Friday 5
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It’s praised everywhere as the quintessential Polish dance, but the polka is really Czech in origin. During the 1800s, when the polka became popular, Poles were dancing the mazurka. You can argue the point, or you can have some fun today when the International Polka Festival kicks off with 14 of the best polka bands in the land, including Grammy winners Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones and Lenny Gomulka’s Chicago Push. The three-day extravaganza takes place at the Ramada Hotel O’Hare, Mannheim and Higgins in Rosemont, starting at 5:30 today and tomorrow, and at 12:30 PM on Sunday. Tickets are $8 a day or $20 for the weekend. Kids under 12 are free when accompanied by a parent. Call 254-7771 for more.
Since 1967, Third World Press on the city’s south side has been publishing the stirrings of the African-American heart, including two now-classic volumes by the state’s poet laureate, Gwendolyn Brooks: The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves and To Disembark. This fall, TWP will publish So Far, So Good–new poetry by writer-musician Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron headlines tonight’s benefit celebrating TWP’s 21st anniversary. The show starts at 8 at the Robinson Center, Chicago State University, 9501 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Tickets are $15 at the door, $13 in advance. For more information, call 651-0700.
In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, Hair opened on Broadway, thousands joined the Poor People’s March on Washington, Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia, Mayor Daley’s thugs ignited a riot, Richard Nixon was elected, and the Beatles’ White Album was released. While the World Watched is a recreation of that year through the eyes of 36 artists at the Prairie Street Gallery, 1900 S. Prairie. The show opens today with a reception from 1 to 5. Call 842-4523 for details.
Wednesday 10
Twenty years ago Bernadine Dohrn struck terror into the hearts of the city fathers: she served as secretary of Students for a Democratic Society, as a leader during the Chicago Days of Rage, and later as a leader of the Weather Underground. And after a brutal Charlie Manson family murder she said, “Offing those rich pigs with their own forks and knives, and then eating a meal in the same room–far out!” Now a lawyer with Sidley & Austin, she’ll be reminiscing about the good ol’ days at the Public Library Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, beginning at 12:15 PM. It’s free. For more, call 269-2830.
