Swing Dancing on the Ped Mall!

Spring banished winter from Iowa City this past weekend, and the Ped Mall was in bloom with the Hawkeye Swing Festival, sponsored by the University of Iowa Swing Dance Club. Accompanying them was a lively jazz band from the University of Iowa. The Festival, which ran April 9 & 10, attracts college dance club members from as far away as Chicago and Des Moines. Music included traditional Lindy Hop style all the way to ultra smooth jazz. Downtown workers were much distracted by all the festivities, as shown in these pictures taken by staff members at Iowa Artisans Gallery. The Hawkeye Swing Festival is held every spring.

Russian Literature Out Loud...

Check out today's public outdoor reading of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, near Weatherdance Fountain in the Ped Mall. Readings will be today and Thursday from 9am to 9pm, and Friday and Saturday from 9am to 6pm. More events are planned for this celebration of the works of Tolstoy and Chekhov and the University of Iowa's Russian program. For more information, visit today's Iowa City Press Citizen for Anna Barker's piece on the entire lineup of events and background information.

Landlocked Film Festival is here! (what a great name...)

Landlocked Film Festival, Thursday, August 26 - Sunday, August 29
 Landlocked Film Festival presents independently made documentaries and narrative films and videos of lengths ranging from 2 minutes to 2 hours. You'll find animation, art films, outrageous comedy, sweet stories, action and adventure, heartwarming and heartbreaking drama, hard-hitting documentaries and even some zombies and aliens. An added bonus is that many of the directors, actors and film artists who made the movies will be at the festival.

Select Movies have a $5 fee, most are FREE for screening.  Please visit the Landlocked website for more information and to obtain tickets.


FILM SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010

Englert: 
1:15 pm Love & Valor; 
3:15 pm Can't Go Native; 
5:00 pm From the Badlands to Alcatraz; 
7:30 pm Is It Just Me?
; 9:45 pm earthwork

Iowa City Public Library: 
3:00 pm Not Evil Just Wrong; 
5:00 pm Shorts Program #1
; 7:00 pm Ballhawks

Sheraton/Hotel Vetro
: 3:00 pm Shorts Program #5 Comedy; 
6:30 pm Documentary Short Films; 
9:00 pm Shorts Program #4 Comedy

Bijou: 
6:00 pm Voices Unveiled
; 8:00 pm Shorts Program #3 Drama

SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010

Englert
: 12:15 pm Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; 
4:00 pm Play On; 
7:00 pm Ashley's Ashes; 
9:30 pm Splatter: Love, Honor and Paintball

Iowa City Public Library: 
11:00 am Kid-Friendly Under 10
; 12:00 pm (noon) Kid-Friendly Over 10; 
1:15 pm Music Videos
; 2:45 pm Shorts Program #5 Comedy

Sheraton/Hotel Vetro:
12:00 pm (noon) Not Evil Just Wrong
; 1:45 pm Dumb Dumb; 
3:15 pm Shorts Program #1
5; then From the Badlands to Alcatraz
; 7:00 pm Roll Out, Cowboy; 
9:00 pm Scrappers

Bijou
: 2:00 pm Student Program at the Bijou; 
11:30 pm Endure

SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 2010
Englert: 
12:00 pm (Noon) Ballhawks
; 1:45 pm First Stop, Iowa
; 4:00 pm Shorts Program #2 Drama; 
7:00 pm Broken Dreams
; 9:00 pm Landlocked Awards Ceremony

Iowa City Public Library: 
12:00 pm (Noon) Kid-Friendly Under 10; 
1:00 pm Kid-Friendly Over 10
; 2:15 pm Shorts Program #3 Drama

Sheraton/Hotel Vetro: 
2:30 pm Music Videos; 
4:00 pm Vivir de Pie; 
6:00 pm Home/Land*; 
6:30 pm Shorts Program #4 Comedy
*Home/Land is a 30-minute documentary made by a former scholar in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa (IWP). The film will be followed immediately by a panel of current IWP scholars and faculty.

It's Jazz Festival time!

 Rowell Rudd's Trombone Tribe, headliner on Saturday

Iowa City swings...Check out the Iowa City Jazz Festival, Friday through Sunday July 2-4. Saturday nights' 8pm headliner is Roswell Rudd’s Trombone Tribe. Sunday night's is the Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio. And the list of ensembles is long- read more here.

Live music takes place on various stages in downtown Iowa City, Friday 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm; Saturday 1:30 pm to 9:30 pm
  and Sunday 1:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Sunday's performance will be followed immediately by fireworks in Hubbard Park on the UI campus. Three stages include the Main Stage at Old Capitol Building; the Youth Stage at Iowa Avenue; and the Local and College Stage at Clinton Street. Grab a bite, bring your lawnchairs and let the fun begin.

Public Property, a local favorite

The Summer of the Arts website introduces a new feature to this year's Jazz Festival: Listen, Learn and Ask Questions of Three Unique Jazz Performers. This presentation will take place Saturday, July 3rd 10am to noon in the Carver Room at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Iowa City and is sponsored by aGrant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Here's a chance to listen to some of our internationally known mainstage performers tell stories about their musical odysseys, their approaches to learning how to play jazz and answer your questions. The workshop will include:

Roswell Rudd, trombonist and composer & leader of the Trombone Tribe, performing on the mainstage at 8:00 pm Saturday evening. This year Rudd was selected as one of the top jazz trombonists in the Downbeat Magazine’s Critics poll and leader of the best jazz CD’s of the year by the Village Voice. In addition to having played with such jazz notables as Carla Bley, Archie Shepp and his long-time collaborator, Steve Lacey, Rudd also has performed and recorded world and ethnics music with traditional musicians from Mongolia, Mali and Puerto Rico.

Bob Washut, pianist, composer, arranger and educator is Professor of Music at the University of Northern Iowa. He has received numerous commissions for collegiate jazz ensembles and directed the award-winning UNI Jazz Band One. Washut was also the founder of the well-known salsa band, Orquestra Alto Maiz. Washut’s Dream Band will also be the headliner on the mainstage Friday evening.

Deborah Weisz, jazz trombonist and educator. From playing in the Sahara Desert, just North of Timbuktu, to creating music in a grain silo at an artist colony in upstate New York, to traveling all over the world with Frank Sinatra (1987 - 1994). Weisz will be performing with the Trombone Tribe on Saturday evening.

Check out KCRG's "Best Museum" - our own Museum of Natural History!

Our own University of Iowa's Museum of Natural History was recently voted the area's "Best Museum" on the KCRG A-list poll. That's not the only landmark for this wonderful and little-known gem on the UI Pentacrest in the heart of downtown Iowa City. The Museum recently celebrated twin anniversaries: the 150th anniversary of its founding, as well as the 25th Anniversaries of Iowa Hall and Rusty, the Giant Sloth. The museum store is a rich treasure trove of educational toys for kids of all ages. Not to be missed is the video thank-you card from children in honor of Rusty the Giant Sloth's 25th birthday.

Did you know? This Rusty the Giant Sloth is handmade from a wood and styrofoam armature plus hand sewn cow hair. Recent archaeological finds have unearthed more sloth bones in western Iowa. This finding is documented in the current exhibition at the Museum.

The Museum occupies several floors in Macbride Hall and was the first Natural History Museum west of the Mississippi. The University also houses the oldest Museum Studies program in the nation, founded in 1910. Children will love Bird Hall and also, the many mammal, geological and Native American displays. Iowa Hall has many favorites for adults and children alike, and families can download a family guide  to the museum, with coloring book features.

At a recent panel discussion featuring many of the original movers and shakers behind the Iowa Hall concept, it was apparent how important this concept is to our state's identity. Also obvious is the enormous amount of work, dedication and collaboration on the part of this pivotal group.

Currently on display, through August 1st, are two special exhibitions: Mysteries in the Valley of the Sloths, and "The U of I Through the Lens of Fred W. Kent." These are in addition to the ongoing displays. Summer hours are Tuesday through Saturday: 10am- 5pm; Sunday: 1 - 5pm. View more details about these exhibits here.