ART+DESIGN
On the outsized chance you haven’t heard, 2023 is the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. The Atlanta BeltLine will celebrate the milestone this weekend with ATL Jam, an exhibition of style, writing culture: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday through Sunday. More than 25 style writers and artists will be writing and enjoying the moment. Painting will take place at various spots on the Westside and Southside trails. The “So So Def Walls” event on Sunday will include guided walking tours with Antar “Cole” Fierce, a retired graffiti writer and historian. Live music, too. Check website for details. Free.
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Signature Contemporary Craft’s biennial exhibition of work by the iconic Atlanta-based wood artists Philip and Matt Moulthrop opens on Saturday. The Moulthrops are a multigenerational family of wood turners known for their craftsmanship of finely turned wood bowls. Some of their creations are in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Opening reception Saturday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Both artists will attend.
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A solo show by Nicole Kang Ahn will open at MINT gallery on Saturday. Ahn is a painter, illustrator and muralist dedicated to changing Asian Americans’ identity after generations of racial and social conditioning. Her paintings explore themes of motherhood, love and loss. Reception 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
DANCE
One of the ways the High Museum of Art is reaching out to the community is by inviting Atlanta-based dance companies to rehearse free of charge in the lobby of the Anne Cox Chambers Wing. This Dance Lab initiative allows ensembles to create and experiment and for museum goers to see works in progress. Full Radius Dance, known for its inclusion of both disabled and able-bodied dancers, will be there Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. They’ll be back one Friday a month February through May, so stay tuned. Included with museum admission: $18.50 for nonmembers; free for members.
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Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre presents an evening of contemporary dance set to the music of Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen in a program titled (no surprise) “Cash/Cohen.” They’ll perform The Man in Black, a cowboy boot ballet by choreographer James Kudelka that the company debuted in March at Atlanta Botanical Garden. This time, new company dancer Elizabeth Labovitz and guest artist Brandon Nguyen-Hilton will join the cast. Also on the program is Treaty, a romantic duet set to Cohen’s poetry in music. Friday through Sunday (and through November 19) at 7:30 p.m. Lakeside Pavilion at the Inn at Serenbe. Tickets $45.
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Core Dance’s 1830EST event this month features company director Sue Schroeder interviewing Kevin O’Connor, a multidisciplinary artist. A choreographer, dancer, film producer, circus artist and community activist, O’Connor is also engaged in ecology and queer activism. Streams Wednesday, November 8, 6:30 p.m.
MUSIC
The Atlanta Opera takes on Giuseppe Verdi’s classic Rigoletto, the story of a hunchbacked clown whose daughter is abducted by a lecherous duke. Tomer Zvulun, the opera’s general manager and artistic director, tells ArtsATL writer Jordan Owen that the pain and anguish of the titular character serves as a quiet allegory for his own distress at the unfolding events in his home country of Israel. The opera, sung in Italian with English subtitles, opens Saturday and runs through November 12 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Tickets start at $48.
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The Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra performs its first concert of the season Sunday at 2 p.m. at Symphony Hall. William R. Langley will conduct a program that includes pieces by Brian Nabors (pictured above), Piston, Rossini and Liszt. Nabors, a contemporary composer from Birmingham, is a past winner of the Rapido! National Composition Contest. He describes his piece as “a long contemplation of day life as we know it, combined with thoughts of life in nature.” The concert is free, but registration is required.
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R&B crooner K’Jon burst on the scene in 2009 with a No. 1 album on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B chart (I Get Around) that was propelled by the hit single “On The Ocean.” The Detroit native’s most recent hit was “Come Get To This,” and he is on tour to promote his latest single, “Can’t Live.” K’Jon performs Friday at 8 p.m. at City Winery. Tickets start at $40.
THEATER
Sunday is the final performance of Georgia Ensemble Theatre’s Wait Until Dark at Jennie T. Anderson Theatre. Written by Frederick Knott, the play is about a blind woman terrorized in her basement apartment by home invaders and how she perseveres. ArtsATL writer Benjamin Carr’s preview delves into how co-directors Candy McLellan and Jeremiah Davison created an intense, unsettling mood for stage. Tickets start at $25.
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Synchronicity Theatre will host Jenny Levison, owner of Souper Jenny, Thursday through Saturday evening for “Say Yes: An Evening of Soup, Song and Savory Stories.” Proceeds from the one-woman cabaret benefit The Zadie Project, an Atlanta nonprofit focused on food insecurity. Each evening includes dinner and a cash bar at 7 p.m. and the performance at 8 p.m. Tickets are $100.
FILM+TV
The Tara Theatre will screen Soy Cuba (1964) Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., four vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era and directed by Mikhail Kalatozov. The cast includes Sergio Corrieri, Salvador Wood and José Gallardo. Tickets are $15.
