30 . JUStpUt
OCTOBER 20. 2006
WED • NOV. 1
FRI • NOV. 3
Elder Resource Alliance holds a business meeting at
Friendly House. (3:30-4:30 pm. 1737 NW26th Ave.)
Out Dancing's beginning salsa class starts
tonight and continues every Friday in November
at Ankeny Street Studio. Intermediate cha-cha
class follows. (7-8 pm salsa ($24 for month),
8-9 pm cha-cha [$32 for month). Southeast Ninth
Avenue and Ankeny Street 503-236-5129
www. outdancing, info.)
Need a Gaycation? Then party down at Holocene for a queer
night with booty-shaking beats spun by DJs Mr. Charming,
Snowtiger and Automaton. (9 pm 1001SE Morrison St. $2.)
THU • NOV. 2
Postmodern psychemotive rock duo Swallows perform
music informed by blues, indie rock, surf rock and the rejec­
tion of preconception at p:ear gallery, preceded by an open
mike with p:ear youth. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit arts
organization for homeless and transitional youth. (7 pm.
809 SW Alder St.)
Perri Gaffney reads from The Resurrection of Alice—
a novel inspired by young black girls who found them­
selves in arranged marriages to men who were old enough
to be their grandfathers, a fairly common practice among
African Americans through the mid-1990s—at In Other
Words. (7 pm. 8 NE Killingsworth St.)
It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. Your heart, that is.
Come to the Men’s Wellness Center as a representative
from Gillead (the same folks who brought us the new once-
a-day HIV med) presents the basics on cardiovascular
disease and gives helpful hints on keeping our hearts
happy. (7-8:30 pm. 928 SWStark St.)
Mark Bailey, one of North America’s most
eminent Russian music specialists, directs the
professional vocal ensemble Cappella Romana in
its season-opening concert at St. Mary's
Cathedral featuring Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's
influential and rarely heard sacred masterpiece,
the Divine Liturgy, Op. 41. (8 pm. 1716 NW Davis
St. $25 from 800-992-TIXX)
Contemporary Crafts Museum Er Gallery exhibits
cutting-edge embroidery by Andrea Vander Kooij
through Nov. 12.
OJ BJ spins at Holocene during a benefit for Flight 64,
a cooperative printmaking studio dedicated to supporting
Portland artists. (9 pm. 1001 SE Morrison St.)
SAT • NOV. 4
The Back Room- an occasional series of presentations,
symposia and bacchanals hosted by queer scribe Matthew
Stadler—moves into the loft of Pink Martini frontman
Thomas Lauderdale and his partner, artist Philip losca.
Their special guests are poet and essayist Lisa Robertson
and artists Hadley + Maxwell of Vancouver, British
Columbia. Dinner will be prepared by Seth Lorinczi of
Valentine's. (6:30 pm. 728 SW First Ave. $45 from
www.thebackroompdx.com.)
Urban cowboys and girls are in abundance during OJ
Crystal's country western dance at the Portland Metro
Club (PPAA). (9 pm-1 am. 618 SE Alder St. $5.)
SUN • NOV. 5
Q Center presents Family Playdate every first Sunday.
(Noon-2 pm. 69 SE Taylor St.)
Get lucky during the Fox 8 Hounds' Monthly Charity
Bingo. (3:30 pm. 217 SW Second Ave)
Outside the Box
Transgender playwright Renee Chiquapin thought she was squaring off
against her nemesis when she first sat down to write Dora’s Box.
“1 was deconstructing the life of the most typical, white, ciassist, racist, homo-
phobic soccer mom 1 could imagine,” she says. “The kind of transphobe that
makes my daily life miserable. What 1 discovered is that my life experience is so
big that I can actually find myself in what I thought was my polar opposite.”
Dora's Box, which runs through Nov. 4 at Back Door Theatre, features
fireball actress Katie O’Grady in a one-woman tour de force. She plays Dora,
a seemingly stereotypical soccer mom who discovers her inner depths and
strengths through acting classes.
Against her own better judgment, Chiquapin opted to direct the show
herself when other directors backed down from the difficult material. “It’s a
different creative process to direct than write,” she says. “1 see weaknesses in
the script, but 1 don’t change them. I see it as a fait accompli."
A recent rehearsal revealed that Dora’s Box is a bit abstract and will sure­
ly cause fans of conventional theater to scratch their heads. Chiquapin’s
concise overview of the play should help viewers follow the protagonist’s
journey. “I want to honor modern women,” she says. “Their complexity, their
brilliance and their fears.”
She also hopes to convey that “clinging to narrow self-conceptions and
living from fear kills us. The only way to be healthy is to keep growing.”
Chiquapin, who previously lived in Montreal, moved to Portland last year. As
a trans woman she feels safe here, though she’s cautious about venturing past 82nd
Avenue, an area she perceives to be a Christian fundamentalist stronghold.
She named her new company Tabuki Theatre. “Tabuki is trans theater,” she
says, because “the voyaging to the mythic, the unconscious and the taboo
inevitably leads to personal or social transformation through integration of
what had been repressed, denied, ignored or unsuspected.”
Ironically, none of the productions slated for this season has transgender 1
content. Red White Blues, a play about three hippie kids questioning the
A stereotypical soccer mom (Katie O’Grady) discovers her inner depths
and strengths through acting classes in Dora's Box, a new one-woman
show by transgender playwright Renee Chiquapin (inset).
Vietnam War, starts in February. The season concludes in June with Coal
Bums, a play about poet Audre Lorde.
“Of course it would be nice to do plays on transsexual themes,” Chiquapin
says. “I’ve written more than a few. But it’s impossible to hold an audition
where the people you need are neither male nor female. If the actor is clearly
a guy, or clearly a gal, then the existential situation that transsexuals deal with
doesn’t really play."
Rudy Galindo glides into town Oct. 28.
Rudy Galindo Joins Skating,
Gymnastics Lineup
Gay ice skater Rudy Galindo will join the
Hilton Family Skating and Gymnastics
Spectacular 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Rose Garden.
Galindo is best known for his success with pair
partner Kristi Yamaguchi. He has faced several
personal challenges in his life but continues to skate
at a top professional level. Along with Yamaguchi, he
won the 1989 and 1990 U.S. Pairs Championship
before his U.S. Singles title and World Bronze Medal
in 1996.
Almost four years ago, Galindo was diagnosed
with Avascular Necrosis, a degenerative disease
affecting both hips. The news seemed to spell the
end to a celebrated amateur and professional skat­
ing career. However, three years ago, he received
his first new hip, a revolutionary “ceramic-on-
ceramic” joint recently approved by the Food and
Drug Administration. His left hip was replaced that
same year. Intensive physical training followed the
surgeries and made him able to continue skating.
Galindo has successfully overcome other serious
obstacles during his athletic career, including the
deaths of his father and a brother, a split from
Yamaguchi and testing positive for HIV. His 1997
autobiography, Icebreaker, details his personal strug­
gles and triumphs during his roller-coaster career.
He now coaches kids in Reno, Nev., doing some
choreography for competitive skaters in the off sea­
son. He is also active in many AIDS-related charities.
Galindo will be joined by award-winning
gymnasts Shenea Booth and Arthur Davis, Paul
Hamm, Shannon Miller, Morgan Hamm,
Dominique Moceanu, Chellsie Memmel, Nastia
Luikin, Ivan Ivankov and Jordan Jovtchev and
skaters Brian Orser, Michael Weiss, Rory Flack
Burghart, Alexei Polishuk and Vladimir Besedin,
Amber Corwin and Violetta Adanasieva and Peter
Dack. Tickets are $30-$ 100 from 877-789-ROSE.
—Stephen Blair
—Jim Radosta
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