Critic’s pick
Cleo Parker Robinson leaps into “Dreamcatchers”
Through the weekend. Drawing on her experience of growing up in a mixed-race family in Denver, choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson has created a new cross-cultural work that explores “historic visionaries” of North and South America. Made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Art, “Dreamcatchers: The Untold Stories of the Americas,” incorporates dance, storytelling and music. Performances of the premiere by the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble continue this weekend at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the company’s home, 119 Park Avenue West. $35, $25 students, children and seniors. Also on tap is the company’s 41st-anniversary gala, “Dancing with the Denver Stars,” at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Renaissance Hotel, 3801 Quebec St. $150 and $250. 303-295-1759, ext. 13, or . Kyle MacMillan
Family Fun
Grab your gourds at Denver Botanic Gardens
Saturday-Sunday. Looking for the perfect pumpkin? You just might find it at the Pumpkin Festival at the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield. There’ll be gorgeous gourds for sale, live music, crafts and other activities. Take a cruise on the barrel train, saddle up for a pony ride or get face-painted Halloween-style. Just remember to save some energy for pumpkin decorating. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road; 303-973-3705. Admission is $6 for adults, students and seniors; $4 for children. Museum members receive a $1 discount. Kids in costume ages 3 to 12 are admitted free.
Wrestlemania comes to town with “RAW” tour
Friday-Saturday. Heads up, wrestlemaniacs: The WWE takes over the Front Range this weekend when the “RAW” tour stops in Denver and Loveland. The bone-crushing lineup includes stars like John Cena, The Miz, Rey Mysterio and Big Show. The main event is a championship match between heavyweight champion Cena and haughty superstar Alberto Del Rio, plus plenty of other matches to keep the crowd roaring. 7:30 p.m. tonight at Pepsi Center, 1000 Chopper Circle; 303-405-1100. $15-$45 at . 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Budweiser Events Center, 5290 Arena Circle, Loveland; 970-619-4100. Tickets are $15-$60 at .
Festival of Scarecrows making hay in Arvada
Saturday. Olde Town Arvada gets a little spooky at the 15th annual Festival of Scarecrows. Seasonal scarecrows will be posted all around town — visitors can vote for their favorites. Youngsters are encouraged to wear costumes, too, and march in a Halloween parade around Town Square. 57th Street is the place to be for kiddos, with face-painting, balloon animals, games, a mini-train and more. Gardeners can enter their pumpkins in a giant pumpkin contest. Bring along canned goods to donate — they’re admission to the Kiddies Cornstalk Maze. 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Olde Town Arvada, West 57th Avenue and Olde Wadsworth. Free.
Young chefs can stir it up at Vail Family Week
Through Sunday. Kids can try their hands at the culinary arts during the Family Week portion of Vail Restaurant Month. For the final days of Family Week, young gastronomes can sign up for kids-only cooking classes at real Vail restaurants. On Saturday, the whole family can gather At Blue Moose Pizza while little pizza chefs learn the ancient secrets of making and tossing pizza dough. Various locations, Vail. Registration prices vary. Details at
Oktoberfest with a kilt? It’s a Carbondale combo
Friday and Saturday. Carbondale celebrates two different cultures in a combination Celtic Fest and Oktoberfest extravaganza. Tonight, Celtic Fest begins with live music and a beer tent on Town Plaza — wear a kilt to enter the kilt competition. The party moves into Steve’s Guitars once the sun goes down, including poetry, Scotch tasting and more music. The Germans get their turn on Saturday with Oktoberfest: The first keg is tapped at 11 a.m., followed by an afternoon of food, games and traditional German music and dancing. Celtic Fest begins at 5 p.m. today; Oktoberfest starts at 11 a.m. Saturday. Town Plaza, 1st and Main Streets, Carbondale. Admission is free.
Pop Music
X marks the punk at Summit Music Hall
Saturday. L.A. punk band X will turn 35 next year — not that we need a reason to celebrate Billy Zoom’s soaring, country-inspired guitars, Exene Cervenka’s sweet-natured punk yalps and John Doe’s detached back-up vocals. The band’s Saturday show at the Summit Music Hall is reason enough for a party, and surely the soundtrack will include some of the band’s greatest hits: “White Girl,” “Los Angeles,” “Your Phone’s Off the Hook, But You’re Not,” “Johny Hit and Run Paulene” and more. Tickets are $29.50 at . Doors open at 8 p.m.; 1902 Blake St. Ricardo Baca
Classical Music
“The Soldiers Tale” in Englewood
Sunday. Englewood Arts Presents continues its Chamber Music of the Masters series with a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s “Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale).” This unusual music-theater hybrid, written in 1918, will be performed by Up Close & Musical, an ensemble of Colorado Symphony musicians led by cellist Eric Bertoluzzi. Charley Samson, a program host for Colorado Public Radio, will serve as narrator. The performance will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday in Hampden Hall, Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway. $15, $12 seniors and $5 students 18 and younger. 303-806-8196 or . Kyle MacMillan
Art
Auraria alumni return to the source
Ongoing. The Emmanuel Gallery is marking its 35th anniversary with exhibition of artworks by 37 alumni of the three schools located on Auraria campus. The show, titled “Confluence, Returning to the Source,” was co- curated by director emeritus Carol Keller and director Shannon Corrigan. It opened Thursday and will run through Nov. 2. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Free. 303-556-8337 or . Kyle MacMillan
Theater
“Ragtime” production moves to Lone Tree
Through Oct. 16. The Arvada Center’s four-star production of “Ragtime” moves south to the new Lone Tree Arts Center, launching a new presenting partnership that will continue next year with “Chess.” “Ragtime,” based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel, has been transformed into one of the great American musicals. It follows a Harlem musician, a WASP matriarch and a Jewish immigrant father in 1904 New York. 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 1:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays; 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9; 1:30 p.m. Oct. 16. $58-$72. At 10075 Commons St., just west of Interstate 25 and Lincoln Avenue. 720-509-1000 or . John Moore
Denver film series celebrates Clyfford Still Museum opening
As a lead-up to the Nov. 18 opening of the Clyfford Still Museum, it and the Denver Film Society are presenting a four-part film series offering insights into the famed painter and the abstract-expressionist movement he was part of.
The screenings at the Denver Film Center/Colfax, 2510 E. Colfax Ave., will be followed by discussions led by local art historians and curators. The schedule: • 7 p.m., Tuesday, “The New York School” (Directed by Michael Blackwood, 1972). This documentary, featuring famed critics Harold Rosenberg and Clement Greenberg, offers a valuable overview of the 1940s rise of American art.
• 7 p.m., Oct. 18: “Robert Motherwell: Summer of 1971” (Directed by Michael Blackwood, 1972). This influential painter discusses his career and reminisces about the New York art scene in the mid-20th century.
• 7 p.m., Oct. 25, “Pollock” (Directed by Ed Harris, 2000). This fictional portrayal of the life of the most famous of the abstract-expressionists features Harris in the title role.
• 7 p.m., Nov. 10,”Clyfford Still: A Life in Paintings,” a world premiere as part of the Starz Denver Film Festival. (Directed by Amie Knox, 2011). Featuring interviews with art historians, former students and contemporary artists, this documentary explores his underappreciated place in American art.
$12, $10 Denver Film Society and Still Museum members. 303-595-3456 or .
Kyle MacMillan
