Unreal Life

MON 8/18

When we think Frankenstein, we think angry. The stilted lurch standing in a doorway, some poor unfortunate caught between his massive fists, has become an icon of old-timey terror. Nowadays, with the president talking about banning cloning, the tropes of sewn-together corpses animated by lightning have withered in the face of a more fantastic reality. Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature is a traveling exhibit that examines Mary Shelley’s monster as a model for the ethical quandaries of modern science. In tandem with the exhibits on display at the Kansas City Public Library’s Main Branch, the Westport Branch (118 Westport Road) looks at the present-day implications of Shelley’s novel and, this week, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

In Dick’s nightmarish vision of the future (on which Blade Runner was loosely based), a cop tracks down artificial humans known as replicants and kills them after they go on a rampage. The story’s parallels to Frankenstein are obvious; what’s interesting is the core issue of responsibility for creating life. Like the doctor’s creation, the replicants defy their creators’ wishes by doing exactly what they were made to do — that is, imitate life, with all the randomness and unpredictability that life entails.— Christopher Sebela

Step Up

The Kansas City two-step gets a bigger audience.

ONGOING

When people say “step off,” they’re usually telling you to butt out or get lost. The Step Off going on at Pete’s Place (12044 Blue Ridge Boulevard) and at other locations in the city is much more enjoyable. It involves a signature Kansas City dance move called the Kansas City two-step. A ninety-minute documentary called All About Steppin’, focusing on the African-American dance style, is in the works. The filmmakers who hit these joints encourage dancers with a flier that reads “git yo 2-steppin’ on.”

But what makes the Kansas City two-step different from the regular, non-Kansas City two-step? A lot. “Other cities, when they come here, it’s a little bit different,” explains Rhonda Williams of Pete’s Place. “In Kansas City, we hold hands and you’re drawn close together. It’s more of a contact dance. In California, I heard they don’t even touch each other.” Williams is showing the footage that’s already been completed at her place. For the filmmakers’ weekly schedule, call 816-943-9710.— Gina Kaufmann

Fight Club

Jazz musicians compete.

WED 8/20

With a tasty cobbler at stake, who wouldn’t play a great rendition of “Honeysuckle Rose”? The musicians who emerge victorious during Wednesday Night Fights at the Del-Mar Restaurant and Supper Club (26 East 39th Street, 816-561-0001) get free cobbler as a prize. “Most of the musicians who play here love the cobbler,” says coordinator Marcus Moses. The competition is sax against sax, trumpet against trumpet. “You come up, and the rhythm section starts playing a tune, and we see what you can do,” Moses explains. “It’s decided by the crowd.” The first week, he says, “a skinny little redheaded kid from Shawnee Mission East who plays a mean tenor sax dragged some guy in.” You never know what score will be settled next.— Kaufmann

Odd Accumulation

8/14-9/14

Completism is an oft-neglected member of the ism family. You’re sure to know at least a few completists — they’re the ones who own every book by every author they like long before they even think about reading those books. Collectors are quirky completists. Things People Collect, the annual display of focused accumulation at Crown Center (2450 Grand), involves collections of everything from Fleetwood Mac paraphernalia to Davy Crockett memorabilia. Last year, some kid even brought in a collection of dirt. For information, call 816-274-8444.— Kaufmann