THURSDAY
VISUAL ARTS
ENDURANCE
There’s a strange sense of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing this month at City Space, a city-funded gallery in the Bank of America Tower downtown. On display is “Endurance,” a photography and video project about Seattle’s homeless teens by the New York husband-and-wife team of Bradley McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry. (What is it about Seattle’s homeless teens that so draws New York artists? Don’t they have their own?) Each of the 26 subjects (a detail from “Billy” is above) took an hour-long shift and was photographed, simply and directly, standing motionless on a Seattle sidewalk in a marathon act of disobedience, breaking the “civility laws” passed 10 years ago by the City Council. In these life-size images, the night itself becomes a kind of sinister, enveloping backdrop into which each of these kids—some fragile, some defiant—threatens to fade. (Indeed two of the teens have died since the series was made in 2002.) Kudos to City Space for boldly exhibiting this protest against the city’s policies. Reception: 5–7 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 19. City Space, Third Floor, 701 Fifth Ave., 206-749-9525. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon.–Fri. ANDREW ENGELSON
WEDNESDAY
FILM
CITY OF GOD
With four Oscar nominations, this January ’03 release is back in theaters—and absolutely worth seeing. Adapted from a fact-based novel about Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious real-life gangsters, City drips with fresh tabloid ink, even though the plot—a vicious hoodlum’s rise and fall—is as old as the movies. Like Mean Streets, City is born of immediate lived experience and living memory: The source novel was written from inside the favelas by someone who knew the killers firsthand. The pavement feels hot under your feet, and the tropical air moist in your lungs. The colors are lush and always Brazilian, but without resorting to the tonal clichés of carnival and travelogue. And the blood, importantly, is always red. (R) 7 and 10 p.m. daily. Pacific Place, Sixth Avenue and Pine Street, 206-652-2404. BRIAN MILLER
THURSDAY – SUNDAY
DANCE
SPECTRUM DANCE THEATER
In the studio, Donald Byrd can come across as the most cerebral of postmodern choreographers, molding and remaking dance phrases like a kind of origami master. Shifting between body parts, reversing sequences, changing facings or orientation—these are all techniques of the mind, but in the theater, they become works of passion. His aggressive athleticism gives even quiet moments a feeling of danger. His latest, Fado, Hip-Hop and the Blues will explore the African diaspora and its impact on music. (Meredith Webster, one of the company’s newer dancers, is shown above.) 8 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 19–Sat., Feb. 21; 2 p.m. Sat., Feb. 21, and Sun., Feb. 22. $10–$30. Intiman Theatre, Seattle Center, 206-269-1900. SANDRA KURTZ
MODAY
MUSIC
LEUKEMIA SOCIETY BENEFIT
Up Records founder Chris Takino died of leukemia nearly four years ago, so the small but sturdy label’s 10th anniversary is bittersweet. Fittingly, the indie-gone-major understated heroes Built to Spill will figure prominently in the remembrance tonight; their There’s Nothing Wrong With Love was one of Up’s first full-length releases. Also an Up veteran—though not quite as well known (yet)—Brent Arnold has played cello on just about every Up release that has required strings, and now he’s got his own full-length on deck with his band the Spheres (pictured). Catch a sneak preview of the songs on Last Boat tonight—and see next week’s issue for a full feature. 8 p.m. Mon., Feb. 23. $17.50 adv./$20. Showbox, 1426 First Ave., 206-628-3151. LAURA CASSIDY
MONDAY
POETRY
ELLEN BRYANT VOIGT
Poetry readings around here tend to reek of “spoken word” and nature verse. (And God save us from Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam, which canceled this week.) Thankfully, the Seattle Arts & Lectures Poetry Series (which I helped to launch five years ago) opens tonight with Ellen Bryant Voigt. Having grown up on a farm and a serious student of the piano, Voigt’s writing abounds with imagistic verse and a sense of music. She’ll read, then be interviewed onstage. 7.30 p.m. Mon., Feb. 23. $14. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., 206-292-7676. Series tickets: $45, available from SAL, 206-621-2230. SAMANTHA STOREY
