[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.]
marzo 2016
¡hola, difus@s!
after gorging on live arts in january, i spent a lot of february in the cinemas (and, admittedly, on retreat in asbury park), taking in some great old and new film. at the very newest end of the spectrum, gabriel abrantes’ “dreams, drones, and dactyls” contribution to the “friends with benefits” series at the film society of lincoln center was a terrific start. (full disclosure: gabriel’s father is an old friend, but i hadn’t met gabriel or seen his films before.) the latest short, freud und friends, was the weakest of the three, but both taprobana and ennui, ennui were deft, smart, and subversively funny. the latter, especially, should be extended to feature length. at the older end of the spectrum, eric von stroheim’s greed felt surprisingly modern in content as well as form. chris marker’s a.k. was a welcome reminder of what a unique filmmaker he is and a compelling reason (as if any more were needed) to see kurosawa’s masterpiece ran at film forum this week. also at film forum, embrace of the serpent is spell-binding, shot in ravishing black-and-white with dialogue in some nine languages. one scene near the end felt superfluous and clumsy, which was frustrating (though fleetingly so) given how solid the rest of the film was. at times, the film seemed to flirt with stereotypes of the “noble savage,” but its politics are, in fact, rigorously thought through and deeply nuanced. (werner herzog’s 10,000 years older makes an excellent companion piece.)
the foundry theatre’s o, earth—the best of the live arts i saw—was equally trenchant and thoughtful in its politics but also unexpectedly funny and tender in its critique of the complacency and solipsism of so much contemporary gay culture (as daniel wegner has eloquently written “those whose assimilation has ostensibly put them past politics but who can’t believe that politics are unnecessary when self-acceptance hasn’t been wrought”) and undeniably affecting and moving in its insistence that the struggle for justice is never accomplished, never finished. the absence of any political depth in balletboyz’s show at the joyce, despite the prefatory video’s suggestion to the contrary, was disappointing (especially since i’d just watched dv8 physical theatre’s film version of enter achilles the weekend prior), but the choreography was beautiful and gorgeously executed. kvs, les ballets c de la b & a.m. qattan foundation’s badke at new york live arts, billed as “a display of passion for life and dance as a form of resistance,” offered more political content but far too obliquely, leaving me wanting to see jerome bel’s disabled theater or rachid ouramdane’s ordinary witnesses again. parts of badke were formally exquisite, and the performers were generally excellent (their stamina was astonishing). just as technically demanding and gracefully delivered, the one concert i managed to see, “babbitt at 100”, was a fascinating introduction to a composer i’ll definitely study more.
march’s offerings are as varied and promising as the prior two months combined, so any one set of the recommendations below could easily keep you busy until april:
art: the annual armory show arrives on march 3, along with several other fairs like independent, spring/break, and nada, and the good folks over at artnet have prepared a handy guide to help navigate the fair frenzy. the fairs also bring out some strong gallery shows (with plenty of women!), including tacita dean at marian goodman, sherrie levine at david zwirner, amy sillman at sikkema jenkins, ana mendieta at gallerie lelong, betty tomkins at flag art foundation, bea schlingelhoff at essex street, taryn simon at gagosian, mika tajima at 11r, jack early at fergus mccafrey, erró at gallerie perrotin, glenn ligon at luhring augustine, luke murphy at canada, and philippe parreno and t.j. wilcox at gladstone. the martin wong show has been extended until the middle of the month while most of the other museums have recently turned over their shows, most of which look great: marcel broodthaers: a retrospective at moma, peter fischli david weiss: how to work better (take your office to see the eponymous public work on houston!) at the guggenheim, anri sala: answer me at the new museum, andrea fraser: open plan and laura poitras: astro noise at the whitney. the object of much anticipation (and typographic excoriation), the met breuer opens its doors this month, too.
film: the month opens and closes with two very important events, mysterious splendors: the films of apichatpong weerasethakul (including the premieres of mekong hotel and cemetery of splendor) at ifc and i don’t belong anywhere: the cinema of chantal ackerman at film forum. weerasethakul’s tropical malady and ackerman’s one day pina asked were my introductions to their work, and i can’t wait to see both directors on the big screen. a number of other notable series take place this month—migrating forms at bam, reelabilities at the museum of the moving image, rendezvous with french cinema and new directors / new films at the film society at lincoln center—as do some exceptional premieres, reprises, and restorations—ran, river of grass, fireworks wednesday, songs my brothers taught me, gaudí, and blue velvet.
performance + theater: smokefall is high on my list, largely because i want to see recent macarthur genius mimi lien’s set design. robert wilson doing samuel beckett will certainly not be to everyone’s taste, but i’ve been looking forward to krapp’s last tape for months. both the civilians and new york city players are troupes i follow, so i’ll definitely catch their rimbaud in new york and really. the city could use more george bernard shaw (and probably a bit less shakespeare), which makes widowers’ houses a welcome arrival. dry powder and the way west both examine how finance structures social and affective live, making them of acute interest for me. west side story and brodsky / baryshnikov look fantastic but were sold out far, far in advance. for a bit more experimental fun, check out the bacchae, adult documentary, l’immédiat, and the shows comprising culturemart 2016.
music: the highlight of the month (and, perhaps, the season) is die materie at the park avenue armory, which joins the formidable talents of heiner goebbels (whose stifters dinge is one of the most remarkable things i’ve ever seen) and the international contemporary ensemble (aka ice). ice also has two shows at abrons arts center and a week-long residency at the stone. the met breuer opening features two days of stockhausen, and i try and see all the stockhausen i can. also high on my list are “rick, dave and alec’s end-of-winter ‘die schöne müllerin’ party”, my brightest diamond, tortoise, and matmos. orphic moments at national sawdust and loftopera’s tosca also look good.
dance: aakash odedra’s rising is on for one night at skirball (though i’m saddened we won’t have the opportunity to put it in dialogue with the unfortunately cancelled torobaka at bam). stephen petronio company is back at the joyce and is presenting a piece by trisha brown, which i’m quite eager to see. (incidentally, mr. petronio was seated just a few rows ahead of me at trisha brown company’s farewell performance at bam last month.) i’m hesitant to recommend martha clarke’s angel reapers because her garden of earthly delights was rather underwhelming, but all the positive press has me curious. eiko’s a body in places continues this month, and adham hafez company / haraka presents at new york lives arts at the month’s end.
per the adage, march is definitely coming in like a lion, but it’s not going out like a lamb, as you’ll see below. if anyone you know would like to join the list, feel free to sign them up here.
abrazos,
p
marzo / march
1: a fine thread of deviation: evan calder williams & anne low (art, music, performance)
1-3: ran (film)
1-6: rimbaud in new york (theater)
1-10: mysterious splendors: the films of apichatpong weerasethakul (film)
1-12: adult documentary (performance)
1-13: smokefall (theater)
1-19: ecstatic music festival (music)
1-19: i’ll never love again (music, theater)
1-20: angel reapers (dance, theater)
1-20: prodigal son (theater)
1-23: eiko: a body in places (dance, film)
1-27: red speedo (theater)
1-27: southern comfort (theater)
1-: dry powder (theater)
1-: the way west (theater)
1-: widowers’ houses (theater)
2: russian national orchestra (music)
2-8: alessandra ferri, herman cornejo, bruce levingston (dance)
2-12: culturemart 2016 (performance, theater)
2-15: songs my brothers taught me (film)
2-19: the effect (theater)
3: openice: martenot's wave (music)
3-5: festival ay! más flamenco (dance, music)
3-13: rendez-vous with french cinema (film)
3-20: faux-real: the bacchae (theater)
3-: ironbound (theater)
4: aakash odedra: rising (dance)
4: openice: 3 cellos (music)
4-5: west side story (music, theater)
4-6: hitchcock weekend (film)
4-10: migrating forms (film)
4-10: cemetery of splendor (film)
4-10: mekong hotel (film)
5: rick, dave and alec's end-of-winter "die schöne müllerin" party (music)
7: new york philharmonic presents: contact! (music)
8-13: ice residency at the stone (music)
8-13: stephen petronio company (dance)
9-12: the hospital (dance, theater)
9-19: brodsky / baryshnikov (theater)
10: interpretations: alvin singleton 75th birthday celebration (music)
10: late night rose: saint-saëns, khachaturian, & babadjanian (music)
10-13: l’immédiat (performance, theater)
10-19: flamenco festival 2016 (dance)
10-19: tosca (music)
10-21: the new world symphony: dvorak in america (theater)
11: gaudí (film, music)
11-17: golden days: the films of arnaud desplechin (film)
11-18: river of grass (film)
11-24: it girls, flappers, jazz babies & vamps (film)
11-26: see it big! jack fisk (film)
11-: antlia pneumatica (theater)
12-23: reelabilities: ny disabilities film festival (film)
13: ton koopman and tini mathot (music)
15: orchestre symphonique de montréal (music)
15-: head of passes (theater)
15-: new york city players: really (theater)
16: tortoise (music)
16-19: rebecca lazier with dan trueman & mobius percussion: there might be others (dance)
16-27: new directors / new films (film)
16-29: fireworks wednesday (film)
17-20: krapp’s last tape (theater)
18: aiko suzuki: conceptual soundwork (music)
18: my brightest diamond (music)
18: persian arts festival (music, performance)
18-20: tina croll + company: one rhinoceros, 3 birds and a pineapple (dance)
19: matmos (music)
19: punch-drunk love (film, music)
22: string theories i: john cage’s twenty-three // andplay (music)
22-30: die materie (music, performance)
23: string theories ii: new and recent works for string orchestra (music)
23-24: orphic moments (music, performance)
23-: the seagull and other birds (theater)
24: composer portraits: hans abrahamsen (music)
24: string theories iii: chris cerrone’s the pieces that fall to earth (music)
24-: king and country: shakespeare’s great cycle of kings (theater)
25-26: karlheinz stockhausen's klang (art, music, performance)
25-27: who’s crazy? (film)
25-31: blue velvet (film)
29-: adham hafez company / haraka: arab works (dance, performance)
30-: i don't belong anywhere: the cinema of chantal akerman (film)
31-: bring me the head of sam peckinpah (film)