Best Indie Dance Studio
So much of a dancer's life occurs in groups—classes, rehearsals, and performances are all community events, and the most effective studios nurture that sense of belonging. VELOCITY DANCE CENTER takes that responsibility seriously. Its programming—from ongoing classes and guest-artist workshops, through commissioning and presenting local choreographers and visiting luminaries—is all part of a grand design by co-founders Michelle Miller and KT Niehoff to make the Seattle dance community a nationally recognized hub and a welcoming home for dance artists. It's one-stop shopping for the kinetically inclined, dancers and audience alike.—Sandra Kurtz 915 E. Pine St., #200, 206-325-8773, www.velocitydancecenter.org.
Best U District HoldOut Cinema
The neighborhood is changing, rezoning may be coming, and the future of art-house cinema may be very dark indeed. So credit goes to Guerren Marter and his crew for keeping the GRAND ILLUSION CINEMA alive since they purchased it from the Northwest Film Forum last year. Marter and company, many of them colleagues at nearby Scarecrow Video, are determined to keep the creaky old 35mm projector running, programming an eclectic calendar of repertory fare, new Asian cinema, and some downright psychotronic late-night oddities. With only a few dozen seats, the 35-year-old institution is smaller than some home-entertainment rooms. But the DVD boom is cresting, and movie lovers may be tiring of their couch-potato isolation. The GI provides an intimate, friendly alternative that the U District ought to preserve. —Brian Miller 1403 N.E. 50th St., 206-523-3935, www.grandillusioncinema.org.
Best EP Disguised as an Album
Of course it's an album, you think the first time you pick up THE MARINA ALBUM, the first issue in five years by local duo Sick Bees, on Up Records. It has to be—it's got 13 songs on it. Then you notice the times after each title—specifically, that the longest of these tracks is the three-minute, three-second "Prepare to Be Dazzled." That's no big deal; what's jarring is that three of the songs' lengths begin with a zero followed by a colon, and seven of them begin with a one. Then you play it, and it all sounds like one song—a 13-partite suite that bangs around moodwise from goofball to searing but feels all of a piece, and is over in just over a quarter of an hour. —Michaelangelo Matos
Best Scenic Designer
It's about time someone recognized Jennifer Zeyl, whose fringe work has helped define the world of some good shows and has often been the saving grace of productions otherwise lost in their own universes. Her see-through apartment walls let us peek into the urban angst of the protagonists of last season's stellar [sic]; the grassy, peek-a-boo fun-house hill she created for Washington Ensemble Theatre's Handcuff Girl Saves the World was the only thing the show had to offer. Her pièce de résistance, however, has to be the instantly familiar hovel constructed for the slacker twentysomething speed freaks of WET's Finer Noble Gasses—you could practically smell the manic disarray of the place. If Zeyl's name is in the program, you'll at least be safe in knowing exactly where you are. —Steve Wiecking www.jenniferzeyl.org.
Best Obscure Specialty Bookstore
You might need a map to find the SEATTLE MOUNTAINEERS BOOKSTORE, since it's located off Elliott Avenue West on lower Queen Anne Hill, but it's also an excellent place to get a map—or a guidebook or a hiking guide or even software for your topographic GPS system. Titles and subjects range from avalanche awareness to climbing Alaska's Mount McKinley (aka Denali) to the nuts and bolts of placing nuts and cams while rock climbing. Clientele isn't limited to members of the Mountaineers (who get a store discount), but a visit may inspire you to join the 99-year-old organization and perhaps sign up for one of its many outdoor courses. —Brian Miller 300 Third Ave. W., 206-284-6310, www.mountaineers.org.
