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octobre 2014
¡hola, difus@s!
the transition from summer to fall felt rather abrupt. adjusting to autumn’s pace (academic, cultural, social) has taken the better part of the month, but what a month it’s been! much of what i saw was excellent, boding well for the rest of the season.
steve reich and philip glass’ first night at bam was a remarkable, generous (almost 3 hours!) performance of work from the late 70s and early 80s. of the three glass pieces, civil warS #2–cologne section was the most riveting. both reich pieces were stellar, largely because the playing was so deeply committed and deft. during music for 18 musicians, i was (quite literally) on the edge of my seat watching the percussionists move around the stage, swapping and teaming up on the various instruments. dawn upshaw and gilbert kalish’s concert, also part of the nonesuch records’ contribution to the bam’s next wave festival, was equally engaging and enjoyable. the program featured works by elliot carter, charles ives, and george crumb, all gorgeously performed. the rapport between ms. upshaw and mr. kalish, especially during the ives section, was such a pleasure to watch, but the passages from crumb’s ancient voices from children in which she sang ferociously into the open piano were definitely the concert’s most jarring, memorable moments.
just as beautifully gripping was david lang and mac wellman’s the difficulty of crossing a field at roulette, with an exceptional cast and exquisite playing by the harlem quartet (who all collaborated on the work’s recording to be released next year). i’ve yet to hear anything by lang that hasn’t impressed me, and i’ve never seen anything by beth morrison projects that didn’t leave me fuming…but, miracle of miracles!, in a rare instance of restraint (probably more budgetary than aesthetic, given her track record for garish, middlebrow multimedia disasters), ms. morrison simply let the musicians perform. less was, in fact, more. much more.
that minimalist maxim held for peter brook’s the valley of astonishment and ivo van hove’s scenes from a marriage, both exquisitely spare and fervently focused. the valley of astonishment centers on the story of a middle-aged synesthete, whose preternatural recall makes her an outcast professionally (she loses her reporting job at the play’s beginning) but an entertainment and medical celebrity (performing mnemonic feats at a night club and subjecting herself to neuroscientific research). her narrative, straightforwardly told and immediately engaging (not to mention luminously acted by kathryn hunter), is accented by fragments from other patients / subjects’ stories and allusions to the classic persian poem the conference of the birds, opening up questions about the relationship between the mind and body, their relationship to (and mediation by) medicine, the incommunicability of individual experience, and so much more. sublimely assured and full of grace, the valley of astonishment was a humble masterpiece.
ivo van hove’s scenes from a marriage was equally elegant in its design and similarly accomplished, though much more vitally ambitious. by fragmenting the audience and action during the play’s first half and then uniting the audience while triplicating the action in the second, van hove offers a profound meditation on history, memory, and identity, suggesting that the layers of which we’re formed (“los sucesivos presentes que nos fueron haciendo lo que somos,” to quote an old antonio gala essay) are never fully settled.
tom costello and kim davies’ smoke at the flea theater offers a different—but definitely worthwhile—take on relationships unsettled not by the accretions of history but by the alternations of power. the two characters, a college-aged woman and a just-over-thirty man, meet in the kitchen of a privately-hosted bdsm party (in harlem) and quickly move from phatic exchanges to barbed provocations and, ultimately, erotic violence (or is it?). stephen stout and madeleine bundy turn out fine performances; he’s more convincing, but his role doesn’t require the extreme mercuriality of hers. the professional and cultural milieu these characters inhabit felt uncomfortably familiar for me (enhancing the experience), but i was most struck by the part of their milieu, this uptown straight bdsm scene, that was utterly foreign to me but seems to have a grip on the popular imaginary (e.g., james franco’s documentary kink, the upcoming film version of fifty shades of gray). specifically, the play left me pondering the differences between queer and straight bdsm communities and between historical periods (e.g., the early 1980s san francisco scene as documented in urban aboriginals, madonna’s appropriation of bdsm aesthetics in the early nineties, and bdsm’s current neoliberal self-help avatar—as eva illouz would have it—in fifty shades of grey).
among the other highs and lows from the month, 20,000 days on earth is a “documentary” about nick cave in the same way that rings of saturn is a “memoir” of w. g. sebald, with fact and fiction impossible to tell apart. born to fly: elizabeth streb vs. gravity could have delved so much deeper into its subject’s practice (and the attendant questions of dance, risk, and the body), but, in its final moments, it offers some spectacular footage of “one extraordinary day,” an event in london that unarguably qualifies as a masterpiece. choreographer kyle abraham’s the watershed at new york live arts was much more theatrical than his earlier work, ambitious but inchoate; even so, i’m looking forward to when the wolves came in this month to see how he continues grappling with issues of race and history. flailing more than grappling, bruno latour’s gaïa global circus at the kitchen was earnest but horrible (easily the worst theater i’ve seen); yes, he’s a remarkable thinker, but he’s no dramaturge (nor, apparently, a frequent theater-goer). he, like james franco, needs to stop. trade practices was much more successful in translating current sociopolitical debates (the reign of finance) into (immersive) theater, though the register tended to be more broadly comic than smartly nuanced. little dot, suzanne bocanegra’s performance installation at danspace project, is a fantastic piece of art, a study in translation and transformation, reduction and quantification, the body and time (and labor), and much, much more.
october might well be the busiest month of the fall season, as you’ll note from the full list at the end of this missive (and the shorter lists coming in november and december). thus, even my “short list” is pretty long:
music: the event this month is peter sellars’ production of st. matthew passion at the park avenue armory as part of lincoln center’s white light festival (whose offerings are consistently excellent). i’m also very much looking forward to claire chase’s density 2036: part ii at the kitchen; after hearing her perform a short piece this summer, i’m excited for a full-length program. justin vivian bond’s love is crazy at fiaf this past month was phenomenal, so do try and catch v’s current show, the drift, at joe’s pub before it closes on october 3. towards the end of the month la poeme harmonique’s “the dark hours” and the new york theremin society’s “ghost in the the machine” should be ethereal, in very different ways. since david lang’s the difficulty of crossing a field reminded me of how much i love contraltos, white witch: monodrama for contralto and percussion at symphony space has my interest piqued.
theater + performance: the three one-woman short plays by beckett coming to bam top my list. i’ve been dying to see “not i” live since seeing it on video in an exhibition years ago. plus, lisa dwan got a rave review in the guardian for her performance in london last year. both bootycandy and smoke have been extended, so i’ll finally be seeing the former (the latter i caught last month and definitely recommend). shakespeare’s globe brings its period-faithful king lear to skirball while, a few blocks away, la mama offers a contemporary take on the tempest. as performance goes, 600 highwaymen’s employee of the month, circa’s how like an angel (for which i should have bought tickets months in advance), and cirque alfonse’s timber! (#woof) look great.
dance: in addition to this season’s other kyle abraham premiere, tanztheater wuppertal pina bausch’s kontakhof tops my dance list (though i wish bam had followed sadler’s wells’ lead and offered two performances with different casts). also at bam, l.a. dance project brings what should be an interesting program; new york city ballet also features two programs of contemporary choreography. the flea hosts a program of female choreographers while dixon place has an all-male show, creatures of habit. city center’s fall for dance festival highlights some of the best dance of all kinds. luminary steve paxton will be presenting his work at dia:beacon, and autumn is a gorgeous time to make the trip up there.
film: of the fall’s new releases, i’m most interested in jean-luc godard’s good-bye to language (because, really, godard in 3-d is SO MUCH more important than ben affleck going “full-frontal” in gone girl…but hollywood’s relationship to the male body is perennially problematic). seminal work from another modern master is on view this month with kieslowski’s decalogue playing its entirety over one weekend. just in time for halloween, film forum screens a new restoration (with new orchestral score!) of the expressionist classic, the cabinet of dr. caligari. the cbgb film festival has some potentially great music documentaries, such as find your way: a busker’s story and salad days: a decade of punk in the washington, d.c. (1980-1990).
art: though i dread the crowds at moma, i’ll drag myself there for the robert gober and matisse shows opening soon. similarly, the ego schiele exhibition at the neue galerie and amie siegel’s provenance at the met (which i’m embarrassed not to have seen yet) may well get me to the upper east side. danh vo and xiu xiu’s collaboration at the kitchen is something i especially want to see as i’m working my way through these lists (here and here) of gallery shows.
as always, the full run-down, and do feel free to share this with your friends! speaking of friends, if you’re in the west village for drinks (or some damn fine burgers), drop by julius…because they were exceptionally generous with me and my friends last weekend.
abrazos,
p
octubre / october
1-3: justin vivian bond: the drift (music, performance)
1-4: alan smithee directed this play (dance)
1-4: kyle abraham / abraham.in.motion: when the wolves came in (dance)
1-5: the valley of astonishment (theater)
1-11: king lear (theater)
1-12: new york film festival (film)
1-22: bootycandy (theater)
1-26: scenes from a marriage (theater)
1-31: ryoji ikeda: test pattern [times square] (art)
1-: smoke (theater)
1-: the fortress of solitude (theater)
2-3: claire chase: density 2036 part ii (music)
2-4: quantum (dance)
2-11: 21st century choreographers i (dance)
2-: tempest (theater)
3-10: the blue room (film)
3-18: creatures of habit (dance)
7: synth nights: october (music)
7-8: st. matthew passion (music)
7-11: betty buckley (music)
7-12: not i, footfalls, rockaby (theater)
7-12: shakespeare's sonnets (music, theater)
8: alexei ratmansky & paul holdengräber (dance)
8-12: pacific northwest ballet (dance)
8-19: fall for dance festival (dance)
9: find your way: a busker’s documentary (music, film)
9-10: gallim dance (dance)
9-11: dance @ the flea (dance)
9-11: dance heginbotham + brooklyn rider: chalk and soot (dance)
9-26: mark dendy: labyrinth (dance)
10: monteverdi madrigals: songs of love and war (music)
10: vespers (music)
14: utterances: a night of performance art (performance)
14-19: cirque alfonse: timber! (performance)
14-: father comes home from the wars (parts 1, 2 & 3) (theater)
15: 21st century choreographers ii (dance)
15-16: 600 highwaymen: employee of the year (performance)
15-18: basil twist's "the rite of spring" (music, theater)
15-18: wild grass (dance)
15-19: lar lubovitch dance company (dance)
15-26: matías piñeiro selects: bridges over argentinean cinema (film)
15-: dead centre: lippy (theater)
16-17: elliot sharp: port bou (music)
16-18: l. a. dance project (dance)
16-19: the symptoms: apropos (dance)
16-25: dean moss: johnbrown (performance)
16-26: tr warszawa: 4:48 psychosis (theater)
16-: ada: author directing author (neil labute and marco calvani) (theater)
17: axiom (music)
17: brooklyn bred 2: dynasty handbag (performance)
17-18: ryoji ikeda: superposition (performance)
17-19: kathryn posin dance company: voices of bulgaria and america (dance)
17-26: steve paxton: selected works (dance)
18: glass farm ensemble: new chamber works (music)
18: wendy whelan farewell (dance)
19: the meeting* hosted by justin sayre (performance)
21-22: lec-dem: performances of lecture and lectures on performance (dance)
21-: pool (no water) (theater)
22: submission: ayaan hirsi ali and bret stephens with than rosenbaum (film)
22-24: circa: how like an angel (performance)
23-25: angels in america (theater)
23-25: white witch, monodrama for contralto and percussion (opera)
23-28: bronfman, bartók, and bruckner (music)
23-: kontakthof (dance)
24-25: tales of home: congo/mozambique (dance)
24-26: the decalogue (film)
25: le poeme harmonique: the dark hours (music)
28: ariel quartet's beethoven cycle (music)
29-30: balletcollective (dance)
29-: gisèle vienne: kindertotenlieder (dance)
29-: good-bye to language (film)
29-: six characters in search of an author (theater)
29-: soledad barrio & noche flamenca (dance)
30: artists visions: william kentridge in conversation with normal rosenthal (art)
30-: richard alston dance company (dance)
30-: sister sylvester: the maids' the maids (theater)
30-: the tiger lillies: songs of horror and havoc (music, performance)
31: ny theremin society: ghost in the machine (music)
31-: 29spacetime: julia heyward and perry hoberman (music, performance)
31-: the cabinet of dr. caligari (film)