WEDNESDAY 13

Wednesdays are for ballet! Well, films about ballet, anyhow; one of America’s most respected documentary filmmakers, Frederick Wiseman, presents a glimpse into the inner workings of a respected ballet company in 2009’s La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet. Wiseman and crew traveled to France and documented the company’s 2008 program up and down, from the dancers honing their craft to the cleaning crew sweeping up after shows. The film opens tonight at the Nickelodeon Theatre; it screens at 3, 5:30 and 8:15 p.m. Call 254-3433 or visit nickelodeon.org for more information.

Wednesdays are for talking about art! Art historian Frank Martin asks the eternal question at But Is It Art?, a guided tour of the 701 Center for Contemporry Art’s Olympia exhibition, at 7:30 p.m.; the tour and talk is free and open to the public. Call 779-4571 or visit 701cca.org for more information.


THURSDAY 14
 

I’m gonna git you, sucka!: The Nickelodeon Theatre screens Black Dynamite Thursday through Sunday.

Thursdays are for blaxploitation! When The Man murders his brother, pumps heroin into local orphanages and floods the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor, retired CIA agent Black Dynamite is the one hero willing to fight all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House. So goes the plot of Black Dynamite, opening tonight at the Nickelodeon Theatre; the blaxploitation homage-slash-spoof was a Sundance Film Festival hit, and the Los Angeles Times calls the film an “enjoyable celebratory ode to a fiercely entertaining counterculture-inspired genre.” Black Dynamite screens at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; call 254-3433 or visit nickelodeon.org for more information, or check out the review on page 44.


FRIDAY 15

Fridays are for arts extravaganzas! In all honesty, it might be easier to tell you what won’t be happening at this installment of the Playing After Dark gala series, taking place from 8 to 10:30 p.m. at the CMFA ArtSpace. Dubbed The Free Form, the gala features the premiere of four original multi-disciplinary works: Contemporary ballet dancer Sherry Warren will dance a piece choreographed by Columbia Classical Ballet principal Journy Wilkes-Davis, scored by local musician David Wright and with a film backdrop made by Wade Sellers; dancers from the Carolina Ballroom and Carolina Ballet will perform alongside two live painters, Karen Storay and Marianna Simina; a small group of Columbia Classical Ballet dancers will dance to the accompaniment of guitarist Aaron Pelzek; and poet Charlene Spearen will read while Stephen Ferguson dances. But wait, there’s more!

The evening also features music from local heavies The Noise and Tunguska; photography from Thomas Hammond; a live puppet performance from the Columbia Marionette Theatre; a preview of Broadway-style show Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris; and the debut screening of Robert LeHeup’s short film Spent Rounds. Admission to this veritable smorgasbord is $5, driving the bang-for-your-buck value through the roof. Call 456-6822 or visit myspace.com/playingafterdarkcolumbia for more information.

Fridays are for sticks, straws, sleeves and lids! The University of South Carolina’s McMaster Gallery opens tonight an exhibition of Jonathan Brilliant’s coffee cup-inspired art; the arts section has more on page 24.


Fridays are for honoring hardcore heroes! Stretch Arm Strong plays its farewell show at New Brookland Tavern this evening; the music section has more on page 47.


SATURDAY 16

Saturdays are for beer! Mmm … beer! The World Beer Festival pops its top today; read all about it in this week’s cover package on page 18.

Saturdays are for blue jeans and Beethoven! Aside from its obviously alluring alliterative qualities, Eight Days has never understood the concept of Beethoven in Blue Jeans because, well, Beethoven is already a populist composer and you don’t need a special invitation to wear blue jeans to hear his music. We digress. The South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra welcomes guest conductor Erin Freeman in a concert featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2, excerpts of two Prokofiev piano concertos (performed by the second- and third-place winners of the Arthur Fraser International Concerto competition) and a couple of other pieces by dudes not named Beethoven. The concert is at the Koger Center and starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $12 to $42; call 251-2222 or visit capitoltickets.com to order.

Saturdays are for cleaning out your closet! Think your trash is another man’s treasure? Before you hock your useless crap on eBay, swing by the Museum Roadshow at the South Carolina State Museum, where experts will appraise your art, jewelry, textiles, military memorabilia, furniture and other odds and sods from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A $15 ticket entitles the holder to one appraisal (plus admission to the museum); $25 equals two appraisals; $30 gets you three appraisals; and $35 nets you four appraisals, the maximum number of appraisals allowed by the museum. Call 898-4952 or visit
southcarolinastatemuseum.org for more information.

You Spilled My Coffee You Bitch!: Carmen screens at The Regal Sandhill Cinema 16 theatre on Saturday

Saturdays are for opera! The Regal Sandhill Cinema 16 theatre gets you as close are you’re going to get to the Metropolitan Opera in the Capital City, as the theatre screens a live broadcast of Carmen at 1 p.m. as part of the Met’s Live in HD series. Tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for children; call 1-800-638-6737 or visit metopera.org for more information.

Saturdays are for wacky premises! Really, The Odd Couple is one of the wackiest of premises, in which a recently dumped slob moves in with also recently dumped fussbudget neat-freak friend. Hey, it’s been comedy gold for years. Town Theatre opens a production of The Odd Couple at 8 p.m.; tickets are $16 for adults, $13 for seniors and students, and $11 for kids. Call 799-2510 or visit towntheatre.com for more information.


SUNDAY 17

Sundays are for last chances! Haven’t gotten around to seeing either Ansel Adams: Masterworks or The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States? For shame, Eight Days reader! Get your butt to the Columbia Museum of Art pronto, as both exhibitions shutter today. The museum is open from noon until 5 p.m., and admission on Sundays is free — leaving you no excuse to miss these two landmark exhibitions. Call 799-2810 or visit columbiamuseum.org for more information.

Sundays are for harps! Speaking of the Columbia Museum of Art, its Baker and Baker music series presents Art of Music: Wide Open Spaces: A Sacred Harp Gathering from noon until 3 p.m.; less a concert and more an interactive recital, the performance encourages visitors to sing along in the communal shape-note singing tradition. Admission is free; call 799-2810 or visit columbiamuseum.org for more information.


MONDAY 18

Mondays are for celebrating the dreamer and the dream! Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and, as the good doctor himself once said, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” To that end, the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP is leading a march to the State House, which aims to retire the Confederate Battle Flag and restore justice and dignity to the people of South Carolina. The march begins at 8:30 a.m. at Zion Baptist Church on Washington Street; call 754-4584 for more information.


TUESDAY 19

Tuesdays are for piano men! University of South Carolina piano professor Charles Fugo performs at the Newberry Opera House at 8 p.m.; admission is $15. Call 276-6264 or visit newberryoperahouse.com for more information.


WEDNESDAY 20

Wednesdays are for playing nice! This week is No Name-Calling Week, so keep your derogatory comments to yourself, you dumb, smelly jerk.