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diciembre 2014
¡hola, difus@s!
this fall feels like the most frenzied since i’ve moved to new york, and i’m unsure whether that’s more a function of age (my ability to recover from late nights out is steadily diminishing) or awareness (my spreadsheet for tracking events has mushroomed)…probably a mix of both, but that’s no complaint. despite my resolve to binge on the jarman and fassbender retrospectives, i saw very little of either, but i don’t feel too guilty about such cinematic negligence. many of the live events that had me in theaters more than cinemas will certainly make the season’s—and possibly the year’s—“best of” list.
even among such a crowded field (and within an already incredible body of work), batsheva dance company’s sadeh21 stood out as a masterpiece. ohad naharin’s choreography is unbelievably demanding (on the order of merce cunningham), and his dancers perform with astonishing precision and devotion. however, to see sadeh21 as formal exercise in corporeal geometry (as the new york times did in a warm but frankly insipid review) was to miss its exceptional conceptual rigor. the vignettes comprising the evening-length work offered heart-rending explorations of the human condition, from gender (a kind of cabaret sequence with a stellar female soloist backed by a po-mo chorus line with men in strapless dresses frolicking in the background) to love (a couple engaged in some comically awkward courtship ritual while a communal ring of dancers formed on the other half of the stage) to politics (a chorus of men whose movements morphed from elegantly feminine to violently martial) and beyond.
as such, sadeh21 proved a phenomenal complement to the prior month’s kontakthof; having the two shows in the same season was a stroke of either logistic serendipity or curatorial brilliance. i was so moved by seeing it on the wednesday that i scrapped by tickets for ivy baldwin dance in order to see it again on friday (a judicious decision, i later heard). the night after my second viewing, which left me even more affected than the first, i caught jaro vinarksy’s animalinside, another compelling (and certainly incidental more than intentional) complement to both sadeh21 and kontakthof. a tripartite study of male identity and relationships, animalinside was as physically exigent (the first part left me speechless), beautifully choreographed, and tenderly trenchant as sadeh21. the last (and most theatrical) part would have benefitted from more assiduous editing, but mr. vinarsky’s definitely a choreographer i’ll be following henceforth.
artistic explorations of economics and, especially, finance are of keen interest for me, largely because i find economic and financial explorations of art so dissatisfying (to put it mildly). thus, i’d been looking forward to the invisible hand at new york theatre workshop. written by pulitzer prize winner ayad akhtar, the play centers on a citibank trader who, when kidnapped by religious terrorists, must ply his financial skill—through his captor—to earn his ransom. the play is well-written, the acting is terrific, and the set design is beautiful (if, perhaps, a bit too polished for any verisimilitude)…but, while i enjoyed the show, i left feeling it was “good” where i wanted it to be “great.” the juxtapositions akhtar sets up are so rich (e.g., market fundamentalism vs. religious fundamentalism, the violence of religious terrorism vs. the violence of financial capitalism), but the play seems content to limn rather than mine them, yielding theater that is more politely suggestive than politically provocative.
in contrast, young jean lee’s straight white men at the public theater probes its eponymous subject (in which i’m patently uninterested) with such nuance and depth that, after a spontaneous first viewing, i bought tickets to see it again. the basic story (three straight white men spend christmas with their widowed father) doesn’t sound particularly promising, but the script and the acting effect a kind of alchemy that borders on miraculous. these characters are archetypical, to be sure, but far too well-observed and compassionately portrayed to be called caricaturesç. taken together, the four men form a spectrum of subject positions—the (comparatively) conformist father, the self-actualized youngest son (who embodies our contemporary therapeutic culture), the cynical middle son (who articulates a politics of negation and disappearance while acknowledging his own inability to engage it), and the seemingly self-sabotaging eldest son (who is definitely the key the whole play). in tracing the complex dynamics of their relationships, young jean lee does indeed take on questions of white, heteronormative privilege, but she also goes beyond those to raise important questions about the human condition that are at once timely and (as the appearance of greek myth makes clear) timeless.
among the month’s other highlights, geoff sobelle’s the object lesson was a brilliant one-man meditation on material culture and memory, with a stunning set, terrific physical comedy (making a chopped salad with ice skates…on!), and the tenderness and integrity that i so adore in daniel kitson’s work (though sobelle’s sensibility is more visceral where kitson’s is more cerebral). birds with skymirrors was a fascinating mix of the familiar (european dance theater) and the foreign (south pacific island tribal tradition). stockhausen’s originale at the kitchen was exhilarating, a “happening” in the fullest sense of the word. the jack quartet’s program at the morgan library and museum was a rare treat, a program of matthias pintscher's studies for treatise on the veil (2004–2009) performed in front of the twombly work that inspired them (and interspersed with exquisitely arranged selections from monteverdi). louise bourgeois’ suspension at cheim & reed and kader attia show your injuries at lehmann maupin are wonderful shows, beautiful and discomfiting in very different ways, and robert gober: the heart is not a metaphor deepened my respect (and love) for him…and made me hate moma a little less.
now that thanksgiving has passed, all sorts of holiday-themed shows are on offer, both traditional and twisted (that i bookended my thanksgiving with viewings of fassbender’s querelle and pasolini’s salò, or 120 days of sodom probably betrays my penchant for the latter), but there are plenty of non-holiday goodies, too.
film: nuri bilge ceylan’s winter sleep, which won the top prize at cannes this year, hits theaters on december 19, and i’ll certainly see it more than once. i’ve long been a fan of his work, and this film is reputed to be his best to date. prior to seeing the film, be sure to see his photographs currently on display at tina kim gallery. kelly reichardt, another director i deeply admire, joins richard hell at symphony space for a conversation and screening of her film meek’s cutoff. anthology film archives has two evenings of art-related film, walter de maria’s hardcore and michael snow’s wavelength and < — > (back and forth).
music: the jack quartet performs at roulette this month, and i’ll definitely be going. the kitchen has its monthly “synth nights” as well as an evening of john zorn’s game pieces. though tickets are steep, matmos’ presentation of robert ashley’s ordinary lives will certainly be an event. for more classic fare, william christie leads julliard415 at lincoln center, and the tallis scholars perform as part of the miller theater’s early music series. if you’d rather sing yourself, the morgan library and museum has four nights of caroling.
theater + performance: both straight white men and the invisible hand continue this month, as do tamburlaine, parts 1 and 2 and punk rock, which i’m excited to see. i’m even more excited, though, about the many cabaret-style shows going on this month: lypsinka (the first drag persona i knew by name) presents a trilogy of shows, joey arias serves christmas with the crawfords, justin vivian bond shines in star of light! an evening of bi-polar witchy wonder, and murray hill wishes us a murray little christmas.
dance: in the same holiday spirit as the cabaret shows above, les ballets trockadero de monte carlo come to the joyce; i saw them years ago, and their drag take on classic ballet is as hilarious as it is serious (with regard to technique, that is). earlier in them month and also at the joyce are doug varone and dancers, who are generally quite good (even if i think he sometimes leans a bit too much on his impeccable taste in music). for a sampler of contemporary work, the movement research festival and new dances: edition 2014 should be terrific. what i’m most looking forward to, though, is the screening of dv8 physical theatre’s latest, john, at skirball, courtesy of the national theatre live. this show is supposed to come to new york in 2015 (and i’ll certainly see it if it does), but i can’t wait that long.
art: douglas gordon (whose 2004 show at the hirshhorn was phenomenal) takes over the park avenue armory with tears become…streams become…, which i can’t wait to see. i still need to see the schiele show at the neue galerie and the chris ofili show at the new museum. for gallery shows (if i can get to them), i’ll be defaulting to some of artforum’s critics’ picks: aki sasamoto at jtt, ann lislegaard at murray guy, melvin edwards at alexander gray, and ursula von rydingsvard at galerie lelong. the kitchen hosts a panel discussion with rosalind krauss entitled “retracing the expanded field: encounters between art and architecture,” which may be of more academic than visual interest but still worthwhile (because the essay from which the discussion takes its name was formative for many of us).
since it is the season to be giving, do feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested (of course, you can / should do so in any season), and anyone’s welcome to subscribe here. enjoy this holiday month (more ways to do so are below), but save a little energy for january…because the annual arrival of apap brings out a tremendous amount of work.
abrazos,
p
diciembre / december
1-14: i see you (theater)
1-14: kneehigh: tristan & yseult (theater)
1-14: major barbara (theater)
1-14: punk rock (theater)
1-14: straight white men (theater)
1-21: tamburlaine, parts 1 and 2 (theater)
1-: lypsinka: the triology (performance)
1-: the invisible hand (theater)
2-7: doug varone and dancers (dance)
3: synth nights: james hoff + c. spencer yeh (music)
3-13: send for the million men (theater)
4: night out with richard hell: filmmaker kelly reichardt (film)
4: victoria tennant and wendy whelan: irina baronova and the ballets russes de monte carlo (dance)
4-7: biograph, last year was pretty/sh*tty (theater)
4-7: movement research festival (dance)
4-7: puppets and poets festival (theater)
5: retracing the expanded field: encounters between art and architecture (art)
5-6: radiobalett: the nature of love (dance, theater)
6-14: el gato con botas (opera)
6-14: peter & the wolf with isaac mizrahi (music)
6-: every brilliant thing (theater)
7: annie gosfield / jack quartet: signal jamming and random interference. a world premiere for string quartet and jammed radio signals (music)
7: joy to the pearl: holiday radio plays and music (theater)
7: the meeting* hosted by justin sayre (performance)
7: walter de maria’s hardcore (film, art)
8: breath song (music)
8: william christie leads julliard415 (music)
8-18: stephen vitiello: light readings (performance)
9: matmos perform robert ashley's "perfect lives” (music)
9-: tears become… streams become… (art, music)
10: ellie ga: eureka, a lighthouse play (theater)
10-13: new dances: edition 2014 (dance)
10-14: russell maliphant (dance)
10-20: joey arias: christmas with the crawfords (performance)
11-21: nella tempesta (theater)
12-20: caroling at the morgan (friday and saturday) (music)
13: a murray little christmas (performance)
13: dither: john zorn's game pieces (music)
13: push physical theater (dance)
13: the tallis scholars: sacred muses (music)
15: schoenberg before schoenberg (music)
16-: les ballets trockadero de monte carlo (dance)
17-23: justin vivian bond in star of light! an evening of bi-polar witchy wonder (performance)
18: national theatre live: dv8 physical theatre’s john (dance)
18-20: paul rome + roarke menzies: philadelphia and other stories (performance)
19: opus dance theatre company: new thread to an old cloth (dance)
19-: winter sleep (film)
20: michael snow: wavelength and < — > (back and forth) (film)
25-: leviathan (film)