Like many holidays in the calendar year, Mother’s Day can be over-commercialized. But does it really hurt to get a little reminder to celebrate one of the most important bonds in life? Blood related or otherwise, mothers can make such a difference in everyone’s life, so make some time to show them just how much you love them with these events around the Twin Cities.

Woman Power

This trio of events is all about mom and woman power. Listen To Your Mother (May 10) reflects on the trials and treasures of motherhood with live, onstage readings. Minneapolis’ takes place in the historic Riverview Theater, but these events are also happening across the continent. Two days later, the Minnesota Lynx are taking on the Chicago Sky. Ok, game day is the day before Mother’s Day, and it’s not necessarily Mother’s Day-themed, but we would have egg on our face if we didn’t mention some of the strongest women in the state as they warm up for a run at a fifth championship title in the last eight years. As Mother’s Day wraps up on Sunday, May 13, go to the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant for Soul Women: Three local vocalists are going to bring the house down.

Get Active, Get Outdoors

On Mother’s Day, moms get in free at the Minnesota Zoo, and they are also treated to discounts at the gift store and IMAX Theatre. Como Park Zoo & Conservatory is always free, and while they don’t have long outdoor trails filled with sea otters, farm babies and Asian wild horses or a red panda on their Tropics Trail, they have a special Mother’s Day bonsai show in addition to their polar bear, great apes and spectacular conservatory.

On May 12, you can get your hands dirty with the Three Rivers Park District’s Mother’s Day Weekend Tree Planting. Otherwise, on Mother’s Day, the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary’s special Mother’s Day Wildflower Walks at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. will get you outdoors in nature as will the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s 1,200 acres and vibrant tulip show. For a different change of pace outside, take advantage of the DNR’s Take a Mom Fishing Weekend, where moms can fish without a fishing license all weekend—children under 16 can always fish without a license—or go on one of the first Mississippi River tours of the season at Paradise Charter Cruises. For the really active, run or walk a Mother’s Day 5K together.

Get Artsy

Creators Space in St. Paul has a handful of crafty classes for Mother’s Day the entire weekend you can do with your mother, such as painting a flower still life, making herbal healing salve or even painting a portrait of your pet. If you’re on the west side of the cities on May 13, St. Louis Park’s Pinot’s Palette offers an all ages (13-plus recommended), no-experience-needed, discounted art class with available refreshments—and your mom will get to sip on a free mimosa—while you paint Van Gogh’s “Daisies and Poppies.” If you have a child ages 7 to 15, check out Mother’s Day Tea at Way Cool Cooking School for a morning of baking goodies for a tea with mom.

It’s Showtime

With such a bustling arts and culture scene, check out these performing arts options you can treat your mother to. On May 12, see the decadent and emotional opera Thäis in St. Paul, or see the St. Paul Ballet all weekend in their 1920s adaptation of Bizet’s “Carmen.” At the Guthrie, they’re doing the classic “Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner?” among other shows, and for a whole family affair, consider the Children Theatre Co.’s whimsical “Lorax” or the high energy “Newsies” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. (For a taste of both of the latter, check out our reviews here and here, respectively.) And, of course, who could forget the St. Paul Civic Symphony’s annual free Mother’s Day concert? This year it features Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” at the Landmark Center at 1 p.m. on May 13.

Getting Gifts or Time Together?

The day before Mother’s Day, JB Hudson Jewelers on Nicollet is offering an upstairs children’s beading clinic where they’ll make a bead bracelet for mom with a personalized metal charm, and downstairs in the main area, the Mother’s Day trunk show will be out and glimmering. (In short, the perfect way to either get a last minute Mother’s Day present or bring her along so there’s no guessing what she likes.) Another pre-Mother’s Day event that could either be a gift, bonding or both are the Mother’s Day Arrangement Classes at Block Studios on May 10 where she can take home a vase of flowers specially arranged by you.

It’s time to paint the town red with the 23rd annual Art-A-Whirl. Scratch that. It’s time to paint the town every color found inside Crayola’s 64-count crayon box. You know, the box that every kid in class with the standard 24-count box (me) was jealous of. I mean, it had the Macaroni and Cheese and Purple Mountains’ Majesty colors and the sharpener on the back. Come on, it was like Christmas morning for kindergarten art projects.

Covering Northeast Minneapolis in a blanket of creativity Friday, May 18, through Sunday, May 20, the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association’s (NEMAA) Art-A-Whirl will give visitors a chance to view the creations from more than 650 artists at more than 50 locations, including Vevang MPLS, Solar Arts Building, Casket Arts Building and many, many more. A full list of participating locations can be found on the 2018 Art-A-Whirl map.

But it doesn’t stop there. Art-A-Whirl, which happens to be the largest annual open artist studio tour in the U.S., will also give art enthusiasts the opportunity to view demonstrations, mini workshops, installations and special exhibitions during the artists’ open studio tours. And the best part about all of this is the price of admission: free. Visitors can go to one, two or all three days, view as much art as they want, all for $0.00.

Trolley Rides

And don’t let the anxiety of trying to find parking put a damper on your plans. Free trolley rides will run all weekend, picking up and dropping off visitors approximately every 15 minutes at a number of locations spread across the event.

First Trolley Departs:
Grain Belt Studios
Friday, May 18: 5 p.m.
Saturday, May 19: noon
Sunday, May 20: noon

Last Trolley Departs
Grain Belt Studios
Friday, May 18: 10 p.m.
Saturday, May 19: 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 20: 5 p.m.

A full list of trolley stops can be found here.

Dining

All of this art observing will no doubt leave you hungry and thirsty. Fortunately, there are plenty of dining options just blocks—or even steps—away from participating locations. Chow down on a plate of Red Stag Stroganoff or roasted half chicken at Red Stag Supperclub—one of the brainchild’s of James Beard Award semifinalist Kim Bartmann. Or quench your thirst with a slew of craft ciders at Sociable Cider Werks.

The Twin Cities have long been known as an arts mecca. It’s a community that values the freedom of expression, and events such as Art-A-Whirl are just one of the many pieces of that creativity puzzle.

Talking about the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) ends up including a huge line of astounding numbers: Two hundred sixty-eight films from 75 nations, six screening venues, and more than 40 screenings with the director and subjects attending all pack into the 17 days that make up the festival’s 37th year.

While MSPIFF has a number of program categories, such as Science on Screen, Nextwave, Minnesota Made and Dark Out, the spotlight for 2018 is Chasms and Bridges: Cinema and the Search for Common Ground. Stories and art have long been recognized as a way to bridge perceived divides and to bring to light to obscured voices, and these films, whether fictional or real, show how no matter how old we are, how we identify ourselves, where we live and how much money we have, common threads still unite us.

Check out 10 films from this Spotlight category plus a note on one of the three short compilation screenings. However, as this list makes up a mere 9.5 percent of the total feature length films at the festival and a quick sentence doesn’t begin to encapsulate them, make sure to look through the MSPIFF website or the MSPFilmSociety app to find what films speak to you April 12-28.

“RBG,” April 12, two screenings. Tickets are sold out, so come early for rush tickets. Follow the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and see how she became the political and feminist icon she is today—plus, learn about the moments that just made her, her. Director Betsy West will be attending, and tickets include admission to the Opening Night Party at Jefe: Urban Hacienda.

“Black Kite,” April 14, 15, 18. When the Taliban outlaws flying kites, Arian can’t stand the thought of his daughter’s freedoms being stripped away and vows to fly a kite with her in this film shot over two weeks while the production crew evaded the real Taliban. Director Tarique Qayumi will be attending.

“Wajib,” April 14, 18, 25. The dynamics of leaving or staying in Palestine creep into this dramedy by the “preeminent female filmmaker in the Arab world” about a father, teacher and visiting son as they hand deliver the latter’s wedding invitations.

“What Will People Say,” April 15, 19, 21. After high school student Nisha’s parents discover the Western lifestyle she lives outside of their traditional Pakistani household, they send her to live with her aunt in Pakistan.

“The Workers Cup,” April 15, 20, 28. Adam Sobel’s documentary shows the exploitation and endurance of Qatar’s migrant workers as they work to construct the 2022 FIFA World Cup stadium while holding their own football tournament.

“The Cakemaker,” April 15 and 24. When Thomas learns his lover Oren died in a car accident, he leaves his home in Berlin to travel to Jerusalem to meet Oren’s wife and son who never knew about him and ends up working as the widow’s pastry chef.

“Of Father and Sons,” April 20, 23, 28. Documentary filmmaker Talal Derki pretended to be a jihadist sympathizer and provides singular access to the household of Osama, an Al-Nusra Front member, where he reveals a family that experiences love, darkness and radicalization.

“Western,” April 19, 25, 28. A German construction team clash with the Bulgarian villagers they now share the land with in order to build a hydroelectric plant, and one man walks the middle.

“Crime + Punishment,” April 27 and 28. This documentary peers into an abyss full of corruption and systemic racism in the New York City Police Department through one group of officers’ frank conversations and hidden recordings.

“Minding the Gap,“ April 27 and 28. A documentary captured from a skateboard—Bing Liu records the lives of himself and two of his friends as they find themselves on the edge of being men in the Rust Belt. Director Bing Liu will be attending.

Bonus: “Chasms and Bridges II, April 17.“ One of three Spotlight short compilations, “Chasms & Bridges II” shows five stories, including a 21-minute documentary on undocumented workers in Wisconsin’s dairy industry, a 5-minute animation depicting the meeting of a Chinese mother and her British-born daughter, and a 22-minute story on the transformation of an Israeli commissioned officer as he transports a prisoner.

Minneapolis St. Paul Film Society

Once we flip past that February page in the calendar, we consider it springtime which means the season of 5Ks, 10Ks and more has begun. More than 15 races are taking place around the metro area in the next two months alone, and whether you’re running with a family or training for a marathon, there’s a race for you. We understand if you don’t want to wear shorts just yet—it did snow yesterday—but we hope to see you enjoying the fresh air anyway.

Here are 10 upcoming races for you to check out:

March 11: Brewery Running Series Kickoff Event

OK, so this one isn’t a race, but it’s the kickoff event for 36 different brewery runs this spring and summer, so really, we’re giving you even more of a bang for your buck. Score discounts on series registration and merchandise, free beer tastings, raffle prizes and, most importantly, get hyped for the race series that mixes some of the best things in life: running, craft beer and local nonprofit support. The first race of the series is April 7 at Headflyer Brewing in Minneapolis.

March 24: Hot Dash

Get Minnesotan and get flannelled at the annual Hot Dash. Whether you do the 5K or the 10 mile course, you’ll get a hearty sampling of hotdish recipes and other Minnesotan snacks after the race. Just don’t eat too much, otherwise you’ll slip into a food coma—you’ll want to stay awake for the live DJ, activities, beer garden (for those 21-plus), photo booth, mini massages and more.

April 1: Easter Sunday Rise ‘n Shine 5K

The early bird gets the worm at this 5K. After your run at 8:30, head right on down to the Claddagh Irish Pub & Restaurant for breakfast, beer and beverages, all included with the race fee. With such a productive morning, you’ll have plenty of time to go back and hide the Easter eggs for any little ones.

April 8: Goldy’s Run

It’s game day of a different kind: Support the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital and get your feet in gear at Goldy’s Run. Starting at TCF Bank Stadium, home of the Golden Gophers football team, go on a 5K or 10-mile jaunt and have a picture perfect finish by crossing the 50-yard line. As an extra incentive to train for that 10-mile run, you’ll be running not just around campus but along the beautiful Mississippi River, too.

April 14: Allstate Hot Chocolate 15K/5K

Billed as the sweetest race around, the Allstate Hot Chocolate 15K/5K is perfect for folks with a sweet tooth who still want to get off the couch. Besides the delicious chocolate that awaits after the race—and no gluten and nuts are in any ingredients—there are sweet stations throughout the course with tasty nibbles like marshmallows and chocolate chips.

April 14: Y Run

Get the whole family out with this race. Choose your distance with a one mile walk/run, 5K or 10K. Before and after the race, you can keep playing with camp games and activities, pop-up sports clinics, and more.

April 21: ALS SuperHero Dash

We all remember the ice bucket challenge, but ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, has been around a lot longer than that. Luckily events like the ALS SuperHero Dash have been around, too. Use your powers for good to help raise awareness and support for those fighting ALS with the annual 5K and 10K. As they say, old or young, “every SuperHero makes a difference!”

April 21: Bee Run/Walk/River Cleanup

Organized by the Great River Coalition, this race remembers some of the smallest members of our ecosystem—the pollinators. Celebrate Earth Day weekend by breathing in the fresh air of Boom Island during the 5K and then stick around for the river cleanup. Bee costumes, colors and teams are not only encouraged, they’re rewarded, so start getting the buzz out and get your running team together.

April 21: Allina Health Trail Mix Race

For those of you who have been hitting the winter cross training a little more, thaw out your outdoor legs with a trail race across the hills, prairies and woods of the Three Rivers Parks district. If the 25K and 50K distances seem a little daunting, sign up for the 12.5K solo run or sign up as a two- or four-person team to tackle the longer runs together. Proceeds go toward purchasing adapted equipment to make the outdoor lifestyle accessible to everyone.

April 28: The Great Inflatable Race

You won’t be able to help but giggle as you run your way through this 5K. The Great Inflatable Race is putting obstacles in your path, sure, but they’re nothing but fun. Fight your way through the giant obstacle courses, slides and more, and bounce your way to the finish line.

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just a party in St. Paul, it’s a way of life. Every year to celebrate the Irish heritage day, the city and its residents paint itself green and celebrate with a smorgasbord of week-long activities. Here’s what you can find.

Starting the week off strong is LuckyPalooza, a two-block street party that pours all the brew you can gulp down and slings all the Irish fare your stomach has room for. The shamrock-filled celebration takes over West Seventh, and kicks off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 10—and like the Energizer Bunny­, it just keeps going, and going and going until 11 p.m. Festival-goers will find a jam-packed party, complete with three tent parties setting up shop at Burger Moe’s, Cossetta and Patrick McGovern’s; outdoor food stands and bars; live music with DJs spinning the ones and twos, plus a special performance by local country music star Chris Hawkey; Ride MN extreme sports activations and more.

For those who are worried about driving downtown and parking, don’t be. MetroTransit has your back. Buses and light rails in connection with LuckyPalooza will shuttle passengers for free starting at 1 p.m. and run until the wee (pun intended) hour of 1 a.m. So feel free to indulge in as much green brew as your heart desires, and let Metro Transit do all the driving.

The festivities don’t stop with the closing of LuckyPalooza either. For those who want to keep flying that orange, white and green flag, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade returns to Fifth Street for the 52nd year on Saturday, March 17, at noon. Grab some friends and family, spread out some blankets and chairs, and enjoy the bagpipes and celebration of all things Irish.

Also taking place on Saturday, March 17, is the 37th Annual Irish Celebration. Held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the historic Landmark Center and put on by the Irish Music & Dance Association, this event features Irish music and dancers spread across four stages, an Irish marketplace stocked with authentic Irish merchants and artisans, activities for your little ones, and traditional Irish food with tea and scones (of course), Irish beer and more. Tickets for this party are sold at the door and run $7 for adults, $5 for kids 6-12 and seniors 65 and over, and children under 5 get in free.

But this is just a sampling of the culturally infused events can be found throughout the city the entire week. Start your St. Patrick’s Day festivities Sunday, March 10, at places such as Can Can Wonderland, the James J. Hill House, CHS Field and more.

As is par for the course, the Olympics have shone the spotlight on some of our ski hills thanks to star athletes like Lindsay Vonn, but this Saturday at Hyland Hills in Bloomington, a different downhill sport will be taking over a slope: ice cross. You probably know it best from the Red Bull Crashed Ice international annual tours, but another part of the season are the Riders Cups, which are skater-run and skater-made, right down to icing the track.

A core group of about six athletes, with the help of about 20 volunteers, are putting on the Riders Cup 2018 at Hyland Hills, including Cameron Naasz. Naasz, the only ice cross athlete to win back-to-back championships, grew up in Lakeville, Minnesota, and I won’t lie: The Minnesota-proud side of me wants to say that growing up in the state of hockey didn’t hurt his skills going into the sport.

Naasz been helping plan Minnesota’s Riders Cups since 2015, and while he hasn’t been able to see the track yet—going on a three-week Eurotrip to race is a pretty good excuse—he knows this year is going to be a great one. Here’s a snippet of our conversation:

Ryan Taylor Visual

We have the annual Red Bull Crashed Ice in St. Paul—what’s the difference at the Riders Cup?

This will be different because it will be natural ice. We call Red Bull Crashed ice artificial because it’s made on a coolant system just like how a hockey rink is, whereas the track at Hyland Hills is all snow and all natural terrain. The weather definitely plays a part in it. If it’s too warm, obviously the track is going to get soft; it’s going to melt. Too cold, the ice is going to be brittle, and the ice chips away faster, and it’s rougher and harder to ride as well. Also, there aren’t full boards down the Riders Cup track. The courses are built more on a budget because it’s us putting these on for our riders, not some big extravagant project like you see in St. Paul.

It’s open to anyone to come and participate and earn their way onto the Red Bull Crashed Ice circuit, where years ago, you would just go to a flat ice hockey rink and Red Bull would put on qualifiers where they would just time all the athletes on a flat ice course. Now you have to show up to these rider cups and earn enough points to get into the tour.

Is that how you got into the sport? At one of the flat-rink, timed qualifiers?

I actually had a very weird entry into the sport. I had a friend, and he and I grew up playing hockey and all sorts of other sports. He and I were going to college in St. Cloud, where he became a student brand manager for Red Bull. At the same time, this was the first time that Red Bull Crashed Ice came to St. Paul in 2012, and so student brand managers were given golden tickets they could give to two people thought they would be decent at the sport. I ended up being the top-ranked American at that event, and I’ve just done it ever since.

I was looking at the Riders Cup information and saw that you have a Kids Cross event Sunday where kids can try their hand at ice cross. Is that a new feature?

We’ve done it in the past. The kids haven’t raced on the track; it’d be a pretty crazy track to be on. When I saw it in the past, the kids get to skate on the track and a few of the top guys are out there, teaching them. I think most adults would think, “Oh, they’re going to die; there’s no way they could to this.” Two runs and they’re just going down the track full speed. It’s incredible.

Since all of the tracks are rider-designed and -created, how do they vary?

They’re all unique. It depends on who the athlete is creating the course. I was just in Saariselkӓ, in Finland—it’s the absolute North Pole, it’s crazy up there—and Arttu Pihlainen built the track. He was the world champion a few years ago, and his skating style, it shows in the track. It had a skating start and then you didn’t take another stride. It was almost like skiing. If I designed a track, I would have put a lot of jumps. For the Riders Cup at Hyland, Eli Krieter has put in a lot of skating, a lot of turns, tricky turns in it.

So we’ve been talking all about the logistics of ice cross, but what do you love about it? What do you think about as you’re going down the track?

Obviously the adrenaline of it. I did sports, and this one incorporates a little bit of everything I enjoyed growing up—hockey, rollerblading, I was a huge snowboarder, this puts all those things together. And in 2012, it gave me a chance to be competitive again when I was only going to school with recreational sports. I’ve met incredible friends all over the world, and I’ve had travel experience that I never would have been able to have.

(When you’re on the track,) you have to try to have a plan, so when you’re training (on the practice runs beforehand), the main goal is to remember where every bump, every crack in the ice, every feature is, so when you’re racing, you let your body take over, that muscle memory, that instinct take over, so all you have to think about is, “Where are the other guys on the track?”

Ryan Taylor Visual

The moment co-founders Jessica Burge and Danielle Rasmussen truly believed their idea for Minnesota’s first cat cafe could work was when they realized more than 10,000 people attended the Walker Art Center’s 2014 Cat Video Festival. In the end, it took more than three years and a lot of set backs for their dream to come true, but thousands of other people also latched onto their dream, donating more than $36,000 on two separate Kickstarters for what would become The Cafe Meow on Hennepin Avenue.

The Cafe Meow is set to open Friday, Feb. 16, but soft opening events have given early supporters, friends and family a sneak preview of what’s in store. Hint: It involves 10 sociable, curious and adorable cats.

Lianna Matt | Visit Twin Cities

Danielle Rasmussen (left) and Jessica Burge smile with two of the cats they will open The Cafe Meow with.

“Originally, I was hoping it would be done sooner, but the fact is building something like this, I wanted to make sure in the end we did it correctly. We weren’t concerned when it took more time,” says Burge.

By the soft openings, Burge and Rasmussen wrote out the cafe menu on the chalkboard, hung the current cat art gallery, and added price tags to the merchandise people can buy, including cat bow ties and toys. They brought in the first cats of the cafe and introduced them to the surroundings they would be allowed to roam 24/7—no cages here. While the two may have some more finishing touches to do, they have everything they need to host the cat paradise you’ve been waiting for.

In the cat room, Burge and Rasmussen have a board listing all of the cats in the cat room as well as their adoption information because yes, you can take these kitties home. The Cafe Meow works strictly with no-kill animal rescue partners, and every cat they are able to welcome into the cat cafe meets veterinary and personality requirements to ensure that the cats won’t be overwhelmed by the social stimuli. To keep the cats stress free, there is a limit of about 15 people in the cat room ($10 per person per hour), with about 10 coming from online reservations and a handful from walk-in customers. 

The cafe side is working to be just as charming, with food and drinks supplied by Bootstrap Coffee Roasters, The Northern Lights Tea Company, My Sister’s Sweets and Fox Cakes, and the amount of cat-shaped goodies is promising. Two large windows in the dividing wall let you peek in on the furry friends as they play on the 8-plus foot custom cat tree and run around the room. 

In short, you’re going to have a meow-velous time at The Cafe Meow. (I’m so excited for the cafe, I don’t even regret that pun.) It’s the perfect place for animal lovers who want some four-pawed love in their life or even for those who are less cat crazy and just want a new favorite cafe. Looking around the rooms The Cafe Meow, you can picture people lounging with their lattes and chatting, playing with the cats, or even breaking out the Catopoly that Burge and Rasmussen set on the table.

“All the effort we’ve put in and seeing all the people that are going to be happy because of it, it’s heartwarming,” says Burge. “And the cats we can potentially help be adopted … Creating a business that has a conscience and courage and compassion is important, so seeing that happen is the best part.”

As you read the missions of many Twin Cities performing arts companies, a common thread emerges: They want to tell narratives that are overlooked; they want to give a voice to the underrepresented; and they want to show how art is not only a means for social justice and understanding, but a catalyst for it. By and large, these artists succeed, whether it’s through historical reflections or not-so-removed worlds.

In the month of February, two performing art groups will make this connection through their own personal stories. Starting Feb. 10 through March 4, Minnesota History Theatre is putting on the world premiere of “A Crack in the Sky,” a mosaic of memories and folk tales from author Ahmed Ismail Yusuf and playwright Harrison David Rivers of Yusuf’s journey from being a shepherd boy in Somalia to being an author in Minnesota.

Halfway through the show’s run, over on the west side of the Mississippi River, urban dance crew Kudeta will present “I’m From Vol. 2: Immigration and Identity,” also a world premiere, from Feb. 23-25. Both productions are based on personal stories but are executed in very different ways.

A Look in the Mirror

An old adage for creative writing is to “write what you know.” But even then, writing what you know and writing your story are two different things.

“It’s so scary putting yourself out there to people you may not know,” says Joëlle Fernandez, co-founder of Kudeta and co-director of “I’m From Vol. 2.” “But I think it’s even scarier to face it yourself because through the process of creating our individual pieces, we really have to think and be in our feelings a lot.”

Since Kudeta’s first installment of “I’m From” about a year and a half ago, “Vol. 2” is pared down. Instead of about 30 artists, including children, they are working with 13. While some of “Vol. 1”’s dances focused on swathes of exodus and historical movements, this time Fernandez and her partner, Kudeta co-founder and co-director Frankie Herbres, are asking the question on an individual level. It’s not about street addresses or passport stamps. It’s about, for instance, being from “soy sauce and vinegar lighting up the house when you get home,” says Fernandez.

For Fernandez, answering where she’s from requires not shying away from the sacrifices her parents made for her. “My parents came here to give me a head start, and I used that head start to do what, hip hop? It’s the question of if what I’m doing is good enough,” she says.

Fernandez’s individual piece will be influenced by the Filipino traditional dance “binasuan,” where she has to balance cups filled with water on her head and hands as she dances. Historically, binasuan is performed in times of celebration. As the binasuan dancers turn, spin and roll to upbeat music, people watch in awe at the seemingly effortless way they balance the cups, never letting them spill. However, it is that skill, that unspoken limitation the cups impose, that Fernandez uses to draw a parallel to how the guilt she has about pursuing her love of dance burdens and limits her life.

Unlike most dance performances where you might get an artist’s note about the dance’s significance, there will be more than a vague explanation from Fernandez. She’s going to tell you her story through spoken word, too, as will the other nine dancers of the night.

“Our artistic vision is to be raw, clear, upfront, explicit, and so even if I danced everything I wanted to dance, the audience will still walk away with their own interpretation,” Fernandez says. “In my piece with the cups, that could mean anything. But if I have spoken word incorporated with it, it helps make it even clearer.”

Sam Harper FusedXPhotography

Whose Story Is It?

While Fernandez’s story is unique to her, there is always a question of representation. If Fernandez is the only Filippino that someone knows, will they see her story as universal to every Filippino in a similar situation? Part of the power of telling personal stories is the realization that everyone’s stories aren’t as different or as foreign as they may seem, but that there is a fine balance between the individual and the collective.

To try to define that convergence, Kudeta’s approach is vulnerable honesty, which means a long, hard look at who each member is. Each solo piece has been created without input from Fernandez or Hebres, and because of that, it’s up to the dancer to dive into what makes them who they are, including what they don’t know about themselves.

With “A Crack in the Sky,” Yusuf and Rivers create a story that fully lives in the epicenter of the individual and the collective coming together. While the play incorporates much of Yusuf’s journey to the United States, Rivers thought to intertwine Somali folk tales into the narrative, and the pair had to pick which moments of Yusuf’s life to highlight and which timelines might have to change to fit the stage medium the best.

“I did a bit of research (on Somalia) just so that I could understand the broad strokes of Somali history and get a sense of the place Ahmed is from,” says Rivers, who has upcoming plays at Penumbra and Theater Latté Da as well. “But because we were telling Ahmed’s specific story, I relied on him to provide his perspective on the places and the people. … A different character or a different person with a similar story might remember different details, but I really wanted to adhere to Ahmed’s real story as possible.”

For months, Yusuf would write down his story for Harrison, who would ask what Yusuf describes as “illuminating” questions, and eventually those stories made up the script that balances Yusuf’s storytelling with Rivers’ masterful play creation.

Just as Kudeta’s dancers have to contend with the forces that have influenced them, Yusuf has to reflect on how he has become who he is. Before he came to the theater, he says he was not ready to tell it, but when he started, he says, “There was no second-guessing what to say or what to tell or why.” His story is infused with gratitude toward the communities that have made him who he is, and he has a large place in his heart for the teachers who have reached out to him and fundamentally changed how he viewed life.

Even though “A Crack in the Sky” is based on Yusuf’s journey, he doesn’t see it as a play about him. “It’s actually a shared story; it is a communal story,” he says. “I wanted a story that is not only about me but about humanity in general and about a world that I left behind that has stayed with me and the world that I live.”

Minnesota History Theatre

Coming Together

The performing arts, theater in particular, are an animal. At least according to Yusuf. “(Writing) is you and the page, but then you have to think of the audience, of the language of you’re using. You are thinking about the actors, the stage, a million other things that matter,” he says. “It is an animal, somehow or another, and you don’t seem to know where it leads.”

But then, as everyone who has been in theater knows, that can be the beauty of it. The shared story that Yusuf wanted to impart to his audience also soaks into the cast and crew who put the show on. The group numbers that Kudeta intermixes in between the solo pieces remind them they aren’t alone.

Like many shows that examine the world in all of its imperfections, “I’m From Vol. 2” ends on a hopeful note. Although I cannot confirm “A Crack in the Sky” does, my hunch is that it, too, will end with a sense of a new beginning.

Skipping past messy questions, unresolved issues and bittersweet memories and going straight to the positive feelings that smiling curtain calls can impart would certainly make for a lighter toll on the creators. However, whether you’re in the audience or on the stage, to not think about who you really are underneath your shield of skin and social media and personas is to live in a world without trying to see it or understand how you can fit in it. Likewise, ignoring the experiences of those around you is to fail to appreciate what makes up our personal stories—no matter how tangled and incomplete they are—and how those experiences can unite and define us.

“When I was a youth,” Fernandez says, “I went to UC Berkely for a youth leadership retreat, and something I learned was how to tell your own story because if we don’t know our own stories, and if we don’t speak on it, someone else will. Someone else will tell us who we are.”

Do you know who you are?

For my first year doing a snow sculpture for the Vulcan Snow Park, open through Feb. 11, I didn’t want to be in danger of sawing the snow so fervently I fell off my ladder. Not that any of the 18 teams that competed for the 2018 state competition (Jan. 27-29) did, but still. Those champs were working with 8-foot tall blocks. For the Amateur Snow Sculpting Contest (a one-day whirlwind Feb. 3), my team, aptly named Wingin’ It, had a block that was a tame 6 feet tall, but even with that downscaled height, I needed a step stool to work on the top of what would be our baby dragon.

I’ll let you know now: We got last place out of four teams. (“Ice Age”‘s Scrat, Minnesota inventions and an octopus with a Rubik’s cube make for formidable competition.) But we did have a steady stream of passersby proclaiming it was a dragon hatching out of an egg before we told them, and we had some children even want to touch it (we let them, of course), so I think we can count it as a win in the books.

Jeff Matt

I know we’ve mentioned the Vulcan Snow Park (part of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival) and told you to check out the snow sculptures, but let me tell you, it’s a whole lot of fun making them, too.

Robert McLernon, Cassie Bauman and I started the day at almost 8 a.m. sharp, and right from the get-go, the Vulcan Snow Park volunteers spoiled us with coffee, doughnuts and other refreshments before we got to work. At 18º and no wind, the weather was perfect, and although I scrooge-ishly grumbled that the gently falling snow would ruin our carved lines, we couldn’t have asked for a better day to be outside.

As we found out, you can’t just dig out the packed snow, nor can you peel it like you would a linoleum block. Smarter teams than we brought saws, but Bauman and I ended up doing a lot of hacking until McLernon showed up and proved to be a god with the ice scraper, resulting in huge cleared out spaces and clean edges. Pat Mogren, one of the lead volunteers at the Snow Park, came by multiple times with metal curry combs and scrapers to arm us in our artistic plight—they proved to be a necessity for the egg shape and dragon anatomy—and Kendra Myers, the Minnesota State Snow Sculpting Competition coordinator was always nearby with encouragement, too.

By the time noon rolled around, I was in that intense, one-track frame of mind where my friends can’t tell if I’m having fun anymore and I don’t want to break for the generously provided lunch because, hello, we have a sculpture to make. Still, a sloppy joe, chips, vegetables and a water bottle later (again, all provided by the Snow Park) I ended up taking an extra five-minute break with McLernon to look at the State Competition sculptures while Bauman continued to work on detailing more of the wings, arms and head. What an overachiever she is.

In the end, we finished our baby dragon at about 3:15 p.m. with 45 minutes to spare and, at least for me, a nice pile of soaking wet mittens. I had lost count of the adults pointing out the dragon to their kids (each time it happened, my heart sang a little bit), and I felt very flattered by the adults who told us good job and who jokingly asked whether the three of us were University of Minnesota art majors.

It was a good day full of simple pleasures: fresh air, creativity, exercise and really, really nice people. Myers, Mogren and the other volunteers are some of the most easy going and kind-hearted people you’ll meet, and they know how to immediately make you feel at home. Everyone was excited to be there and to help out at the Snow Park, and the day was filled with people looking at the sculptures, giving it a try themselves (Mogren had put out the rest of his metal curry comb supply and miniature cubic foot blocks for people) and going down the Vulcans’ giant snow slide.

As Winter Carnival lore goes, the Vulcans bring in spring, and I can’t think of any better way to end winter than stopping by the Vulcan Snow Park and checking out the sculptures and snowtastic activities. And hey, if you’re around next year, sign up for the Amateur Snow Sculpting Contest. I know I will.  

Check out the winners of the Minnesota State Snow Sculpting Competition:

Tis the season for chocolate, flowers, romance and—you guessed it—fun date ideas. Below is a list of weekend and Valentine’s Day options for you and a special someone.

Love Poured Out

Feb. 9

Support Disability Support International at its Love Poured Out event which includes live music, a silent auction, games and interactive activities. Taking place at FIVE Event Center in Minneapolis, all proceeds from the ticketed event will go towards DSI’s mission and a better life for those with disabilities in developing countries.

Surly Masher

Feb. 11

Join Surly Brewing and Surly Bikes as they collaborate for their first winter bike event benefiting Full Cycle, a nonprofit bike shop addressing the issue of youth homelessness through social innovation. The event will include bike demos, Surly beer, door prizes, food trucks and music.

Sweet Science Ice Cream Event

Feb. 11

Ice cream is a good idea, even in below-freezing weather. Taste test a variety of Sweet Science ice cream samples (and purchase a couple pints to take home for a Valentine’s Day treat) at Indeed Brewing Company.

The Dinner Detective

Feb. 11

For fans of murder mysteries, interactive theater and improvised comedy, The Dinner Detective offers a theatric twist on a four-course meal. The catch? None of the actors are dressed up, so attendees may or may not being dining with the murder suspect at their table.

Love Birds Who Lunch

Feb. 14

Cooks of Crocus Hill welcomes couples to attend to its lunch-hour Valentine’s Day cooking class, Love Birds Who Lunch, taught by Chef Lorelei McInerny in St. Paul. Menu items include a citrus and arugula salad, house-made pasta with creamy citrus sauce and shrimp, and a heart shaped brownie for two. For young chefs-in-training, check out Crocus Hill’s Kids Cook event Feb. 10 at Crocus Hill’s Stillwater location. The class seats kids ages 8 to 12 and includes Cupid’s Caprese, calzone hearts, rainbow hearts fruit salad and chocolate-cover cherry cookies.

“The Love Show” with Kevin Kling & Friends

Feb. 14

Join storyteller Kevin Kling—you may have heard him on NPR’s “All Things Considered”—and his friends Dan Chouinard, Prudence Johnson, Simone Perrin, Claudia Schmidt and Dane Stauffer as they “voyage over the high seas of love” with a new episode of “The Love Show.” The light-hearted show will take place at St. Catherine’s O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul at 7 p.m.

Har Mar Superstar Sings Sam Cooke

Feb. 14

R&B/Soul artist Sean Tillmann (aka Har Mar Superstar) will be singing classics by the King of Soul, Sam Cooke, during Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant’s Valentine’s Dinner. The $120 ticket price includes a four-course dinner, music, tax and gratuity.