Art Hounds: Ladysmith, Liberia and dance

This week's hounds are promoting an opera with small town Wisconsin roots, a pair of choreographers from NYC making their mark at the Southern, and the work of a Liberian installation artist at a local African market.

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Twin Cities composer Carolyn Elerding is going to Ladysmith, Wisconsin this weekend, by way of the opera. "The Ladysmith Story," conceived by local opera singer and Ladysmith native Brad

Johnson

Bradshaw, traces the evolution of a small town at an important point in its history. After having its world premiere at Ladysmith High School, "The Ladysmith Story" is on stage at the Red Eye Theatre in Minneapolis on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, and Sunday at 2pm.

Elissa Adams directs new play development at Children's Theatre Company, so it's not surprising she's drawn to performance that straddles the line between theater and dance. Elissa's going to see NYC transplant and choreographer Chris Yon's new work "The Infinite Multiverse," and a piece by NYC choreographer Johanna Meyer entitled "Stroll," featuring San Diego actress and director Judy Bauerlein. They're being performed at the Southern Theater, July 22 - 24.

Patricia Briggs, an arts writer based in Racine, WI, has tapped installation artist and Liberian native Catherine Kennedy as one of the rising stars in Twin Cities visual arts. Kennedy's mixed media exhibition, "Exit: Making it Through" explores the lives of women caught up in the Liberian civil war. It's on view at the African Food Market and Deli Afrique in Crystal, starting this Friday through August 23.

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