Barking Legs continues to push the boundaries of theatrical innovation
Barking Legs’ offerings are varied, rich and constant. House shows, under the aegis of Contemporary Performing Arts of Chattanooga (CoPAC), include dance, folk, jazz, blues, comedy, improvisational and experimental theater, poetry, spoken word, and open-mic/open-floor shows. Pop-up galleries showcase up-and-coming artists and offer works for sale. Visiting artists also appear at the Legs, from local performers to nationally and internationally known dancers, singers and musicians. During the day, Barking Legs houses the Full Circle Teaching Artists Program (TAP), which helps artists develop as teachers.
Since its renovation in 2014, the Dodds Avenue theater has built on its mission to offer innovative programming to the Chattanooga community.
Seating about 80 people, 150 if movable seating is added, Barking Legs is tiny but widely known, a microcosm of Chattanooga’s arts culture. A quick example: Dancer and choreographer Ann Law—one of Barking Legs’ founders, along with her husband Bruce Kaplan—just returned from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she received the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award.
“Everyone [I talked with at UNC Greensboro] said they were trying to model Greensboro on Chattanooga,” Ann says. “We started talking about what they saw in the Chattanooga: our startups, the river district, our entrepreneurs and our arts community.”
Think about a tech incubator. Barking Legs holds an analogous position in the arts. Recognitions such as the one Ann received—only the third Distinguished Alumni Award in UNC Greensboro’s history—“are keeping eyes on Chattanooga,” Ann says. “Barking Legs serves as a catalyst, a place for us to look at the needs of our community. We serve a niche no one else is serving.”
Merry Midwinter!
If you haven’t been to the Legs for a while—or ever—visit the 24th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, Dec. 10. From 2 to 5 p.m., a free festival for kids and adults will feature arts and crafts, creative movement and music. The Grilled Cheese Emergency truck will serve hot sandwiches.
Behind the scenes, guest artists will paint the theater’s famed legs. At 6 p.m., the new legs will be revealed and evening festivities will begin.
The evening show will include the strip tease from Ann Law’s Come On In My Kitchen. A palm reader will create personal erotic poems based on the mystical lines in your hands. World Food Tribe from Dunlap will serve specialty foods and unique cocktails will be available. At 10 p.m., the formal performance ends and a DJ will take the stage for dancing and general, get-down partying.
“We hope all of Chattanooga comes out,” Ann says. “It’s fantastic if you come for the first time, or if you [visit Barking Legs] a lot, bring some friends who haven’t come.”
The Legs’ Programming
After the December anniversary party, it’ll be hard not to become part of the Barking Legs community. Whatever art form people favor, they’ll find something to bring them back again and again.
Literary fans will appreciate the poetry and open mic shows, says Erika Roberts-Blackmon, poet, performance artist and member of CoPAC’s Board of Directors.
“In 2017, we’ll be offering open mic nights for poets who want to ‘spit,’” she says. “We’re a comfortable space…a safe and sacred space.”
Barking Legs will also be hosting an old-school speakeasy, which Erika describes as “not a slam, but a show that’s very laid back and hip,” during Black History Month. Chattanooga poets Arche Twitty, Moll King and Olivia Bradley, among others, may be heard at Barking Legs.
Bruce Kaplan, a member of the house band Undoctored Originals (all of whose members hold MDs or PhDs), focuses on building up Barking Legs as a destination venue for music. This month, he recommends hearing Radney Foster on Nov. 18 or the Gregory Tardy Quintet on Nov. 19.
Foster, a country music singer/songwriter from Texas, has had songs picked up by Keith Urban and Sara Evans. Tardy, described by NPR as an “international caliber musician,” now focuses on teaching jazz saxophone at UT Knoxville, so a performance by him is a rare treat.
“No other place has this great programming,” Bruce says.
Ann, with her flair for the original, is organizing a series of “Happenings,” performances combing dance with other art forms, immersing the audience in the experience.
“It’s a different way of approaching performance, using all the senses—even food and drink,” Ann says.
Happenings #1, Twilight Café, will feature an ensemble of performers from the community: four dancers, two drag queens, two poets, a pianist, a guitarist and a jazz vocalist. The audience will be seated cabaret-style, and the action will take place around them.
A Unique Jewel
Since its renovation, Barking Legs has changed its ambiance from urban grunge to airy modern. The lobby holds a bar, cabaret seating, a wall of irregular glass windows, paintings by Dennis Palmer and Ashley Hamilton, and a gleaming 1955 jukebox. In the theater, comfortable auditorium seating places the audience at speaking-voice distance to the stage—which features one of the most danceable sprung floors Chattanooga has to offer. And on special occasions, patrons can hear (or play) the 1916 Steinway grand piano, once housed at Birdland jazz club in New York.
The bar offers beer and soda. Barking Legs doesn’t provide food, but there’s space for catered snacks to be served. A perfect fit for most performances, Barking Legs is also a great space to hold receptions, advocacy meetings, science lectures and more. A bartender and sound technician are available with rental.
A Cauldron for Growth
In addition to performing at the Legs, local artists have a variety of ways to grow through the Barking Legs community. CoPAC intern Olivia Anderson, a visual artist who is learning marketing and promotion in conjunction with Barking Legs, is the latest in a series of young people taking a deep dive into the arts world.
Artist-in-residence programs are another way Barking Legs nurtures up-and-coming artists.
“We’re keeping up our creative activism,” Erika says. “We want to be a focal point in incubating new artists who come to us, giving them experience on the floor.”
Full Circle TAP, guided by Educational Outreach Director Mario DeAndre Brooks, offers workshops for artists who want to bring their passion to the community through teaching.
The most recent TAP program focused on cooking for the working family. As they honed their pedagogy, the TAP students worked with community children on kitchen arts. The small artists made chef’s outfits, drew place settings and warmed up with a “brain dance” before cooking, Ann says.
Dancing into the Future
Ann and Bruce are looking for ways to sustain Barking Legs’ mission into the 2020s and beyond. Their philosophy is one of balance: Barking Legs is nimbly responsive to community needs, yet offers a venue where people can experience art in profound, deep-delving ways.
“We’re small and quick,” Bruce says. “We can move fast. We can get people on a tour looking to fill a time spot. And we offer an intimate venue with the best acoustics in Chattanooga.”
The Legs can book shows on short notice. Artist-friendly, the theater offers early opening times and great revenue percentages. As a result, Bruce says, major artists will book a show at Barking Legs between earlier-scheduled performances in larger venues; for instance, steel guitar artist Junior Brown stopped by on his way from the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta.
Similarly, when local artists approach Barking Legs about holding a pop-up gallery, one can be arranged quickly. Ashley Hamilton and Laura Little have both displayed their works at the Legs.
At the same time, Barking Legs’ performances, galleries and community events aren’t quick artistic fixes. They involve all the senses and challenge audiences to experience art deeply.
“My generation doesn’t have the attention span now,” Olivia says. “[At Barking Legs], we want to maintain our integrity but also appeal to everyone through creating experiences so they will want to stay…to engage you in such a way you have to be fully present.”
“We’re really about breaking barriers between the performers and the audience,” Ann says. “In the past 24 years we have developed a reputation for being a place where you can have a great time. The performers enjoy themselves, the audience is respectful, and we are generous with revenue. It’s like playing in your living room for 150 people.”
“It’s an intimate, focused space,” Bruce says. Erika adds, “It’s about growing creativity.”
To see Barking Legs’ calendar of shows, visit barkinglegs.org. To learn about literary programming at the Legs, contact Erika at facebook.com/erika.dionne1. Interested in renting the space? Email info@barkinglegs.com.
Come Home to the Legs!
Regular Programming
First Mondays: Improv Mondays with comedy troupe Improv Chattanooga
Last Tuesdays: Kersosene Komedy, stand-up comedian
Every Wednesday: Jazz in the Lounge. Free music with visiting and local artists.
First Fridays: The Floor is Yours open mic/open floor show
Monthly: Nathan Bell and guest artists
This Month
Nov. 18: Radney Foster
Nov. 19: Gregory Tardy Quintet
Nov. 20: Forever Bluegrass
December
Dec. 3: Kath Bloom
Dec. 4: Happening #1: Twilight Café
Dec. 10: 24th Anniversary Festival