This Week in New Haven (February 6 - 12)

This Week in New Haven (February 6 - 12)

2017 is already 10% over. Carpe diem with a frank and fun discussion of sex, moving and empathetic films, whirlwind modes of creative expression and a dance held during daylight.

Monday, February 6
Willie Ruff—French horn/bass player, professor of music and director of Yale’s Duke Ellington Jazz Series—is the speaker for this week’s “Mondays at Beinecke.” At 4:45 p.m., as attendees sip tea inside the Beinecke Library, Ruff is discussing W.C. Handy, a.k.a. the “Father of the Blues,” who figures into the library’s current exhibit, Gather Out of Star-Dust. 121 Wall Street, New Haven. (203) 432-2977.

Tuesday, February 7
A week before Valentine’s Day, love is already in the air. At 7 p.m., BAR (254 Crown St, New Haven) hosts “Science @ BAR: Let’s talk about sex, baby.” Presented by the Yale Science Diplomats, four graduate students are discussing “the science of sex, love and attraction”—specifically, “the evolution of sex, the many social roles of sex amongst bonobos, how neuroscientists study monogamy and the longstanding scientific debate around the female orgasm.” Attend for free, or gain access to a concurrent “all-you-can-eat pizza buffet” for $15.

At 7:15, Best Video (1842 Whitney Ave, Hamden; 203-287-9286) hosts the first screening in a weekly six-part lead-up to the 2017 Academy Awards. Tonight’s Oscar contender is Loving, a dramatization of history that “tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial Virginia couple who went to the Supreme Court to affirm their right to be married and to overturn Virginia’s racist anti-miscegenation law.” One-off admission costs $7, or you can secure entry to the entire series for $30.

Wednesday, February 8
Today at 6 p.m., Luce Hall (34 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven) screens another film about marginalization: the autobiographical documentary A World Not Ours (2012), which gives “a passionate, bittersweet account of one Palestinian family’s multi-generational experience living as permanent refugees in Lebanon.” Free.

Thursday, February 9
Bringing together “makers and doers from the Schools of Drama, Music and Art, affiliated artists and members of the Yale Cabaret community,” and centered around the Yale Cabaret (217 Park St, New Haven) and Yale Afro-American Cultural Center (211 Park St, New Haven), the second annual Satellite Series Festival of Performance begins tonight at 7:30. Hosting 12 original short-ish shows—11 with multiple showtimes—over three days, experiences include This American Wife, in which, “reflecting on a culture where reality television is both our popular entertainment and our political reality, two actors recreate and reinvent an iconic scene from The Real Housewives franchise;” Story Slam, featuring “true stories—heartwarming and heartbreaking, hilarious and hard-hitting—told by students, faculty, staff and friends, in a much-needed celebration of listening, understanding and empathy;” and Transient Unconscious, “a one-night-only sonic explosion that harnesses the music of computers, the magic of cameras and the power of technology to create a one-of-a-kind audiovisual experience.” Tickets, which include “access to three days of unlimited performances,” cost just $20, or $15 for Yale faculty/staff and $12 for students.

Friday, February 10
Air Temple Arts, a local circus arts school, and the related Cirqularity, a circus arts service, have teamed up to produce an original riff on a classic fiction series: Sherlock Holmes and the Sapphire Night. A “hybrid work of traditional theater and contemporary circus,” the show—which happens inside the ACES Educational Center for the Arts (55 Audubon St, New Haven) at 8 p.m. tonight and 3 and 7:30 p.m. tomorrow—follows “Sherlock and Watson [as they] unravel the mystery of six missing young women and their connection with an enigmatic, star-gazing cult.” Regular tickets go for $25, with a $20 option for students and youth (12 and under) and a $40 VIP option for those who want extra perks.

Saturday, February 11
From 2 to 5 p.m., Kehler Liddell Gallery (873 Whalley Ave, New Haven; 203-389-9555) is throwing “It’s a Go-Go,” a “daytime dance party with a summer twist.” Marking the launch of an Indiegogo campaign to fund “community arts programming” (like “story-time events, family movie nights, portfolio review days, artist talks, workshops, demos and more”), the playlist is themed around “’60s surf jams” and the bar promises summer shandies two ways (for both drinkers and teetotalers). Free.

Sunday, February 12
Two popular bands formed in 1997, each officially designated “alt-rock,” play College Street Music Hall tonight. The headliner is Switchfoot, whose crunchy hards, strummy lights and stratospheric choruses are tied together by the versatile vocal powers of lead singer Jon Foreman. Opener Relient K, scheduled to take the stage at 7:30, specializes in a style that’s more like emo pop, replete with the genre’s trademark confessional, humorous lyrics. $29-31.

Written by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.

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