S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. Our arts and culture show walks us through San Diego's queer history and then takes us to the Queer Movement Festival. Plus , we'll talk about the Expo Design market happening this weekend. Here's to conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. The importance of the Lambda archives and how you can contribute.
S2: We're solely focused on ensuring that that history is maintained and it it doesn't get erased.
S1: Plus , Disco Riot holds the Queer Movement Festival and the Expo Design market showcases why our region is the world design capital that's ahead on Midday Edition. Protest banners , gay bar signs , pride guides. These are some of the things you can expect to see at the Lambda Archives. It's a local archival space dedicated to preserving and sharing LGBTQ+ history in San Diego. Their collection includes memorabilia , artwork , and much , much more. All for and about the queer community. I'm here now with Nicole Verdi's. They're the managing director at the Lambda Archives. Nicole , welcome.
S2: Thank you so much for having us.
S1: So the archives actually started out as a personal collection. How was it first founded ? Sure.
S2: So the Lambda Archives of San Diego and its founding is generally credited to one individual , although certainly it was a community effort with a lot of community members stepping into to help actually start it. But the person who is generally credited with founding Lambda Archives as an organization and advancing our mission of collecting , preserving and sharing the local queer history is just Jesup. Uh , Jess was a nurse by trade. He was a medic in the Vietnam War. He was a student at Sdsu. He was involved with the Gay Liberation Front. He was very outspoken in terms of the antiwar movement , um , very involved here in San Diego. And in the 80s , like so many other people in our community , his activism kind of pivoted towards efforts to really shine a light on the complete lack of government response to the Aids epidemic. He himself had Aids and would eventually pass away from the disease. But before he did some of his activism in terms of collecting , preserving and sharing the the local history here of San Diego and the queer community really had to do with the fact that a lot of a lot of folks that did have Aids in our community that were passing away in large numbers , had families that were not entirely supportive of their lifestyle. And when they would pass away a lot of their personal effects , you know , the families would just disregard , um , either not keep them , throw them away or , you know , we simply didn't know at that point what the families were doing with them when they weren't supportive and didn't want to really acknowledge the lifestyle of , of their children or family members. So just took it upon himself , along with other members of the community , to start collecting and preserving these personal effects to ensure that their their memory and their efforts and their activism and who they were as people were remembered. And that's really how Lambda Archives started. And as part of that initiative.
S1:
S2: Um , and the primary difference obviously has to do with the word community itself. We are an archive that is completely dedicated to collecting , preserving and sharing not only the history of our community , but a lot of our efforts are done in conjunction with in collaboration with or you could even say with the community leading those efforts directly. So in other words , for example , one of our board members , Jay Red Rose at one point was instrumental in , um , organizing the we will not be erased March years ago. And because they were so involved in that and because they were involved in Lambda archives as well , they were the driving force between , you know , collecting , not only organizing the march , but then collecting the protest signs from that march so that they could in turn be donated to Lambda Archives for preservation in our collection.
S1:
S2: It can be. You know , the thing I like to remind people is that we are a donation based archives. And when I say donation based , I'm talking about the collections themselves. So we only have in our collections what people donate to us. I think sometimes there's a misunderstanding when people see our mission that we collect , preserve and share the local LGBTQ plus history , they automatically assume that anything related to LGBTQ plus history in the past couple of decades , for example , that we should have , um , and certainly we would love to have it , but we only have what people donate to us. And sometimes there are different reasons for that. You know , certainly there are personal reasons why somebody might not want to donate their personal papers , their personal artworks , things like that. So we only have the history that that people actually donate to us. And we work hard to develop relationships and build trust between , you know , the staff here who are members of the community themselves and the community , so that hopefully when people do have things that they are emotionally ready to part with it , they will think of lambda archives so that that part of our history can be preserved. But if people don't donate items to us , then. Then we don't have have those things in our collection.
S1: Yeah , well , when someone walks into the archives for the first time , what can they expect to see ? Can you describe it for us ? Absolutely.
S2: So the thing that I love about Lambda Archives and our , you know , community members and staff alike will attest to this. It very much still maintains that feel of a grassroots community organization. It is a rather small space. We are situated in the same building as Diversionary Theatre , which is a queer theatre here in San Diego , in University Heights. When you come into the archives , you're immediately in our exhibit space , which is in the front. We also have a youth or teen drop in space that we use for a lot of our LGBTQ plus youth programs. We have a research area , a reading room where a lot of our oral history recordings take place. And then , of course , the stacks. And that's where the majority of our collections are housed. And we also have a media storage room where a lot of older photographs are kept , and a temperature controlled room to ensure that they're preserved properly.
S1:
S2: Um , he was part of the metal community. He's British , but he has ties to San Diego. He himself is gay. And , um , did come out sometime , I believe , in the early 90s. And a local community member here knew him through a bar that he used to go to called Wolfe's. Um , he was known to serve on panels , judging leather competitions , things like that. And we have his leather jacket and some other , like , bracelets and cuffs. Another item that I really love in our collection is a notebook belonging to Gary Cheetham. He was an activist here who started Anti Helens , which was a fluff and fold laundry service. Um , and in the notebook in the 80s , he kept a notebook of the individuals that he was providing this fluff and fold service for. He had their names , their addresses and notes about the person off to the side. And then as people started passing away , he would start crossing off the names in the notebooks. And so when you when you look at the notebook , it's a very visually compelling representation of what was going on at that time.
S1: So typically when we think about an archive , we think about the past.
S2: You know , a friend of mine recently posted on Facebook and I thought this was a really brilliant thing to say. He said , um , history is important , but we can't stay there and we can't. So we at Lambda Archive , some of our current initiatives focused on collecting , preserving and sharing recent history have to do with a couple of different initiatives. One is an intergenerational oral history project that pairs queer youth with queer elders to interview each other , learn from each other. And the impetus for that. That project kind of started out of the pandemic. It was really noticing that we had so many volunteers that would come into the archives and the two groups from our community that were more active in terms of volunteerism for our organization were elders and youth. And when the pandemic happened , that stopped. And even as we obviously the pandemic is still going on , Covid is still very much a thing. You know , we never really were able to recapture the level of volunteerism and volunteer activity that we had pre-pandemic , and there are mental health issues attached to that. You know , that a lot of our community , especially in terms of youth and elders , were experiencing isolation. So this project is a grant funded project for Mental Health America focused on kind of addressing that , addressing not only the isolation , but then bringing the two groups that were the most drastically impacted together to talk to each other , to learn from each other , to have youth learn about their elders and about the strides they made , their activism , how they got to where they are today. And then on the flip side of that , also having the youth be able to talk to elders about their hopes , dreams and , you know , the way that they feel life is for them as a young queer person in San Diego. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , I heard you also mention oral history projects , and the archive contains many oral histories. You actually provided us with some tape of local activist Julia Legaspi. Let's take a listen.
S3: I had a friend who is , um , a transgender in transition. Actually , she was not complete in. She suffered discrimination in that neighborhood , in that apartment complex. And they were in for she was evicted. And the reason being is she lied in her application. She did not disclose. That she is still a guy. And they said , you know , it's there's it's kind of fraudulent. So in that application , they took that angle when in fact , deep in your heart , you know , that they don't want you there because they look at you as a freak. Mm.
S4: Mm.
S1: Can you tell me about that clip we just heard ? Sure.
S2: So just for additional context , um , Julia Legaspi is , um , really beloved community member here. She's a Filipino American. She's transgender , amazing human being , and has done a lot of really incredible work. She was the first transgender person appointed to a San Diego commission serving on the Equal Opportunity and Human Relations Commission. So the clip she's talking about different struggles that a friend of hers had in terms of housing and disclosing their gender identity on an application. Um , and in that moment , you know , her , her friend disclosed the identity that she identified with , but because the landlord or the person reviewing the application didn't , in their mind see them as that gender , they rejected the application. Um , and it's a blatant , you know , form of housing discrimination. But also , if you listen further into the tape , that was one of the incidences that pushed Julia Legaspi to to become more active , to become more of an activist. And , um , one of the things I love that she talks about is that she doesn't call it activism. She calls it leadership. So that was really one of the seeing how that person was treated and how how blatant it was and how harmful it was and what a difficult situation it was , was one of the the sparks for her to continue her leadership in the community. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And one of many examples of of how much is in the archive , um , that really speaks to social and political activism or in this case , leadership. Across the country , there are efforts to censor LGBTQ+ history. We're seeing it in San Diego with attempts to ban books and take out LGBTQ+ curriculum in schools.
S2: It's important precisely because of those efforts. And those efforts never really go away. There are always segments of our population. There are always people that think that we shouldn't be sharing that , that think that LGBTQ plus curriculum should not be shared in schools , that that children should be shielded from it , that it somehow might have an adverse effect on , on children or just society in general. And that is precisely what is so important about the work that we do here , is that it ensures that regardless of what is going on during the times , our history will be here. It has been here , we have been here , we will continue to be here. And the items that we're collecting are , you know , testaments to , you know , the activism , the strides that our community has made , but also they can be used as a , you know , our history. And the things that we collect here can be used as a roadmap when you have things like you have right now , the current political and social climate , it's brutal , you know , but you can look back and you can reference history and say , okay , um , we've been here before , and although it's taken a different shape in the past and it's taking a different shape now , it's , you know , it's always been there and it has a tendency to flare up during election years. Surprise , surprise. But , you know , I think that is precisely the reason that Lambda Archives is so important is that we're solely focused on ensuring that that history is maintained and it it doesn't get erased and it isn't ignored. And it is , you know , readily available to the public , to youth , to people locally , to people outside of the geographic region. You know , a lot of our collections are online and available free of charge , and you don't have to pay for them. All of our programs are free. You know , we try to make it as accessible to as many people as possible precisely because. Not only is it important in terms of context and historical context , but it is important because there are always efforts to try and silence that history and those voices , and we're here to make sure that that doesn't happen.
S1:
S2: We're also on Instagram and Facebook. I would encourage people to come visit us , you know , and really come in and talk to us. Hang out here. Talk to us about what you're interested in. If you have an idea for something that you have that you might want to donate. Um , in terms of materials , we'd love to talk to you about it. If you have , you know , a thought on a certain part of the population here , the queer community that you feel like , you know , is often historically overlooked. We'd like to talk to you about that as well , and figure out how we can intentionally , carefully and thoughtfully partner together to to collect , preserve and share history from all segments of our population.
S1: I've been speaking with Nicole Valdez , managing director of the Lambda Archives. Nicole , thank you so much.
S2: Thank you. We appreciate it.
S1: Coming up , we continue the conversation with Disco Riot about their Queer Movement festival.
S5: This festival is really life saving. Saving for me , for myself , and for a lot of folks in the community who felt , you know , that they didn't fit in anywhere else.
S1: More on that when we return. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. The third annual Queer movement fest from dance collaborative Disco Riot is back this Sunday. The festival highlights dancers who are part of San Diego's queer , trans and gender non-conforming communities. It runs through next week. All programs are free and open to the general public. Joining me for a sneak peek is Desiree Kazan. She's a long time choreographer with Disco Riot and a lead producer for the Queer Movement Fest. Desiree , welcome.
S5: Thank you so much for having me.
S1: So glad you're here.
S5: And we look to collaborate the artists within the community , whether it's movement based visual artists and look to collaborate here in San Diego and beyond. And we like to kind of use what we have as artists to work on , you know , the social aspects of our culture , some revolution and being progressive professional realities together.
S1: And the event we're talking about today is next week's Queer Movement Fest. It's in its third year , but you were one of the original founders.
S5: And I just saw that there there wasn't an event necessarily for the performance arts. Um , as far as in the theater that really highlighted , uh , this community specifically , there is indeed pride. There is indeed , um , various festivals throughout the year. But I wanted really something that can tie these communities together. So I saw a need. I talked to other artists who also wanted something like this. Um , as there are festivals like this that exist in other cities across the US. And so we brought it here.
S1: So this year's theme is connection Past and Present to uplift queer lineage in and community. Can you unpack that for me ? Yeah.
S5: You know , we wouldn't be here today without the the people or ancestors that that really fought for our rights and in a sense , rioted. Right. Pride started with a riot. And , um , we wanted to honor those folks who who were brave enough to stand out within our dance community to be out and proud. Um , there are a lot of , of companies still to this day that are , you know , um , kind of putting us in a in a box. And , um , there's such a binary within the dance , uh , can be within the dance community. And so this is , you know , reflecting on that , honoring it , and then seeing where we can go in our future.
S1: Well , I know there are a lot of programs we can expect. There's everything from drag performance to a ballet workshop for all bodies.
S5: I've seen everything through video up until this point , as we all have in the last couple of years. And so to see everything live and the collaboration specifically between San Diego and Tijuana , um , we are we are bringing together some communities from all over the place. So to see them interacting and meeting , networking , um , and potentially creating more in the future , I think is going to be really exciting. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And the festival isn't all about dance.
S5: And so it's imperative for us to collaborate with these other artists. Otherwise you'll you we wouldn't have any documentation of , of our dance form , of our movement form. And so there is this kind of inherent , um , colliding between all of the , the different media forms. And the discussion part is great because you as an audience member , you're watching you wonder a lot. And so that those conversations , those panel discussions is a time for us to interact with the community that is there , that is present , um , that is curious about more than what they're just seeing. And so some of the artists , including Amber Saint James with House of Saint James , it gets to kind of dive in into why they like to do drag. What happens with the costuming with the the music choice. So it's a really nice way to connect.
S1: And a huge priority of the festival is uplifting Bipoc artists. And that includes partnering with Tijuana based artists.
S5: We partnered with the group. Um , we will be , well , multiple groups. One is a studio connect. That which is in Tijuana has a lot of artists that actually also work in San Diego. And so we're kind of highlighting the fact that there are a lot of artists that work in both places. And so they will be doing a lab here Monday through Thursday , and whoever participates in that lab gets to perform it on Friday , which we continue a lab with folks in Tijuana and both the San Diego and Tijuana folks get to dance together in a committed performance. And so we've been going back and forth with them. And this is all , you know , in collaboration with what they want out World Design Capital 2024. And , um , we're bringing some of our artists to teach over there as well. And we get to learn from some of them.
S1: Oh that's excellent. Well , the world of art has historically excluded marginalized groups.
S5: And so when we're receiving hundreds of applications every year , we we want to make sure that we are highlighting these voices because of that marginalization , because of the intersectionality that occur , um , through the oppressive , you know , community and , and even , you know , being able to we can easily go over there to Tijuana. But , you know , there is a lot kind of , um , struggling with coming over here. Is is really tough for some of those artists. So , um , we , we do want to make sure that we don't miss that connection because we are so close. We're only 30 minutes away. Really ? Yeah.
S4: Well , how does.
S1:
S5: Um , just being present with each other. And a lot of these classes begin with a circle and connecting and talking. But then to communicate through movement , through our bodies , through actually supporting each other physically , emotionally , um , so many layers can come with dance. And it's it's not just , you know , I am going to sit here and watch you over there. It's it's really a deeper connection that you get to make through dance.
S1: And within dance. There are so many different disciplines.
S5: So there is such a combination of of theater with dance improvisation , you know , um , ballet , contemporary forms. It's it's such a wide variety. And honestly , for the through the past three years , we've seen quite a shift in change. And we're open to all of that. So , um , it's wonderful to see what people are going to show us because we honestly are surprised every year , too.
S4: That's great.
S1:
S5: Um , to be able to show your art and not be micromanaged. That was something that was so important to both me and my co-director , who was not here today , Tristan Merrick. We we spoke about this and you're like , you know , our whole lives as dancers , as performers ourselves , we've been told how to be on stage , how to choreograph , what to choreograph. And when these dancers come and ask us , hey , is it okay if I do this ? We're like , sure. What kind of lighting do you need ? What support do you need ? We're not here to tell you how to show your art. Just be who you are. And that's something that just being who you are and being on stage and and being outwardly queer , we tell them , you know , you don't have to wave a rainbow flag on stage to tell people you're queer , you know , just become as you are. And that's really , really important to me. And that's where , um , it touches my heart every year. And if you come to a queer movement fest and you see me crying in the corner , it's because I'm very connected. Um , but , you know , these artists see that at every queer movement. So , like , okay , Desiree is gonna get a really get into this.
S1: Well , give us the details.
S5: And we asked folks to RSVP because when they do , you get all the information. Time , place , location , everything in an email. So while again it is free , we do ask that RSVP happen because some of our venues do have a capacity limit. Um , we do have outdoor venues which which can contain a lot of people , but for those outdoor events , it's like a festival. So bring a blanket. It's very casual , very , um , open for folks to really sit close to another group of people that they may not know and be able to discuss that. So definitely RSVP and you'll get as much information as possible. And I am the one that is responding to all the emails. So if you have any questions , email me and I'm pretty quick to respond within the day.
S4: All right.
S1: I've been speaking with Desiree Quezon. She's a long time choreographer with Disco Riot and a lead producer for their annual Queer Movement Fest. Desiree , thank you so much for joining me.
S5: Thank you so much for having us.
S1: You can find the full list of programs at Disco Riot. Org. When we come back , an event showcasing why our region is 2024 World Design Capital.
S6: San Diego has such a rich design history and art and architecture history , and I feel like now we've been seeing kind of the design aspect of that history being tapped into a little bit more here.
S1: More when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. The San Diego Tijuana binational region is currently the world design capital for 2024 , and this weekend , the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego will showcase why the event is called the Expo Design Market , where you'll find the best of publishing , design , music and fashion from SoCal creatives. It's also followed by a ticketed expo after dark party with live music at night. The project is a collaboration with two smaller art collectives called good Faith and Mortise Studio , KPBS. Julia Dixon Evans recently spoke with Anna Zoltan , a staffer from the museum. She began by asking her what motivated her to bring a program like this to San Diego.
S6: I kind of always craved a very community centric event that had that specific design focus. So tapping into different aspects of design , like fashion or even music and design goods , and also tapping into publishing , because I found myself having to go to LA for like LA or book fair or other book focused events and kind of wanted to see that come to San Diego and tap into the local community here.
S7:
S6: So being able to kind of tie into the community even deeper , and also other museum focuses on a binational mandate , really also representing , you know , all of our nearby communities , from TJ to San Diego , even up to L.A..
S7: Are you seeing a sort of sea change for contemporary art institutions , where they're connecting more with community groups and projects like this ? Absolutely.
S6: Like I feel like the museums around , even like LACMA or Moca , have been tapping into a lot more community events or even partnering with other nonprofits in other fields , even outside of art. So a lot of museums are doing more music centered events with like , nonprofit radio stations and kind of tapping into different aspects of the community , all related to art in one way , but it's able to kind of even spread that further.
S7: And this is a design event. And I'm wondering where you see design fitting in with contemporary art today in general. Absolutely.
S6: Absolutely. Design is really such a pillar for so many things. We experience it on a daily basis , and I mean similarly with art as well. But San Diego has such a rich design history and art in architecture history , and I feel like now we've been seeing kind of the design aspect of that history being tapped into a little bit more. So kind of wanting to even further tap into that , not even just regarding what happened in the past , but also kind of what the design feature is like for San Diego.
S7: Let's talk about a couple of the vendors at Expo. This is primarily merchandise space , so it's not an exhibit or an art show , but it's a place for people to actually buy products and art from small businesses and creatives in the community , who are a couple of vendors that you're particularly excited to share with the community.
S6: Yeah , definitely. There. It's so hard because all of them are so amazing and kind of fit into different aspects of design and kind of sell things that are a bit different from each other. But laying books is a bookstore that used to have a storefront here in San Diego , but now it's really exciting to still be able to extend a physical space for them , kind of in their transition time. Bernal books is they now have a storefront , which is really great , and they've been hosting amazing workshops. Um , and they are ones that I really love. And I'm also excited to host. And then kind of on the flip side of that , we have a pretty large fashion based company , Brain Dead , who is going to be coming as well. They're very deeply intertwined into the street style fashion community , but they do have a lot of footing within art. They recently opened their own movie theater in LA , so they've been doing a lot of curated kind of showings of films. And so , yeah , I'm really excited to bring them down to San Diego.
S7: There's also live entertainment and music.
S6: We're going to be hosting some DJs outside in the Gartner court area , and we're going to have two kind of hosted days. So on Saturday that's going to be hosted by a local record shop , Folk Arts , Rare Records , who's bringing kind of a roster of their curated DJs doing all vinyl all day. And then Sunday is going to be hosted by a local nonprofit. Radio station particle FM that specializes in internet radio , and they're going to be creating a lineup for the daytime. And then the other aspect of that is our Expo After Dark , which is going to be kind of our bigger show lineups.
S7: Tell me more about Expo After Dark.
S6: Who's the co-founder of selection and founder of Linkup Worldwide , which are amazing collectives. He's had such a footprint in San Diego music and has become such a flourishing artist and producer , and representing San Diego in a lot of ways. So really excited , really excited to bring him down. I myself am actually also playing that as well. I deejay on the side , so I'll be playing a set on Saturday as well as Skylar Mike , who's the founder of Ten High Design , which is the design collective , and that's our Saturday lineup. And on Sunday we're having particle FM extended to the nighttime , and they're curating a lineup with Zyxel and Beyonc Alexis. They're doing a two hour back to back set. They're both based in LA and have worked with a lot of other nonprofit radio stations and have had a really good footing in music in LA. So really , really excited to bring them down here as well.
S7: Before we go , I want to talk a little bit about your work.
S6: And I've also worked on the flip side of it in more grassroots organizing. So I've kind of been in all the kind of different aspects of it. And in that time , I've always wanted to be able to create a space and a platform for local businesses and artists , but also still connected to maybe even a little bit bigger businesses and artists that are either in San Diego or even up to LA as well , and kind of making a bridge for that. So that was something that I've always really wanted to do. And once I kind of started working at mCAD , it was something that I also felt could be a great fit for them , and really focusing on kind of the more community aspect and having this beautiful space as well. That would be such a strong space to hold something so design centric. Given the renovation by Sol Dorf Architects , which is a state of art renovation on its own. So having that , as you know , a aspect of it , I felt like fit just so well.
S1: That was Ana Zoltan from the Museum of Contemporary Art , San Diego. She's one of the organizers for Expo Design Market , which takes place on Saturday and Sunday. KPBS Julia Dixon Evans is here with me and Julia. She talked a little bit about the importance of a museum institution pairing with smaller art collectives.
S7: I mean , I see a lot of this , mostly with performance art. Um , like the Mingus International Museum will bring in community groups into their space for performances like a , like a dance or a musical performance. Or the San Diego Museum of Art will host concerts. But what I love about this expo is that it's still visual design , is visual art , and it's it's kind of elevating it to a different platform and audience. Things like zines or even fashion and jewelry that aren't typically shown on the walls of a big museum like this. And for audiences , it's a way to be able to purchase little works of art. For most of us , we're not able to buy works of art from a museum , so that's nice too.
S4: Yeah , well.
S1: So the Sunday portion of Expo coincides with the museum's play day. What is play day and what else can people look forward to ? Right.
S7: So every second Saturday it's actually free admission to the entire museum. It's their play day. And they have a bunch of kid friendly stuff. There is a kid oriented museum tour that starts at 11 a.m. , and then they have art making activities. This months is a they're calling it a scavenger sculpture , and kids can make their own little figurative sculptures. It's inspired by one of the works that's in the Forecast Form exhibit. That's their special exhibit right now , and that exhibit has been on view for a while now. It's all Caribbean art , and the play day stuff is concentrated between 11 and 2 , the stuff for kids. But the museum is free from 11 to 5. And then of course , the Expo After Dark continues in the evening if you want to stick around.
S1: All right. And something else on your radar. This weekend is The Ballad of Johnny and June on stage at the La Jolla Playhouse.
S7: Yeah , so this one sounds great. It's what they call a jukebox musical. This is perfect for telling the story of a. Musician. The story is built around these existing songs , so it's all Stuff That You Love by Johnny Cash and June Carter , and rather than original or new songs , so you will hear things like I Walk the Line and Ring of Fire and other favorites , and the story is actually told through the lens of Johnny and June's son. So this is a great perspective on one of was probably one of the more famous love stories in music in American music history , and it's a world premiere. It's written by Robert Kerry and Des McAnuff , and he has a long history with the La Jolla Playhouse. He served as artistic director and has taken shows that he's directed to Broadway before. He worked on Jersey Boys and The Who's Tommy. So you never know what will happen with this show , but he does have a track record of getting things to Broadway. There's limited tickets for most of the shows this weekend. There are still some available , but you can also do the rush ticket option. If you can't find tickets and you're willing to call the box office the day of the show and kind of take a chance there. And sometimes the Playhouse will have ticket releases on their Instagram account , or they will open up more seats in their ticketing platform.
S4: All right.
S1: And if you're interested in hearing some classical music , the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus is performing a couple of shows this weekend. Right ? Right.
S7: This performance is called Time Present and Time Past. So they chose music that touches on time in some way. There's nostalgia , memory , and then one that contrasts history with progress. That piece is by John Adams , who is a contemporary American composer , and they're also doing The Mother Goose Suite by Maurice Ravel. And this is something that Ravel composed for his friends , kids who were six and seven at the time , which is such a cute detail. I can't promise that today's six and seven year olds would also be entertained by classical music like this , but it is a beautiful song and it has five parts. Um , each one is inspired by a nursery rhyme. There's little Tom thumb , Sleeping Beauty and the Fairy Garden. A couple more and these concerts are conducted by the LA Symphony and Chorus is new music director Samir Patel. It's 730 on Saturday and 2:00 on Sunday at the Mandeville Auditorium at UCSD.
S4: All right.
S1: And there's a free dance performance at Liberty Station. I hear there are bungee cords involved , so please explain. Right.
S7: Right. So this is part of the NTC Arts District Liberty Station's emerging artists residency program. They grant artists some studio space for a set period of time , and two of the recent residents are dancers and choreographers. It's Lexi Regina and Micah Parra. I love the idea of , like dance and choreography , taking up arts residency spaces. This piece that they are performing this show is called tethered. It'll feature some new choreography that involves bungee cords , and I've only seen a couple of still photographs of this work , but it appears like the cords form this sort of three dimensional netting that the dancers can can tangle up in or bounce off of , almost like it's a third dancer. And they will have live music and also screen a dance film , which is really exciting. And it's a short performance less than an hour long on Friday night. There's two back to back shows , so you can go to the 7:00 show or the 8:00 show in Liberty Station.
S4: All right. Sounds very. Interesting.
S1: Interesting. And we can't forget live music. There are a couple of shows on your radar this weekend , right ? Right.
S7: So tonight at Soda Bar , we have Puma , Puma Puerto and La Boogie Buena. There are a couple of local bands Puerto Surf Rock and La Boogie. Brenna is kind of a funk and soul. But then Parma. Parma is more of a Latin sound. They they're inspired by cumbia and psychedelic music. They're from Phoenix and this is one of their latest tracks , Los Ninos Duran and I. Now. Okay. Then Alvina and the dwells are playing Friday night at Lulu's at the newly renovated Lafayette Hotel. And first of all , this is a fantastic new venue. The stage and the backdrop is just beautiful to look at. Even. It's kind of like Art deco. You can't look at it without wanting to Instagram it. And there's a lot they have a lot of jazz shows there , but this is a rock band. It's kind of like a surf tiki instrumental vibe. And we're listening to their song Down the Duane. And one more show is on Sunday. Mother. Mother is this high energy indie pop band. They're known for their live show , and then Cape Town is a little bit mellower and a bit more low fi. This is their song , Juliette.
UU: It is so bad. But I can't see her. But Julia , a special girl.
S1: But you can find details on these and more arts events and sign up for our weekly newsletter at pbs.org. Smarts. I've been speaking with KPBS Arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , thanks.
S7: Thank you. Jade.
UU: Like I know. Really just take care. Two crooks in his eyes.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
