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music

After selling out the iconic Belasco Theatre in LA last month, Party Thieves is hitting the road on his Max Capacity Tour. The globe-trotting DJ’s first headlining run of 2017 takes on a unique spin to the average tour - four-stops, 300 person capacity venues and all free admission.  Keep up with all the latest on this tour through Party Thieves Facebook page.

dance

Although Akira Armstrong had already appeared in Beyoncé videos, not matter what she did, she could not seem to find an agent to represent her as a professional dancer because of her size.  Staring her own dance company, devoted to plus-size dancers, Akira hopes to change perception of what the body of a dancer should look like.  Her dance company "Pretty Big Movement," is doing just that, disrupting stereotypes in the dance community, one routine at a time.  Learn more about Pretty Big Movement through a special video produced by The Scene.

life

Get in tune with the universe this New Year of the Rooster, with a simple Chinese method for clarifying the mind and finding freedom.  The Secret of the Golden Flower, an ancient Taoist text on inner alchemy promises a simple way to improve your whole life.

 art

Using a large camera obscura in his East London studio, contemporary English photographer Richard Learoyd creates figure studies, portraits and still lifes neither glamorous nor retouched, exuding a serene power along with mesmerizing detail.  An exhibition of his work opens at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City on February 10, and Richard Learoyd will be in Kansas City for a conversation about this work on February 17 at 6 pm.  Tickets are free and can be reserved through the Nelson-Atkins web site.

culture

Happy New Year of the Rooster!  Hopefully, you got an opportunity to drop in on some of the festivities this year.  The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art held their celebration today. We did not make it out, but did last year. There were numerous other events around the world too, and the Lantern Festival is not until February 11, so there is still time to be a part of it all.


That is all there is for this week.  Check back next Sunday for another edition of "breakdown," a new column presenting five random topics of interest, related to dance . music . life . art . culture.

We welcome any thoughts on the column or the related stories.  Leave a comment below, or share it along.  Archive issues are available through the menu at the bottom of the page on desktop, or through the Story Archive tab from any device.

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