Out North Contemporary Art House presents The 18th Annual Under :30 Show, featuring work by Eric Giliam, Leslie Kimiko Ward, and Stephanie Ajax Brown. Four shows on Fridays and Saturdays. Jan. 27 –28 & Feb. 3–4 at 8:00 PM.

Out North’s community storytelling series has aided and abetted the performance careers of dozens of local artists. Alaskans propose a performance event of thirty minutes or less; selected themes are then developed and directed with artistic director Scott Turner Schofield. From personal to political, poignant to polemic, Under :30 displays the rich stories and powerful visions your neighbors and friends carry within them every day.

This year, three people will tell their stories of transformation through movement, gesture, spoken word and magic.

Eric Giliam will tell the story of a young man who discovers a magic wand in an ancient book and learns how to use it, only to find out that the wand’s magical powers come to an end.

Choreographer and teaching artist Leslie Kimiko Ward will share her experience in the village of St Michael and the ensuing suicide prevention project, 1000 Cranes for Alaska, using dance/story telling/origami.

Stephanie Ajax Brown will use a post-modern expressionistic form of Japanese dance theatre called butoh to show the audience pieces of a recent period of her life in which she was injured physically with very little hope for full recovery.

Directed by Jack Dalton; technical direction by Daniel Sparks with Thomas Higgins.

• Date/time: Fridays and Saturdays. Jan. 27 –28 & Feb. 3–4, 8 PM.
• Location: Out North Contemporary Art House, 3800 DeBarr Road, Anchorage, AK (see map)
• Cost of admission: $20/$15 in advance via Centertix, or $25/$20 at the door.
• Further info: see Facebook events page