[note: many, if not most, of these links may no longer be working, but such is the nature of the digital. hopefully, the url and context are enough to help you find any further information you want. if not, feel free to contact me, and i’ll try to help.]
abril 2015
¡hola, difus@s!
after spending the first half of march sequestered by a dissertation deadline and midterm grading, i indulged in my own brand of “march madness” with 11 consecutive nights of theater, music, and dance performances (which may be a personal record, but i’m not sure). seeing so much in such a short time was, admittedly, a bit exhausting, but it was also pretty thrilling, bringing out subtle connections between works and reminding me why (despite the soul-crushing winter) i do love this city. such binge-watching probably exacerbates the differences in quality, but most everything was worthwhile, except one deeply disappointing work (which we’ll get to in a moment).
david greenspan’s i'm looking for helen twelvetrees, gideon irving’s living here, and rimini protokoll’s remote new york: a pedestrian-based live art experience were all wonderful surprises—both for my lack of prior knowledge (or due diligence) and for their economy of means. the promotional material for i'm looking for helen twelvetrees made it sound rather conventional (which is to say, uninteresting), and much of the story is rather familiar: a stage actress’ finds fast fame on the big screen while her marriage falls apart, as soon does her career. however, the way in which story kept folding—in on and then over and then under itself and then back—ultimately made it a moving meditation on the nature of memory. (if you’ve ever had any success with origami, you’ll understand the feeling of the play’s narrative structure and its pleasures.) the acting was luminous, and the set and lighting design were judiciously spare. by putting the audience on stage (an ingenious reversal), i'm looking for helen twelvetrees reduced the theater’s capacity significantly, which gave the work an added sense of intimacy.
even more intimate, though, was gideon irving’s living here, a set of songs and stories staged for audiences of roughly a dozen in various living rooms across the five boroughs. i’ll admit feeling a certain pang of hipsterphobia when he launched into his first number (for me, banjos and beards aren’t a great combination outside winfield, kansas or quebec), but that faded before the second number. he’s an incredibly talented performer and engaging storyteller, and the production, which included set pieces reminiscent of the foundry theatre’s the good person of szechwan, was fabulously inventive without ever being distracting. our venue had him front of windows with the chrysler and empire state buildings in the skyline, an almost too perfect backdrop. i’m definitely going to see the show at least once more to see how it plays in other living rooms, both spatially and socially. much to his credit, gideon didn’t enjoin much audience participation, which kept the show’s themes of hospitality, community, and intimacy understated and, thus, much more affecting.
rimini protokoll’s remote new york: a pedestrian-based live art experience, on the other hand, was all audience participation albeit via pre-recorded instructions delivered into headphones. if that set-up sounds horribly gimmicky, it could well have been, but fortunately, rimini protokoll has a wicked sense of humor and the good sense not to take itself too seriously. the result was an enjoyable trek from greenwood cemetery to washington square park set to playful and often trenchant reflections on our relationships to technology and each other.
far from trenchant (or even playful), reggie (regg rock) gray and peter sellars’ flexn took on the difficult matter of race with even less depth, sensitivity, and sophistication than starbucks. yes, the show meant so much to the cast (seeing them embrace their friends and family after the opening performance probably softened my reaction), and, yes, the audience was by far the most diverse i’ve ever seen at the armory. but i can’t even qualify those two outcomes as achievements; on the contrary, they make show’s failures all the more insulting and infuriating. sellars (of whom i am, admittedly, a committed fan) clearly deserves the blame. gray may be an admirable community organizer and street dancer in his own right, but he’s not an accomplished choreographer; his style, “flex,” is extremely narrow in technique and thin in expression. moreover, the spatial, temporal, and relational conditions of the stage (and especially the armory!) are entirely different than those of the street and so require significant adaptation and translation, which is precisely the opportunity for critical inquiry (of the norms—political, sexual, racial, gendered—of both worlds) and artistic exploration (of the human condition that we share). but sellars, whose staging of bach’s st. matthew passion gave such political urgency and emotional immediacy to such an ancient (and, for many in the audience, arguably tired and/or irrelevant) narrative, refused that opportunity, refused to unsettle his posh, white upper east side audience (by serving them a sham “brooklyn realness” perfectly tailored to their stereotypes), and, worse, refused to engage the performers and the new-to-armory audiences with the same rigor and respect (by pushing their craft, their expectations farther and deeper) he has shown so many other collaborators. lest that criticism—and, trust me, i’ve been much less measured in private conversation—seem disproportionate, the following performances, all in new york and all within the past five years, succeeded brilliantly where sellars failed miserably: bruno beltrao and grupo da rua’s h3 (for its adaptation of street dance, more here), jerome bel’s disabled theater (for its work with non-professional dancers), and kyle abraham’s when the wolves came in (for its engagement with race, history, and protest)—all of which were at new york live arts (which was dance theater workshop when beltrao was there).
in between those highs and lows, social security at the bushwick starr was good, very good—and politically incisive—but needed some better writing (the noir turn was much too contrived and the secondary female character too underdeveloped) and fewer directorial non sequiturs from paul lazar to make it great. elizabeth dement’s heart-rending performance in the lead, though, made me want to see it again. i wasn’t sure what to make of richard maxwell’s the evening after seeing it, but i definitely liked it (perhaps more as performance art than theater) and want to see more (especially after the context in this review). seeing the talking heads / david byrne tribute at carnegie hall (uneven, but still fantastic) and john cameron mitchell’s performance in hedwig and the angry inch (don’t see this with anyone else starring!) on consecutive nights left me feeling exceptionally lucky and grateful (particularly for the friends who got me to see both shows). max richter’s concert was gorgeous but would have been better without the mics, and kodo one earth tour’s mystery was genuinely interesting (wrestling, as it did, with its own questions of tradition and translation). the kidnapping of michel houellebecq was even better than i’d hoped (i’m a fan of his, generally), as well crafted, darkly humorous, and deeply ambiguous as the best of his novels…which just stokes my frustration that soumission won’t be out in time to take to the beach.
now that spring is finally arriving, spending time outdoors feels like an ethical imperative (so i’ll definitely make a more concerted effort to hit the galleries and museums), but there’s much to see indoors this month, too. as usual, my top picks are below, and the full list follows at the end:
film: the museum of the moving image is presenting tsai ming-liang’s first retrospective in the city, which trumps pretty much everything else for me (what time is it there? is a masterpiece). the tribeca film festival has a pretty good line-up, of which fatih akin’s the cut is my priority. bam’s afrofuturism on film, fiaf’s haute couture on film, film society at lincoln center’s art of the real, and film forum’s continuing d. w. griffith offer even more options…as if we didn’t have enough.
music: for early music, the tallis scholars present two programs (one, including tallis’ sublime 40-part motet “spem in alium,” at st. ignatius loyola and another at carnegie hall), and jordi savall gives a viol concert. for new music, the mata festival at the kitchen, so percussion at abrons arts center, and the jack quartet at lincoln center and then nyu (both free!) should be great, as should robert ashley’s opera crash at roulette.
theater + performance: as mentioned earlier, i’ll be seeing living here at least once more. i’ve already booked ghosts at bam and revenge of the popinjay at dixon, but i hope i can also get to small mouth sounds at arsnova and grounded (because i want to see what julie taymor does with drones). the wooster group’s early shaker spirituals (which i saw at the performing garage last year) begins at st. ann’s and is probably the most worthwhile work of their entire season.
art: i never thought i’d have reason to set foot in the museum of biblical art, but sculpture in the age of donatello, which brings exceptional early renaissance art for a rare visit from florence, is more than compelling. similarly, becoming another: the power of masks should get me to the rubin, and the new contemporary art + design wing at the corning museum of glass has me itching for a road trip. valetin carron’s curatorial debut at the swiss institute, joseph beuys’ multiples at mitchell-innes & nash, and hito steyerl’s show at artists space (which demands—and deserves—a fair bit of time) are also priorities. time- and weather-permitting, i also want to work my way through these lists of brooklyn galleries and public art installations.
dance: stephen petronio comes the joyce again (where i’ve enjoyed three of his previous shows), and mark morris comes to bam—and both are accomplished, worthwhile choreographers, to help us forget that sellars abomination. new york live arts hosts its annual “live ideas” festival, which brings together a lot of terrific music, dance, art, and lectures.
please accept my apologies for the delayed arrival of this missive (which, sadly, meant lopping a few things off the calendar below), and do let me know if you’ve got anything (or anyone) to add. happy spring!
abrazos,
p
abril / april
1-9: the kidnapping of michel houllebecq (film)
1-27: d. w. griffith (film)
1-: living here (music, theater)
1-19: the wooster group: cry, trojans! (theater)
1-25: small mouths sounds (theater)
1-25: revenge of the popinjay (theater)
1-: hamilton (theater)
3-15: afrofuturism on film (film)
5-: ghosts (theater)
7-12: stephen petronio company (dance)
7-: haute couture on film (film)
7-: grounded (theater)
8-9: elke rindfleish & sarah weber gallo: let me just try to explain / come again? (dance)
8-12: the lord of the rings triology in concert (music)
9: ensemble signal: helmut lachenmann + bach (music)
9: music of handel, steffani, and monteverdi (music)
9: pomerium: music for the tudor queens (music)
10-26: tsai ming-liang (film)
10-11: cécile mclorin salvant sings billie holiday (music)
10-11: the french connection: quebecois music festival (music)
10-25: rhinoceros (theater)
12: so percussion (music)
13: dance with wendy whelan (dance)
13: jordi savall: the spirit of the viol (music)
13-15: mata festival (music)
14: ariel quartet's beethoven cycle (music)
14: ensemble signal (music)
15-25: david neumann / advanced beginner group: i understand everything better (dance)
15-19: live ideas: s k y – force and wisdom in america today (dance, film, music, performance)
15-26: tribeca film festival (film)
15: the sarajevo haggadah: music of the book (music)
15-18: “crash” an opera by robert ashley (music)
16-19: heidi latsky dance: triptych (dance)
16-26: sequence 8 (performance)
16-18: hour varies (theater)
16-26: person place or thing (theater)
17: the tallis scholars: spem in alium project (music)
18: the tallis scholars (music)
19: danielle schwob and john zorn performed by vicky chow, jennifer choi, and michael nicolas (music)
19: the meeting* hosted by justin sayre (performance)
21-: toast (theater)
22-26: mark morris dance group (dance)
23-25: emily johnson / catalyst: shore (dance)
23: les arts florissants (music)
23: jack quartet (music)
23-: the wooster group: early shaker spirituals (theater)
24-26: big green theater festival (theater)
28: new world symphony (music)
28: jack quartet (music)
29: audra mcdonald (music)
30: english baroque soloists, the monteverdi choir (music)
30: a world in trance festival: noura mint seymali (music)