EVENTS
Loving Lafayette
Saturday.
Street festival. Ever since 1956, residents of Lafayette have seized upon a crisp fall day to parade through town and share food, arts and crafts with the community. This year’s Celebrate Lafayette includes the usual free pancake breakfast, pie-baking contests, Hollywood- themed parade, street booths, live music and kids activities. But like a lot of Colorado communities, it’s adding an environmentally themed element with “Keep It Green” vendors featuring products and services focusing on the environment. It’s also touting itself as a zero-waste event. Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Along Public Road in downtown Lafayette. 303-666-9555 or . John Wenzel
Attention, shoppers
Tonight-Sunday.Sale for the ski-minded. Save money on ski season — and help support youth ski-and-ride group Team Summit — at the Swap the Summit Mountain Expo. New and used equipment for all ages will be on sale, so bring everyone along to sniff out deals. When you’re not shopping, watch big-air demonstrations and visit booths from winter sports and vacation exhibitors. If you have old ski and snowboard stuff to sell, consignment check-in is today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Expo times: 5-9 tonight, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. National Western Complex, 4655 Humboldt St.; 303-297-1166. Admission is $5 per person or $10 per family. Kids age 12 and younger are admitted free. Visit teamsummit . for more information. Kathleen St. John
THEATER
From the fringe
Tonight-Saturday.Live and multimedia She is a plain and pensive woman. He is an ordinary man who lives in an extraordinary house — one that does algebraic equations and plots violence. This fever dream, developed for the recent Boulder International Fringe Festival, combines poetic monologues, dance theater and multimedia. “A Murder One Less” is at 8 p.m. today and Saturday at the Bindery Space, 2180 Stout St. Featuring Brandon Kruhm, Julie Rada and a sledgehammer. $12. 720-221-3821 or . John Moore
Film and poetry
Oct 1-3 Festival. Cafe Nuba takes its purposeful energy to the Starz FilmCenter for the first “Cafe Nuba Doc/Fest.” Opening the three-night lineup of spoken-word performances and films: Nirit Peled’s fiery documentary “Say My Name,” about women taking the reins of hip-hop, R&B, their lives. Also playing “Homegrown: HipLife in Ghana” (Friday), and “The Last Poets: Made in Amerikkka” (Saturday). Films start at 7:15. There will be a pre-screening reception daily at 5 p.m. Poets include Queen God Is of HBO’s “Brave New Voices” and legend Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets. The Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, 900 Auraria Parkway; tickets $15/night, all ages; for more information go to . or cafenuba . 303-820-FILM. Lisa Kennedy
FAMILY FUN
Still great
Wednesday-Oct. 11. Sentimental circus. See the latest take on “The Greatest Show on Earth” when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey bring “Zing Zang Zoom” to the Denver Coliseum. A celebration of circus magic, the show features “Zingmaster” Alex and his lovely assistant Levitytia as guides through the fantasyland. Along the way, the two have to avoid the clutches of Mr. Gravity and the Heavies — but as long as they’ve got their band of illusionists, acrobats and animals, everyone floats on just fine. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday. Remaining showtimes vary by day through Oct. 11. Denver Coliseum, 4600 Humboldt St.; 720-865-2475. Tickets to Wednesday’s opening night performance are $13, tickets for remaining shows are $15-$82. Ticket prices include an “All-Access Pre-show” one hour before showtime. Tickets at . or call 800-745-3000. Kathleen St. John
Fly off to a new world
Ongoing.New exhibit. Flutter up to the Butterfly Pavilion to check out its latest exhibit, “Tropical Odyssey.” The “Odyssey” is an in-depth look at how the pavilion raises its exotic butterflies, as well as a lesson for all ages about conservation. Through interactive displays, learn about the life cycle of the butterfly and the practice of butterfly farming. At the same time, see how the rain-forest habitat of some of the world’s most beautiful butterflies is threatened, and what’s being done to help. Pavilion hours are 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. daily. The Butterfly Pavilion, 6252 W. 104th Ave., Westminster; 303-469-5441. Admission is $7.95 for adults, $5.95 for seniors age 65 and older, $4.95 for children ages 2 to 12. Kathleen St. John
Highlands Ranch goes Euro
Saturday.International fest. Take a trip through Europe — without the huge backpack and jet lag — at the second annual Colorado European Festival in Highlands Ranch. Sample cuisines from all over the continent and relax by the stage for a full day of entertainment — from Polish dancers to Celtic music to Serbian pop. A marketplace of European vendors will be on the grounds, too, should the shopping bug bite. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. Civic Green Park, near the Highlands Ranch Library at 9292 Ridgeline Blvd. Admission is free. For more information, call 720-663-7275 or visit . Kathleen St. John
Batty!
Saturday-Sunday. Natural wonders. Come nose-to-nose with some of the planet’s most misunderstood mammals at “Bat Encounter: Live!” Showing at both the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and the Denver Botanic Gardens, the demonstration is hosted by Rob Mies, director of the Organization for Bat Conservation. Mies will discuss and display rare bats — yes, real, live ones — including the endangered golden bat and the gigantic Malayan flying fox. 3 p.m. Saturday. Denver Museum of Nature and Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd.; 303-322-7009. Additional lecture at 6 p.m. Sunday, Denver Botanic Gardens, 1005 York St.; 720-865-3500. For both events, admission is $12 for museum and gardens members, $15 for nonmembers, $7 for children ages 3 to 12. Register early for the gardens event at .Kathleen St. John
Industrial music fans glad to have Vendetta Festival
Industrial music lives in the fringe here in the U.S., but it remains a popular force in Europeits birthplace.
Denver’s gothic-industrial community is quiet but strong, thriving in the underground. One of the few well-publicized manifestations of Denver’s gothic-industrial scene is this weekend’s second annual Vendetta Festival, a three-day event that features local and international artists.
“The idea came from the WGT (Wave Gotik Treffen), an annual European gothic/industrial festival,” said organizer Dave Leach, who goes by the name Dave Vendetta. “This year’s pre-sales have exceeded last year’s total attendance, and many of (the fans) are coming from all over the country.”
The Vendetta Festival plays tonight at the Hi-Dive, Saturday at Bar Standard and Sunday at the Exdo Event Center; it’s named after the Baker District record store of the same name, which Leach closed in December. Its record label (yes, of the same name) still lives on.
“Vendetta Music focuses on finding new, progressive industrial bands as well as licensing acts from Europe,” Leach said. “Vendetta has three new CD releases out this week, and all of the acts are performing at the Vendetta Festival: W.A.S.T.E, Mono Amine and the People’s Republic of Europe.”
Just a few of the better-known artists playing this weekend’s festival:
Hocico: “This duo from Mexico has been releasing hard-hitting industrial/ (electronic body music) since 1993,” Leach said.
Psyclon Nine: “Black metal/industrial hybrid from California on the Metropolis Records label.”
Rome: “Dark/neo-folk band from Germany with a huge cult following.”
Munly & The Lupercalians: “Signed to Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacle label. Members of the band are pioneers in the Denver/gothic-Americana sound.” Ricardo Baca
Tickets to the Vendetta Festival are $10 for Friday, $15 for Saturday or $40 for Sunday. A $50 three-day pass is also available. Tickets, schedules and information: vendetta-music.com.
Music metaphors afoot in Ballet Nouveau show
Attracting new audiences to the world of ballet is difficult enough without having to worry about cementing existing ones, but Broomfield-based Ballet Nouveau Colorado has done both the last few years with smart, risk-taking choreography and innovative contests.
Under the artistic direction of Garrett Ammon and associate director Dawn Fay, the company continues its experimentation with “Pop.” The program uses songs from Nancy Sinatra, Rufus Wainwright, the Knife and others to provide an accessible, high-energy entry to the world of dance.
We spoke with Ammon about “Pop,” a follow-up to last year’s successful “Rock,” in advance of the show’s premiere tonight at the Lakewood Cultural Center.
Q:Where did the idea for “Pop” come from?A: It was actually through a conversation with (2008 choreography competition finalist) Alex Ketley. I wanted to bring back my work “and tomorrow came,” which closed one of our choreography competitions, because our audience has grown dramatically and we knew there were people who hadn’t seen it. In talking with Alex about preliminary ideas for the show, he noted how a lot of really interesting stuff was going on in pop music, and something kind of clicked for us. We thought, “That’s really where we could take the show. We could explore those possibilities.”
Q:And it matches up with the music-themed “Rock” from last season.A: Absolutely. We’re incredibly excited to start the beginning of my third season here with this program. It’s a really fun, high-energy show to get people back in and excited about what we’re doing.
Q:Can you describe some of the pieces?A: I gave the choreographers the genre of pop as their launching pad, but really left it to them to kind of develop where they wanted to go. Joshua Blake Carter (winner of the 2009 choreography contest) used music from Rufus Wainwright. His piece is very expansive, but very thick in the way that it’s performed and produced.
Q:What about Alex Ketley’s piece?A: He’s pulled from a lot of different things, from the Knife’s “Heartbeats” and “Circle. Square. Triangle.” by Test Icicles to “Blue Turning Gray” by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and “Time to Pretend” by MGMT. So all of his choices are definitely heavier on the almost punk-pop feeling — slightly more aggressive in tone, but also with a sense of humor. They definitely go through a lot of different landscapes and emotions.
Q:And your own piece “and tomorrow came” will close it out, right?A: There’s that, which is choreographed to Joanna Newsom and has a lot of incredibly demanding physicality and nonstop energy to it. There’s not a lot of time to breathe. But I’m also working with some dancers on a last-minute addition that’s going to include a few Nancy Sinatra songs that tell a little love story. So we’ll have some ’60s pop in there as well.
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com
POP Ballet. Lakewood Cultural Center, Sept. 25-27, 470 S. Allison Parkway in Lakewood; Performing Arts Complex at PCS, Oct. 2-4, 1001 W. 84th Ave. Sept. 25-Oct. 4. Various times. $16-$42. 303-466-5685 or
