Five Recommended Austin Arts Events

BLiPSWiTCH: Offbeat X

This popular ongoing series asks local dance artists to collaborate with an artist of a different medium to create a one-time-only performance, and so far has brought more than 120 artists together since its premiere in 2016. This year, the 10th edition features 10 different collabs: Anna Bauer & Fatih Omeroglu (sound designer); Anna Claire Brunelli & Henna Chou (musician); BLiPSWiTCH & Sloane Lenz (wardrobe designer); Celeste Camfield & Brett Marcom (musician); Errin Delperdang & Lindsey Taylor (animator); Alyson Dolan & Drew Silverman (composer); Ciceley Fullylove & Oolaf (musician); Rachael Hanlon & Topaz McGarrigle (musician); Oddalys Salcido & Reese Maultsby (percussionist); and Erica Saucedo & Bryan Smith (musician). Bonus: Live music by Chelsea Pribble and Pelvis Wrestley, oysters and champagne available for purchase, and there'll be local craft vendors for browsing.

Conspirare: Path of Miracles

Craig Hella Johnson and his Grammy-winning ensemble of voices return to live concerts with this haunting choral masterpiece by Joby Talbot, inspired by the historic pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. This return is a bit of a historical pilgrimage itself: Conspirare's Path of Miracles premieres 600 days after the company's last in-person concert.

Fri.-Sat., Oct. 15-16, 8pm
St. Martin's Lutheran Church, 606 W. 15th
512/476-5775
$25 and up ($10 for students)
conspirare.org

Austin Film Society: Doc Days

Four days of new documentary films galvanize AFS screens in this week before the Austin Film Festival, bringing fresh nonfiction cinema from around the world – and opportunities for the audience to meet with visiting filmmakers. The long weekend sparks to life on Thursday with Todd Haynes' The Velvet Underground, a vibrant exploration of the forces that created one of the world's most enduring bands, and includes a live virtual Q&A with director Haynes after the screening, moderated by AFS founder Richard Linklater. Following that flash of white light, there's Bernadette Weigenstein's The Conductor, Carlos Corral's Dirty Feathers, Writing With Fire by Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, Roberto Salinas' Cuban Dancer, Jonas Poher Rasmussen's brilliantly animated Flee, Drew Xanthopoulos' Fathom, Inside the Red Brick Wall by Hong Kong Documentary Filmmakers; and the series wraps on Sunday night with The Rescue by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, about the rural Thai boys' soccer team that was trapped in a cave in 2018.

Thu.-Sun., Oct. 14-17
AFS Cinema, 6406 N. I-35 #3100
512/322-0145 x3214
$10 per screening (full pass for $80)
austinfilm.org

grayDUCK Gallery: Small Acts

Here's a visual art exhibition of mixed-media works – including collage, drawing, sculpture, video, and photography – by four Austin-based artists: Betelhem Makonnen, Christina Coleman, Deborah Roberts, and Tammie Rubin. The artworks explore Black existence through "body, object, beauty, childhood and familial narratives, fugitive perceptual experiences, and time. While each artist's aesthetic approach is different, they are united by their faith in the power of small acts to guide and reimagine our everyday existence."

Opening reception: Sat., Oct. 16, 7-10pm
grayDUCK Gallery, 2213 E. Cesar Chavez
512/826-5334
Free
grayduckgallery.com

Zach Theatre: Into the Woods

Composer Stephen Sondheim's fairy-tale masterpiece comes to life outdoors in a contemporary reimagining for today's weird and pandemically inflected times. The musical surrounds you, using Zach's architecture and natural environment in surprising ways: Rapunzel lets down her hair from the Topfer balcony, Cinderella loses her slipper on the stairs, and the Milky White cow sculpture moos to life with Jack and his Beanstalk. Oh, to be right there in the midst of it all!

Through Nov. 7. Tue.-Sun., 7:30pm
Zach Theatre, 202 S. Lamar
512/476-0541
$25 and up
zachtheatre.org