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abril 2016
¡hola, difus@s!
apologies for the delayed delivery, but i was gone for about half the month and am still catching up on everything. my travels caused me to miss much of what i’d looked forward to seeing, but mysterious splendors: the films of apichatpong weerasethakul at ifc (just before my departure) and die materie at the park avenue armory (just after my return) more than made for all that.
i caught five of the seven weerasethakul seven films, and i sorely wish i’d managed to catch the other two (uncle boonmee who can recall his past lives, which i’d already seen twice, and mysterious object at noon, which i’ve never seen). weerasethakul’s sensibility is truly unique, and seeing so much work in such a short time reminded me just how wonderful these retrospectives can be for getting to know a director’s work more fully.
heiner goebbels’ production of louis andriesson’s die materie was every bit the event it promised to be, and the much-hyped 100-strong flock of sheep in the final movement, perhaps surprisingly, neither upstaged nor undermined the rest of the show. on the contrary, their appearance was rather poetic and (to the extent that it could be) understated, and the delight they brought the audience was palpable. andriessen’s music was superbly performed by the international contemporary ensemble; this was the largest scale on which i've seen them play, and they handled it masterfully. goebbels’ handling of the drill hall was also absolutely masterful, exceptional among all the artists i’ve seen try to tackle that space—except that the design was clearly not meant for the lateral seating, which must have been an afterthought (perhaps to increase revenue). though his last production at the amory, stifters dinge, remains my favorite of the five works of his that i've seen (including delusion of the fury, songs of wars i have seen, and i went to the house but did not enter) and of almost all that i’ve seen in the armory, die materie is now a close second.
the rest of the month’s gleanings ranged from fantastic to frustrating. kurosawa’s ran, whose billing as “a lear for our age, and for all time” is possibly the most accurate i’ve ever seen included in a trailer, has me hoping he’ll have a retrospective soon. stephen pertonio always puts on a good show, and both his re-presentation of trisha brown’s glacial decoy and his tribute to his father (some of the best work of his i’ve seen) at the joyce were quite moving. aakash odedra’s rising was a bit more even than last fall’s inked / murmur though still a bit scattered (and personal favorite sidi larbi cherkaoui’s contribution to the program was particularly disappointing). smokefall was a generally interesting family drama that wrestled with some weighty themes (especially predestination—whether genealogical or genetic) and featured some light magical realist touches. the best part was the dialogue between two twins just prior to their birth; although the rest of the play paled a bit in comparison, it was still fine theater. rimbaud in new york, alas, was not. the acting was fine, and much of the material was worthwhile. however, the work as a whole just felt like an inchoate hot mess.
music: tonight, la dolce morte is on at the metropolitan museum of art, and, having heard a sample of it at subculture in may, i highly recommend dropping whatever else you're doing and getting there to see it. two other high priorities for this month are patrice chereau’s production of elektra at the metropolitan opera, and william christie and les arts florissants’ les fêtes vénitiennes at bam. chereau’s from the house of the dead is far and away the best thing i've ever seen at the met, and it ranks with christie’s david et jonathas (you can watch the entire opera here) among my all-time favorite operas. other shows on my short list include othello in the seraglio, leif ove andsnes, acme with charlemagne palestine, maestro hossein alizadeh with pejman hadadi, hopper's wife, and xiu xiu.
film: new york becomes the "city of chantal" this month, celebrating the life and work of belgian filmmaker chantal akerman. bam hosts a month-long retrospective, film forum presents i don't belong anywhere: the films of chantal akerman, and anthology film archives shows la-bas and no home movie. anthology also has a terrific series of african and french film, “entangled forms.” metrograph is now open and showing tsai ming-liang's latest along with some inspired selections (including mysterious object at noon and theory of obscurity: a film about the residents). the museum of the moving image has a one-off screening of of men and war, which seems especially urgent in our current political climate. neon bull and the series "queer cinema before stonewall" will definitely have me visiting the film society at lincoln center. must-see francophonia is currently on at film forum, where eva hesse opens at the month's end.
performance + theater: joan jonas, who represented the us at the venice biennale, comes to the kitchen. skirball offers a chance to see not i, footfalls, rockaby if you missed it as part of bam’s next wave 2014; not i alone is worth the ticket. if you’re craving shakespeare, bam promises to sate you with king and country: shakespeare’s great cycle of kings. i’ll probably opt for more current playwrights, though, and prioritize #pioneers!goforth, revolt. she said. revolt again., love's refrain: a confession by justin sayre, and antlia pneumatica.
art: though i saw a LOT of art abroad (my travels centered around a visit to tefaf, the most civilized of all art fairs), i saw nothing in new york so will be working on last month’s museum recommendations, along with the museo del barrio and the cooper-hewitt. before getting to those, though, i want to catch a number of great gallery shows before they close mid-month: justin vivian bond at participant, philippe parreno at gladstone, chris mccaw at yossi milo, ana ostoya at bartolami, and lizzie fitch / ryan trecartin at andrea rosen.
dance: the two dance performances i'm most looking forward to this month are ballet preljocaj at the joyce and daniel kok and luke george at barons arts center; i’ve quite enjoyed ballet preljocaj’s prior performances at bam and lincoln center, and bunny has gotten some terrific preview press. other shows that i might check out include portrait of myself as my father, return to absence, clap hands, and play, thing.
as always, a full list of everything i would see if i could follows, and if anyone you know would like to join the list, feel free to sign them up here.
abrazos,
p
april / abril
1-2: enrico d. wey: to warring states, a useless tool (dance)
1-2: adham hafez company/haraka: arab works (dance, performance)
1-2: widowers' houses (theater)
1-2: new york city players: really (theater)
1-2: the seagull and other birds (theater)
1-3: see the north (film)
1-3: the way west (theater)
1-5: i don't belong anywhere: the cinema of chantal akerman (film)
1-7: bring me the head of sam peckinpah (film)
1-9: poetic license 2016: a kind of now (theater)
1-9: pioneers!#goforth (theater)
1-10: love’s refrain: a confession by justin sayre (theater)
1-10: dry powder (theater)
1-10: ironbound (theater)
1-10: the digger: a subterranean allegory (theater)
1-13: francophonia (film)
1-17: head of passes (theater)
1-24: antlia pneumatica (theater)
1-30: king and country: shakespeare’s great cycle of kings (theater)
1-: chantal akerman: images between the images (film)
1-: stupid f—ing bird (theater)
2: goodbye, dragon inn (film)
2: kronos quartet (music)
2: la dolce morte (music)
2: uxia and narf – galician music of spain (music)
3: guy maddin day (film)
3: airs de cour (music)
4: breaking barriers (dance)
5: a mass of life (music)
5: underexposed (dance)
5: #werq: a queer journey (dance)
5-: revolt. she said. revolt again. (theater)
6-8: they come to us without a word ii (performance)
7: juiced: music of brendon randall-myers (music)
7-9: jessica gaynor dance: the location of figures (dance)
8-14: neon bull (film)
8: othello in the seraglio (music, performance)
9: yamandu costa, seven-stringed guitar (music)
9: leif ove andsnes, christian tetzlaff, tabea zimmermann, clemens hagen (music)
9-10: acme with charlemagne palestine (music)
11: daedalus quartet: echoes of the russian jewish folk music society (music)
11-16: mata festival (music)
12: recollections: songs from aphasia (music)
13-17: not i, footfalls, rockaby (theater)
13-24: science fair (music, performance)
14: big bowie bash: a tribute…redux (film)
14-16: vicky shick and dancers: another spell (dance)
14-16: return to absence (dance)
14-17: portrait of myself as my father (dance)
14-17: les fêtes vénitiennes (music)
14-: elektra (music)
15-21: chantal akerman x 2: là-bas (film)
15-21: chantal akerman x 2: no home movie (film)
15-22: entangled forms: african and french film in conversation (film)
15-24: lemonade by heather litteer (theater)
16: maestro hossein alizadeh with pejman hadadi – mystical persian music (music)
17: of men and war (film)
17: mysterious object at noon (film)
18: st. lawrence string quartet: “haydn discovery” (music)
20: st. lawrence string quartet with tara helen o'connor, flute & pedja muzijevic, piano (music)
20-23: bunny (dance, performance)
20-24: ballet preljocaj (dance)
20-28: jen rosenblit: clap hands (dance)
20-30: empathy school & love story (performance, theater)
20-30: a girl is a half-formed thing (theater)
22-: queer cinema before stonewall (film)
23-: a streetcar named desire (theater)
24: l’âge d’or (film)
25: theory of obscurity: a film about the residents (film)
26-: dorrance dance with nicholas van young (dance)
27-30: heather kravas: play, thing (dance)
27-: eva hesse (film)
28-29: dido and aeneas (music)
28-: hopper's wife (music)
28-: idiot (performance, theater)
29-: look and listen festival (music)
30: xiu xiu plays the music of twin peaks (music)
30-: a world in trance 2016 (music)
30-: a doll's house (theater)
30-: the father (theater)