Line Dancin', Terminatin', and Writin' in This Week's Recommended Events

Echoes of Home: Relational Memories and Urban Futures

through October 12, Ivester Contemporary

Ever topical, Ivester Contemporary’s September Project Space show centers around memory and home – concepts apt for the seasonal change to cooler weather. This exhibit, “Echoes of Home: Relational Memories and Urban Futures” by Occupy Vacancy, a public art initiative based in St. Louis, is its first ever within a gallery context. Usually the artists, Brianna McIntyre and André Fuqua, transform vacant lots into neighborhood-specific installations “that contemplate St. Louis’s vernacular architecture, settlement history, and blight within the city’s Northside,” reads the exhibition text. “Echoes of Home” similarly uses architectural elements and aspects of the urban landscape, but within a gallery context, inviting Austinites to reflect on our own complicated and rapidly changing urban landscape.   – Lina Fisher

The Normal Heart

Through September 21, Ground Floor Theatre

Initially dubbed the “gay-related immune deficiency” and even the “gay plague,” AIDS caused a deep and lasting impact on the gay community that echoes through to today. Austin Rainbow Theatre tackles that legacy with a production of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, directed by Christopher Preslar with performers including Adrian Lancaster, Dax Dobbs, and Lamont Lofton. An early Eighties setting backgrounds this drama that “explores themes of community, identity, and the struggle for recognition and equality,” according to ART. Catch the opening night performance on Friday, Sept. 6, and reflect on all that came before – as well as what must come next.   – James Scott

Bronco

Monday 9, Sagebrush

Learn your line-dance lesson with fellow queer cowpokes at this workshop taught by Austin’s own Country Fried Dance instructors. Started by Michigan-born Nico and filled out by “Local Legends” Sarah, Elizabeth, Lauren, and Hayden, Country Fried brings all the fun of country dancin’ with none of the weird gendered nonsense. No matter your skill level – good, bad, or just copying the Peanuts dances – the expert instruction as well as the sweet tunes spun by DJ Boi Orbison ought to give y’all the confidence to tip your ten-gallon to the next pretty so-and-so who asks you onto the dance floor.   – James Scott

Flick Clique Teen Movie Night: Singin’ in the Rain

Monday 9, We Luv Video

As a youth, I was unfairly biased against old movies, believing them to be incredibly boring without even giving them a chance. Don't let your teen make the same mistake! That's why Flick Clique is here, ending its "Summer of Songs" series by sharing the magic of the classic musical Singin’ in the Rain, plus added commentary, supplemental material, and discussion. When the film came out in 1952, American teens were living with the aftermath of World War II, and there's a chance they saw it at the Burnet Road Drive-In, where a self-storage facility lies today. Visit the Golden Age of Hollywood with Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, and timeless, toe-tapping songs.   – Kat McNevins

Radio On

Monday 9, Alamo South Lamar

Alamo’s Time Capsule series goes back 45 years to 1979, presenting a cult classic road movie deemed one of the 100 Greatest British Films by magazine Little White Lies. A soundtrack stacked with “wall-to-wall bangers” from the likes of David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Wreckless Eric, Devo, and Sting accompanies a radio deejay (Robert Beames) traveling from London to Bristol to investigate his brother’s death. Striking black-and-white cinematography from Martin Shäfer (Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas and The State of Things) lends to its moody and hypnotic feel.   – Kat McNevins

Gaza’s Eyes

Tuesday 10, AFS Cinema

Even as their world burns, students in Gaza are picking up their cameras to tell original stories and depict their lives. Even more astoundingly, they are still able to get those short films out to the world, and in 2023 the ConnectHER Film Festival curated six of those shorts, all giving insight into the lives of young women under occupation and bombardment. Now, AFS Cinema presents that program, complete with a post-screening Q&A with Watermelon Pictures founder Alana Hadid and ConnectHER founder Lila Igram. This is a free screening: Please RSVP in advance at AustinFilm.org.   – Richard Whittaker

The Terminator

Tuesday 10 - Wednesday 11, Alamo Slaughter Lane

In a different world, Miller Drake finishes directing Piranha II: The Spawning, and we never hear of James Cameron except as a special effects guy for B-movie legend Roger Corman. But Drake gets fired by bullying producer Ovidio G. Assonitis, who replaces him with Cameron and then fires him two and a half weeks later. Cameron, so disgusted by the experience of having no control over his set, makes his zero-budget sci-fi slasher on completely his own terms – and changes action cinema forever. Against his wishes and much as he has tried to disown it, Piranha II is listed as his first directing credit, but his Arnold Schwarzenegger-led film of a merciless robotic killer is his real debut. Catch this incredible new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative, with new Cameron-approved Atmos sound mix. Plus, happy to report, Cameron and Drake remained friends.   – Richard Whittaker

Buzzkill at the Buzz Mill

Wednesday 11, the Buzz Mill

Hump day just became, uh, no-slump day? Ah, sorry. I have to workshop my tight five. In the meantime, how about you enjoy some actual good comedy by attending this free show hosted by the hilarious Carlton Wilcoxson and Angelina Martin. They pull in Austin’s most engaging local talents, both emerging and headlining, to make the logs on Buzz Mill’s wall shake from thunderous laughter. “For the past 10+ years,” their event copy states, “this consistently entertaining show has earned its spot as one of the most fun things to do in Austin and with good reason: it never misses.”   – James Scott

Art in the Park

Wednesday 11, Patterson Park

School just started, so kids’ heads are filled with fractions and spelling lists and historical facts to remember. Let off some steam with a play day in the park complemented by art activities with Painting Pandas, whose mission is to make art accessible to all with free, curated programming. As they say, “Art is an essential avenue for creativity, problem-solving, social development, and emotional expression,” so get out to the park for some nature-inspired art presented by Austin Parks Foundation, who put on tons of fun events at parks all over town.   – Kat McNevins

Memoir Writing Meetup

Wednesday 11, Terrazas Branch Library

Next time you’re stuck listening to someone tell you their life story after you just asked where the breakfast taco line starts, hit ’em with this recommendation: “Have you ever tried memoir writing?” It’s easier than ever to start practicing the art of writing your life with this informal meetup hosted by Austin Public Library. Every second Wednesday, you and whoever else is out there with stories to tell can settle in to motivate each other. Need a little more push on what direction your work should take? The library provides prompts and suggestions to get the creative juices flowing.   – James Scott

Napoleon Dynamite Live 20th Anniversary

Thursday 12, Paramount Theatre

Listen, you’re either a wonderful person who loves Napoleon Dynamite, or you don’t like it and I doubt all your life choices. There’s not a lot of middle ground when it comes to this mid-Aughts masterpiece. The only surprising thing is that it’s been 20 years, and you’re old. But never too old to enjoy a night of Tina and tots with a trusty trio of stars. That’s right, Napoleon himself (Jon Heder) will be here with Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) and Pedro (Efren Ramirez) to dish on too-hot heads and throwing that football over them mountains. Watch the movie and party with the stars at the Paramount. Speaking as someone who’s toured all the filming spots in Preston, Idaho, trust me. This is gonna be good.   – Cat McCarrey

Tampopo

Thursday 12, Hyperreal Film Club

Lauded as the first “Ramen Western,” Tampopo’s bright, quirked-up vignettes serve the perfect inaugural week vibes for Hyperreal Film Club’s new brick-and-mortar theatre on Chicon. Accompanying Gregg Araki’s Nowhere, Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain, and Friday the 13th: Jason Lives, it’s a slate of the best of Hyperreal’s programming: a little creepy, a little sexy, but above all, fun. Tampopo’s main storyline follows a truck driver who helps a ramen shop owner perfect her noodle craft. The food-centric vignettes that swirl around it are what make the film, most memorably, an erotic exploration of the art of the egg-kiss.   – Lina Fisher

Nocturna Cabaret

Thursday 12, Hotel Vegas

The pervasive Western imagination continually restricts the art world, with the oft-misunderstood medium of burlesque as no exception. Luckily, newly formed troupe Nocturna Cabaret performs with a purpose – to honor “the powerful influence of showgirls from the Global South.” Citing Mexican vedette trailblazers like Rossy Mendoza, Raqs sharqi icon Samia Gamal, and Black burlesque legend Josephine Baker as influences, the showgirls strike a compelling balance of sensuality and cabaret scholarship. The opulent lineup includes Carina Cruz, Mayari Sirena, Carolina Bela, Layali, and Nyx, while vinyl savant Lucía Beyond soundtracks the soirée.   – Genevieve Wood

Graveyard Shift: Zombie

Thursday 12, Alamo Village

George A. Romero may have invented the modern zombie, but it was Lucio Fulci who ... well, he didn’t perfect it, but he made the walking undead far grosser, more predatory, and sadistic than they had ever been before. He also lacked the genius from Pittsburgh’s fascination with subtext, and using zombies as a metaphor for modern life. Instead, for his 1979 unlicensed Dawn of the Dead sequel Zombie aka Zombi aka Zombi 2, he pillaged the setting of the old pre-Romero voodoo flicks like I Walked With a Zombie and used their tropical beauty as the background for eye-slicing, grave-busting gruesomeness, and the first-ever fight between an amputee zombie and a very heavily sedated shark.   – Richard Whittaker

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Want to see all of our listings broken down by day? Go to austinchronicle.com/calendar and see what's happening now or in the coming week.