Art Hounds: Climbing Bedlam's 'Monkey Bar'

Dancers Non Edwards and Missa Kes
Dancers Non Edwards and Missa Kes present new work weekly in "Monkey Bar" at Bedlam Theatre in St. Paul.
Peter Atkins

This week on Art Hounds we check out a fusion of Asian dance, ROCK4LOVE's battle of the bands for musicians of color, and "Monkey Bar" at Bedlam Lowertown.

Performing arts photographer Scott Pakudaitis says he's addicted to "Monkey Bar," a twice-weekly dance performance at Bedlam Lowertown. At 5 p.m. each Sunday and at 7 p.m. each Tuesday, Non Edwards and Missa Kes present new work. Pakudaitis says he's amazed by how the duo manages to avoid clichéd movement and keep the mix so eclectic. In addition, each evening they try something completely different and non-dance-related; one night it's a quiz show, another night it's karaoke. Come prepared to be surprised.

Kathy Mouachepao, host of KFAI's Hmong FM radio show, is looking forward to seeing the reunion of the Hmong band PosNoSys (short for Post Nomadic Syndrome) at Cedar Cultural Center's "ROCK4LOVE," a POC (People of Color) battle of the bands. Mouachepao says PosNoSys is known for creating lyrics that speak to the particular French-Hmong-American experience. PosNoSys is one of several bands competing in this event, designed to raise the profile of nonwhite musicians in the Twin Cities. The bands play from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Cedar Cultural Center.

Ange Hwang, executive director of Asian Media Access, loves what Iny Asian Dance Theater is doing to meld different dance styles into original work. While it's primarily a Hmong dance group, IADT incorporates Chinese, Thai and Bollywood-style dance moves along with hip hop and even gymnastics. Hwang says each dance is choreographed for a particular group of dancers to show off their talents; she's amazed by the community effort that goes into creating the stunning costumes. Iny Asian Dance Theater performs Friday night at Concordia University's Pearson Theater in St. Paul.

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