Free Events Thursday: 4th of July Edition!

by Lydia Free Events Thursday

Hey Everyone! I hope all of you have exciting plans to celebrate America’s Independence Day! Don’t have any? Don’t worry, check out some of the amazing events that are going on this weekend here in Houston. Go see what events are happening in your neck of the woods this 4th of July and keep coming back for the latest news and events of the Framers!

A Star Spangled Salute

July 04, 2014  at 8:30pm

Miller Outdoor Theatre

6000 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX 77030

Enjoy an evening with Principal Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski and the Houston Symphony listening to patriotic, toe-tapping American music. Make sure to stay until the end for the 1812 Overture-complete with booming cannons! This celebration concludes with a magnificent display of fireworks provided by Miller Theatre Advisory Board.  As always, open seating on the hill.

Price: FREE!!!

17th Annual Red, Hot & Blue Festival

July 04, 2014 from 6pm-10pm

The Woodlands Town Center

31 Waterway Square Place, Woodlands, TX 77380

This all evening event celebrating the American Dream, will have two locations along the Waterway. Enjoy your Independence Day at both Town Green Park and Waterway Square, each featuring a main stage and activities for all ages.

In addition to live bands, the festivities will also include face painting, games, vendor booths and concessions. But we can’t forget American food staples for the Fourth of July, hot dogs and watermelon! There will be an eating contest for each of these, which are sponsored by HEB.

End the night at the Waterway Square, which will have the best view for the 23-minute fireworks extravaganza.

Price: The Festival is FREE and open to the public!!!

Cocktails & Covers feat Skyrocket! – 4th of July Kick Off

July 04, 2014 at  8 pm

House of Blues

1204 Caroline Street, Houston, TX 77002

Join the House of Blues in their 4th of July celebration featuring the party band Skyrocket.

Price: $17.33

A Thin Wall of Air: Charles James

May 31, 2014 – September 07, 2014 (Recurring daily)

The Menil Collection

1515 Sul Ross, Houston, TX 77006

Artistic, difficult, and imaginative, Charles James was well suited to the eclectic spirit of his most unique patrons and clients, John and Dominique de Menil. As a couturier, Charles James was known for his virtuosic design and construction. His clothes fuse Victorian design approaches with forms derived from nature and are defined by dramatic curves and metamorphic extensions from the body, accentuated by unusual color choices and combinations.

Price: FREE!!!

Francesca DiMattio: Housewares

June 01, 2014 – August 30, 2014

Blaffer Art Museum

120 Fine Arts Building, Houston, TX 77204

For her first solo museum exhibition, Francesca DiMattio will create a new series of painting and ceramics that cut across art-historical genres, historical eras and cultural currents. Her work has been included in exhibitions at the Zabludowicz Collection and Pippy Houlsworth Gallery, London, Conduits Gallery, Milan, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, The National Arts Club, New York, LAXART, Los Angeles, The Saatchi Gallery, London, and Locust Projects, Miami. She is represented by Salon 94 in New York.

DiMattio creates intricately layered paintings where objects and figures collide in continually shifting planes. Space and subject are carved out by juxtaposing different swatches of color, pattern, and form into a fragmented but choreographed whole. Likewise, her multi-faceted ceramic sculptures fluctuate between illusionism and abstraction, high art and craft, exploring shifting ideas of beauty, femininity, and art. The exhibition is organized by Claudia Schmuckli.

Price: FREE!!!

U-Pick Blueberries, Strawberries and Thornless Blackberries

June 14, 2014 – July 05, 2014 (Recurring daily) from 8am – 1pm

Blessington Farms

510 Chisolm Trail, Simonton, TX 77485

Gather the family and head to Blessington Farms for a fun time picking fresh, delicious blueberries, strawberries and thornless blackberries. It does not get any fresher than this. The fun does not have to end after picking berries. Also enjoy other farm fun festivities like giant slides, hay maze, pedal cars, chickens, barrel train ride, hay rides, sand mountain and much more. No admission fee for berry picking – just pay for berries picked. Farm Funland is $5 to $8 per person depending on the day. Closed Sundays.

Price: $5-$8

MARVAILLOSSO! A Contemporary Circus

 July 03, 2014- July 04, 2014 at 7 pm

Discovery Green

1500 McKinney

Don’t miss the Texas premiere of “ile O” by Barolosolo Cirkus Company, from Carcasonne, France, featuring a mash-up of modern physical theater. Houston’s own Cirque La Vie and FrenetiCore Dance Company also will perform. 

Price: FREE!!!

 

 

So You Think You Can Dance

by Lydia Uncategorized
Good morning, Framers! The competition on SYTYCD is heating up with the top 20 dancers, and America is so very excited about it.  Tell us what you thought about last night’s episode by commenting below. 

So You Think You Can Dance: 200th Episode!

 

Anticipation for this episode just kept building within the SYTYCD fans (including me!) Not only was it the show’s 200th episode, but it was also the first live episode of the 11th season, and with guest judge Jason Derulo.

The 200th live episode kicked off with the top 20 group dance choreographed by Sonya Tayeh. Sonya is one of my personal favorite choreographers who is frequently featured on So You Think You Can Dance, and I absolutely loved the dance! It was dramatic, dark.

The talented 20 dancers were then  split into couples and the competition began! Before we watched each couple dance, we got to learn as many fun facts about each dancer that they could cram into eight seconds. First up was dancers Brooklyn and Serge with their energetic cha-cha choreographed by Dmitry Chaplin.  In the couple’s eight seconds, we learned that Brooklyn loves popcorn and Serge loves cheese.  Judge Mary loved their dance and Serge received compliments from Nigel on all his hard work.

Next up were Emily and Casey with their beautiful contemporary piece by choreographer Travis Wall. Their dance was about a stormy relationship, and with Emily and Casey’s graceful moves, even Jason Derulo was impressed.  Some fun facts about these two include that Emily enjoys spearfishing and Casey hates the rain, but loves Disney.

Anthony Morigerato choreographed a tap dance for Valerie and Zac that incorporated the use of stairs to make this dance fun.  We also discovered that Valerie loves pigs and Zack loves cereal.  (Is this stuff real?)

The second contemporary dance of the night was performed by Bridget and Stanley, and choreographed by Bonnie Story.  Bridget adores peacocks and Stanley wants to become a model someday (okaaay.)  Their dance was emotional and “authentic”, as complimented by Mary. Dancers Jourdan and Jacque hit the stage for their ballet routine choreographed by Marat Daukayev. The costumes were gorgeous, and their performance looked equally beautiful. Jacque loves ice cream and Jourdan has a pre-med degree (props). This couple was the last to dance before guest judge Jason Derulo took the stage.

Jason hit the stage performing his new single ‘Wiggle’, with rapper Snoop Dogg– super fun and energetic.  After his fun song and dance, we hear an announcement about National Dance Day on July 26th. SYTYCD even put together two routines for fans to do on the 26th! One for the more advanced dancer, and one for the beginners!

(Don’t you LOVE the way Adam Shankman is looking at Nigel? So thrilled to be there.  But we sure do like that there’s a seated version.) 

After a look into National Dance Day, the last five couples hit the stage for the night.

Malene and Marquette are up next with a saucy samba choreographed by Luis Van Amstel. In their eight seconds we find out that Marquette is named after a university and Malene loves chocolate.

Next up, Carly and Rudy as they performed  a fantastic contemporary work, by Stacey Tookey. Rudy showed his more serious side as the two performed the emotional piece. One of my favorite dances of the night was a hip hop routine by Christopher Scott, performed by Amelio and Teddy. Amelio gave a special shout out to his hometown Houston, TX! The hip hop duo was perfectly synced and all the judges were impressed, especially Jason.  My absolute favorite dance was, of course, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh.   The dance tells the story of two people intertwined and connected, with synchronized choreography. Jessica and Ricky performed the dance perfectly and relieved a standing ovation. Nigel even mentioned that if the two remained a couple for the rest of the season they would have “walked away with the entire season.” (I think they call those fighting words?)  In the eight seconds we find out that Jessica believes mermaids are real (sigh.)

Last to dance was Tanisha and Nick with their cha-cha by Luis Van Amstel. The dance was cute, but lacking in depth. All of the judges enjoyed the performance despite the lack of connection.

Next week, the bottom three guys and girls will be eliminated from the competition. Make sure you go vote for your favorite dancers to save them from elimination! Vote for your favorite dancers here!

 

–by Rachel Kaminski, social media intern, Frame Dance