Willamette Weekend: “Black Panther,” Synchronized Figure Skating and 12 Other Things to Do and See in Portland, Feb. 23-25

Also, dim sum.

Friday, Feb. 23

Configure
For its next show, PDX Contemporary Ballet collaborated with Portland sculptor Michele Collier. Not only is the new choreography based on Collier's work, but it will be performed in the round amid her dramatic clay forms. New Expressive Works, 810 SE Belmont St., pdxcb.com. 7:30 pm. $10.

Typhoon
Every time it seems Typhoon couldn't get any bigger, they up the ante. After a five-year break, Portland's indie-pop orchestra is back with Offerings, a four-movement epic about mental illness whose swelling strings, luscious guitars and sense of grandeur manage to make heavy subject matter sound like bliss. MATTHEW SINGER. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 503-225-0047, crystalballroompdx.com. 9 pm. $25 advance, $30 day of show. All ages.

Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio
The 75-year-old wizard of the jazz organ performs his soulful, groove-oriented works with a guitar-drums trio featuring two of New York's finest accompanists, guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Johnathan Blake. PARKER HALL. Winningstad Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, portland5.com. 9:30 pm. Sold out. All ages.

Black Panther
In director Ryan Coogler's Marvel-ized, Afrofuturistic vision, camo is replaced with kente cloth and the king's guard is a team of bald female warriors with spears that collapse like light sabers. It's not just the first Marvel movie about a black superhero, it's one of the most spectacular movies the studio has ever created. LAUREN TERRY. Read our full review here. Various times and theaters. 

Macbeth
Shaking the Tree is once again staging Shakespeare's shortest, bloodiest and most quotable tragedy. It's a perfect fit: The contemporary theater company thrives with macabre source material, and has a knack for making classics surprising with abstract, offbeat staging. Shaking the Tree Theatre, 823 SE Grant St., 503-235-0635, shaking-the-tree.com. 7:30 pm. $30.

Saturday, Feb. 24

Miles Electric Band
An 11-piece large ensemble featuring numerous Miles Davis alumni takes the stage at Revolution Hall, offering audiences a live glimpse of the late trumpet legend's bombastic (and underappreciated) final era. PARKER HALL. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St., revolutionhall.com. 7:30 pm. $25-$55. All ages. 

Burger-A-Go-Go
California's Burger Records is home to a lot of rambunctious garage-rock bro-bands, but this two-day showcase starting Friday puts the spotlight on the label's female artists. Georgia punks the Coathangers and the Cambodian-inspired psych pop of Dengue Fever are among the highlights. MATTHEW SINGER. Dante's, 350 W Burnside St., 866-777-8932, danteslive.com. 9 pm. $20 per night, $35 weekend pass. 21+.

Portland IPA Taste-Off
Last week, a panel of eight beer experts tasted damn-near every IPA brewed in the city of Portland. Now you get to drink the 10 best and vote for your favorite. A cool $20 gets you tastes of all 10 beers plus a ballot—the winning IPA will be featured in WW next week. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. Rev. Nat's Hard Cider, 1813 NE 2nd Ave., 503-567-2221, reverendnatshardcider.com. $20 for a taste of all 10 best IPAs in Portland.

2018 U.S. Synchronized Figure Skating Championships
At the moment, 14 of America's best figure skaters are in South Korea, competing against the rest of the world on the grandest stage in sports. Meanwhile, the other 1,600 are going to be in Portland this week, competing against each other in a dilapidated sports arena. Although considered one of the five official disciplines of figure skating, synchronized skating—in which teams of up to 24 skaters perform elaborately choreographed routines, often at breakneck speeds—is the only one not yet represented at the Olympics. It's hard to imagine why. If two people flinging each other around the ice is worthy of medals, shouldn't two dozen skaters doing it at the same time be 12 times as worthy? MATTHEW SINGER. Read our interview with the senior director of synchronized skating for U.S. Figure Skating here. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 300 N Winning Way, on Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 22-24. See rosequarter.com for schedule and ticket prices.

Sunday, Feb. 25

Tune-Yards (Eliot Lee Hazel)

Resonance Ensemble
As America has grown more divided, Portland arts organizations have responded more explicitly to social divisions. Resonance Ensemble, comprised of some of Portland's most accomplished choral singers, has devoted this season to programs that confront racial conflicts and gender issues. Sunday's concert is focused on religious divisions, featuring music from the mystical traditions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The centerpiece is Portland composer Theresa Koon's Where Everything is Music, a cycle of 12 Sufi pieces for choir with soloists. Like the other concerts, this one also includes poetry by S. Renee Mitchell and visual art from Ed Labadie that includes questions posed by the Muslim Educational Trust and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, which will be discussed in a post-concert talkback session. BRETT CAMPBELL. First Presbyterian Church, 1200 SW Alder. 2 pm. Free. All ages.

Tune-Yards
Tune-Yards' oddball pop has always had a political undercurrent, but new album I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life comes at you hard. With her unbridled, powerful voice, singer Merrill Garbus reckons with her privilege, her status and the reality of racism in the age of Trump, while maintaining the left-field sensibilities that made the band break out in the first place. MATTHEW SINGER. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 503-284-8686, wonderballroom.com. 7:30 pm. $28.50 advance, $29 day of show. All ages.

Dim Sum Pop-Up
Tiny reFRESH Cafe is hosting a meal currently unavailable anywhere else in the center of town—dim sum. For $18 you get four dumplings and khao soi or congee, or you can just try your luck with the a la carte menu. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. reFresh, 2860 SE Gladstone St., Suite 102, 503-477-4196. 11 am-1:30 pm. $18.

Snarky Puppy, Banda Magda
Ever-changing, Grammy-winning, beat-jazz ensemble Snarky Puppy gets even larger tonight, as the dynamic group of virtuosos is joined by the multiethnic sounds of New York's Banda Magda quintet. PARKER HALL. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., roselandpdx.com. 8:30 pm Saturday, Feb. 24. Sold out. All ages.

Jazz by 5
The closest thing to a supergroup at this year's PDX Jazz Festival features revered figures who gained wider fame not as band leaders but as sterling ensemble players. Jazz by 5's pedigree includes members of the Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis' legendary Kind of Blue band, and stands a better chance than most all-star bands of achieving the integrated interplay so crucial to memorable jazz. PARKER HALL. Revolution Hal, 1300 SE Stark St., revolutionhall.com. 7 pm. $29-$59. All ages.

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