Nritygram Dance Ensemble Brings Traditional Indian Culture to Byham; Quantum’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’ Ends Today (Sat., 10/3/15)

Even in dance, good things come in pairs. A duo from the famed Nrityagram center brings Indian classical dance to Pittsburgh. photo: Nan Melville.

1) On the outskirts of Bangalore, the bustling hub of India’s high-tech industries, a rustic enclave called Nrityagram has become a center for keeping a dazzling art form alive. Nrityagram is a residential school where students are dedicated to learning and practicing classical Indian dance. The center’s dancers and musicians tour worldwide, and a highly acclaimed Nritygram ensemble visits Pittsburgh to perform a feature-length piece called Samyoga: An Ode to Love. Dancers Surupa Sen and Bijayini Satpathy are masters of Odissi, a sacred and traditional style of dance; they’re accompanied by four musicians.

Note: The Nrityagram show is presented by Pittsburgh Dance Council as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s ongoing India in Focus festival, a series of performances and art exhibits at various venues extending into November.8 p.m. Nrityagram’s Samyoga is at Byham Theater, 101 6th St., Cultural District. (MV)

2) Whereas many Pittsburgh theater companies schedule adventurous and unusual plays some of the time, Quantum Theatre does nothing but. It is the city’s de facto out-there company, with out-of-the-mainstream productions staged at out-of-the-way locations. Quantum did Émile Zola’s romantic potboiler Thérése Raquin in an empty swimming pool and performed a spooky adaptation of José Saramago’s dystopian novel All the Names in a vacant library building. This month Quantum takes on Shakespeare, choosing his enigmatic play The Winter’s Tale. It has nothing to do with winter; it’s a tragedy-slash-comedy with a happy ending (jealous husband drives wife and child to their deaths, but wait wait, there’s a twist); and the script includes Shakespeare’s most famous stage direction, sending off one unhappy fellow with “Exit, pursued by a bear.”

The Winter’s Tale is so weird that few companies today attempt it. Quantum has turned it into a baroque opera—enlisting music director Andres Cladera, singers in all the roles, musicians from Chatham Baroque, and a dance troupe from Attack Theatre. 8 p.m. Ends today. Will the bear dance? Find out in the Music Hall at the Union Trust Building, 501 Grant St., Downtown. (MV)

3) Troll 2 and Best Worst Movie—It’s a double-header of bad cinema! 1990 brought the release of Troll 2, about a family vacationing in a small town where the people disguised trolls want to turn the visitors into plants and eat them! (It’s this sort of thing that gives us vegetarians a bad name.) The movie immediately became a camp classic and is a major contender for the “Worst Movie Ever Made” award. Troll 2 is being shown at 9:30 p.m., and preceding it at 7:30 p.m. is Best Worst Movie, a 2009 documentary about the origins and filming of Troll 2, which is directed by one of the film’s actors, Michael Stephenson, who interviews cast and crew, all trying to figure out how it went so gloriously wrong. Hollywood Theater,1449 Potomac Ave., Dormont. (TH)

4) Our battlin’ Bucs take on the Cincinnati Reds again today in a 7:05 p.m. game. It’s also a pre-game Saturday Block Party, featuring live entertainment, food and beer options, games and more. Stop by the Leinenkugel Bar and meet former Pirate pitcher Steve Blass. Get ready to hear some oohs and awws as there’s a post game Zambelli Fireworks show. Also 2016 Magnetic Schedule Day. PNC Park, 115 Federal St., North Shore.

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