“Oct. 2 — Sex and Death to be performed in a big formal 350-seat auditorium at Walker Arts [sic] Center. It was overwhelming after small galleries and a grange hall. I suggested that they put chairs on the stage all facing my table, and they did it. All those empty black chairs facing the backdrop looked like the setting for a symphony orchestra headed the wrong way. The audience came in cautiously. Most…

Unquestionably one of the most revered musicians in the jazz world, Bill Frisell comes together with current Grammy nominee and Iraqi oud master Rahim AlHaj and acclaimed violist and erhu player Eyvind Kang for a residency at the Walker that will culminate in an adventurous evening of East-meets-West compositions. While Kang and AlHaj are relative newcomers to the McGuire stage, the Walker has a…

A phone is ringing in an empty office at the IDS Tower in Minneapolis … it’s for you. Answer it and embark on a journey that crosses continents, dissolves borders between audience and performer, and challenges cultural expectations. During the hourlong conversation with a call-center agent in India, everyday life is turned into theater, surprises are revealed, and our highly networked world is made…

Two continents, two great rivers, and two of contemporary dance’s biggest talents: The Good Dance: Dakar/Brooklyn is the culmination of a landmark three-year collaboration between American dance/theater-maker Reggie Wilson and Congolese contemporary dance creator Andréya Ouamba. As a new commission receiving its world premiere at the Walker, the piece will be polished during a two-week residency…

By now, many have recounted the profound impact that Merce Cunningham, who passed away in July at the age of 90, had on dance as well as the broader worlds of performing and visual arts. Fewer, perhaps, have noted how deeply he was also admired, in fact beloved, by so many in those worlds he inhabited—so much so that everyone forever just referred to him as “Merce,” as if he were a shared old friend of…