Dance
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet at the Newman Center
Today-Sunday. Forward-looking ballet. The nationally renowned Aspen Santa Fe Ballet stops by Denver this weekend for its mixed repertoire program. 7:30 p.m. Saturday; free “Behind the Curtain” lecture at 6:30 p.m., Newman Center for the Performing Arts. Sold out. Also worthy this weekend: Boulder Ballet debuts its annual contemporary concert, “Stepping Out 2011,” featuring choreography from Ana Claire, Peter Davison, Becky Jancosko and guest Chung-Fu Chang. $17-$25. 8 p.m. today and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. 303-444-7328 or . John Wenzel
Comedy
A multivitamin for your funny bone
Wednesday. Tasty improv. Plenty of arts organizations like to talk about milestones, but The Bovine School of Improv has something to be legitimately tickled about next week. The Denver school is celebrating its 50th graduating class with the show “Something Delicious.” So what’s it about? “Improv is like a multivitamin,” said executive producer Denise Maes. “You get whatever you need at the moment.” The show opens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bovine Metropolis Theater, 1527 Champa St. $8. 303-758-4722 or . John Wenzel
Chuck Roy offers a unique variety show
Thursday. Indie comedy and music. Variety shows have been around forever, but you’ve probably never seen anything like “The Chuck Roy Show.” The Denver stand-up mainstay brings his Thursday afternoon show on to life at Casselman’s Bar and Venue on Thursday with indie music, comedy, hip-hop and more. Headlining sets from Chip Pope, 1984, Total Ghost, Varlet, Ben Roy, Whygee and RO Mance will be backed up by comedy from Hippieman, Nora Lynch, Deacon Gray, Jim Hickox, Lori Callahan, Eugene Kenny, Andrew Orvedahl and Harrison Raines and music from Melissa Ivey, Chella Negro, DJ Shor-T and Sarah Slayton. Act I at 8 p.m. and Act II at 10:30 p.m. Casselman’s, 2620 Walnut St. $7-$10; for a limited amount of $3.03 tickets. 720-242-8923 or casselmansdenver . John Wenzel
Family fun
Primer for tiny tots
Tuesday. Keep the beat. Little ones learn about keeping (musical) time at the next edition of “Tiny Tots Love Music.” Performed by members of the Denver Brass, “Rhythm and Beat” introduces youngsters to the basic structures of rhythm. As always, the kid-friendly show encourages participation and “active listening” — this won’t be an hour of squirmy sitting. The next Tiny Tots performance is “Elements of Music” on Feb. 26 in Highlands Ranch. 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. Peace Lutheran Church, 5675 Field St., Arvada. General admission is $8; kids age 4 and younger are $5. Visit for more information. Kathleen St. John
Ancient bones rule on President’s Day
Saturday. Dino delights. Find out who’s “president” of the dinosaurs at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park. Puppeteer and storyteller Cathy Kelsay presents a special President’s Day performance for kids, with songs, silly outfits and other dino diversions. Before and after the show, tour the center’s awesome exhibits: More than 30 full skeletons, including a 40-foot Tyrannosaurus rex, plus a working paleontology lab and free guided tours. 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, 201 S. Fairview St., Woodland Park; 719-686-1820. Admission is $11.50 for adults, $10.50 for seniors age 65 and older, $7.50 for kids ages 5 to 12. Children age 4 and younger are free. For more information, visit . Kathleen St. John
Early days of federal agency explored
Through April 10. History lesson. Discover the “Treasures of NOAA’s Ark,” the latest exhibit at the Boulder History Museum. Featuring artifacts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the exhibit explores the history of the agency from its 19th-century roots to today. Pore over old maps and ponder antiquated instruments used in NOAA’s early days and learn about its local connection at Boulder’s Earth Systems Research Laboratory. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Closed Mondays. Boulder History Museum, 1206 Euclid Ave., Boulder; 303-449-3464. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children and students. Learn more at . Kathleen St. John
Museum sleepover
March 4-5. Bring your PJs. Catch a glimpse of the Children’s Museum of Denver after dark at the museum’s Sleepover Fundraiser. Registration for the eventis open until Feb. 25 and includes dinner, a behind-the-scenes tour, a bedtime movie and breakfast the next morning. Get the run of the place after the doors have closed and make your bed inside an anthill, or on a lily pad or wherever you fancy. Ticket prices are steep, but hey, it’s for the fundraiser. 6:30 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday. Children’s Museum of Denver, 2121 Children’s Museum Drive; 303-433-7444. $50 per person. Reservations are required; call 303-561-0104 or e-mail lisaa@cmdenver.org to register. For more information, visit . Kathleen St. John
Backyard bird count
Through Monday. Winging it. Bird watchers across the country unite for the Great Backyard Bird Count, starting today and running through Monday. Anyone can join the feathered fun: Just watch your surroundings carefully for at least 15 minutes, take note of the birds you spot and submit your findings to the count. (Full instructions and a checklist are available at .) Need a tutorial? The Audubon Society of Greater Denver hosts a bird-count celebration on Saturday at its Nature Center. Learn how to particapate in the count and the best ways to attract birds to your yard. Kids can make a birdfeeder to take home, too. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Audubon Nature Center at Chatfield, just east of Waterton Road and Wadsworth Boulevard, Littleton. Classes are free for members, $5 for nonmembers. Learn more at , or call 303-973-9530. Kathleen St. John
Conquer Everest in IMAX
Opens today. The lastest IMAX movie from National Geographic has a classy voice cast: Liam Neeson and his late wife Natasha Richardson, Ralph Fiennes and Alan Rickman. But then the glorious and daunting images in “Wildest Dreams: The Conquest of Everest” deserve rich cadence and potent pauses. The majestic and the mysterious are required when revisiting the 1924 disappearance of mountaineers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. Everest has been called “the Edge of Heaven.” Did Mallory reach that threshold before going missing? Opens today at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd. Rated PG. 92 minutes. $7-$10. or 303-370-6000 Lisa Kennedy
Re-enactor brings Joe Louis back into a different ring
When Joe Louis climbed into the Yankee Stadium ring to box German Max Schmeling before 70,000 screaming fans on June 22, 1938, it was a rematch fraught with political implications.
Noted boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar wrote, “No other fight in boxing history had such political and sociological overtones. The Schmeling-Louis fight had more at stake than boxing supremacy; the winner could boast to the world of his racial supremacy and might.”
In 1936, Schmeling knocked out Louis during the 12th round of their first fight. In 1938, the hopes of America, more than three years away from entering a second world war, were again riding on the man the newspapers dubbed “The Brown Bomber.”
To re-enactor Hasan Davis, Louis was more than an athlete. Davis, a Kentucky- based poet, scholar, storyteller and youth advocate, takes the stage at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library Saturday to bring to life one of the greatest heroes in American athletics, part of a tour of schools and libraries organized by Colorado Humanities.
History records that Louis pummeled the German boxer and knocked him out in 2:04 of the first round, much to the joy of a record radio audience estimated at 70 million. Celebrations swept Harlem and the rest of the country.
Getting a complete picture of Louis’ life, though, has been a long journey for Davis.
“It was difficult because he’s so well- known, at least to a segment of our population,” said Davis. “I started (studying) Louis in 2005. . . . It was a new character, and a lot of other things got in the way.”
One of them was portraying York, a slave who traveled with early 19th-century explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. So “I kind of put Louis on the shelf,” Davis said.
Davis doesn’t look like Louis — and he doesn’t appear in boxing trunks and gloves. Instead, he researched Louis’ personal life and public pronouncements.
“It’s the nuances of it, trying to put myself in his mind, in his time. That’s the hardest part, going through his life, the biggest challenges, the struggles of his life. I believe that he felt very blessed and proud to be an American. In no other place could the son of a sharecropper become the greatest athlete in the world.”
Davis’ tale of Louis’ life begins around World War II and works through his days as a young boxer, his rise to fame and his difficulties in maintaining his stoic public profile.
Most surprising to Davis was that Louis — whose public persona was one of silence — was known among his friends to have a wicked wit.
“He did some very heroic things and, at the same time, he did some very human things. That nuance is really interesting. His private life was falling apart at times, and he was having to be unemotional in public.”
The public didn’t want to see a repeat of the antics of another black champion, Jack Johnson. “You have to carry yourself in a certain way,” Davis says Louis was told. “It was a lot of pressure on him.”
Louis was champion from 1938 until 1961, when he absorbed a fearful beating by Rocky Marciano. Like many boxers and athletes, he stayed too long at the party. Late in life, Louis was beset with tax problems, in part the result of his generosity with friends and charitable groups. He lived out his final days as a wrestling referee and, finally, a greeter for a casino in Las Vegas. He died in 1981.
Davis spends a lot of time focusing on youth development, and he hopes that his recounting of Louis’ struggles will be an inspiration to them.
“It’s a hope, first, that they get interested in looking for stories that are hidden. . . . There are a few incredible moments when (Louis) epitomized the principals of the United States of America: that if you’re willing to work, you can gain great heights. He changed everything about the country’s psyche gearing up for the war.”
“Joe Louis.”
Hasan Davis portrays the heavyweight champion in a one-man show at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, 2401 Welton St., 2 p.m. Saturday; free. Part of the Colorado Humanities annual Black History Live tour of schools and libraries in Denver, Greeley, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. More info: 303-894-7951.
