Dance ’em if ya got ’em

This week: Two eagerly anticipated dance events, and a band that will make you want to dance the February blues away. 

# 5: Oscar Shorts at Rosebud Theatre.
Why? Because in a few weeks, you’ll be sitting around the tube with your friends, and they’ll be like, “Oh, Meryl will win,” and “No way – Avatar doesn’t have a chance.” And you’ll say this: “I think Luke Doolan’s Miracle Fish will win the Live-Action Short prize; it was a powerful vision of the mysteries of childhood.” Your friends will put down their Bud Lights and look at you with awed admiration.

#4: Folklore Urbano at Latino Arts.
Why? Because Pablo Mayor is creating a heady blend of contemporary Latin rhythms and traditional music from his native Columbia, and his 11-piece ensemble, Folklore Urbano, has come all the way from Bogata (by way of New York) to bring a little heat to the Wisconsin winter.

#3: Stuck at In Tandem. 
Why? Because this screwball comedy isn’t by Kauffman and Hart, or even Morrie Ryskind, but by local boy Neil Haven, who was last seen unraveling murderous plots among Santa, Rudolf and other Christmas characters in his puppet play, Who Killed Santa? And because we all feel a little agoraphobic once in a while – just like Ella, the hotel elevator operator at the center of the story.

#2: “Lights, DPC…Action” at Danceworks.
Why? Because you like movies. And you like dance. So you’re sure to like people dancing about movies. And because the Danceworks company has tapped 10 different choreographers to riff on film genres, ranging from horror movies to martial arts flicks. And because Danceworks is acting like a collective again, nudging all of their members into creating new work in their own distinct style.

#1: Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at Alverno Presents.
Why? Because there is no other choreographer in America who would aspire to create a dance with the thematic heft of Jones’s pair of Lincoln fantasias, “Fondly Do We Hope…Fervently Do We Pray” and “Serenade/The Proposition.” Because when his first dance honoring the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth was too big for a New York theater stage, he simply said, “That’s OK, we’ll make another one.” And because you remember Jones’s “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” performed in Milwaukee 19 years ago, and want to hear what the company has to say about America’s racial legacy since then.