Reports are beginning to roll in about the Taylor Swift concert that rocked a filled-to-capacity JPJ on Saturday night. Amid the din of 12,500 screaming youngsters—and the shallow, excited breath of at least one C-VILLE staffer—Swift sauntered and sulked through a parade of hits. See a review in tomorrow’s C-VILLE. If you’re wondering what JPJ staff went through to bring the country star here, The Smoking Gun has a copy of Swift’s rider.
One brief note: if something about the low end sounded familiar, it’s because her bassist, Amos Heller, cut his teeth in the Charlottesville High School Orchestra.
Some fan footage from Saturday night’s show.
Feedback ran into Trent Manwill, otherwise known as T-G’sus, at his place of work on the mall over the weekend. Manwill, who lives in North Garden, was competing in the Freestyle Friday portion of BET’s 106 & Park—a sort of ad-libbed, rhyming insult contest—and made it to the second round. But glory and the half-million dollar championship were wrested from his hands earlier this month, and now he says he’s planning to take his show on the road. See past Feedback coverage here, and be sure to check out some of T-G’sus’ scripted fare next Monday at The Box.
Also on the Feedback radar: The AXIS Dance residency begins tomorrow at UVA. The California-based company uses dancers with and without disabilities to perform works by world-renowned choreographers like Bill T. Jones, Joanna Haigood and David Dorfman, whose "Light Shelter" they’ll perform on Friday at the Paramount. There are auditions for dancers tonight.
I spoke last week with Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, director of UVA’s dance program, about the group’s work. Beauchamp’s work focuses on how limitations can be used to break boundaries in dance. With AXIS, she says, “Something can be just as beautiful within limitation. It’s the idea of who can create art with whoever is involved. It’s just beautiful.”
Another source of inspiration was a former student of Beauchamp’s named Ashley Sisti, a promising dancer who in her last year of college lost the use of her legs after falling from a horse. Beauchamp says that Sisti will be working with the company through the week.
See the UVA Arts Box Office‘s website for details about tickets for Friday’s show.
AXIS Dance performing last year.
