[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.]
septiembre 2015
¡hola, difus@s!
with much of the art—performing and visual—world on vacation or retreat during the month of august, i followed suit, catching a few shows at the beginning of the month andthen savoring the last long stretches of days on the shore…
while i missed taylor mac’s prospect park performance (which was, i hear, incredible), i did catch the park avenue armory "working rehearsal". performing in just jeans and a button-down with only a piano, taylor was as enchanting and engaging as ever. the evolution of this project, a twenty-four decade history of popular music, has been fascinating to watch. the decade featured at the armory, 1776-1786, didn’t provide the easiest material, but taylor wove it together more tautly and subversively than any of the other decades i’ve seen (which is saying a lot). i’ve resolved not to miss any future performances.
the international contemporary ensemble’s (ice) a little night music at lincoln center was equally brilliant, a terrific program of dai fujikura’s music performed with the group’s signature commitment and prowess. what i love most about watching ice (as well as the jack quartet) is the sheer joy they bring to their art. yes, the music is serious, challenging stuff, and their dedication to it is utterly serious—but, it’s also selfless and generous in a way that i wish more art were.
also part of the mostly mozart festival, written on skin, though musically terrific, was rather disappointing. the singing and acting were quite fine, but they couldn’t compensate for the production itself, which, like most opera at lincoln center, was long on budget and short on focus (and vision and rigor). the whole thing felt like mid-career peter greenaway (say, somewhere between the pillow book and 8 1/2 women) channeled by beth morrison (the matron of middlebrow herself). ugh…
i’ve spent the last few days poring over the fall calendars of 50+ performing arts venues and have compiled a list of 350 (and counting!) noteworthy events, so we’ve got plenty to help us through the post-summer blues. below are, as usual, my picks of the month’s highlights and a full list of everything that’s got my eye.
music: godspeed you! black emperor is performing in hudson on september 8, and i’m willing to recommend that show above anything else for the month. not only have i seen them perform several times—and all were mind-blowingly good—the show i caught in big sur (a similar set-up to this one) a few years ago was one of the most memorable experiences—musical or otherwise—i’ve ever had. if you can’t see them upstate, you can see them later at terminal 5 or warsaw. the resonant bodies festival brings three nights of vocal music to the city, including a chance to hear dawn upshaw (whom we don’t hear often enough) with tony arnold (whom i first heard this spring and was amazed by) and lucy shelton. the jack quartet opens the miller theatre’s season with run time error, ice bassoonist rebekah heller (phenomenal!) and levy lorenzo play abrons arts center, and ice flautist (founder and artistic director) claire chase kicks of a series of performances at the kitchen.
performance: abrons arts center’s queer new york arts festival features two ivo dimchev performances, facebook theater and 15 songs from my shows, and i need to reschedule or forfeit part of my bam subscription to make them both. his fest has stayed with me since seeing it in january (when it stood out against a crowded field of strong performances showcased during the annual apap frenzy), so i’m quite eager to see more. part of the same festival, jarman (all this maddening beauty) looks good—but i’m an ardent jarman fan. elsewhere in the city, justin vivian bond presents dixie mccall’s patterns for living at joe’s pub, and jack fever and marc swanson bring chambre to the new museum as part of fiaf’s crossing the line festival (which also features miguel gutierrez’s age and beauty: parts 1, 2, and 3).
theater: several personal favorites are on stage this month, so many that i’m unsure i’ll catch them all. elevator repair service comes to new york theater workshop with fondly, colette richland (shortly after this spring’s delirious the sound and the fury), the builders association takes elements of oz to montclair state university (i loved their house / divided), ivo van hove casts juliette binoche as antigone (in a translation by anne carson!) at bam, robert o’hara (whose bootycandy was terrific) serves barbecue at the public, richard maxwell and company reprise isolde (which i quite enjoyed during its run at abrons), and 600 highwaymen share a work in progress, the fever, at the park avenue armory. if all that seems too conventional, take a look at genet porno, whistleblower, or adrienne truscott’s asking for it.
dance: tree of codes at the park avenue armory will easily be the month’s biggest dance event, combining the talents of wayne mcgregor (whom i admire even if i’m not always moved by his work), olafur eliasson (ditto), and jamie xx. city center’s fall for dance festival is a great opportunity to see a number of other big names, provided you get your tickets as soon as they go on sale at 11am on september 13. the underexposed series at dixon place and the dancenow festival at joe’s pub are terrific chances to see and support emerging choreographers. i am capitalism at the kitchen and tape at bam sound pretty conceptual (which i tend to like).
film: ifc has an exhaustive wim wenders retrospective on for most of the month, and film forum has three vittorio de sica films on screen. also at film forum, “the black panthers: vanguard of the revolution” provides an interesting complement to the film society’s “the devil finds work: james baldwin on film.” anthology has three programs of pioneer georges méliés’ work, as well as the premieres of songs from the north and home from home. the new york film festival also starts up at the end of the month, but, like fall for dance, you’ll need a lot of persistence and patience to get tickets…unless the film society has actually figure out how to make online ticket sales work (or you’ve ponied up for a membership to get advance access).
art: you can hardly go wrong with galleries in september, as most kick the season off with some of their strongest work. among the shows on my short list (culled, to be honest, from many of the critics’ lists in circulation) are daniel riera at casa de costa, roy lichtenstein’s greene street mural at gagosian, rachel kehdoori and mike kelley at hauser and wirth, all of david zwirner’s shows (isa genzken, wolfgang tillmans, dan flavin, and gordon matta-clark), adrián villar rojas at marian goodman, trevor paglen at metro pictures, dana schutz at petzel, and rudolf stingel and marianne vitale at karma.
if all that seems dizzying, just take a look at the full list below (and share it with your friends)…
abrazos,
p
septiembre / september
1-24: wim wenders: portraits along the road (film)
1-6: tarot show (performance, theater)
1-: the absolute brightness of leonard pelkey (theater)
1-: the christians (theater)
1-: the flick (theater)
2: andrew ondrejcak: elijah green (art, theater)
2-15: the black panthers: vanguard of the revolution (film)
2-3: peking opera superstar zhang huoding (music)
3: daddy longlegs screening & conversation (film)
3-17: they are gone but here must i remain (performance)
4-7: tokyo story (film)
4-10: robert ryan: an actor’s actor (film)
4-7: the odyssey (theater)
6-27: isolde (theater)
8-10: edgar reitz (film)
8: godspeed you! black emperor (music)
9-12: dancenow festival (dance)
9-12: louise lecavalier: so blue (dance)
9-19: jeanine durning: to being (dance)
9-16: welcome to leith (film)
9-: vittorio de sica: attore, regista, seduttore (film)
9: lucy shelton, dawn upshaw & tony arnold (music)
9-11: resonant bodies festival (music)
9-26: genet porno (performance, theater)
10-: crossing the line festival (art, dance, music, performance)
10-12: koosil-ja / dancekumiko: i am capitalism (dance)
10: du yun, amanda deboer bartlett, jessica aszodi (music)
10: the book beriah: the world premiere of new music from john zorn’s masada book three (music)
10: bridget everett & the tender moments (music, performance)
10: dumb show for stupid idiots (performance)
10-11: joris lacoste: suite n°2 (music, performance)
11-14: the devil finds work: james baldwin on film (film)
11-17: home from home (film)
11: jeff gavett, kate soper, and rachel calloway (music)
11: come around part i: mark dancigers & paul corley world premiere commissions + repertory (music)
11-26: whistleblower (theater)
11-: fondly, colette richland (theater)
11-: fulfillment (theater)
12: metafagote: openice with rebekah heller and levy lorenzo (music)
13: ryan raftery is the most powerful woman in fashion (performance)
14: wolfgang tillmans: sound on camera (art)
14-21: tree of codes (dance)
14-: how to live on earth (theater)
15: underexposed (dance)
16: hal foster: bad new days (art)
16-25: miguel gutierrez: age & beauty part 3: dancer or you can make whatever the fuck you want but you’ll only tour solos or the powerful people or we are strong/we are powerful/we are beautiful/we are divine or &:’/// (dance, performance)
16: emerson string quartet and renee fleming (music)
16: m. lamar: destruction (music)
16-26: queer new york international arts festival (performance)
17-19: joanna kotze: find yourself here (dance)
17: jack quartet: run time error (music)
17-19: collapse (music)
17-20: nufonia must fall (music)
17: ivo dimchev: facebook theater (performance)
18-25: miguel gutierrez: age & beauty part 2: asian beauty @ the werq meeting or the choreographer & her muse or &:@& (dance, performance)
18-24: songs from the north (film)
18: ivo dimchev: 15 songs from my shows (music, performance)
18-: justin vivian bond: dixie mccall's patterns for living (music, performance)
18-19: pam ann: queen of the sky (performance)
19-23: miguel gutierrez: age & beauty part 1: mid-career artist/suicide note or &:-/ (dance, performance)
19: jarman (all this maddening beauty) (performance)
20: peking opera festival (music)
21: room40: lawrence english, john chantler (music)
22: black spirituals (music)
22-: barbecue (theater)
23-26: tape (dance)
23: tango lovers (dance, music)
23-: jack ferver & marc swanson: chambre (music, performance)
23-: adrienne truscott’s asking for it: a one-lady rape about comedy starring her pussy and little else! (performance, theater)
24-26: yasuko yokoshi: zero one (dance)
24-: antigone (theater)
25-27: afterlives: the persistence of performance (art, performance)
25-26: jeanine durning: inging (dance)
25: georges méliès, program #1 (film)
25-: new york film festival (film)
25-26: got a girl (dan “the automator” nakamura & mary elizabeth winstead) (music)
25-: gad elmaleh (all in english) (performance)
26: 4th annual morningside lights (art)
26: georges méliès, program #2 (film)
26: georges méliès, program #3 (film)
26: dastan ensemble & mahdieh mohammadkhani: persian music (music)
26: 600 highwaymen: the fever (theater)
26: kyoung park: pillowtalk (work-in-progress) (theater)
26-: the builders association: elements of oz (theater)
27: the meeting hosted by justin sayre (performance)
29: godspeed you! black emperor (music)
29-: claire chase: density 2036, parts i - iii (music)
29-30: ali moini: lives (performance)
29-: eclipsed (theater)
30: the tendencies (dance)
30-: fall for dance festival (dance)
30-: the creeping garden (film)
30-: tabac rouge (performance)
30-: 17 border crossings (theater)
30-: ronnie burkett theatre of marionettes: the daisy theatre (theater)