Arts & Culture

For years, Emmy-nominated filmmaker Gabe Polsky has been mulling the question, “What makes an athlete great?” It’s this question that’s at the heart of his captivating documentary, “In Search of Greatness,” which takes a look at how athletes unlock their potential and achieve greatness.

“A Litany for Survival,” Alexandria Smith’s first solo show in Boston, hangs at Boston University’s Stone Gallery through January 27. Titled for the Audre Lord poem of the same name, the exhibition explores black female subjectivity and politicization. Using dark tones, doubling and mostly large-scale canvases, Smith illustrates the interior of the black female experience in a beautiful, surrealist manner.

The late Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) is best remembered as the author of the millennium trilogy of posthumously-published best sellers, all of which were eventually made into feature films (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest”). His Swedish-language psychological thrillers revolved around a crime-fighting duo composed of veteran journalist Mikael Blomkvist and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.

Big business and shiny skyscrapers aren’t the only newcomers to Boston’s rapidly developing Seaport district. “Air Sea Land,” a sculpture installation by Spanish artist Okuda San Miguel now lines Seaport Boulevard, bringing bright colors and organic forms to the neighborhood. Through seven large-scale sculptures, San Miguel explores the themes of evolution, the environment and human influence on the animal world.

On November 9, Urbano Project in Jamaica Plain presents “Wandering in the Land of Oblivion,” a gallery show by Paris-based Colombian artist Constanza Aguirre. Aguirre studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and returns to Boston to showcase 15 pieces of a larger 30-piece series exploring the themes of displacement and emancipation.

Dee Dee Bridgewater performs regularly in Boston, and last month she had a two night stint at Scullers jazz club in Allston. The winner of three Grammy awards and a Tony, Dee Dee continues to challenge herself to the delight of audiences around the globe in a career that spans nearly fifty years.

It was a night of inspiring poetry, music, and comedy at the Hello Sunshine x Together Live event on Saturday night (November 3) at the Wang Theatre. But more importantly it was an opportunity to gather together and engage in community.

Last weekend, Nov. 3 and 4, The Handel and Haydn Society hosted its “Every Voice: A Celebration of Our Community” concert in partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry and Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción. The concert, conducted by Reginald L. Mobley and assisted by conductor Dr. Jennifer Kane, took place at the First Church in Roxbury on Saturday and the Union United Methodist Church in the South End on Sunday.

“Man in the Ring,” a play about the life of boxer Emile Griffith, opens at Huntington Theater Company on November 16. Through Griffith is known for his exceptional boxing talents, which led to the death of an opponent, his life was much more nuanced not least of all because of his identity as a gay man in the 1960s. “Man in the Ring” explores the full human spectrum of Griffith.

Prior to seeing the new film “Bohemian Rhapsody,” I knew precious little about the rock group Queen. Sure, I'd enjoyed lots of their pop hits like “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Another One Bites the Dust,” but I was totally unaware of the legendary British band's back story.

Visitors to Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology may be seen wandering around the museum with headphones on. They’re listening to a playlist curated specifically for the Peabody experience. Instead of Top 40 hits, the playlist features eight poems read by Native American authors. The recording allows guests to hear artistic works produced by Native artists in addition to seeing historical objects of Native peoples.

An homage to what she calls “the Broadway part of my journey,” Grammy- and Tony-Award winning singer and actress Heather Headley’s one-woman concert “Broadway My Way” comes to Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre this Saturday, Nov. 3 at 8 p.m.