Daedalus Cacophonus – a beautiful movement of sound and flesh
Featuring Joe McPhee
Friday, Sept. 10, 2010 – 6 pm
Old Post Office Plaza (9th and Locust)
Free and open to the public
HEARding Cats Collective has received a generous grant from DowntownNow! and Missouri Arts Council to create Daedalus Cacophonus at the 
Old Post Office Plaza. The event will take place Friday, September 10, 2010 at 6 pm, and feature an evolving percussive landscape led by Artistic Director Rich O’Donnell (SLSO principal percussionist, retired), dancers from Ashleyliane Dance Company, ANNONYArts; a variety of local poets (
Anna Lum, Brett Underwood, Richard Newman), and New York jazz saxophonist Joe McPhee.
The event is free and open to the public.
In homage to Daedalus, an ancient Greek craftsman so skilled that his sculptures “seemed to move about,” HEARding Cats Collective will assemble
team of local professional musicians, poets, and dancers for a
mesmerizing 75 minute multimedia cultural journey. The music will inspire dancers and audience alike to move about – just like one of Daedalus’ creations.
The core musical element of the piece is an ensemble of 5 percussionists (O’Donnell, Papa Wright, Craig Williams, Adam Rugo, and Thomas Zirkle) belting out world rhythms on bass and hand drums; meanwhile troupes of dancers, dressed statuesque in togas will groove to the beats; other sections will feature quieter duo and 
solo sections combining poetry with improvised saxophone (McPhee); and later, mallet percussion with splash cymbals and water gongs – making use of the basin at the plaza.
Mark your calendars and come join the other cool cats for this evening of dynamic artistic expression on a beautiful September night in downtown St. Louis!
Seeking Asian Female – film sneak preview benefit!
By artist Debbie Lum
Friday, Sept. 24, 2010 – 630 pm
Mandarin House Restaurant
9150 Overland Plaza
Dinner Benefit: $50 and up
Screening only: $25
HEARding Cats Collective will showcase a sneak preview benefit for award winning San Francisco-based filmmaker, Debbie Lum. Lum recently received a generous grant from the California Council for the Humanities for her ground breaking documentary Seeking Asian Female www.seekingasianfemale.com to be released in 2011. KQED, San Francisco’s award winning PBS, is her station partner. St. Louisans will get a unique preview on Friday, September 24 at the Mandarin House Restaurant www.stlouismandarinhouse.com and hear native daughter Debbie Lum speak about her 5 year project.
Also on the program, HEARding Cats Rich O’Donnell, Tory Z Starbuck, and Deb Summers will perform on authentic Asian instruments with a revirescent wrinkle.
The CCH grant must be matched by 1/1/11, and the 10 course banquet at the Mandarin House will kick off fundraising festivities in celebration of this goal. Reservations can be made by email alumrod@gmail.com for the screening and banquet at 6:30 pm starting at $50, or for the screening only at 8:30 pm at $25.
Director/producer Lum specializes in intimate character-driven stories often about the Asian American experience. Seeking Asian Female is her feature-length debut documentary. Trained as a long-format documentary editor, her editing credits include To You Sweetheart Aloha (winner audience award VCLAAPFF), a.k.a. Don Bonus (winner, National Emmy) and Kelly Loves Tony (nominated for an IDA award for best documentary), which she also co-produced.
She was commissioned by Wayne Wang to direct and produces two short films called Is Chan Still Missing? And Geraldine, about the seminal Chinese American films, Chan Is Missing and Dim Sum. She also wrote, directed and edited the short narrative films, Chinese Beauty, A Great Deal! and One April Morning, which screened at festivals across the country. Oscar-winning director, Steven Okazaki has said of Ms. Lum: “Debbie is a brilliant new filmmaker, capable making us feel and think about her subjects in unexpectedly challenging and wonderful ways.”
This will be the first opportunity for St. Louisans to see Ms. Lum’s work since A Great Deal! was screened at the St. Louis Filmmaker Showcase in 2002. She has an M.F.A. in Cinema from San Francisco State University and a B.A. in East Asian Religious Studies from Brown University. She’s a graduate of John Burroughs School and Forsyth School.
Join Email List
