Dallas, Texas — Activities
Dallas Culture
Dallas lays claim to the biggest urban Arts District (tel: (214) 744 6642; www.thedallasartsdistrict.org) in the USA. Founded in 1983 and located on the north side of the town, the district includes the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 North Harwood Street (tel: (214) 922 1200 or 1803; www.dallasmuseumofart.org - see Key Attractions), the Morton H Meyerson Symphony Center, the major performing arts venue in Dallas, 2301 Flora Street (tel: (214) 670 3600; www.meyersonsymphonycenter.com), and the Dallas Theater Center, 3636 Turtle Creek Boulevard (tel: (214) 522 8499; www.dallastheatercenter.org).
To obtain tickets to cultural events, visitors should contact the individual venues. Useful information points include the weekly Dallas Observer (www.dallasobserver.com) and the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs (www.dallasculture.org).
Music: The Dallas Opera (www.dallasopera.org) plays at the Music Hall at Fair Park, Fair Park, 909 First Avenue (tel: (214) 565 1116; www.liveatthemusichall.com), all year. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (www.dallassymphony.com) is based at the Morton H Meyerson Symphony Center, (see introduction above), but also gives free performances in various parks throughout the summer. Also based at the Morton H Meyerson Symphony Center is the Dallas Wind Symphony (www.dws.org) and the men's chorus, the Turtle Creek Chorale (www.turtlecreek.org). The range of classical music performances available is represented by the Dallas Bach Society (www.dallasbach.org), the Dallas Chamber Orchestra (www.dallaschamberorchestra.org) and the Allegro Guitar Society of Dallas (http://dallas.guitarsociety.org).
Theater: The Dallas Theater Center (see introduction above) is based at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, 3636 Turtle Creek Boulevard. Theater Three, 2800 Routh Street (tel: (214) 871 3300; www.theater3dallas.com), and the Majestic Theater, 1925 Elm Street (tel: (214) 880 0137; www.liveatthemajestic.com), a restored 1920s movie palace and vaudeville hall, are other options. The type of theater presented ranges from mainstream shows to fringe theater.
Dance: The Texas Ballet Theater (tel: (214) 369 5200; www.texasballettheater.org) performs, along with the opera, at Music Hall at Fair Park (see Music above) and the Majestic Theater (see Theater above). The Dallas Black Dance Theater, 2627 Flora Street (tel: (214) 871 2376; www.dbdt.com), performs highly acclaimed modern dance. For a Hispanic flavor, there is the Anita N Martinez Ballet Folklorico, 4422 Live Oak Street (tel: (214) 828 0181; www.anmbf.org).
Film: Apart from the usual range of mainstream cinemas, there are also two specialist venues: The Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Avenue (tel: (214) 824 9933; www.granadatheater.com), a 1940s ‘movie theater' with a dinner menu and drinks, and the IMAX Theater, 11819 Webb Chapel Road (tel: (800) 326 32646; www.cinemark.com). The Inwood Theater, 5458 West Lovers Lane (tel: (214) 764 9106; www.landmarktheaters.com), Angelika Film Center, 5321 East Mockingbird Lane (tel: (214) 841 4713; www.angelikafilmcenter.com), and The Magnolia, 3699 McKinney Avenue (tel: (214) 764 9106; www.landmarktheaters.com) show art house movies.
Movies that have been filmed in Dallas over the years include Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Places in the Heart (1983), RoboCop (1987), JFK (1991), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Boys Don't Cry (1998), The Rookie (2002) and Bewitched (2005).
Literary Notes: It is not easy to find specific references to Dallas in literature. Most writers speak more generally of Texas. One early example is Amelia E Barr's Remember the Alamo (1888), in which a mixed Anglo-Mexican family in San Antonio overcomes its own cultural differences while tensions mount between revolutionary Texans and the Mexican government. The short story, Last of the Troubadours, by O Henry (first published in the July 1908 issue of Everybody's Magazine) deals with a strolling minstrel in turn-of-the-century south Texas and divides the world into three types of people - the barons, the troubadours and the workers.
Again taking the wider Texan theme but this time from a child's perspective, is Janice Jordan Shefelman's A Paradise Called Texas (1983), about searching for a better life when Mina and her parents leave Germany in 1845 and travel to Texas.
Dallas has also been celebrated in song. A favorite tune heard at cowboy bars around the state is by Texan singer/songwriter Joe Ely; in Dallas, he sings, ‘Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?' The long-time standard from 1956 is Big D, by Frank Loesser (1910-1969), composer of Baby, It's Cold Outside.
Dallas Tours
WalkingTours
The city layout favors non-pedestrian tours, as does the summer heat. However, specific institutions have their indoor walking tours as well as occasional outdoor ones, such as with the Wilson Block Historic District (see KeyAttractions) operated by the Preservation Center, 2922 Swiss Avenue (tel: (214) 821 3290; www.preservationdallas.org).
BusTours
A bus tour is an excellent way for visitors to understand how the city fits together, without having to battle the traffic and one-way systems. GraylineTours offers a variety of air-conditioned bus tours in and around the city, with professional driver-guides. Their three-hour Dallas City Tour offers pick up from local hotels. To book a Grayline tour in the Dallas area, call Coach America (tel: 1 800 256 4723) or book online at www.grayline.com.
Other Tours
Dallas Historical Society Tours (tel: (214) 421 4500, ext 105; www.dallashistory.org/activities/tours.htm) take place on specific dates in spring and autumn. Among the most popular are the ‘JFK Tour: Retracing the Steps of Lee Harvey Oswald' and ‘Running with Bonnie & Clyde Tour'. These tours, led by local historians into the neighborhoods with rich heritage, typically depart from The Hall of State in Fair Park at 0900 and return at 1400. Lunch is included in the fee.
