AIDS Diva, AACM Great Black Music Ensemble, and moreMicco Caporale and Kerry Reidon October 1, 2022 at 5:17 am

Gerber/Hart is partnering with the Leather Museum (6418 N. Greenview) for a free screening of AIDS Diva: The Legend of Connie Norman. Connie Norman was a trans woman who advocated for her fellow HIV-positive community in Los Angeles in the late 80s and early 90s. AIDS Diva is a documentary that follows her work, not only advocating for the humanity of those living with HIV, but also for the burgeoning visibility of LA’s trans community. After the screening, filmmaker Dante Alencastre will be in conversation with artist, filmmaker, and ACT UP Chicago member Mary Patten and activist, writer, and AIDS historian Sarah Schulman. Tickets are required for this free event, which starts at 3 PM. (MC)

The Rebuild Foundation is hosting its final free concert of the summer at Kenwood Gardens (6929 S. Kenwood) from 5-7 PM. Composer Renee Baker has distilled selected compositions by Anthony Braxton (a south side-born composer who is counted as an influential member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians [AACM]), into APOTHEOSIS: The Braxton Narratives, which will be performed by the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble tonight. Since this is an outdoor event, be mindful of the weather, and bring anything that will make the experience more enjoyable: chairs, picnic blankets, sweaters, snacks, etc. (MC)

Multidisciplinary artist Marcela Torres found themselves drawn to smoking cigars about seven years ago. That led to an investigation into tobacco’s role in Latinidad history and ritual, as well as colonization, which has culminated in their new choreographic work, Iyapokatzin; the venerable tobacco smoke. The piece, developed in part through Chicago DanceMakers Forum, gets two free public performances this weekend; today at 6:30 PM at El Paseo Community Garden (944 W. 21st), and tomorrow at 6:30 PM at Malinalli Garden (2800 S. Ridgeway). As Torres told the Reader‘s Kerry Cardoza, they drew inspiration from traditional Azteca-Chichimeca and Folklórico forms, but with some twists. “My goal is for people to see these dance forms as contemporary options for play in the descriptions of our current lives.” (KR)

M.A.D.D. (Making a Difference Dancing) Rhythms is a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the history of tap. Tonight resident instructor and choreographer Donetta Jackson, who’s performed with the likes of Chance the Rapper and Missy Elliott, presents A M.A.D.D. Mixtape. DJ DeeJayd9_3 will spin live, blending a mix of R&B, hip-hop, and other music, to help center tap within the African diaspora while linking the sound and movement of the dance to its modern descendent, footwork. The show starts at 7:30 PM at the Harold Washington Cultural Center (4701 S. Martin Luther King Dr.), and tickets are $20. The show is part of the Chicago Tap Summit, a weekend-long series of classes and panel discussions that kicked off Friday at 4 PM and continues through Sunday. Tickets for the entire weekend range from $400-$500; see eventbrite.com. (MC)

A 2022 video featuring Donnetta “Lil’ Bit” Jackson

Griffin Theatre launches its 33rd season with the midwest premiere of Marys Seacole, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Jackie Sibblies Drury. Drury’s We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Südwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 (based on the German genocide of the Herero tribe of Namibia) appeared at Steppenwolf for Young Adults in 2019, but her Pulitzer-winning play, Fairview, has yet to be seen here. Marys Seacole, which made its New York debut in 2019, is based on the real life of a British Jamaican nurse and businesswoman who cared for wounded soldiers during the Crimean War (1853-56). The real Seacole wrote a juicy memoir about her adventures, and a statue of her stands in front of London’s St. Thomas’s Hospital. Drury’s version takes an unconventional approach in order to blur the distinctions of past and present, while examining the gendered assumptions about women as caregivers. It’s directed for Griffin by Jerrell L. Henderson and Hannah Todd; previews begin tonight at 7:30 PM at Raven Theatre (6157 N. Clark), and it runs through 11/6. Information and tickets ($30-$40, $15 students, active military, and veterans) at griffintheatre.com. (KR)

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