One Hundred Miles

It began in the gold mines of South Africa. The miners would dance in their wellington boots, as a means of escaping the danger and drudgery of their work. 'Gumboots', as it was called, is now an international sensation, thanks to a group of young dancers from Soweto. This production is not performed solely by South Africans, however. Included are artists from all over the continent. A hit in Europe, it was the cast's dream to perform in the United States. It should be well worth seeing their dream come true.

Let down your dreadlocks and get ready to groove at the biggest reggae festival to hit Africa. The headlining acts at 'Home to my Roots' are all genuine reggae acts direct from Jamaica. Burning Spear (aka Winston Rodney) is a compelling live performer, while seven of the original band members that toured with Bob Marley are here as part of The Wailers, now on their 30th world tour. Lead singer Gary 'Nesta' Pines is widely regarded as the their best frontman since the late, great Bob himself.

Alfred Stieglitz is among the handful of truly seminal figures in American modern art, and the three New York Galleries he ran - 291 (1908-1917), the Intimate Gallery (1925-1929) and An American Place (1925-1929) - were at the heart of his activities. This National Gallery show will be the first to examine Stieglitz's accomplishments as gallery director alongside his photographs. His images will be seen with the work of some the artists he championed - Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, Brancusi, and close friends Georgia O' Keefe and Marsden Hartley.

This multimedia exhibition will display 50 years of fashion from Amsterdam, Clothes, shoes, handbags, hats and fabrics from established names like Max Heymans, Frank Govers, Fong Leng, Frans Molenaar, Edgar Vos and Mart Visser take up one space, while up-and-comers like Aico, Analik, Aziz, Saskia van Drimmelen, Niels Klavers and Wees Meester en Vormgever van Jezelf will take up the other. As the exhibition is so well organised, the only thing to worry about it was to wear...

Calle O #14, entre 17 y 19 (662224)


Open noon-6am daily. Admission $5 drink minimum.





The One-Eyed Cat used to be the place where young intellectuals and artists hung out in the 1970s and early '80s. It reopened recently after 12 years of closure, restored, revamped and redollared with pleasant, post-modern decor. Filin and bolero are still the main genres to be heard here, with near-legends such as Elena Bunke (Friday nights) and César Portillo de la Luz playing on an almost weekly basis. There's also a restaurant upstairs.

Following some fairly heavy-going operatic repertoire in the Maggio Musicale festival, the Labèque sisters piano duo offers some light relief in a programme of music for two pianos. Schubert's beautiful F minor Fantasia opens, before they play a selection of Brahms' rousing, gypsy-like 'Hungarian Dances'. The second half consists of Saint-Saens much-loved 'Carnival of the Animals'.

For a supposedly visceral art form, rock music inspires an amazing amount of intellectual writing. Journalism professor William McKeen has seemingly read through all of it to produce 'Rock'n'Roll is Here to Stay', an expansive yet shrewdly edited anthology. It includes the standard rock critics (Lester Bangs, Robert Christgau) and includes iconic pieces such as Joan Didion on The Doors and Tom Wolfe on the Beatles. McKeen will discuss the book and his adventures in rock rocking at Octavia Books, the new Uptown literary shop.