'Portrait of Myself as My Father'
The Walker takes its performance series to a boxing gym this weekend for a dance/performance art hybrid by writer/performer/choreographer Nora Chipaumire. "Portrait of Myself as My Father" navigates family and cultural history, gender, colonialism and race. Donning football pads and African masks, dancers exploit the boxing ring to evoke a masculinity that is both exaggerated and out of reach. The work is a theatrical love letter of sorts to Chipaumire's father, someone she hardly knew. Born in 1965 in the Republic of Rhodesia (where Zimbabwe is now located), Chipaumire was brought up by her mother, with no contact from her father after age 5. Many decades later, the Brooklyn-based artist returns to that absent father figure with this riotous work. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sun., Uppercut Boxing Gym, 1324 NE. Quincy St., Mpls. $25, 612-375-7600, walkerart.org.)
SHEILA REGAN
