Skip to main content

What to do in SoCal Arts and Culture This Week (July 27 – August 2)

“This Is Me: Letters from The Front Lines,” a dance film from Diavolo, captures the resilience, determination, and hope of the human spirit. | George Simian
Support Provided By

Remember the “before times” when we could safely gather together in public for a shared experience? This week’s column is dedicated to live performances and literary events that are still happening, but in a much different format. The Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli performs two streaming sets for a worldwide audience. Musician and author Chris Frantz talks about the Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and his wife, Tina. And PEN’s Emerging Voices Fellows hold their final reading. Read on for all the details.

Friday, July 31 at 4 p.m. 
Diavolo | Architecture in Motion — This Is Me: Letters from the Front Lines

The Los Angeles-based dance company Diavolo was founded in 1992 by Jacques Heim, combining dance, theater and film with his passion for architecture. “This is Me: Letters from the Front Lines marks the company’s fourth engagement with The Soroya at CalState Northridge and its first as an online performance. The dance film explores themes of isolation and retrospection by following veterans and first responders as they share what it means to be a true warrior on the front lines, fighting the invisible enemy that we’re all currently battling. Catch the film’s streaming on The Soraya's Facebook PageFree.

“This Is Me: Letters from The Front Lines,” a dance film from Diavolo, captures the resilience, determination, and hope of the human spirit. | George Simian
“This Is Me: Letters from The Front Lines,” a dance film from Diavolo, captures the resilience, determination, and hope of the human spirit. | George Simian

Tuesday, July 28 at 6 p.m.
Chris Frantz (Talking Heads) in conversation with Jeff Garlin 

Book Soup presents an evening with Chris Frantz, who discusses his memoir, “Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and Tina,” with comedian Jeff Garlin. Frantz co-founded the band Talking Heads with his then-girlfriend Tina Weymouth and David Byrne as frontman/lead singer. While the Talking Heads might not still be together, Weymouth and Frantz still are: The duo have been married since 1977. The session will be streamed via Crowdcast and is free with RSVP.

Cover of “Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and Tina." | Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press.
Cover of “Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and Tina." | Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press.

Tuesday, July 28 at 5 p.m. 
PEN Emerging Voices 2020 Reading 

PEN America is an organization at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression. Its Emerging Voices Fellowship, which is based in L.A., has been providing up-and-coming writers from underrepresented groups mentorships to help launch their professional careers. This live, online reading features the program’s 2020 fellows — writers Damien Belliveau, Megan Dorame, Shannon Gatewood, M. Kiguwa and Claire Lin — reading together for the last time as a cohort. Mentors Chris L. Terry, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, Rachel M. Harper, Antonia Crane and Charles Yu will provide personal introductions of each writer. The free program will be streamed through the Hammer Museum’s website, but an RSVP is required.

The 2020 PEN Emerging Voices Fellows are: M. Kiguwa, Damien Belliveau, Shannon Gatewood, Megan Dorame and Claire Lin. | Photo by Khalid F. Courtesy of PEN USA.
The 2020 PEN Emerging Voices Fellows are: M. Kiguwa, Damien Belliveau, Shannon Gatewood, Megan Dorame and Claire Lin. | Photo by Khalid F. Courtesy of PEN USA.

Saturday, Aug. 1 at 12 p.m.
Deep Forest Art Exhibition Opening

Giant Robot’s GR2 Gallery in Sawtelle opens the group show, “Deep Forest" with a tour via Instagram Live. View the art of more than two dozen artists including Cassia Lupo, Defective Pudding, Gigi Chen, Hooked Hands, Kevin Luong, Nikki Longfish, Theo Ellsworth and Thinh Nguyen. The show will be available for viewing through Sept. 2. Free. 

Giant Robot’s GR2 gallery opens the group show, "Deep Forest," with an online tour.
Giant Robot’s GR2 gallery opens the group show, "Deep Forest," with an online tour.

Saturday, Aug. 1 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. PDT
Greg Dulli: Live from Gold Diggers

Greg Dulli is best known as the frontman of the veteran rock band The Afghan Whigs. He’s performing live from the L.A. hotel-bar-music space Gold Diggers, debuting material from his recent solo record, “Random Desire,” as well as songs from his back catalog. The first set is primarily for U.K. and European fans (8 p.m. GMT), with the later set for North American audiences. Tickets from $12.

Greg Dulli will perform new solo work as well as music from earlier in his career. | Maciek Jasik
Greg Dulli will perform new solo work as well as music from earlier in his career. | Maciek Jasik

Top Image: “This Is Me: Letters from The Front Lines,” a dance film from Diavolo, captures the resilience, determination, and hope of the human spirit. | George Simian

Support Provided By
Read More
Kenny Burrell is an older man holding a guitar smiling wholeheartedly

Jazz Legend Kenny Burrell Turns 90

A jazz great Kenny Burrell belongs to a galaxy of great musicians including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, but it all began in Detroit, continued on to countless single-day recording sessions and eventually grew to a venerable university-level jazz program.
A barefoot man and woman dance together.

How Artist-Parents Are Nurturing Culture – and What We Can Learn From Them

Columnist Anuradha Vikram talks to artists about how being an artist has made them better parents and the reverse, and how they bring their artistic know-how to their families, including what they've learned in the pandemic that they intend to carry forward in their personal and professional lives.
Participants stand on a platform placed on top of the sand at Santa Monica Beach. The participants are waving around different colored scarves in the air. The sky above them is overcast.

Climate Change-Focused Artist Residency Maps Out a New Future in the Pandemic

In the pandemic, Air, an arts residency focused on climate change, transforms into a nomadic institution.