Philadelphia photographer Pierre Baston attended last October’s Million Man March for one reason but quickly discovered he was really there for another.
An accomplished movie and still photographer, Baston is a 1975 Yale grad who also dabbled in acting while earning his BA degree. In addition to a flair for the dramatic, he also brings skills as a lighting director to his vision of the world.
The Million Man March, Gaston says, represented “an opportunity to practice photojournalistic technique.”
But, he says, his interest was quickly drawn from the political aspects of the gathering to the cultural and aesthetic ones. He noticed, for example, that “many African-American men and women there expressed themselves powerfully in the artwork on their clothing, or the style of their hair.”
Camera in hand, Gaston shot and shot and shot . . . and the result is “a mini-series on the eloquence of backs, the subjects set against the gleaming symbol that is Capitol Hill.”
The collection, focusing on individuals rather than on large crowds, shows the character of the event from a single marcher’s point of view. It opens FRIDAY with a free reception from 5 to 9 p.m. at October Gallery, 217 Church St. The show also can be seen there throughout the month during the gallery’s regular hours, Mondays-Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. Info: 215-629-3939.
FEET FEAT. You’ll get your kicks when they do their kicking – “they” being the members of the Veryovka Ukrainian National Dance Company, which is touring the United States for the first time. The troupe, which draws on folk music, art and dance from across the Ukraine, comes to Philadelphia FRIDAY to perform historical ballads, Cossack and chumak songs and dances, scenic compositions and works of holiday celebrations. The troupe was founded in 1943 by Hrihory Veryovka in Kharkov, shortly after the city was liberated from the Nazis. It continues today under director Anatoly Avdiesky and has performed regularly throughout Europe, Canada and Mexico – but this is its first trip to the States. The “All Star-Forum” program is at 8 p.m. at the Academy of Music, Broad and Locust streets. Tickets: $14-$40. Info: 215-735-7506.
MANN MADE. “I’ve spent a lot of time in L.A. the past year, playing little shows, writing songs, but basically not doing much,” confesses Aimee Mann, the throaty pop-rock chanteuse best known for her hits with Til Tuesday (remember “Voices Carry”?) and last year’s “That’s Just What You Are” from the “Melrose Place” soundtrack. Mann was supposed to parlay the latter hit with her own album, “I’m with Stupid,” a most tuneful jangle-pop collection with a surprisingly hard and sometimes bitter core. But the disc’s release was delayed until just last week because Mann’s record label Imago abruptly folded, and it took eons for a new distribution deal to be hammered out with Geffen. “I was always thinking I can’t go anywhere, ’cause any minute now it’ll come out,” sighs the singer/songwriter, who headlines TLA with a band SATURDAY night. “I feel like I’ve finally been let out of a cage.” Semi-Sonic opens Mann’s show at TLA, 334 South St. 8 p.m. Tickets are $13.50. Info: 215-922-2599.