Genre Busting
High art mixes it up
Michael Leaverton
June 22, 2005

FRI-SAT 6/24-25
Combining art forms is nothing new to the underground scene, but in the rarefied air of high art, such gambles are generally taken with baby steps or not at all. Fortunately, Ali Tabatabai, curator of the "3 Drops of Blood" quarterly series presented by the Nanos Operetta, doesn't back down from a challenge, allowing a cast of heavy hitters in the dance, music, and theater worlds to boldly mix it up in a variety of performances. In the sixth installment of the show, critically acclaimed pianist Myra Melford takes the stage with butoh dancer Ledoh Baisang for a piece titled Aghar Rouzi Jodah Shavehm, in addition to a second collaboration with the NYC-based dancer Fay Simpson of Impact Theatre. We're most looking forward to Solo, an experimental dance piece presented by famed local company Kunst-Stoff and Venizelos Papayannopoulos, who plays the Greek bouzouki, an ancient guitarlike instrument. Also on hand will be the Nanos Operetta regulars, who use classical instruments in unexpected ways, even incorporating elements of film, cartoon, and cabaret music into their pieces. The show plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida (at 17th Street), S.F. Admission is $17-20; call 626-4370 or visit www.artaud.org