Des Moines Performing Arts launched their 2025-2026 Dance Series with a powerful performance by BODYTRAFFIC. Based in Los Angeles, the renowned dance company celebrates diversity and innovation through performance and education initiatives, sharing their passion for dance with audiences across the world.
Central Iowa Arts & Entertainment
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Des Moines Symphony performs its first work by an Indigenous composer, paired with Dvořák and Chopin
Des Moines Symphony offered another crowd-pleasing performance last month with the second installment of their Masterworks series, Wisdom – Dvořák 6 & Chopin. Their program once again featured a modern piece by a living composer as well as celebrated works from two titans of the Romantic era. Truly a refreshing balance of the old and […]
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Review: Iowa Stage Theatre Company makes deft use of long monologues and long silences with Sam Shepard’s ‘Buried Child’
Most of the characters in Buried Child do not exist. Not just because the players in Sam Shepard’s 1960s-set American drama are fictional, but because nearly every character, at some point, has the desperate need to assert that their existence is factual and their perspective true. By the time the play ends, one wonders how […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Fully Booked at DMPL: Haunted houses, haunting reads
Halloween is just around the corner, when larger-than-life skeletons adorn front yards and glowing pumpkins sit on every doorstep. These spooky season staples aren’t always indicative of thrills and chills behind the front door — but if you’re a horror reader like me, you can’t help but wonder what terrors may lurk inside. One of […]
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Review: An environmental art exhibition at Grand View University combines the cosmic and down-to-earth
The exhibition “GAIA II: The Pale Blue Dot” begins a month-long run at Des Moines’ Grand View University on Monday, Oct. 20. A beguiling blend of expressive imagery and compelling messaging, celebrated artist Mary Kline-Misol and conservationist Christine A. Curry join forces to create an immersive, thought-provoking climate crisis dialogue anchored by complex paintings. Kline-Misol […]
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Five questions with Chase Abner ahead of his new Halloween-themed music festival, set in a historic Iowa schoolhouse
As a parent to a 4-year-old, I’ve come to realize that, when it comes to finding things to do, the Halloween season can be tricky. Scoping out a spooky-themed event for a possible family outing becomes a recon mission. How scary is it going to be? Too scary? Not scary enough? Going too heavy on […]
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Locals Bar & Stage is ‘bringing entertainment back’ to Walnut Street
You could say it has risen out of the rubble — a long-awaited, much-needed presence in the neighborhood. Locals Bar & Stage is helping bring Walnut Street in Des Moines back to life. The area has suffered some losses: the shutdowns of the Gas Lamp, Vaudeville Mews and other downtown establishments have left the area […]
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Review: Ballet Des Moines kicks off the season with athleticism, Enya and a pianist that’s part of the performance
Ballet Des Moines opened their 2025-2026 season this past weekend with Forward, an evening of new and returning performances at Hoyt Sherman Place. The company aims to make dance more inclusive and accessible this season through a diverse repertoire and community initiatives, including a podcast, sensory friendly matinees, audio transcriptions and adaptive dance classes. The […]
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As filmmakers compete this festival season, DSMUFF offers a DIY, low-pressure alternative
It is far too cliché to begin this story with the same overdone explanation that cool arts stuff does, in fact, occur in the Midwest. So I won’t start there. But I will rant about the thrill of discovering something underground, especially when it’s in a place you least expect it. It feels special, uncovering […]
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Lene Lovich is launching her new U.S. tour with an intimate Iowa show
Avant-pop icon Lene Lovich hasn’t mounted a major U.S. tour since 1989, but that will change this September when she opens for the B-52s and Devo on their 11-date run of amphitheaters. Those concerts will be interspersed with several of her own headlining club gigs, and Lovich’s triumphant return to the States will kick off […]
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Wake Up Iowa Coffee turns their spare room into Des Moines’ newest art gallery
Odds are that any coffee-bearing establishment you wander into will have art on its walls. There’s an equal chance that those artworks, hung above half-and-half stations and study spaces, are the creations of a local or small artist. So it’s no surprise that Wake Up Iowa Coffee at 3605 Douglas Ave in Des Moines would […]
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‘Waitress,’ ‘Witch’ and ‘The SpongeBob Musical’ rack up honors at the Cloris Awards in Des Moines
Creepy, bubbly, romantic, epic — the past year of Des Moines theater productions offered something for every mood. On Sunday, some of the actors, behind-the-scenes crew and theater companies that brought these shows to life were honored with glass plaques at the 2025 Cloris Awards ceremony. Hoyt Sherman Place hosted the 10th annual local theater […]
