Five Recommended Arts Events in Austin This Weekend

So – you survived another April Fool’s Day, then? Without anyone replacing your Oreos’ middles with, like, Pepsodent toothpaste or somesuch? Excellent.

Now, back on the streets with you, citizen – out and about and experiencing some of what goodness Austin’s got to offer, artwise:

Round and round and round she goes …

1) How about watching a historic fishing vessel that was originally built by artist Ragnar Kjartansson in Reykjavik and is now circling the lagoon at Laguna Gloria with a brass-section crew of musicians tooting and trumpeting out a composition by a dude who used to play with Sigur Rós? Circling and circling, playing and playing, like figures from some odd gin-inspired dream – and how long can the band go on, out there on the water, aboard the S.S. Hangover, as presented by the Contemporary Austin this Saturday and Sunday? Always a good excuse to check out that lovely tree-studded sculpture park, anyway, right?

2) This weekend’s also the 26th annual Austin International Poetry Festival, so take care lest you trip over some vers-libre bard holding forth with a fistful of chapbooks outside a coffee shop somewhere, but also consider making plans to catch the Austin Poetry Slam Off that’ll rock the Stateside-at-the-Paramount stage on Saturday night, with the top 10 slam poets in town battling it out for the honor of representing on the national slam team this year.

3) Another festival, the Austin Dance Festival, kicks out the jams this weekend, with a vibrant array of modern dance showcases by professional local, state, national, and international artists right here in the heart of Austin. And, well, not just performances, but classes and workshops and even a dance-oriented film screening are part of this kinetic hullaballoo that’s sure to lively up the streets and stages of our little (ha!) river city.

4) But if you’re looking to specifically audience a singular masterpiece of dance, we’re proud to point you toward Ballet Austin’s Exit Wounds, a stunning new collaboration from Stephen Mills and Graham Reynolds – opening at the Long Center on Friday, and continuing through Sunday.

5) Sunday afternoon might be the best time – although it's up on Friday and Saturday night, too – to treat your ears to the storied lyrical glories belted forth by the stars of One Ounce Opera, as Austin’s acclaimed company presents its third annual Fresh-Squeezed Ounce concert. This is a showcase of brand-new and extremely short works of opera, as chosen from among the composing contestants of a nationwide competition, and it’ll be raising high the righteous roofbeams at the Museum of Human Achievement this weekend.