TeenTix Blog

Poet Linda Gregg @ Seattle Arts & LecturesPlums Failing Wellby Linda GreggSo what if plums fallout of the tree, to liesquashed and decomposingon the earth? So what ifthe only attention they receiveis from the ants and birdswho find something in themto feed from still,all spayed and color changed?If they could breathe,do you think they would saymore than so what?This is good, to liveto the end as somethingto get taken. What wasthe ripeness for anyhow?Why should chromosomes blinkand twitch inside the seed,the pit at the middle, the vastearth-shaped center of allof this? So what if we liehere or there as pithin the cold night where the owlhoots at the stirring that willcompute into the dark colorof that calling and the groundwe leak into,small piece by small piece.Linda GreggSeattle Arts & Lectures at Benaroya HallThursday, March 25th @ 7:30 PM

If you hate money, stop reading.Okay, the rest of you: the Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is on right now. It works like a coffee card for art: everytime you use your Teen Tix pass in the next 5 months, get your card stamped. When it's full, send it in. If we pull your card, you win. You win money. First prize is $200 (yes, two hundred dollars).What's the catch, you say? We applaud your wise skepticism, but there is none. Seriously. We just thought Teen Tix wasn't quite awesome enough already. Last time we did this, three actual live teenagers won actual dollars.Okay, we do have an ulterior motive: to get you to see more art at different places. The more different places you go and different kinds of art you see, the more money you can win. Passport to the Arts. Get it?Okay, go download your passport from our website and start collecting stamps. You have until July 9th, 2010 to fill up your card. Go go go!

oh man. it really happened...

...here's a tiny snippet of what you missed:This is dancer Bianca Cabrera giving a solo to Teen Tix member Mykaila O. It's all part of a three-month project called A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light presented by Lingo Dance, ACT Theatre, and Seattle Art Museum.Read Mykaila's journal of the experience here.

VERY COOL!

We are thrilled to announce that the Bellevue Arts Museum is our newest participating organization!

Why is it called an "arts" museum instead of an "art" museum? Because the Bellevue Arts Museum is "the Pacific Northwest's center for the exploration of art, craft and design..." This means that, in additional to traditional visual arts like painting and sculpture, BAM's exhibits explore the art in everyday things - things that people actually use and wear - like, say, furniture, or shoes.Their current exhibit, Beth Levine, First Lady of Shoes is a perfect example. It showcases the work of footwear revolutionary Beth Levine, whose visionary designs for mules, stilettos, and fashion boots defined fashion footwear long before Sex and the City made Manolo and Choo household names. Bellevue Arts Museum is located right across from Bell Square at 510 Bellevue Way NE and has FREE parking!Hours:Mon - Thu 11 am - 5 pmFri 11 am - 8 pmSat & Sun 12 - 5 pmTeen Tix admissions are $5.00 all day, every day. On Thursday, Teen Tix admission are 2 for $10, so bring a friend or family member!For more information about Bellevue Arts Museum, check out their website: bellevuearts.org.

Teen Tixers, we need your help!Every day we hear stories from teenagers whose lives have been changed in big and small ways by getting the chance to see art through Teen Tix. Now we need your help to make sure that some other people - some important people - get to hear those stories, too. Can you take five minutes to record a short video explaining why Teen Tix is important to you? We've been making the arts accessible for teenagers for almost 6 years now. Over 13,000 teenagers have used a Teen Tix pass to attend the arts in Seattle since 2004. Your video could be the thing that makes it possible for all of us here at Teen Tix to keep doing what we do for years to come. It doesn't have to be fancy or long, just honest. Testify!Here's one, by Teen Tix member Tracy M., to get you started:Four ways to submit your video:1. Post it to our Youtube page as a video response to Jacob's video2. Email it to teentix@seattle.gov3. Post it to our facebook fan page4. Post it as a comment to our myspace page.No video camera? No problem! Just send us an email explaining why Teen Tix is important to you. We may even send someone out to record you telling your story!The sooner we get your video, the sooner we can start putting it to good use. So go do one. Right now! It's better than doing homework, right?

Review of The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Seattle Shakespeare Company by Paulina PrzystupaI am not quite sure if The Two Gentlemen of Verona could have been any funnier, except, if I actually watched The OC or Keeping up with the Kardashians. Two Gents, playing now until April 11th at the Seattle Shakespeare Company, has something for every audience member and all those little gifts are all wrapped up in a really neat modern box.

Samie Detzer as Lucetta and Hana Lass as Julia in Two Gentlemen of Verona at Seattle Shakespeare Company. Photo by Erik Stuhaug.The company decided to transplant the boot of Italy to the boot of California, bringing a very 21st century twist to the tale. The two gentlemen, Proteus (Daniel Brockley) and Valentine (Connor Toms) - although the term ‘gentlemen’ only really applies to their gender - are childhood buddies that get split up when Valentine decides to go to college and leave Proteus to his wooing of Julia (Hana Lass). However, a mix-up (not mixer) occurs and Proteus is also shipped away to school leaving Julia behind. However, at college Proteus finds himself falling for Valentine’s sweetheart, Sylvia (Emily Grogan). Enter occasionally tragic, mostly hilarious, shenanigans.The cast did an exceptional job at uniting the extreme modernity of their new ‘world' and the 500-year-old words of Shakespeare. So much so that I swear Shakespeare dreamed of text messages when he wrote lines like “my father calls.” While the show may be set in the extreme opulence of our techno-savvy times and take the shallowness of our reality-TV culture as a setting, it was incredibly moving. This was achieved by the ability of the entire cast to keep the words of Shakespeare genuine to the feelings of these confused youths.

Daniel Brockley as Proteus and Connor Toms as Valentine, the two gentlemen of Verona. Photo by Erik Stuhaug.

While setting it in “the rich do what they want” society could end up being the focus of the play it did not overshadow the story. They were able to balance the shallowness of rich 20-year-olds with how any person would feel in those situations. Young people go from one obsession to the next and always have a touch of bi-polarism. However it is also true that youth, and especially these, are not as defined by their society as the a reality TV show of them would suggest, and because of that anyone, even me who finds shows like The OC boring as hell, can identify with the Twilight-obsessed Julia and the beautiful and wealthy—yet kind—Sylvia.While those characters may be easy to dismiss on TV, the words of Shakespeare give them a depth of understanding that makes them regular people. It shows that although they may be rich and snobby they have problems that anyone, especially in their teenage years, can face.Also, on a sort of side-yet-parallel note, Crab was awesome. No other way to describe it. He was probably one of the funniest characters and most well acted. I won't give away that secret so everyone needs to go and see this play but just look out for him. Anyways The Two Gentlemen of Verona is playing until April 11th at the Seattle Shakespeare Company in the Center House Theatre. Tickets are only $5 for Teen Tix members and varying amounts over $20 for adults. Go and see it.- Paulina PrzystupaMarch 23rd, 2010The Two Gentlemen of VeronaSeattle Shakespeare CompanyThrough April 11th

Review of Brooklyn Boy at Taproot Theatre Company by Leah S.To an audience of elderly Jews raised in New York, Brooklyn Boy would be a hilarious play. To Jewish teens like me, it’s less funny. To everyone else, it falls short of entertaining.

Alex Robertson and Jeff Berryman in Brooklyn Boy. Photo by Erik Stuhaug

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies, Brooklyn Boy is the story of a successful middle-aged author who must return to the Jewish community in Brooklyn where he was raised to visit his ailing father. There, he is confronted by demons old and new: the failure of his marriage, the disapproval of his parents, and the constant reminder of a childhood he thought he had escaped.Brooklyn Boy fails to reach larger demographics than the one to which it is catered. Certain themes, such as Eric Weiss’ (Jeff Berryman) struggle to bridge the generation gap between himself and his father or Alison’s (Jesse Notehelfer) naïve attempt at seduction, ring truer than most others in the play. The Yiddish glossary in the program and my own knowledge of Jewish culture and experience with three Jewish grandparents allowed me to at least understand, and occasionally enjoy, many of the jokes and conflicts within the play. However, most Seattle teens would have trouble connecting with the subtleties of Jewish guilt, humor, and expectations. Older viewers might identify more clearly with Eric’s struggle to hold together a failed marriage, though Lisa Perreti’s performance as dissatisfied wife Nina was not wholly believable.

Nicholas Beach and Nikki Visel. Photo by Erik Stuhaug

Post #2: The Art Lens(Wait! What is this? Skip to the bottom for an explanation.)

Dancer Bianca Cabrera

In my first journal about receiving a personal solo, I said that I think that receiving this solo will force me to confront myself in new ways. I have been thinking about how art is sometimes a lens for viewing ourselves. Art is often a form of self-expression—a way to show others what we believe, think, or feel. In this way, artists use art to clearly articulate what is inside them. People who experience art are also given the opportunity to better understand themselves. By examining others' beliefs and feelings, we may more clearly define what we believe or feel, even if it means saying, "That is not what I believe." It often causes us to experience new things—things we have not thought to experience, things we don't want to experience, things that don't really affect us deeply, things that we love and, and things that we enjoy regularly. Our responses to experiences show us pieces of ourselves. Art is always witnessed by at least one person. The artist who creates the art is the first person to witness it. There are at least as many reactions to art as there are witnesses to the art. Our reactions are different because of our individual personalities and our unique experience as people.So, what does this have to do with my solo? I'm not really sure. I didn't set out to write this stuff, I just set out to write a journal. I guess it's just going to be a completely original art experience. Bianca has created a work of art just for me. She has looked at me through the art lens, and needs me to look at myself this way right along with her. It's a bit disquieting... Ready or not, here it comes.

If you hate money, stop reading.Okay, the rest of you: the Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is on right now. It works like a coffee card for art: everytime you use your Teen Tix pass in the next 5 months, get your card stamped. When it's full, send it in. If we pull your card, you win. You win money. First prize is $200 (yes, two hundred dollars).What's the catch, you say? We applaud your wise skepticism, but there is none. Seriously. We just thought Teen Tix wasn't quite awesome enough already. Last time we did this, three actual live teenagers won actual dollars.Okay, we do have an ulterior motive: to get you to see more art at different places. The more different places you go and different kinds of art you see, the more money you can win. Passport to the Arts. Get it?Okay, go download your passport from our website and start collecting stamps. You have until July 9th, 2010 to fill up your card. Go go go!

Brooklyn Boy @ Taproot Theatre

Review of Sinaisky Conducts Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé at Seattle Symphony by Anna B.I have to say, the Brahms double concerto is MAGNIFICENT. Absolutely unbelievably mind-blowing. This particular double is a violin and cello, and Brahms plays with the contrasting instruments—plus full orchestra—in an intricate and ever-surprising manner, flipping the usual concerto order on its head (the violin and cello each start with a cadenza {technically difficult solo passage}, which should come at the end of the concerto). And the Seattle Symphony in all its glory is a wonder to behold—although there were only six basses for the Brahms, and I was slightly disappointed. Nonetheless, finally seeing the entire orchestra on stage (rather rare for a concerto, but it’s BRAHMS and crazy) definitely was a highlight.

Daniel Müller-Schott rocks the dramatic hair-in-eyes lookHowever, one lowlight—the violin soloist. I myself am a violinist, and so maybe I’m too harsh on him, but goodness! The cellist outplayed him times a million! Don’t get me wrong, Henning Kraggerud is a nearly flawless technical player, and I never felt like screaming at his intonation or shifting or anything, but Daniel Müller-Schott played with passion and fire and zeal (proper Brahms!) and Henning looked rather boring onstage. You know something’s wrong when you’re watching the cellist even when he’s playing backup for the violin soloist.Henning, dear, follow this advice and no one will be able to complain: First, cut your hair. It looked like it was weighing your head down, attaching it inescapably to the chinrest of your violin, pinning you in the exact same spot and forcing you to play like a robot. Take a lesson from the cellist sitting next to you—dramatic hair in your eyes is good. Hair that long is not good.

Anna's advice for Kraggerud: more passion, less hairSecond, feel the Brahms. It is BRAHMS. Passion and power and fire and beauty. Understand this, and I will have no complaints.There are two pieces in this concert; the entire second half is a Ravel ballet-without-the-ballet, Daphnis et Chloé. It’s a wonderful piece, with links to a lot of modern music, and not only did it have an enormous chorale, they also finally pulled out all the stops—there were eight basses! (the full contingent). The guest conductor, Vassily Sinaisky, really brings out the best in the Seattle Symphony, a sound I haven’t heard in a long time. Both the Ravel and the Brahms are worth seeing, but each in their own right—Brahms because it’s magnificent (and Daniel Müller-Schott is AMAZING), and Ravel because it renews faith in the power of the Seattle Symphony to be awesome. I needed that renewal of faith.- Anna B.Thursday, March 18th, 2010Next up at Seattle Symphony: Dausgaard Conducts Rachmaninov & Sibelius, March 25 - 27. More info at seattlesymphony.org

Post #3: Kelly Sullivan is seriously awesome(Wait! What is this? Skip to the end for an explanation.)

I’m not a person to lose my words. I always have something to say—flippant, sarcastic, serious, or profound. I’m not queen of comebacks, but words always find their way to my tongue in time.

But this time, I don’t know what to say. This gift of a Glimmer solo from Kelly Sullivan was intense—like someone had taken the lid off my brain and was peering inside. If I step back from the whole thing and just think about it for a bit, I have to admit it’s not a normal thing—having your own dancer choreograph a solo just for you about you, like a viewport into your being from someone else’s eyes. My parents totally didn’t understand the concept, actually, and still don’t. There’s a lot of material here to talk about the relevancy of art, and how Glimmer is bringing art down to an intensely personal level—this one to one solo business.

Anna greets Kelly as she comes out of Lake Washington, post-danceI don’t particularly want to talk about the deeper meaning behind the entire project, though. I wish I could express in plain and simple words the incredible way Kelly understood me through her dance; the moments where I could see myself and the moments I could see her interpretation of me. It was a seamless blending of my answers to the questions (really, very little to go on for an entire dance) and Kelly herself—because she chose the elements of me to emphasize.

...here's a tiny snippet of the magic that you missed. This is dancer Kelly Sullivan performing a solo composed for and about Teen Tix member Anna B. as a part of Lingo Dance's current project, One Performer/One Recipient/Many Locations, which is, in turn, part of a larger project called A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light, which will be performed at ACT Theatre April 22 - May 15.Two Teen Tix members were selected to receive solos from Lingo dancers. The second solo performance, created for Mykaila O. by dancer Bianca Cabrera, will take place this Tuesday, March 23rd at 6:15 PM at the Greenlake skate park.

Greenlake skate park photo by evo.crew on flickr

You can read both Anna and Mykaila's journals of their Glimmer experiences here.

(Tucker asked if, instead of posting his review, we could just put a big star on the blog with "Go See This" on it. We're doing both.) Really, really cool things continue to happen over at PNB. This time it’s 3 by Dove, three ballets (as the name would suggest) by the choreographer Ulysses Dove. Spliced in between is a new work commissioned for the PNB by Victor Quijada, Suspension of Disbelief.

Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist Rachel Foster in Ulysses Dove’s Vespers. Photo © Angela Sterling

Teen Tixers, we need your help!Every day we hear stories from teenagers whose lives have been changed in big and small ways by getting the chance to see art through Teen Tix. Now we need your help to make sure that some other people - some important people - get to hear those stories, too. Can you take five minutes to record a short video explaining why Teen Tix is important to you? We've been making the arts accessible for teenagers for almost 6 years now. Over 13,000 teenagers have used a Teen Tix pass to attend the arts in Seattle since 2004. Your video could be the thing that makes it possible for all of us here at Teen Tix to keep doing what we do for years to come. It doesn't have to be fancy or long, just honest. Testify!Here's one, by Teen Tix member Jacob S., to get you started:Four ways to submit your video:1. Post it to our Youtube page as a video response to Jacob's video2. Email it to teentix@seattle.gov3. Post it to our facebook fan page4. Post it as a comment to our myspace page.No video camera? No problem! Just send us an email explaining why Teen Tix is important to you. We may even send someone out to record you telling your story!The sooner we get your video, the sooner we can start putting it to good use. So go do one. Right now! It's better than doing homework, right?

Post #2: Questions and Answers(Wait! What is this? Skip to the bottom for an explanation.)Here are some of the questions that dancer Kelly Sullivan asked Anna in order to create her solo dance, and Anna's answers:KELLY. Describe a reoccurring dream or image.ANNA. This is a good question, I just have no idea how to answer. My dreams are all fantasy epics and never repeat themselves, except maybe they do, over and over and over again until I finally remember them when I wake up and write them down for once.KELLY. Pretend you are a magnet. Describe what (or who) you pull toward and what (or who) you push away.ANNA. I attract towards me all the diet coke, sugar, books, and intelligent people in the room, repulse all seafood and arrogantly stupid people. I wish I really was a magnet.A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or LightKELLY. Fast or Slow?ANNA. BOTH. life might be like a rollercoaster, but it’s definitely one that stops and starts, slowing down to sixty beats per minute (like my metronome when I’m bored to tears on bach) or speeding up to 220 beats per minute (like Jascha Heifetz when he’s trying to prove he’s the best ever by simply playing things at inhuman speeds. Which didn’t work, Jascha, you just proved you’re an alien).KELLY. Introverted or Extroverted?ANNA. Extroverted. Life’s not for the faint of heart. Though kind of introverted when you first meet me. Shy around new people? Generally when I let all my quirks show at first meeting people get scared because they think I’m always like this.KELLY. Sweet or Savory?ANNA. Sweet. I definitely wish I could be a pastry chef—I’m always trying to feed people my latest, greatest creation. All of today I was handing out halfandhalf cookies, deliciously orangey cakey cookie dipped in chocolate frosting on one side and vanilla yogurt frosting on the other. I am determined to make everyone around me round as a ball from all the pure butter I feed them.KELLY. Honesty or Artifice?ANNA. Honesty. I have to be forthright and up front about myself or I feel cheap and stupid.KELLY. Left or Right?ANNA. Even though I’m righthanded, I’d chose left, because I’m leftfooted and I part my hair to the left and my violin rests on my left shoulder.KELLY. Driver or Passenger?ANNA. Passenger—I’d rather talk and mess with the music then have to focus on driving. Though I can be a back-seat driver.KELLY. Real or Disguised?ANNA. Real. I kind of already answered that with the honesty/artifice question. Although I do love masquerade balls and dressing up for things.KELLY. What are two colors that go together well?ANNA. Teal and purple. If you have the right shades, they flow beautifully together.

This is Anna. Her dance is happening tomorrow morning, Friday, March 19th at 7:05 AM on the dock behind Spectrum Dance Theater. Directions hereA Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light is an innovative, interactive new work from Seattle Magazine's 2007 Dance Artist of the Year, KT Niehoff and her company, Lingo Dance. 30 people, including two members of the Teen Tix reviewer corps, Anna B and Mykaila O, have been chosen to receive a custom made solo from one of the Glimmer cast. They have all filled out a questionnaire designed to find out who they are: driver or passenger? sweet or savory? what items are currently in your pocket? what is the last thing you lost? what is a Seattle location you love? Glimmer cast members are using the answers to tailor-make a performance for each person to watch. The dances are personal but performed in public locations throughout the city, available for any and all to see. See Anna's performance at 7:05 in the morning TOMORROW Friday March 19th on the dock behind Spectrum Dance Theater. directions here| Read other recipients' journals on the Glimmer Blog.Find out more about Lingo Dance Theater at lingodance.comThe culminating performances of A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light run April 22nd - May 15th at ACT Theatre.

by Tucker C.

Photo by Angela Sterling for Class Act Tutu

Laura Gilbreath, apart from being an amazing and accomplished dancer, is a lot of things. She is an avid country music fan, a savvy traveler through Europe, a Seattle University student, and all in all a very, very cool person. Officially, she’s a member of the corps de ballet at Pacific Northwest Ballet, and is performing in the upcoming 3 by Dove, opening this Thursday, March 18th, at McCaw Hall.

Laura, as the Peacock, watches the performance behind the curtain at a partial dress rehearsal of the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker. Photo by Erika Schultz

New blog feature! On the fifteenth(ish) of every month, we will publish a look ahead at the arts events that we're most psyched about for the upcoming month. Know of something coming up at one of our participating organizations that you think should be in the datebook? Let us know!APRIL, 2010

visual artNick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth @ Seattle Art MuseumFleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints @ Seattle Asian Art MuseumIsabelle Pauwels Incredibly, unbelievably/The complete ordered field @ Henry Art GalleryGlenn Miller Orchestra @ Seattle Symphony