As long as there has been a poll, this party has won the category. The University YMCA's springtime Pease Park bash celebrates Winnie-the-Pooh's forlorn donkey pal. The event has evolved, through the years, into a two-parter. The first, a kiddie-friendly, community day in the park, complete with games, face painting, treats for tots, and of course a visit from the Hee-Haw himself. As the day goes on, however, Pease Park becomes a sort of Woodstock, Jr., in spirit at least, as revelers join drum circles, worship Mama Earth, and do the mind dance. Our readers, for the ninth year running, have given this tradition two hooves up!
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AMOA takes risks and takes time to consistently create some of the best exhibits in town. Although its downtown gallery always comes a close second, we think it's the florid surroundings and scenic landscape of its original home that give Laguna that extra nudge.
The Contemporary Austin at Laguna Gloria
3809 W. 35th
512/458-8191
www.thecontemporaryaustin.org
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Devaki Knowles
Housing her work in her own Blue Road Studio & Gallery, first-time category winner and longtime Austin artist DiBona's edgy sculpture is flashes of the future with a flair for the artistic. Longtime faves Amado Peña and Mary Doerr pulled votes but not enough to brush off DiBona.
Joyce DiBona
Blue Road Studio
603 W. Live Oak
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Thirty years after Whitman's assault on the UT campus, the public's fascination with the seemingly wholesome family man seems to just keep growing; Kinky Friedman never goes out of style, and that's not just because he publishes one book a year like clockwork. Available at better bookstores, everywhere. A Sniper in the Tower (Ingram, $18.95 paper); Roadkill (Ballantine, $11.95 paper)
Kinky Friedman
Kinky Friedman Campaign Headquarters '06
701 E. Ben White
512/326-5465
www.kinkyfriedman.com
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That's Bravo as in "brave," an apt word to describe this independent local artist who uses modern dance as her vehicle for courageously exploring social and political issues, from women's roles in society to spirituality. And as far as our readers are concerned, that's also "Bravo" as in "Bravo!" Well-done!
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He's got it going Awn, folks. Chronicle readers have enthroned Kerry as Austin's king of comedy for a decade now. Whether he's bagging on Austin's pinhead weather forecasters, jamming to the HEB radio jingle, or lounging out as the oily Ronnie Velveeta, there's no one who can make us laugh at ourselves like Kerry can. His slide show tour of South Austin slays them at Esther's and the Velveeta Room is named after his most popular character; Kerry's left his mark permanently engraved in the Austin psyche.
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Its chosen form of dance is the one most weighted by tradition, but there's nothing draggy about this longtime dance company. Ballet Austin can take the most obligatory of ballets - The Nutcracker being an obvious example - and make it spring freshly to life. And with original work, such as artistic director Lambros Lambrou's full-length ballet Ulysses, BA takes thrilling leaps into space. It's a troupe nimbly en pointe.
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Every little girl loves to dance - the selfless swing, the pitter patter, the kick and shuffle all wrapped in the frills of a lacy pink tutu. But somewhere, in growing up, many of us lose that magic, the freedom of movement. Alisa's Dance offers intimate classes for dancers of all ages in jazz, ballet, and tap, and their children's classes are designed to put a twinkle in your cherub's toes. But while you're at it, dust off those red shoes and rediscover the rhythm within.
Alisa's Dance Academy
3267 Bee Caves Rd. #139
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Weekly readings, a great cup of java, and a nifty curb to just sit and listen make this Fourth Street haunt the local Poet's Corner. You like the meter at Mojo's and the "eeeee"literation at the Eeeeee-lectric Lounge, too.
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Raul Salinas is one of the most well respected Chicano poets and activists in the country. He has inspired countless young men and women of the barrio to take up poetry in defense of their community. His Resistencia Bookstore and Red Salmon Press endeavors are monuments to the extraordinary energy and committment he brings to the people's struggle for justice and freedom. He is a true poet of the people.
Resistencia Book Store: 2210 S. First, 416-0944 or 416-8885
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photograph by Bruce Dye Bruce Dye
For years, Austin's youngest artists have had a friend in Clark. The founder and still-driving force behind KidsActing has not only taught them performing arts skills, she's given them the chance to create and star in original musicals such as Monsters, The Velveteen Rabbit, and Bugs. Now, our readers have given her a standing O.
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He's been a staple in Austin theatre for years, but it was his multilayered, meaty performance as the vitriolic Roy Cohn in Zachary Scott's Angels in America this season that has really made Tom the talk of the town.
Actors Clearinghouse, 476-3412
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With high-profile smashes like Angels in America and The Who'sTommy, plus an armful of honors at this year's Critics Table and B. Iden Payne awards, everything's coming up roses for artistic director Dave Steakley and Co.
Topfer Theatre at Zach
202 S. Lamar
512/476-0541
zachtheatre.org
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This is the kind of theatre you see in the movies; not the kind you see movies in. But amazingly, this exquisite opera house of yore has been kept in impeccable shape, and is put to great use with touring shows, limited runs, and one of the best lineups of summer movie classics yet. It's almost enough to make those scruffy Austin theatregoers actually dress up. Almost.
Paramount Theatre
713 Congress
512/474-1221
www.austintheatre.org
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