Ellen Bartel founded Spank Dance Company ten years ago and for the past seven, she and her dancers have presented Dance Carousel as part of FronteraFest. Billed as a “dance sampler,” this year’s show features forty one-minute dances, created by ten choreographers, and performed by soloists, duets, and groups accompanied by everything from commercial pop recordings to original scores. In short—and we mean that literally—Dance Carousel is spectacular. more ›

We hope that after seven other posts about Spot the Spank you are aware that Austinist has teamed up with Spank Dance Company to be the exclusive promotional outlet for their latest dance 4Red Lines. Prior to each performance, Austinist has posted a clue to help you determine its secret location. If you haven’t recovered from Eeyore’s Birthday been able to catch at least one of these performances, what are you waiting for? This is... more ›

This Thursday, Austinist presents another installment of Spot the Spank. By now, we hope you are already aware that Austinist has teamed up with Spank Dance Company to give you clues on where to check out their latest dance production, 4Red Lines. If you haven’t been able to catch the performance, what are you waiting for? Perhaps our clues have been just that good. Or maybe you were partaking in other recreational activities at Eeyore’s... more ›

FRIDAY [27] music • While You Were Out, presented by Bueno Music Bureau, with The Unbearables, She Sir, The Scripts, Friday After Dark at Club de Ville ($5) books • Anita Gonzalez, Ph.D., presents Dancing Between Myth and Reality at CAAAS (UT - Jester A232) (3:00pm) comedy • Tig Notaro and Steve Burr at Cap City Comedy Club comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Fetish and Other... more ›

As you're hopefully already aware, Austinist has teamed up with Spank Dance Company to be the exclusive promotional outlet for their latest dance production, 4Red Lines. The location for this Saturday’s two performances will be prime people watching and a perfect backdrop to observe the interaction between the dancers and the audience. If you haven’t been able to “Spot the Spank” guess the location of the upcoming performances from the clue listed below and come... more ›

MONDAY [23] books • David Sedaris at The Paramount Theatre books • Bill Bradley presents The New American Story at BookPeople (7:30pm) art • Artistic License: WorkSpace Artist Jedediah Caesar at the Blanton Museum of Art at The Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress (Included with Museum Admission, 6-7pm) comedy • "Funniest Person in Austin" Contest, Hosted By Mario DiGiorgio (Winner 1999)" at Cap City Comedy Club dance • The Whirling Dervishes at... more ›

Spank Dance Company is conducting a social experiment on you. Have you noticed? Were you wandering around outside of the Convention Center during SXSW only to see four red clad dancers (and one whimsical ring leader) spontaneously break into dance? Maybe you were enjoying the epic day we had this past Thursday at Republic Square Park and caught a glimpse of them. According to Spank Dance Company's director and choreographer, Ellen Bartel, if you... more ›

Austinist is honored to present the second installment of Spot the Spank, an ongoing modern dance treasure hunt taking place throughout this great city we call home. As mentioned during the madness of SXSW, Spank Dance Company has partnered with Austinist to promote their original contemporary dance piece titled 4Red Lines. Performed in an outdoor public venue, the dance addresses the barriers between performer and audience, the concrete and the abstract. Ellen Bartel, choreographer... more ›

FRIDAY [16] art • Artist's Reception: Joan Winter: From Marfa to Sudari at Flatbed Press and Gallery (6-8pm) art • Flatstock 12 Poster Convention at Austin Convention Center (11am-6pm) books • Jack Pendarvis preseents The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure at BookPeople (3:00pm) books • John Sellers presents Perfect From Now On at BookPeople (7:00pm) sxsw • SXSW Film Festival at Everywhere sxsw • SXSW Music Festival at Everywhere theatre • Austin Shakespeare... more ›

Spank Dance Company, with choreography by Ellen Bartel, will be presenting a series of public performances over the next few weeks. The guerilla-style dance performances are meant to bring art to the public by breaking the access barrier to fine art. Staged throughout the streets of Austin, the contemporary dance company will be performing in bright red costumes that will be hard to miss. Spank has partnered with Austinist to provide clues as to... more ›

Believe it or not, there's a bunch of activities going on around town this week other than SXSW. This week's IST List won't include our usual bevy of music and film events; for those, we recommend that you check out our Interactive Guide to SXSW Parties and the Other Side Guide, respectively. We'd also like to welcome LAist editor Tony Pierce and Gothamist arts editor Jen Carlson, both of whom will be joining us... more ›

Recently seen in another local media resource: "OK, I'll say it: Ken Webster's "St. Nicholas" is a tour de force." Ken Webster is an actor, the Producing Artistic Director of Hyde Park Theatre, and an advocate of the idea that more local actors and performers should get their 15 minutes of fame. From the beginning, he has been a part of FronteraFest, Austin's annual fringe theatre festival which opens its stages to dozens of... more ›

Alright. Gloves off. We’ve been snarked on in the past for flippantly referring to productions at the Vortex as “naked theatre”. Taking that into consideration, we’d like to bring to your attention some “adults only” (read: probably naked) theatre opening this weekend. Bell(e): The Museum of Suicide Machinery is a “mesh of performance art, visual installation, experimental theatre, and sound montage” from Austin’s purveyors of the out-there-experimental, Ethos. Anne Marie Gordon designs the scenery... more ›

We gotta say, Ellen Bartel has gusto. (She named her company Spank Dance – if that’s any indication.) True to form, in her latest piece, Greyhounds and Other Virtual Ways to Travel, she takes a huge concept – in this case, the future of humanity – and presents it to us in a form that’s innovative, contemporary, rough, slow, boring, exciting, tame, beautiful, banal, moving, ridiculous, and most things in between. As is common... more ›