞ Ì i >ÀÌ v `> Vi Ü i «>Þ } >}i Ì Ì i V >Ãà VÃ Ì >Ì i «i` }iÌ Õà iÀi]» V ÕiÀ Þi Ã> `° º > ÛiÀÞ «À Õ` Ì Ã>Þ Ì >Ì Üi >Ài Û } Ì i À } Ì ` ÀiVÌ ] > ` vii Ì >Ì Üi Ü w ` > Ü>Þ Ì ÛiÀV i Ì iÃi V > i }ià Û>Ì Ûi > ` }À Õ `LÀi> } Ü>Þð» / i L> iÌ V «> ޽à ÃÌ ÀiVi Ì «À `ÕVÌ v `iÀi >] V ÕiÀ Þi Ã> `] ÌÜ ÃÌÃ Ì }iÌ iÀ Ì i v> Õà ÌiÀ«ÀiÌ>Ì v Ì i v> ÀÞÌ> i ÃÌ ÀÞ Ü Ì Ã Ì ÕV ià v Õ À > ` VÀi>Ì Ûi LiÀÌ ið ºƂvÌiÀ > ÃÌÀ }] ÃÕVViÃÃvÕ «iÀv À > Vi vii «À Õ`] Û } À>Ìi` > ` ë Ài` Ì VÀi>Ìi Ài]» V ÕiÀ Þi Ã> `° º Ü Õ ` Ã>Þ `> V } «À viÃà > Þ Ã > VÀi` L Þ V > i } } «ÕÀÃÕ Ì] LÕÌ Ì i L `Þ > ` ` >Ài iµÕ ««i` Ü Ì Ì i À } Ì Ì Ã v À ÃÕVViÃð»
A Vibrant Repertoire
Central Arkansas’ premier dance company set to close out the 2019/20 season with major productions in April
Ballet Arkansas
WORDS / KODY FORD PHOTO COURTESY / BALLET ARKANSAS For four decades, Ballet Arkansas has been a driving force for vibrant and diverse repertory featuring classical, neoclassical, and contemporary works by world renowned choreographers performed by a roster of top talent in the world of dance. They have reached more than 125,000 Arkansans over the years through performances, creative collaboration and community outreach, ÃÌÀ Û } Ì vÕ w Ì i À ÃÃ Ì «À Û `i >VViÃÃ L i] Ü À ` V >ÃÃ dance performances of classical and contemporary works and educational programming for young audiences. The 2019/20 season has featured fantastic ballets like Cinderella under the artistic direction of Michael and Catherine Fothergill. This April they will close the season out with two more performances: Snow White and Masterworks.
Snow White
April 25-26 – noon UA-PTC CHARTS Theater North Little Rock Tickets: $10 for 12, $15 for 13
Another popular namesake, Ballet Arkansas’ telling of Snow White is a fresh take on a beloved classic and will feature a community cast of local dancers alongside the professional dancers of BA. Ballet Arkansas presents a new imagining of the story of Snow 7 Ìi Ì ` Ì À Õ} Ì i iÞià v Ì i Û 7 ÌV ° Ƃ ÌiÀ>VÌ Ûi] multimedia ballet for children and families, Snow White is the perfect spring production. Made possible through the generous support of the Stella Boyle - Ì /ÀÕÃÌ] >ÃÌiÀÜ À à à V « Ãi` v } «À w i Ài«iÀÌ ÀÞ from acclaimed international choreographers, and live music pro Û `i` LÞ ÌiÀ >Ì > Þ Vi iLÀ>Ìi` « > ÃÌ i i }° >ÃÌiÀ works brings the best repertory that dance has to offer to Central Arkansas with George Balanchine’s signature work “Allegro Bril lante”, Gerald Arpino’s sensational “Confetti”, and new works by acclaimed contemporary choreographers Yoshito Sakuraba, Al ice Klock, and Florian Lochner. Masterworks is the perfect climax Ì Ì i Óä£ ÉÓä Ãi>à ° >ÃÌiÀÜ À à Ì> iÃ Ì i ÃÌ>}i >Ì 1Ƃ */ CHARTS Theater in North Little Rock on Friday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 25 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 26 at 2:30 p.m.. Senior/Military are $25 and Student Rush tickets are $10.
Masterworks
April 24-26 UA-PTC CHARTS Theater North Little Rock / V iÌÃ\ fÎä Îx
The Idle Class | 23
Causing a scene in cursive
Taylor Hern
Planning variety shows is no easy feat in a maledominated field, but two local comedians are teaming up to change the name of the game. WORDS / JULIA M. TRUPP ILLUSTRATIONS / JOSHUA BRADLEY Taylor Hern and Elaine Jackson love a good, rich stout. Ever since a post-show discovery of their mutual love, the comedic duo have hosted high-spirited events as The Big Stout Ladies. The two are each other’s yin and yang—while Jackson is the extroverted networker on tour stops, Hern is the introverted researcher looking for the city’s best food. Together, they are bringing a new light to the comedy scene and empowering funny women who are or want to be involved. Jackson is the mastermind behind Ladies Night in Cursive, a comedy show that raises money for featured nonprofit organizations, such as Peace at Home Family Shelter or
Planned Parenthood. A social worker by day, comedy has long been an outlet for her to process everything from everyday life to the nuances of sexuality. Inspired by these contrasting pursuits, Jackson decided to fuse the two—produce her own show, invite women to be involved and create the safe environment women often look for in the DIY comedy scene. “The DIY scene is largely welcoming, but there’s not a lot of women. I wanted there to be a better female experience in Fayetteville. I’ve been cat-called on-stage, probably six months into comedy, and I let him have it, ” Jackson says. “Women need more stage time! We work really hard to support women in Fayetteville. I’m really lucky to have landed here.” Hern produces one of the only two female-led open mics in Northwest Arkansas, Southtown Comedy Night at Nomads, and is similarly interested in empowering women comics. Jackson and Hern have both had to bargain and barter for fair payment—the pay gap still exists in the comedy scene— and they feel they have to work twice as hard for laughs. “Why isn’t a guy gross for talking about his d— onstage, but I’m gross for talking about sucking it? There are unreal standards I feel I am held to as a woman. How many times have we had to ask to be paid? We’re playing the field and I’m tired of it,” Hern says. “I try to consciously make an effort to have a safe space for women, nonbinary [people] and people of color. I want people to feel comfortable, and as a woman I’ve felt so uncomfortable that I don’t want others to feel that way, so I’m hypervigilant.” Before the year is over, Jackson and Hern plan to tour through DIY spaces across the country, and their live comedy album is slated to hit shelves sometime this spring. Until then, the Big Stout Ladies are planning a couple shows to celebrate their womanhood, comedy careers and friendship, including a birthday-themed Ladies Night in Cursive on April 11 at Backspace (because, of course, their birthdays are only a day apart). “I would have never started Ladies Night in Cursive had I not seen Taylor, Meghan (Welch), all the women who have supported me,” Jackson says. “They inspired me—I want someone in Fayetteville to come and be like, ‘This is a space I can go.’”
Elaine Jackson 24 | the performing arts issue
IG + TWITTER / @tayhernhey / @e_laaame
IT’S FINE Her right hand alternates between a half-full can of Pabst Blue Ribbon and a lined notebook that contains her newest stand-up material. Her left hand clutches the microphone in front of her as her soft voice delivers a joke that projects to the audience’s funny bones. Her bright purple bobbed hair in contrast with her white lace-collared black ensemble adds a bit of spunk to her reserved stage fright. Her peers have described her as a “walking Star Wars fan fiction” in roasts because of the uniqueness of her name.
How one transgender woman breaks down barriers in comedy with a blatant look at life mixed with a taste of wit. WORDS / JULIA M. TRUPP ILLUSTRATION / JOSHUA BRADLEY
how they feel, so oftentimes depression and anxiety can build along with a lack of proper identity. Throughout her childhood, Hodo had vague thoughts about her sexuality and repressed them. Coming from a lesser accepting town, she believed she had to keep the thoughts she was having to herself, a commonality within the transgender community.
When she saw her first doctor in Kansas City about the initial treatment process, they wanted to schedule more appointments to make sure Hodo was ready to begin the transition.
“At a certain point, being actively, kno knowingly closeted (as a transgender ran woman) was a toll,” l,” Ho Hodo said. “You’re making public ublic appearances, meanwhile, it was involving my perception of myself -- how I present myself and how I am. There’s that anxiety of going to math class, and I don’t want anyone to see me.”
Many who experience gender dysphoria do not have language to describe exactly
After the epiphany of her gender identity and cutting necessary ties with homophobic and transphobic family with the help of her parents, she began hormone treatment immediately, starting just before her 21st birthday. Her parents supported her emotionally but not financially—this was something she needed to do on her own, and luckily her insurance came in handy; the hormones she needed without insurance could have been thousands of dollars out of pocket.
But before she created a reputation for herself as a well-known comedian and roller derby queen in Northwest Arkansas, 26-year-old Tulsa-native Kaia Hodo had another err public identity to figure ure out: her gender.
Gender dysphoria, or transgender identity, is a conflict between a person’s biological or assigned sex and the sex and/or gender they identify with. If a transgender person chooses to undergo sexual reassignment surgery, they are can be recognized as transsexual and transgender, but because ‘transsexual’ is an outdated term, many transgender people only use transgender as an identifying term, according to GLAAD.
people can be,” Hodo said, recalling the moment her repressed thoughts started resurfacing.
Once she moved out of Tulsa and began attending the University of Arkansas in 2011—“I am a dropout, it’s fine!” she’ll tell you before nervously sipping her coffee— she met different people who knew their true selves, whether that was cisgender or nonconforming. Hodo had only discussed her sexuality and dysphoria on popular microblogging site Tumblr, where she came across others in the trans community. Here were physical people she could somewhat relate to on a face-to-face level. “This isn’t a perverted thing, it’s a way
While every precaution is necessary to make sure that the dysphoria is not actually a temporary disorder—the World Health Organization removed gender dysphoia from the mental health diagnosis list in 2019—this action could be labeled as a form of gatekeeping, which is any requirement that controls access to medical resources for transgender people, and it can also exclude transgender people by creating standards to “prove their gender” in gendered spaces, like public bathrooms. “There’s that potential with trans-medical care, a second guess,” Hodo said. “Like, ‘Oh, you have purple hair, trans people don’t want to stick out so you must not be.’” Hodo saw a doctor in Fayetteville who made a much more comfortable experience, and then referred her to an endocrinologist, a
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physician that treats people with hormone imbalances, in Eureka Springs. Her current endocrinologist is in Lowell, and although they are both wonderful, Hodo said, they are still out of town for her, which makes getting to appointments difficult sometimes, especially with her current lack of transportation. “If the timing of my appointments was a little different, I’d be asking my friends to take me to Lowell in the middle of the week. Missing that appointment could mean a delay in getting prescription refills. So it’s a whole thing.” Now, a cup of coffee isn’t the only thing that Hodo starts her day with. She has a daily prolonged multiple-pill cocktail— one for her thyroid; four lithium pills; two spironolactone (which work as a blood pressure and anti-testosterone medication, diuretic and anti-androgen, and a bit in her stand-up sets); estradiol valerate, which is a solution that is injected into her thigh weekly; and one progesterone, which helps with overall hormone balancing. She also takes strattera for ADHD. All of these prescriptions total to over $200 without insurance, which is why getting lithium for $1 and her other medication for less than $10 with her insurance is a big deal for Hodo.
Usually with GRS, patients must acquire two letters of recommendation and be on hormone treatment for at least a year, and they also must present any mental health condition forms and the capacity to make an informed decision, according to Aetna requirements.
Hodo had the GRS consultation and was prepared to go through the process, but one of the referral letters wasn’t from the correct kind of doctor, meaning she would have to re-do some steps and get another letter from a second mental health professional, and after going around in circles, it ended up seeming like a lot of trouble for a surgeon Hodo wasn’t 100 percent certain “At a certain point, about, she says.
being actively, knowingly closeted (as a transgender woman) was a toll. You’re making public appearances, meanwhile, it was involving my perception of myself— how I present myself and how I am.”
The long-term effects of spiro, as those in the transgender community call it, are not wonderful, Hodo said. A joke in the transgender community includes pickles being the best gift for transgender women because of the fluid and salt replacement needed after spiro doses.
“I feel like sometimes I have to stop the momentum I have for my transition in order to focus on other life things, but I think it will take priority for me again once I move. I’d like to use this platform while I have it to remind everyone that it’s not polite to ask trans people about their surgery status, but I’m a freak who loves to overshare so I don’t mind, personally,” Hodo says. “I’ve become more comfortable with my face and [facial feminization surgery] feels a little extreme to me at this point, so I probably won’t go for it. I would love to do all sorts of genital rearrangement, but life happens and it’s not an easy thing to arrange.”
Soon, Hodo will make the move to Kansas City, partially for a change of scenery, but mainly because being in a larger city means more access to transition-related programs and knowledgeable professionals.
In August 2015 she left her job “at a pizza joint up north” after living closeted for fear of discrimination and got a job at Arsaga’s, where she was able to use her preferred pronouns— she, her, hers—and live as a full-time transgendered woman. Not too long after, she officially came out publicly at an open mic night at Ryleigh’s on Dickson Street.
“I’ve noticed how many things medically, and what I’m doing and how I’m seeing myself to alleviate my dysphoria, being more confident with myself,” she said. “I could obsess over physical things, but without the confidence with how I walk and carry myself, that all doesn’t matter.”
“Fayetteville stand-up has been very welcoming. Before stand-up, I did poetry slams which were artsy and gay, whatever. I came out as bi, basically using what language I had because that’s what I understood,” she said.
/ FACEBOOK.COM/KAIA.HODO / TWITTER @summergothkafka
She wasn’t sure if her coworkers, who only knew her as Kai, a gay male, were in the audience that night, but she didn’t care. Once she found her rhythm in her stand-up set, she decided to bring her true self to light and come out as Kaia, a trans woman. Once her hormones were balanced and her identity was out and accepted, the reassignment surgery still wasn’t at the top of her to-do list. But in November 2016, everything changed when America elected Donald Trump as president. Because of the fears of restrictions the new administration brought for those in the LGBT community, “I was like, ‘I want to do this now,” she said. And the next step began. After being recommended by a close friend to a surgeon in Portland, Oregon, who specializes in vaginoplasty, Hodo’s therapist and endocrinologist wrote her recommendation letters.
26 | the performing arts issue
Two local performers spice things up in the comedy scene with...
ON ON THE THE S PO OT SP T It all started with a too-small “Golden Girls” T-shirt and a microphone. Local comedians Topher Kogen and Xavier Claiborne floated around the same circles in the comedy scene, but it wasn’t until an open mic at former arts venue Stage Eighteen in 2018 that they realized they were meant to be friends–it was as simple as
Kogen saying to Claiborne, “You’re wearing a Golden Girls shirt, I want to be friends,” and Claiborne saying, “OK.” Stage Eighteen is no longer around, but Kogen and Claiborne’s friendship has evolved over time. They have participated in and won local Roast Battles, and one year for a Halloween show, they dressed as conjoined twins with fake blood and all. The dynamic duo have always enjoyed entertaining and creating random, goofy jokes, which led them to curate a new kind of comedy show locals hadn’t seen before. “A lot of ideas don’t necessarily come from a tribute place,” Kogen said. “It all comes from not seeing certain comedy being done.” “On the Spot,” a fully improvised standup show, invites local comedians to stretch beyond their comfort zone. Each comedian gets a 10-minute spot with five jokes, but here’s the catch: It’s all done off the cuff. A prompt comes up on a monitor, and then the comedian must improvise their set based on whatever comes to mind and perform as if they are doing a rehearsed stand-up set.
the show, we’ll argue about which joke to use, until we’re out of time and the show has to start,” Kogen said. The only planned things for the show involve the behind-the-scenes work: writing prompts, setting up technology and finding a theme (they range from western to drag divadom). “When we started, people were doing the same sh-- every week—that’s why we did ‘On the Spot,” Claiborne said, “to push the ones around us to do better.” As for what’s next for the team, Kogen is the co-host on hit show “The Wendy Love Edge Show with Topher Kogen,” and Claiborne is figuring out whether he wants to move to Chicago or Conway because it’s close to Little Rock and Memphis, so comedy is accessible and he would be closer to family. In the meantime, the two comedians are in the planning stages of a midwestern tour slated for this summer. But who knows–with them, it may just be a trip they plan on the spot. WORDS / JULIA M. TRUPP PHOTO COURTESY / TOPHER KOGEN
The jokes for “On the Spot” developed by riffing jokes from one topic. “Hours before
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Lights Up A whole new world at TheatreSquared doesn’t happen overnight. WORDS / JULIA M. TRUPP PHOTO / WESLEY HITT DRAWING / ASHLEIGH BURNS There’s something mystical about stepping foot into TheatreSquared in Fayetteville. We leave everything at the door and become immersed in another world conjured by the performance, the glimmering lights and the fantastical costumes. But just as much magic happens offstage as on. Take their latest production Ann, for example. The design crew built looming plantation shutters from scratch to set the scene. While many set pieces can be found at Habitat For Humanity and flea markets, some can only be made in-house. “Basically at the beginning of the season, Kat [Depler] makes a plan for how all of the things will go onstage all year long,” says Joanna Bell, marketing director for TheatreSquared. “The designers design, and then Alex [Worthington] executes the designs for each show.” Ann is an unusual case, as the play itself is a one-womanproduction. So while there aren’t necessarily too many moving bodies on stage and no set changes, the design relies heavily on projection technology to guide the audience through the play’s three parts. “This is the first time I’ve ever had experience with projection mapping,” says Ashleigh Burns, a projection designer for Ann and TheatreSquared’s scenic charge and props artist. “The play is split up into three parts, and the projections help guide you through each part. So they help her journey, and we won’t be doing projections constantly like some shows. They’re really just aiding those transitions to make it clear for the audience because we don’t have any scenery that comes on or off. We’re just sort of shaping the world with light, sound, and projections.” Burns works full-time for TheatreSquared, but most other productions curate talent from out-of-house, except for the costume designer. Production Director Kat Wepler likes to find
a blend of personalities who would fit the show well, so forming a successful production crew is its own kind of casting process. “We think of who our first choices are, and sometimes the director wants to talk to people about reading the script, or if they think they will match artistically. It really just depends and the process is different on each show.” The initial planning and development meeting typically begins six months out from the show, so for Ann, the team began processing and reading through the script after A Christmas Carol opened last November. The show has since been extended to April 19, so they get to work with the shutters longer than they expected. “Hand-making the plantation shutters was a challenge,” says Technical Director Alex Worthington. “I don’t think it’s something theaters do very often; that’s a product that you buy and install. It was one that we embraced, and it was a labor of love because there is a lot of planning going into making sure those things function well before tech, and being able to lay that entire project out. That became the scene shop’s job for three weeks.” Most shows have about four weeks to get set up, including tech week. Because the show only has one actor (and she, the wonderful Sally Edmundson, has done the show before), the team had less than three weeks to get it all together—and they did. The shutters are almost fully functional, but they don’t have to hold up through years of children opening and closing them like actual plantation shutters would. “Instead we do scenic gesture tricks, we make things look like they’re real,” Worthington says. And at the end of every show, all the clever tricks, time, sweat and tears absorbed into each set piece, prop and cue is reset—a clean slate for the next show, already in the design phase and ready to come to life.
/ THEATRE2.ORG
28 | the performing arts issue
HOP ABOARD INTERVIEW / JULIA M. TRUPP \ PHOTOS COURTESY / ARTIST’S LABORATORY THEATRE
Kerry Crawford performs during a workshop production of "Good Person South Fayetteville.”
The art of theatre is all about living truthfully in imaginary circumstances. It is the dramatizing of the human spirit in the community, and The Artist’s Laboratory Theatre has been raising eyebrows and starting conversations for years. The organization has the Arts on Tour Grant, which allows them to create unique performances such as gameshows and experimental experiences for special events. We sat down with ALT founder and artistic producer Erika Wilhite on the magic ALT has up its sleeves this season.
What is the Artist's Laboratory Theatre? Is the Civic Lab related?
Artist’s Laboratory Theatre is a social practice company committed to expanding the audience’s role in live theatre. We collaborate in a myriad of ways with community groups throughout the creative process in order to make our work a meaningful exchange with our community. We have offices at the Center for Nonprofit in Rogers, but we produce our work—productions and outreach programs—at site-specific venues throughout Northwest Arkansas. The Civic Lab, a program by Artist's Laboratory Theatre, is a series of community-input sessions about the civic issues we are exploring in our performances. The project has evolved from the Southside Civic Lab, a two-year play development process that explored housing insecurity and homelessness in the area.
How can interactive theatrical performances like those you have curated and been involved with impact the community? Why is this important? Theatre especially can create the appropriate conditions for engagement on matters of civic importance, because theatre is about the human experience. We put a face on issues and topics that otherwise are abstract and unemotional, such as public transportation. No matter the topic, we aim to embolden and empower individuals as “change agents” through theatre and storytelling. // CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
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Listening Party participants share stories after the production.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 // Do you have any upcoming shows or events?
Yes, we are collaborating on a script with Venceremos, a workerbased organization in Arkansas whose mission is to ensure the human rights of poultry workers. We will produce readings of the script this spring. Meanwhile, we have several community events coming up this spring and summer through the NWA Civic Lab that will give folks a chance to learn and give input about new public transit developments. We will host Listening Parties that focus on mobility. In Fall 2020, we are collaborating with Ozark Regional Transit on a weekend of programming on the bus and at the stops. And finally next October, we will produce "Good Person of South Fayetteville," the play we developed through the Southside Civic Lab. It will take place on the bus routes and at venues within walking distance to the bus stops. Dates for the upcoming season will also be announced soon.
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