Dance Beat: PearlArts, Attack, Charles

A PEARL OF A STUDIO. It’s amazing what the arts can do for a neighborhood. We saw what the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, Dance Alloy and artist lofts did for the East Liberty/Friendship area. Well another neighborhood is being reborn, bordering on Wilkinsburg and Point Breeze. Recently I went to the Grand Opening of PearlArts Studio, located at 201 North Braddock Avenue, near the intersection with Penn Avenue, although the entrance for the studio is actually around the corner on Thomas Boulevard. Armed with a freight elevator, which was cranky, a group of us decided to walk up to the penthouse level. On the way, we passed a facility (storage?) for Carnegie Mellon University’s drama department and it turned out that the top floor had an intriguing montage of visual artists — a dozen or so, some of which were open for perusal. But the main action was at PearlArts, professional home for Staycee Pearl dance project, with major input from husband Herman. We saw some snippets from Staycee’s company and Jil Stifel’s environmental dance inside a plastic environment sculpted by her husband Blaine Siegel, who happens to have a studio around the corner. Good luck to all!

RIVERBOAT DANCE. We’ve seen Attack Theatre in a variety of locations. But their most recent dance platform was the deck of a boat. The fund-raising event attracted, as always, some interesting ship mates on board, not only for the good company of Attack, but the fact that $30 got you the trip, some snacks and a cash bar. It was a great little cocktail hour cruise on Pittsburgh Cruise Lines’ Fantasy from the Strip District, down the Allegheny to the Point and back. Yeah, I’d do it again.

HE’S BA-ACK. One thing Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has done consistently right. It has hired experienced and talented conductors over the years, including Akira Endo (who hasn’t been doing well health-wise, I hear) and David Briskin (now music director of the National Ballet of Canada). Well, Pittsburgh Ballet renewed music director and conductor Charles Barker’s contract for another three years. PBT is in good company — he is also the conductor at American Ballet Theatre.

On Stage: The Dirty Ball

I’ve been labeled a lot of things over the years. But there I was, “The ballsiest,” according to my pin I was given at Attack Theatre’s Dirty Ball, held last weekend in the combined space of the Sports Rock Cafe, Vegas on the Strip and Pharoah’s nightclubs in the Strip District (real bathrooms this year!). That meant that I had attended all five Dirty Balls “and counting”…

They were, from the start, a hit, from the first at an empty city apartment space, where the last-minute crowd overwhelmed the small food pickings. What made it such a success? Well, Attack managed to push all the right buttons. Just the very thought, a Dirty Ball, brings out the marginal badness that the usually conservative Pittsburghers harbor. It was seductive, from the dirty martinis to the dirty secrets, with a high fun factor.

Gradually the audiences have grown from the original 300 or so to more than 1000 this year. The audience is half the show, from teasing bustiers to full-fledged drag. But the Attackers themselves go all out to give attendees their money’s worth, so that it’s not only than a ball, but more like a site-specific performance. The deejays are always terrific and the drinks are included in the price of admission. Although the food always played second fiddle, although there were some downright tasty options this year.

For the VIPs, Richard Parsakian decorated a room with plush red and zebra-striped fabrics, along with deliciously naughty accoutrements. Dancers undulated in nooks and crannies there and in the other spaces, where I loved a display of stacked chairs.

Then there are the rolling showcases, 15 in all in honor of Attack’s birthday. Because the venue was separated into three rooms, the sometimes overlapping schedule kept the pace moving. So Michele de la Reza and company had to move easily from meet-and-greet to move-and-groove.

The company is flirting with nudity this season, partly because of its new home at Pittsburgh Opera in the Strip District and, of course, the idea of a birthday suit. Liz Chang came closest with a softly-lit solo. There were sexy duos, too, most notably between Peter Kope and Dane Toney , with some lotion andand a stripper pole and a menage a trois, deftly handled. Although hampered by some acoustical problems that muffled his transcendent talents, cellist Dave Eggar poured his talents into a rocking set, ably accompanied by percussionist Charlie Palmer.

The finale was spot on — “Dirty Dancing,” of course, with the women channeling their inner Baby and most of the women in the audience singing right along. Dirty never goes out of style.

Dance Notes: PBT and King Richard

Kumiko Tsuji and Christopher Budzynski

IN A GALA MOOD. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has a lot on its plate this week with the opening of its season with “The Sleeping Beauty” at the Benedum Center on Friday (see Martha Rial’s photos). The Pittsburgh City Council presented a proclamation to artistic director Terrence Orr, who was accompanied by Aurora, Puss ‘n Boots and Bluebird. The proclamation honors the company’s 40th anniversary and “Sleeping Beauty.” But it also announced the return of  the music director/conductor position with the appointment of Charles Barker, currently principal conductor at American Ballet Theatre and one of the top ballet

Alexandra Kochis and Kwang-Suk Choi

conductors around, for a three-year contract. Could more live music be far behind? Speaking of galas, PBT’s annual benefit, Pointe in Time, unfolds at the Pittsburgh Hilton with an elegant dinner and PBT performance. This year the company will add afterpointe!, beginning at 10 p.m. until midnight, with live swing and salsa, a Boyd and Blair cocktail, desserts and mixing with some of PBT’s glamorous dancer at only $40. Cocktail attire suggested. For ticket information, visit Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Scads of Pittsburgh’s arts glitterati gathered at the Andy Warhol Museum Monday night to pay tribute to Richard Parsakian, who has leant financial, artistic and personal support to virtual everyone in the city over the years. With Pittsburgh Filmmakers executive director Charlie Humphrey as emcee, Richard watched Vanessa German wax poetic on the arts, Lenora Nemetz vocalize about “Gypsy,” some of Richard’s favorite female impersonators perform and — surprise! — Kyle Abrahamson, who came in from New York to dance a touching piece d’occasion.