Choreographers find inspiration in a number of places, people, times and emotions. For renowned choreographer Stephan Koplowitz inspiration comes from the architecture of a specific region, city or state. Koplowitz and his initiative TaskForce choose a region based on its architecture, history, culture and ecology and create a collaborative dance performance piece. In his latest work, Natural Acts in Artificial Water Koplowitz found inspiration in the metropolis of Houston, and what transpired was a visually impressive piece of modern dance.

Natural Acts in Artificial Water is a part of an international project that, among other things, travels to various locations and creates site-specific performances utilizing the structural design of the area. The performance, which occurred this past weekend, was a part of InsightOut, a weekend long arts festival presented by Aurora Picture Show, DiverseWorks and The University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.

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Joe Palmore (center) in "The Ballad of Emmett Till"

Joseph "JoeP" Palmore is a class act. Introduced to the performing arts early on by his father, Joe, a former theater professor who taught classes at Texas Southern, University of Houston, Houston Community College and New York University, Palmore was destined to be in the limelight. He first emerged to the stage while in grade school. His father had him recite a poem by Benjamin Mays for a church play. A self-proclaimed "knucklehead" while a student at Jack Yates High School in Houston's Third Ward, he was pulled aside in the 10th grade by his then speech teacher Sandra Shelton who pushed him to hone his skills as a performer. With both of his parents being members of the cloth, many projected Joseph to be ministering from the pulpit, but instead he's cultivated a more secular gospel that is all his own.

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Jaap Blonk

Damon Smith, a Houston-based double bass player and visual artist, completely remembers the first time he heard an interpretation of Kurt Schwitters's Ursonate, a piece of Dada art that's the sonic equivalent of the readymades of Marcel Duchamp in terms of scope and impact.

"I think to have a sound poem organized in sonata form is ground breaking," says Smith, who first heard the piece performed by Eberhard Blum on a hatART record.

Smith is one of the individuals responsible for bringing Jaap Blonk, who will present Schwitters's sonata that's entirely constructed out of phonetics, to Rice University on Tuesday. Blonk, a Dutch composer, musician and poet, is one of the best performers of the Dada-era piece that should be in the same conversation as visual heavyweights Man Ray and André Breton.

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As we told you last week, the acclaimed director John Waters (Pink Flamingos, Hairspray) is bringing his incredible one-man show to Houston. This Filthy World: Filthier and Dirtier promises to be an evening of shocking hilarity delivered by Waters's trademark foppish humor. Those of you who may have caught This Filthy World on Netflix will be pleased to know that the show Waters will be doing is 95 percent new, full of updated musings on religion, politics, film, art and what we're sure is a legion of newly discovered depravities and perversions.

Unfortunately, only a select few Houstonians will get to witness this DiverseWorks performance because its space seats only 97 people and because the event is a fundraiser for DiverseWorks. Tickets range from $250 all the way up to $5,000. Lucky for you, there are two tickets up for grabs for free.

"A very generous DiverseWorks supporter has donated two tickets (a $500 value) to This Filthy World: Filthier and Dirtier and given you a chance to claim them!" said Shawna Forney of DiverseWorks via e-mail.

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Greg Gorman

Editor's note: John Waters is not known as The Pope of Trash for nothing, so if you tend to be offended by raunchy statements, you might not want to read all of this post.

"Are you calling me from jail?"

That's how our phone call to John Waters (Hairspray, Pink Flamingos) began. Our iPhone call recorder app has a brief recording informing the person you're calling that they might be under surveillance when you activate it. Waters, who has been arrested multiple times, as well as many of his friends, can certainly be forgiven for assuming we'd been incarcerated. Now that we have his number, we plan on calling him should that ever come to pass.

It was hard to believe that we were actually being personally addressed by a voice that we associate only with the highest level of artistic brilliance. Granted, we understand that not everyone would call the man who had Tracy Ullman pick up a bottle with her cooter a genius, but that's because they don't realize the subtlety of Waters's work. To better know him, you need only to pick up his one-man show This Filthy World on Netflix, or better yet, go see the performance of his updated version Filthier and Dirtier.

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J.J. Johnston has come a long way since he first saw his best friend in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the seventh grade. Nothing like that would appeal to him now, but back then, Johnston thought it was incredible. Twenty years later, he remains in the art world, but instead is focused on his position as founder and Executive Artistic Director at the Classical Theatre Company. CTC is currently in its fourth season and, being the only theater company that produces year-round classical drama, is getting ready for some even bigger changes under the leadership of Johnston.​

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Photo courtesy of DiverseWorks

Elizabeth Dunbar

As soon as she applied, Elizabeth Dunbar was pretty much a lock for DiverseWorks ArtSpace's executive director position.

"We did a national search, and we had 25 really really strong candidates," said DiverseWorks's public relations and marketing manager, Shawna Forney. "We were immediately interested because of her visual arts background," which included arts administration work for Kansas City's Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

"The job spoke to me in a lot of different ways, especially with DiverseWorks's strong history with intersecting visual and performance art," Dunbar told Art Attack by phone during her first hour on the job.

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photo by Ed Schipul

Y.E. Torres as The Bad Unicorn

If The Bad Unicorn is indeed about bizarro moments, then its creator, Y.E. Torres, may have just been a part of the perfect experience.

On Tuesday, a scout for America's Got Talent reached Torres on her cell phone and told her that the show was interested in giving her a go at an audition.

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Photo by Marco Torres

See more pics of Aerosol Warfare's Rock the Lot in our slideshow.

There was a lot going on at the Aerosol Warfare artist reception Saturday night for Rock The Lot!

Art Attack schmoozed with other gallery wanderers as we took in the art accompaniment of the film Stick 'Em Up!, the documentary about Houston wheat-paste artists, along with a wall-to-wall collage homage to Aerosol Warfare's 17-year history as graffiti artists in Houston and an introductory exhibit by Aerosol Warfare interns, The Recruits.

The Stick 'Em Up! Poster Show portion consists of black-and-white blowups of fictional and historical characters, the best being a piece by Cutthroat of a soon-to-be-crucified Jesus Christ paired with a Mike Jones quote: "Back then they didn't want me, now I'm hot they all on me!" It is entertaining and edgy, if you don't mind hip-hop mixed in with your religion.

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Photo by Francisco Montes

A performer at Melee on the Bayou.

See pics of the dancers in our Melee on the Bayou Pole Dancing slideshow.

Art Attack knew not to expect unbridled sex appeal from Houston's first pole dancing competition, Melee On The Bayou, but other than that we weren't sure what else might be in store.

We left the event marveling at some of the feats of strength we saw, and thinking to ourselves, "We want to learn to do that!"

The show started with organizer Crystal Belcher dancing to a spoken word performance by master of ceremonies Se7en the poet. Afterwards, judges were introduced, each assigned a specialty including fitness and technical prowess. Among those judges were Amy Ell of Gyrotonic Houston, Amy Henderson, Miss Texas Pole Star and Josiah "Badazz" Grant, whose pole moves look like something from another world altogether.

The coolest thing about Melee was that it was truly an event for amateurs. Think of it like a high school piano recital, if you will. Which meant that performers came in all shapes and sizes, various fitness levels and from many different backgrounds. There were mothers, break dancers and even ballerinas. In fact, tutus were a common costume element.

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