If you're still mistakenly laboring under the impression that ballet is dry, dusty and boring, the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater would like the chance to persuade you otherwise. This Saturday and Sunday night at Miller Outdoor Theatre, the Dominic Walsh company is putting on a decidedly modern and contemporary production of the classic ballet Sleeping Beauty, set to Tchaikovsky's original score but with choreography and costumes that are anything but traditional. Dominic Walsh himself......

Houston's very own, world renowned Menil Collection has announced its exhibition schedule for Fall 2008 through Fall 2009. The exhibition schedule will be varied and broad providing an enjoyable museum experience for everyone. The Menil Collection has been open since 1987 and was built to preserve one of the most amazing privately assembled art collections of the twentieth century, the collection of John and Dominique de Menil. The Menil Collection has over 15,000 varied......

If you're anything like Houstonist, you loved Mad Libs as a kid (noun...snot! adjective...stupid! verb...fart! and so on). And if you're not too cool to admit it, you probably still love them now (although, hopefully your vocabulary has expanded somewhat since your playground days). DiverseWorks and the Houston Center for Photography are giving you a forum to flex not only your Mad Lib skills but also your photography skills, whether amateur or professional. This Friday,......

On the second Sunday of every month, the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance (GHPA) offers a guided walking tour of an architecturally and/or historically significant neighborhood in Houston. This coming Sunday will see the GHPA leading a tour around The Binz, a neighborhood just to the northeast of the lovely, verdant Museum District. The Binz was built at the same time as Rice University and originally served as faculty housing for many of the school's professors.......

If you're anything like Houstonist, you love Hermann Park (or, at the very least, you recognize that the little statue of Sam Houston which is prominently displayed on our logo actually resides in Hermann Park). Whether you have fond childhood memories of riding the train to the Zoo, rolling down the hill at the Miller Outdoor Theater, and spending hours in the Hall of Paleontology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, or more recent......

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here: The highly-anticipated grand opening of the Caroline Collective takes place this Saturday, June 7th beginning at 7:00 p.m. as Houston finally welcomes a coworking home of our own. The mission of the Caroline Collective is to provide a stimulating work environment for anyone who doesn't have a traditional office setting, but still wants to participate in a communal workspace and have a base of......

You might have noticed a couple of changes to Houstonist — and we're here to explain what they mean. Tags Instead of being classified by categories, all our posts are now tagged with content-specific keywords. Not only will they help you find broad subjects (like sports or music), but also specific kinds of posts (like posts about the Museum District, babies, City Hall and, oddly enough, snow). Soon, all our categories will be converted to......

Reader Emily B. snapped this picture of a very soapy Mecom Fountain on her way to work this morning — kinda Christmasy, don't you think? (Sorry, but we're Houstonians, which means we have some bizarre, deep-seated belief that soap bubbles really do look like snow. Don't correct us.) Thanks, Emily! And to our other 10 readers: If you see anything around town you think we should know about, drop us a picture. In the......

What is it about the term "crafts" that is so off-putting to some of us? Well, for one, it reminds us of suburban housewives with wooden figurines adorning their shelves, reminding us that we're in a "Kountry Kitchen," or that (hee) "Back Door Friends are the Best Friends!" It was many years before we realized just how funny that sign in our wacky Aunt Grace's kitchen was. That, or that wacky Aunt Grace led a......

"Creative Crowdsourcing Through Mobile Technolgy" We couldn't have said it better ourselves, and you'll have to see this to believe the awesomeness of it. This has been on our radar for quite some time and we are so excited it's finally here. The Houston Center for Photography and Aurora Picture Show band together this summer to present the 3rd annual summer SPIN Party and Exhibition Txt Me L8r on August 24 from 8-11pm. On July......

It's about time we had another 1920s home to covet — and so we're happy to talk about this charmer in the Museum District. Sure, Victorian homes are cool and ultra-modern ones can be breathtaking, but a good, solid traditional house from the 1920s or '30s just looks comfortable. That's the case with this home, which has all the features you'd expect from a residence of its age — high ceilings, hardwood floors, fireplaces......

Unless you've been hiding under a rock out in the suburbs (no judgment!) you probably have already heard about this Saturday's 11th Annual Museum District Day. If you haven't, well look at us telling you something you don't know about! Yep, folks, that's what we're here for. Here's your chance to view gallery upon gallery of Houston's finest art, all for the low, low price of FREE. Saturday, August 18th, from 10am-5pm, 14 Houston museums......

While running along Montrose Ave this morning, discovering the sidewalks (and subsequent ankle-twisting cracks) of a neighborhood we have often admired, but of recent become a resident, we got an upclose look at many of the establishment we have visited many a time, yet on foot were allowed to explore a bit more. In the effort of being visionaries, we've decided to name this strip of road SoMo (or South Montrose, for you slow pokes.)......

If you're going to live in the Museum District, why not live in a museum-quality home? A good choice: this brand-new contemporary home off Bissonnet, just blocks from Main Street. The house is designed around a private central courtyard with a variety of porches, covered decks and large windows to combine indoor and outdoor living. The ground floor has two entrances — one from the street and one from the driveway — with a......

This week, we told you all about the upcoming opening of the much talked about Hotel ZaZa in the Museum District. Seems like the new hotel is on everyone's radar. Including New York Magazine. This week, the popular entertainment and culture magazine's website (www.nymag.com) featured Houston as their Weekend Escape Destination, describing a stay at the "highly theatrical" Hotel ZaZa as a way to earn some street cred in the Bayou City. The article......

If you're like Houstonist, you've driven past the former Warwick Hotel sometime in the past few months and wondered what the distinguished old building would be like when it reopened as the Hotel ZaZa. Well, you won't have to wait much longer to find out: The hotel is set to open Monday, and the Chronicle had a preview this weekend. The short version comes from the hotel's co-owner, Charlie Givens, who described the property as......

The consensus of people at an urban planning workshop on the Main Street corridor Monday? In short: It needs to be more urban. The Planning Partnership, a Toronto firm hired to create a development plan for Main Street, held the workshop, which was meant to get the public's input on how to guide future construction along the corridor. Because the MetroRail line is already in place and major buildings already stand along Main, planning will......

Weekend Festivities Kick-off World Premiere of Houston-inspired film A few months ago, Houstonist ran across a unique website that encourged Houstonians to leave comments and mark favorites places on a map of the city. We later learned, the site (www.hottowncoolcity.org) was one part of a treasure map of Houston’s hidden gems presented in two parts, website and film, as described and suggested by Houstonians. This weekend, the film portion of the project is being premiered......

Architecture Center Houston Grand Opening For its inaugural exhibit, the Architecture Center Houston, affectionately referred to as the ArCH, offers a show of current plans for the future of Houston. The exhibit, titled Houston: Future Form, is divided into four areas: Architecture, Bayous, Parks, and Transportation. It includes plans for Discovery Green, the new downtown park, the realignment of I-10 and I-45, as well as the Asia House in the Museum District and continued landscaping......

Good morning, Houston! So how about this weather, huh? It kinda puts us in the mood for some news — but honestly, most anything does. We're strange like that. So let's get right to it ... >> Modesty writ large: State Rep. Charlie Howard of Sugar Land has filed a bill in Austin seeking to keep explicit content off billboards, a move he said is meant to protect kids from seeing dirty stuff —......

Sadists known as distance runners are expected to crowd the streets near George R. Brown Convention Center this Sunday morning to take part in the Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco Half-Marathon and Houston Press/Smart Financial 5K. The race has grown-up quite a bit since the initial event in 1972 when the first race was run by 113 runners on a five mile loop. 2007's 35th incarnation of the event will feature 15,000 registered runners between......

If you didn't get enough of skeletons this Halloween, don't worry. The Houston Museum of Natural Science spent four years in negotiation with the Ethopian government to bring Lucy, one of the world's most famous skeletons, to the United States. Lucy was a hominid who lived 3-4 millions years ago. Her skeleton was unearthed in Ethiopia in 1974 and has only been on public display twice, both in Ethopia. A replica is on display currently,......

Houston has made a respectable showing in Monopoly’s Here and Now edition. If you’ve been out of the loop, millions of internet users cast votes for months this summer to determine not only which landmarks from 22 major cities would make it onto the new Monopoly board, but the number of votes also determined the position of each city on the board. Houston’s Space Center beat out the Museum District and the Kemah Boardwalk by......

Yeah, it's true, Shelterporn has been on vacation for a while — sorry. But we're gonna make it up to you by bringing you yet more houses we'd love to live in, but will never be able to afford. (Note: If you ever buy one of these, you have to invite us over. Think of it as a finder's fee.) And so this week, we turn to traditional, French-inspired home in Vassar Place, near......

It’s going to be hot and sticky outside this weekend with a fair chance of rain – a good time to do something indoors. Many museums are participating in Museum District Day, offering visitors free admission. So if you’ve always wanted to go to some of the museums in town and didn’t have the $5-10 to spend (you cheap bastards), this is a perfect opportunity for you! Over a dozen of museums are participating this......

The shot from flickr user and houstonist photo contributor WeatherJester. What are you looking at? "This is the light rail approaching the Museum District stop in Houston." Can't get more descriptive than that. Gotta say, WeatherJester is an awesome name. We think the Violent Femmes should redo this song to match the title of the photo. If you would like to join Houston's best photographers in the houstonist photo group, click here.......

A couple of weeks ago, Houstonist told you about your chance to vote for what Houston landmark should end up on the Monopoly board. And as we were reminded today, voting ends tomorrow, so be sure to get your two cents in while you still can. Here's the skinny: This summer, a Monopoly Here & Now version will come out with a game board featuring places from 22 cities. At the Monopoly website, you can......

Ever wished something in Houston was on the Monopoly board? Now's your chance to make that happen: Through May 12, the folks at Hasbro are taking votes for properties on the Monopoly Here & Now version, which will come out late this summer. Voters can pick properties for the board from a list of landmarks in 22 cities — their placement will depend on the number of votes they get. In Houston, the choices......

Here's something to add to your agenda the next time you're museum-hopping: the John C. Freeman Weather Museum, which opens today in the Museum District. Finally, a museum about something that interests everyone in Houston! We expect the crowds to be enormous. Freeman was a world-renowned meteorologist who died in 2004. He came up with the idea of a museum dedicated to the weather and collected old forecasting equipment that's now on display at the......

Houston's big traffic circle is about to get confusing: Beginning today, various parts of the circle around the Mecom Fountain will be closed while workers install a huge storm sewer running from Main and Montrose to Brays Bayou. Today, the southeast side of the circle — the side closest to Hermann Park — will close, meaning all traffic will be diverted to the west side. The southbound lanes of Main heading toward the circle......