First ChitChat mashes motorcycle culture and Brazilian dance

What do motorcycles have in common with Brazilian dance? What about the Salem witch trials and bicycles?

The answer: Nothing.

But just because they don’t share any common ground doesn’t mean you can’t learn a little bit about both in the course of one evening.

Daisy McConnell says you don’t stop learning just because you got the degree or stop going to school. The director of the Gallery of Contemporary Art started the ChitChat series last year. It’s a series of five Wednesday nights, each including two speakers on unrelated topics, maybe a cocktail or a nosh, and hopefully, a bit of conversation. The second season of the series starts Wednesday at GOCA 121.

“There’s this thirst for extended learning,” McConnell says. “You’re out of college, you still want to learn about stuff and wouldn’t it be nice to have a beer while you’re doing it? It’s not too stuffy, you’re in a gallery, and you don’t feel like you’re being taught. You’re participating.”

The first ChitChat of 2013 will pair a lecture on motorcycle culture by Dr. K Alex Ilyasova of University of Colorado at Colorado Springs with a Brazilian dance lesson by local dancer Luciana da Silva.

“I knew (Ilyasova) did a motorcycle conference, and I thought that’s fascinating — that you could do a whole conference and have motorcycle studies,” McConnell says.

The second ChitChat, on Feb. 27, mashes an Alfred Hitchcock lecture and clips from his films by Dr. George Butte of Colorado College with literary cocktails from classic novels by bartender Frank Frey of The Blue Star and Nosh restaurants. On March 6, it’s the physics of color by Dr. Tom Christensen from UCCS and a lesson on crepe making by Turu Marx Eurich of Coquette’s Bistro & Bakery. Magical geography with Mike Larkin from UCCS and magic tricks by Mark Modeer, the owner of Zeezo’s, come together on March 13. Finally, on March 20, Dr. Kathy Giuffre from Colorado College will discuss the Salem witch trials and bicycle enthusiast Al Brody talks bikes.

Don’t bother wondering how the two topics were paired. McConnell calls it a mash-up for a reason. She and Jessie Pocock, the development and events director at GOCA, plotted each evening’s lineup as a mix of contemporary culture and do-it-yourself motifs, like learning a dance step or how to create a signature drink. By the end of the night, usually some association between the two is made, McConnell says.

“There’s time at the end for discussion, and it’s awesome when they make a connection between the two (topics),” she says. “Something will tie them together that nobody would have thought of.”

If the thought of sitting for a lecture scares you right back to your couch and remote control, have no fear. Each presenters has only 20-25 minutes to tell their tale.

“My tagline is deep knowledge on a very narrow topic in a short amount of time,” McConnell says.
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Jennifer Mulson may be reached at 636-0270.