A&E

Cooking easy with preparation, practice

People frequently ask me where I learned to cook, and by their expressions, I imagine they envision a cavern hidden deep under the city. There, a secret, benevolent cabal of home cooks preside, practicing the ancient rites of both spice mingling and time juggling.

Jazz Fables pays tribute to music legend Miles Davis

All jazzed-up and nowhere to go? If an aversion to the swanky atmosphere typically associated with jazz is discouraging to you, try the casual mood of Jazz Fables at Bear's Place, 1316 E. Third St.

Sexpert

Ladies First wins 2nd at local vocal competition

The Buskirk-Chumley Theatre, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., came alive Saturday night with voices of a capella groups from universities across the Midwest. Sponsored by IU, the semifinal round of the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella ended with one group continuing to the final step of the competition -- New York City's Lincoln Center in April.

Von Lee Theater's future undecided

In May, Kerasotes closed the Von Lee Theater, 517 E. Kirkwood Ave., a long-time home to art and indie films and their fans. Now, people are speculating about the future of the building, which has been thrusting unique films into Bloomington's limelight since the 1920s. One of the best future homes for the deserted theater is IU, some professors say.

Play explores identity, power of language

It doesn't always take guns, airplanes, armies or brute force to win a war. In the case of Great Britain's occupation and overtaking of Ireland in the 19th century, it took words. Irish playwright Brian Friel's "Translations" explores the destructive and healing powers of language, and how one's native tongue shapes one's identity. "Translations" opens at 8 p.m. today at the University Theatre.

Amnesty sponsors concert to raise funds

To raise money for Amnesty International's campaign to strop torture, the IU chapter is sponsoring a free concert 7 p.m. Saturday at Collins Center's Cheshire Cafe. Some of the featured bands include Indiana Trip Factory, Level 9, Manik, Maleeq and the Milwaukee Playboys.

Texas Festival features independent artists, films

What do Quentin Tarantino, Jurassic 5 and the Black Crowes have in common? Right now, absolutely nothing -- but in two weeks, they will all be in Austin, Texas as a part of the South By Southwest Festival.

Institute unites different art forms

The African American Arts Institute has all the components of a good musical. Singers, dancers and musicians from three troupes unite under this title and create performances unlike any other.

Exhibit opening features culture

The exhibition of two new photographic galleries at the Mathers Museum created a scene of feast, culture and celebration Tuesday.

Orchestra to feature classics

German composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Strauss never had the chance to perform together, but their music will be performed together tonight at the Musical Arts Center.

Mardi Gras jubilee ignores 2 centuries of history, tradition

Mardi Gras is known in college circles as an excuse for drinking and a chance to bare breasts for beads (or take pictures of someone else doing so), risking it all for 10-cent trinkets. But behind the madness that is sensationalized by the media, there is more than two centuries of history and tradition that is often ignored.

Orgy plays to small crowd at Murat

With the big bearded guy playing air guitar, the girl in the annoying pink sweater who danced like Charlie Brown, the flasher and the girl who couldn't have weighed more than 75 pounds and crowd surfed several times only to be thrown around like a rag doll, Monday night was full of moments at the Murat Egyptian Room in Indianapolis.

Musical 'Beowulf' has debut tonight

"Beowulf," the medieval classic, will be sung tonight in Old English by Benjamin Bagby as part of this year's Patten Lecture Series.

Jazz pioneer to provide unique blend

It's easy to think of such a musical innovator as John Abercrombie in the role of the iconoclast, breaking rules with radical abandon. While it is true that he sometimes does (he was one of the first jazz guitarists to use rock sounds and techniques), he also sees himself as a torchbearer.

Rock band Orgy to play Murat

The electro-grunge band Orgy will hit the Egyptian Room in Indianapolis tonight for a show that promises to provide plenty of high-energy music. The show is set to begin at 7:30. Orgy is touring in support of their second release, Vapor Transmission. The album had a strong opening week, debuting at the No. 16 spot on Billboard's Top 200 last October. The release drew varying responses -- Billboard praised the album as a science fiction epic while Wall of Sound brushed them off for resembling stuck-in-the-80s glam rockers.

Around The Arts

Roosevelt lecture canceled The Fine Arts lecture, "The President's Two Bodies: Stagings and re-stagings of the New Deal body politic," which was to be given by Sally Stein, associate professor of art history at the University of California at Irvine at 5:30 p.m. today in Fine Arts 102, has been canceled.

Second Story heats up Fridays with Plasma

"Plasma" is a noun derived from a Greek word that means "to shape." But Friday nights beginning this month, Plasma is an event at Second Story Nightclub, 201 S. College Ave., where local and national DJs and their audiences come together to shape a sound, light and movement experience.

IU Opera to perform Verdi's 'Rigoletto'

Absent for the last three years from the Musical Arts Center during the school year season, the work of Giuseppe Verdi will return on the 100th anniversary of his death with his tragic opera "Rigoletto."

Benefit supports food bank

St. Mark's United Methodist Church will play host to its seventh annual Soup Bowl Benefit, a community event to raise funds for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, 5 p.m. Sunday. As is the custom, local potters donated hundreds of handmade bowls. Local restaurants contributed soups and breads, and entertainment is provided to add to the atmosphere.