[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.]
enero 2016
¡feliz año nuevo, difus@s!
december brought out some of the year’s finest performances (along with a few of its worst), holiday specific and non.
among the holiday-specific highlights were mark morris company’s the hard nut, a delightfully twisted take on the nutcracker and daniel kitson’s return with a show for christmas. the hard nut needs to become an annual (or, at least, biannual) tradition at bam; it has all the joy, beauty, and wonder one expects from the nutcracker but without the treacly sentimentality of some many traditional productions. similarly, daniel kitson’s a show for christmas took the well-worn holiday visitation genre and, with his usual alchemy, turned it into something utterly magical (cf., the guardian’s reviews from last year and this, since none of the local press covered it). this show was far, far simpler and more direct than the two previous shows i’ve seen (analog.ue, the most recent, was a masterpiece confounding the divisions between sculpture, performance, and theater) but deceptively so, as every detail, every gesture was so rigorously thought out and just as rigorously understated. what this show shared with the other two—and, arguably, all of daniel’s work—was its incredible writing (his gift for language is extradordinary), its radical sincerity, and its peerless generosity. all of daniel’s work is, in one way or another, about love, and all his shows are genuine acts of loving.
the other two holiday specials that made me especially happy were the release of lcd soundsystem’s “christmas will break your heart” (reunion rumors are apparently true!!!) and of katie vida’s marina abramovic: the artist has presents. you can give both a listen online, but you really, really need to buy the latter. the first line of the first track is “on the first day of christmas / my gallery gave to me / a check for ulay’s royalties,” and it just gets better from there, ending with a egomaniacal cover of “all i want for christmas is you” (whose full philosophical import is eloquently elucidated here).
among the non-holiday highlights were tere o’connor’s the good-bye studies, once upon a mattress, hand to god, arabian nights, son of saul and 45 years. o'connor's new work was sheer grace, protean constellations of bodies coalescing and fragmenting with his characteristic lightness. utterly poetic, this was perhaps the best of his i've seen since wrought iron fog—which was my introduction to his work and was absolutely revelatory. once upon a mattress was a fun, light-hearted romp; lypsinka (she speaks!) is a phenomenal stage presence, and jackie hoffman is a comic force. though i generally avoid broadway (for reasons economic and geographic, as well as aesthetic), hand to god convinced me that i should pay more attention to what’s playing there in 2016; i went with no expectations (the tickets were a gift) and left utterly dumbfounded. the play is brilliant, a hilarious, provocative, and deeply unsettling meditation on the nature of evil—with some incredible puppetry. arabian nights is every bit as ambitious and accomplished as it’s been hyped, if slightly uneven (which is understandable given its six-hour running time); gomes’ world is so fully realized and so wonderfully weird that i’ve found myself missing it since. (one quick aside: the film society at lincoln center is the singularly worst run cinema in new york. not only is so much of their, admittedly, often outstanding programming apparently last-minute, but their operations are abysmal.) son of saul and 45 years also lived up to their buzz and are oddly complementary as studies in belief and doubt, respectively, and the expressiveness of their stars’ faces.
among the month’s disappointments, sasha waltz and guests’ continu was redeemed, though only partially, by its second half, which was generally beautiful; the first half was plodding and ponderous. take care, while more well-meaning and less insufferable than hir, killed my interest in niegel smith’s directorial career. if directorial genius ivo van hove’s antigone hadn’t already shown us how difficult staging classics is (even as their contemporary relevance could not be more clear), alas, the nymphs and pylade will have me thinking twice before booking any more such productions. to its credit, alas, the nymphs was elegantly produced and evidently intent on exploring worthwhile themes, but it was far too impenetrable, or merely inchoate, to achieve any effect. pylade was execrable. desperate for drama with a capital d, it had all the nuance one would expect of an oberlin-bound adolescent boy obsessed with salo and the wayward cloud (both movies i love, for the record). i’ll never see another show by the great jones repertory company, which is a new year’s resolution i’ll have no trouble keeping.
with the annual arrival of all the apap-related festivals, january offers the broadest variety of performances we’re likely to see all year. many of the shows are on for just one night, and demand for the most anticipated or hyped can quickly exceed supply. however, tickets to all the festivals are generally reasonable, so if you’re first choices aren’t available, take a chance and experiment!
performance + theater: the public’s under the radar festival showcases theater from all over, including reprises of shows that have played in the city during the past year. ps122’s coil festival and la mama’s squirts: new voices in queer performance highlight more experimental fare, and skirball’s circus now brings the latest in nouveau cirque. abrons arts center’s american realness has been my favorite festival for the past two years, so i’ll likely be there most. outside the festivals, breeders: a comedy, burnished by grief – a romantic comedy, manology, and prodigal son all look interesting.
music: the winter jazz fest has a phenomenal line-up of shows, as does national sawdust’s ferus festival. the prototype festival has grown exponentially in terms of critical praise and popular attention, so i may bracket my misgivings about beth morrison projects (the organizer) and see one or two of their shows. fernando pessoa’s the book of disquiet has long been a favorite, so i’m curious to hear dutch composer michel van der aa’s new work inspired by it. the ecstatic music festival starts at the end of the month and continues on through mid-march. the international contemporary ensemble closes the month with three free shows.
dance: ballet’s current it-boy, justin peck, discusses his practice as part of the guggenheim’s works & process series. trisha brown dance company at bam and steve paxton’s collaboration with robert ashley at the kitchen are the two performances i’m most looking forward to seeing. other shows i’ll try and catch if i can include bruno isakovic’s denuded at abrons, elektra at new york live arts, and the monthly underexposed series at dixon place.
film: the cinema is a wonderful place to take refuge from the festival hordes, and the year is off to a great start. ifc begins a series of films starring charlotte rampling, film society hosts its annual dance on camera festival, and anthology through indian eyes: native american film. other notable arrivals include the treasure (from the same director who brought us the incredible police, adjective), bleak street, and the mask.
art: in all candor, my plan for visual art this month is primarily museum triage, i.e., catching as many of the major shows (robert ryman, jim shaw, walid raad, frank stella, martin wong—alas, the museums are definitely a boys club right now) as i can before they close. the rest will be gallery triage: james welling at david zwirner, mark ryden at paul kasmin, painting in italy 1910s-1950s at sperone westwater, joseph kosuth at leo castelli, enrico baj at luxembourg & dayan, and katy grannan at salon 94…and, i’ll be renewing my annual resolution to devoting more regular time to the galleries and museums.
as usual, below is a more comprehensive listing, and you can sign up anyone you think might be interested here.
abrazos,
p
enero / january
1-: 45 years (film)
1-21: a view from the bridge (theater)
1-20: lazarus (theater)
1-24: marjorie prime (theater)
1-17: nutcracker rouge (performance)
1-: son of saul (film)
1-25: take care (theater)
5-9: bridget everett: rock bottom (music, performance)
5-17: coil festival (performance)
6-17: prototype festival (music, performance)
6: the tomeka reid quartet with jason roebke, tomas fujiwara and mary halvorson (music)
6-17: under the radar festival (theater)
7-17: american realness festival (dance, performance, theater)
7-17: mdslx (performance)
8-: charlotte rampling (film)
8-17: the last hotel (music, theater)
8-: the treasure (film)
8-: troublemakers: the story of land art (art, film)
9: michelle boulé: white (dance)
9: spektral quartet (music)
10-11: justin peck: creation of a story ballet (dance)
12: bach unwound (music)
12-16: dance on camera (film)
13-: a ride on the irish cream (theater)
13: concert reading: the trials of patricia isasa – an opera in two acts by kristin norderval and naomi wallace (music)
13-17: confirmation (performance)
13-30: longyarn (theater)
13-26: new york jewish film festival (film)
13-17: winter jazz fest (music)
14-16: circus now (performance, theater)
14-17: ferus festival (music)
14-16: keely garfield: wow (dance)
14-16: laurie white: the mineralogy of objects (dance)
14-21: through indian eyes: native american cinema (film)
15: breeders: a comedy (theater)
15-24: la mama squirts: new voices in queer performance (performance)
15: out of israel (dance)
15: paul o’dette and ronn mcfarlane (music)
15-17: the mask (film)
16: the living theater: no place to hide (excerpts) (theater)
17: the cleveland orchestra (music)
18: eighth blackbird (music)
19: glass piano versions with bruce brubaker and francesco tristano (music)
19-20: prodigal son (theater)
20-30: ann liv young: elektra (dance, theater)
20-: bleak street (film)
20: hermès quartet (music)
21-22: holographic (music)
21-: imagining the imaginary invalid (theater)
21-24: the book of disquiet (music)
22-24: abstract expressionist cinema: ken jacobs / nervous magic lantern festival (film, music)
22-23: bruno isakovic: denuded (dance)
22-: burnished by grief – a romantic comedy (theater)
22: cantata profana: tancredi (music)
24: commedia dell’arte by john zorn (music)
24: the meeting hosted by justin sayre (performance)
26-29: openice (music)
26: underexposed (dance)
27: greencard wedding (theater)
28-: robert ashley & steve paxton: quicksand (dance, music, performance)
28-: slut (theater)
28-30: trisha brown dance company (dance)
29-: ecstatic music festival (music)
29-30: snow (performance)
29-: the coen brothers (film)
30: brentano string quartet & gabriel calatrava: bach’s “art of the fugue” (music)
30: manology (theater)