Dead Can Dance

SAT 11/1

Frankenstein, the Mummy, zombies: Something is wrong here. Our fear of death is so great that every October we turn the dead — our ancestors, our peeps — into monsters. Mango’s Cantina is offering a fine alternative tonight, with great food, music and dancing, and a chance to honor the dead instead of running away screaming. Día de los Muertos is the Mexican festival that marks the annual pilgrimage home of the spirits of the deceased. Co-curator Daniel Sandoval says, “As Latinos, we deal with the loss of loved ones in a different way than most Americans. We celebrate death rather than grieving, so we don’t forget those who have passed on. We’re paying homage to the people who have touched our lives.” Fusing traditional Day of the Dead rituals with new media and music by some of Houston’s most banging DJs, the curators of the cantina’s event hope to put a fresh spin on this Latino holiday.

Attendees are encouraged to bring photographs and mementos of their dearly
departed for placement on the main altar on the stage. Ofrendas, or offerings,
of food, candles and marigolds are also welcome; vibrant aromas and light assist
the visiting souls in finding their way home (or to the cantina). Five local
artists — Christian Azul, Adrian de la Cerda, Donna Huanca, Joshua Mares and
Eydie Rojas — will be putting finishing touches on their individual altars
the evening of the event. “Every artist is choosing someone to commemorate,”
says co-curator Gracie Cardenas. “I want people to come away from the event
being inspired by both life and death.” 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, November
1. 403 Westheimer. For information, call 713-522-8903. $5 donation. — Natalie
Ledbetter

Love Bites

Face it: The vampire thing is all about sex. When fang-boy’s lips hover above
the jugular of some virginal babe, the audience awaits the moment of penetration,
the scream, the blood — whew, it’s getting hot in here. Creepy Canadian
auteur Guy Maddin has a new take on Bram Stoker’s torrid tale. In his film Dracula:
Pages from a Virgin’s Diary, he turns an already sensual performance by
the Royal Winnipeg Ballet into a voyeuristic adventure. Maddin mixes
silent-film techniques with helter-skelter editing, titillating close-ups and
music by Gustav Mahler to drive his point home harder than a stake through the
heart. 7 p.m. Friday, October 31, and Saturday, November 1. Brown Auditorium,
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet, 713-639-7771, www.mfah.org.
$6. — Greg Barr

Satanic Neurosis FRI 10/31

Satan gets a bad rap. Yes, he’s a wicked little fellow who sodomizes sinners
with a hot poker, but that’s just his role in the grand scheme of things. Maybe
he has worries like the rest of us. Maybe he cares what people think of him,
especially his nagging mother. In Devil Talk, a short film by Illeana
Douglas, the Prince of Darkness chats with his mom on the phone and discusses
the possibility of hiring a publicist to improve his rep. Hey, image is everything.
Devil Talk will be screened as part of the “Halloweird Edition” of Microcinema
International’s Independent Exposure Series. Also keep an eye out for Five
Fucking Fables, a disturbingly entertaining quintet of cartoons about you-know-what.
8 p.m. Friday, October 31. The Axiom, 2524 McKinney. For information, call 713-412-5120
or visit www.microcinema.com. $5.
— Keith Plocek

The Kinky History of Art
Sex (and death) sells, even in the 15th century
THU 10/30

Sex and violence in the media isn’t exactly new. Renaissance- and baroque-era
artists had an appetite for lust and gore too, and you can see plenty of examples
at the lecture “Sex and Death in Prints” by Kevin Salatino of the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art. “Artists, unlike moralists, have never been squeamish
about acknowledging these two bracing facts of life,” Salatino says. The Alien movies have nothing on the gruesome deaths depicted in Goltzius’s The Dragon
Devouring the Companions of Cadmus. And on a more carnal level, Raimondi’s
I Modi, or “the positions,” was so sexually graphic that the Catholic
Church suppressed or destroyed all complete copies. “Some of these works,” says
Salatino, “are still shocking even now.” 6 p.m. Thursday, October 30. Brown
Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet, 713-639-7300, www.mfah.org.
Free. — Bob Ruggiero

Underground Railroad Crossing

Quilt patterns are often symbolic. Their makers pass down the symbols’ meanings as they pass down the art. Slaves on antebellum plantations were responsible for both quilting and laundry; quilts hung out like regular laundry may have been used to give messages to escaping slaves travelling on the underground railroad. The 10th District African Methodist Episcopal Church is displaying replicas of these symbol-heavy quilts at this weekend’s International Quilt Festival. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, October 30, through Saturday, November 1; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, November 2. George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas. For information, call 713-781-6864 or visit www.quilts.com. $9; $7 for seniors and students; free for kids. — Lisa Simon