As ubiquitous as the bagel, the traditional Jewish folk song “Hava Nagila” is a piece of music that seamlessly crosses cultures. But where did it come from? Hava Nagila, the movie, will provide the answers when the documentary opens the 17th Annual Denver Jewish Film Festival this Wednesday, February 6…
#96 Brandi Shigley A relentlessly positive and hardworking jack-of-all-trades, Brandi Shigley has become synonymous with Denver fashion. The local couture guru, musician and small business owner was part of the first class of Westword MasterMinds in 2005, and she recently reactivated her handbag design business as well. Those are just…
One of the key goals of the Denver Jewish Film Festival is to get people outside of the Jewish faith engaged. “For us, getting the word out to the Jewish community is easy; getting the word out to the larger community is more challenging,” says Roberta Bloom, director of the…
#97: Deb Henriksen Deb Henriksen founded her clothing company, Equillibrium, more than a dozen years ago and from the start, she’s focused on creating wearable, sustainable pieces. Her background in environmental consulting combined with a love for snow and skate activities drives her operations with a distinct force that made…
Finally, something floating around the cesspool of Facebook that we can care about enough to actually unify over. The “Judgmental Denver map” appeared in my newsfeed yesterday and has since been reposted at least forty times by people I know — people who either think it’s funny or are pissed…
When fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert set about to produce a runway show called Le Grand Divertissement à Versailles in 1973, her mission was simply to bring American and French fashion designers together with socialites and philanthropists in a grand gesture to raise money to help restore the Palace of Versailles…
At barely 21, Halifax, England-born Ed Sheeran has found a solid American teenage fan base for his crooning — a heartthrob positioning that works well for the singer’s coy style. Existing somewhere between the gentle intonation of Damien Rice and the soulful acoustic exploits of James Morrison, Sheeran still has…
There’s a lot to love here: The teachers and students of the Clear Creek Academy of Jewelry and Metal Arts will be showing and selling handcrafted pieces as part of the Navajo Street Art District’s First Friday gathering. Through classes at the school, beginning to advanced jewelry-makers have had a…
My band broke up two weeks ago. For the three or four people who know us and may accidentally find themselves reading this, I won’t be discussing why we broke up. Sorry. I know band breakups are really fascinating to everyone who isn’t in the band, but it’s not really…
Forty years ago, New York fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert set out to produce a runway show called Le Grand Divertissement à Versailles in 1973, a fundraising catwalk to save the dilapidated Palace of Versailles in France. But the fashion show — which positioned American designers Oscar de la Renta, Bill…
Designer Victoria Bartlett has a long relationship with the fashion world. From designing to styling and back, Bartlett’s extensive knowledge helped propel the fluid move to creating her own brand, VPL, in 2003. This Tuesday, January 29 — one day only — hand-selected styles from VPL’s 2013 runway and commercial…
Wrestling worlds collide this weekend when Primos Hardcore & Wrestling welcomes fighters from Canada and Mexico to throw down with some of the company’s biggest stars. This Sunday, January 27, Primos will host a first-ever exhibition of three unique wrestling styles with Fight Club 3, bringing Hardcore, Lucha Libre and…
This Sunday, January 27, the drag kings of Denver will bring their handsome talents to the stage for a chance to compete in the national Mister USofA MI Pageant, which will be held in Oklahoma City this March. At this preliminary round, dubbed the “Carnival of Kings,” potential Misters will…
Focusing on pivotal markers of the civil-rights movement, tonight’s inaugural session of FWD: 1963-2013 at History Colorado isn’t merely a lecture: It’s an invitation for a real, raw community discussion. “We’re talking about 150 years after the Emancipation Procla-mation and fifty years after the seminal events of 1963,” says curator…
Inclusion is the name of the game for tonight’s Comedy Show at the Bar, when host Chuck Roy will welcome one and all to a monthly showcase featuring both seasoned and fresh-faced comics from the GLBTQ community and beyond. Roy and fellow comic Penny From Heaven first kicked off this…
Amid instances of erratic behavior, substance abuse, mental breakdowns and health problems, the singer known as Cat Power has been making matchless records and equally searing gossip-column fodder since the early ’90s. But as is often the case, the most tumultuous rock-and-roll stories can lead to the best catalogues —…
The word “symposium” can conjure up the image of some uptight, academic scenario, but that’s exactly the opposite of what this weekend’s Postscript Symposium at MCA Denver has been designed. Created as a companion event to the museum’s current Postscript: Writing After Conceptual Art exhibition, the Friday and Sunday shows…
I’d never thought much about the statement “better living through chemistry” until recently, when a new witch moved into my commune. She seemed to take the already counterculture-heavy snow globe that is my home — known as the Witch House House — and shake it with a spell-driven vigor. She…
This Monday, January 21, Members of Colorado’s Mile High Freedom Band will be joining the Lesbian and Gay Band Association to perform in the Presidential Inaugural Parade. Chosen from more than 2,800 marching band organizations across the country, this will be a celebrated second round for the musicians, who performed…
Whether you’re a fan of the classic Western or just want to kick back with a cocktail and a film, tonight’s screening of Open Range leads off another big year of the Movie and a Martini series at the Wildlife Experience. The evening, which includes a showing of the film…
For Bloc Party, the smashing success of 2005’s Silent Alarm could have sealed its fate, time-stamped it as a post-Strokes dance-rock band strapped tight to an expired decade. But the U.K. quartet pushed through, continuing to find subtle triumphs, its catchy post-punk style shining through on two more stylistically steady…
Running two nights only — tonight and tomorrow at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts — A Journey of the Human Spirit is an incredible three-part look at life before, during and after the Holocaust. Based on composer Viktor Ullmann and librettist Peter Kien’s fifty-minute opera The Emperor of…
