[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.]
junio 2016
¡hola, difus@s!
mea maxima culpa for the delayed arrival of this month’s edition (the reasons for which i’d rather not recount). to make up for it, i’ll keep this part short and add a little fall preview before the usual monthly picks and calendar.
may was generally great, both on stage and on screen. i started with kiki & herb: seeking asylum!, which was (i’m almost embarrassed to admit) my introduction to this part of mx. bond’s oeuvre. the rapport between mx. bond and mr. mellmann is such a delight to watch, and their humor is bracingly—and often deceptively—political. kiki’s opening explanation that they’d gone on hiatus in 2008 because “nobody wants to see kiki and herb when they have hope” not-so-subtly suggested that they’d returned because that hope had since been lost, and the rest of the show was a hilarious yet stinging indictment of how empty 2008’s “audacious” hopes had been, lacking the conviction and courage necessary to effect genuinely radical change. echoing and magnifying that sentiment was anohni’s “hopelessness” at the park avenue armory, in which the artist (formerly known as antony) all but disappeared in front of an interesting (if uneven) series of video portraits. diamanda galas’ return to the city similarly felt both apocalyptic and joyous (rapturous, perhaps, in the most eschatological sense of the word), with an ambitious selection of songs spanning five languages and as many genres. rounding out the month’s musical offerings, the jack quartet opened with ny phil biennial with a spectacular program of premieres, among which cenk ergün’s works stood out most.
though the theater and dance i saw didn’t quite reach the heights of the musical performances above, it was definitely worthwhile. the wooster group’s latest, the town hall affair, is the kind of meditation on media for which they’re best known, and it’s pretty solid. taking as its point of departure the documentary town bloody hall, the work raises timely questions about current understandings of feminism specifically and identity politics more generally. the judas kiss was finely acted (and not without some substantial eyecandy) but never very emotionally or politically engaging. mike albo’s spermhood had many hilarious and poignant moments, but i’m hoping it will be a bit more cohesive when it returns to dixon place in october. still standing you at abrons, which plumbed the complexities and ambiguities of male relationships, reinforced my belief in dance as uniquely suited for such inquiry. what set ampe and garrido’s exploration apart from others i’ve seen is how sensitively they captured the (innocent?) confusion of boyhood that we never really outgrow. also at abrons, levi gonzalez’s every cell and i a mouth offered some insight into the choreographer’s process.
summer film usually tends more towards entertainment than art, but, if may’s offerings are any indication, that may no longer be the case. the independent filmmaker project in dumbo deserves special commendation for giving pervert park a one-week run. (to be fair, bam did screen the film last year, once.) the film is tough, but it is also so deeply human and so radically political. very little film—and, really, very little art—is this courageous. dheepan is an excellent take on the refugee experience, even if it’s somewhat marred by the last few minutes’ epilogue. chevalier and the lobster prove that greece is on par with romania in terms of world cinema, as much for the quality of their production as for their shared sensibility. viva, like last year’s tangerine, was a touching, honest film that, alas, underscores just how hackneyed most lgbt-themed filmmaking is.
while i am deeply committed to spending most of the summer in asbury park, there’s plenty in the city to lure me back…
art: i skipped the fairs last month but did manage to catch several blue-chip shows in chelsea (including the great cindy sherman at metro pictures, the haunting janet cardiff and george bures miller at luhring augustine, and the sublime felix gonzalez-torres at andrea rosen), so now i really need to hit the museums (c.f., last month’s edition). along with the museum shows, i’m very much looking forward to catching martin creed’s installation at the park avenue armory. if i can squeeze them in, i’d also like to catch giorgio morandi at the center for italian modern art, mike kelley’s shaped paintings at skarstedt, and ed atkins at gavin brown. artsy also recently ran a list of shows featuring young artists that would fun to work through.
dance: now that many venues have finished their seasons, they’re lending their stages for others to program. american dance institute is bringing a terrific series to the kitchen, including brian brooks, susan marshall, and jack ferver. symphony space hosts a one-day young choreographers festival, dixon place features moving men, abrons presents the new dance alliance’s 30th anniversary performance mix festival, and 92y welcomes wave rising 2016.
film: if you can’t beat the heat by hitting the beach, the cinema's your next best option, and june is just as promising as may was. among the month’s series are brian de palma at metrograph, genre is a woman at film forum, panorama europe 2016 at museum of the moving image, fab flicks: 70s black cinema and around the world in five restorations at bam (whose annual cinemafest is also going on), cold cases: the department q trilogy and the new nordic noir at ifc, and the human rights watch film festival at the film society. as if those series (and there are more below!) weren’t enough, a number of other worthwhile films are playing: kamikaze ’89, the fits, ’til madness do we part, call her applebroog, tikkun, and heaven can wait.
performance + theater: several of last month’s recommendations continue into this month (e.g., cal in camo, which i’m definitely seeing). among the new arrivals, romeo castellucci’s go down, moses is a high priority for me, along with bedlam’s sense & sensibility at judson, which got rave reviews from several friends during its short run there this spring. other shows i’d like to catch, time-permitting, are sex: a sex worker community revival of mae west's play, and the animals.
music: dane terry is back at la mama, and, based on his last show, i’m very excited for this one (hoping, too, that it will be back for a longer run in the fall). other alt-cabaret-ish shows i’d like to catch include justin vivian bond’s songs of a dendrophile, adrienne truscott's asking for it, and shakina nayfack’s manifest pussy, all at joe’s pub. in addition to the ny phil biennial, the blue note jazz festival, the new york electro-acoustic music festival, vision 21, and the brooklyn experimental song festival all take place this month. what i’m most looking forward to (thanks, hilary!), though, is dolly parton at forest hills, butthe 30th anniversary reunion of book of love is a close second for “best pride event” this year (if you don’t immediately understand why, watch and listen).
as promised penitence for this issue’s late arrival, here’s a short list of fall events that i recommend booking as soon as possible. i’ve listed six from bam so that you can (1) buy a membership and (2) book a subscription—it only takes four shows—this week before the general public gets subscription access next week. single tickets won’t go on sale until the end of the summer, and, trust me, the good seats and, probably, the cheap seats will be gone. (note: the following, like all of pablo difuso, is *completely* unsponsored. i get no kick-backs, e.g., free tickets, for any of these recommendations or anything else you’ve read here. )
the loser: david lang is a brilliant composer, and this opera looks amazing.
phaedra(s): isabelle huppert is as riveting on stage as she is on screen. this production is sure to be polarizing but undoubtedly worth seeing.
monumental: any chance to hear godspeed you! black emperor live is worth taking, and i’m curious about the dance.
letter to a man: wilson and baryshnikov work very well together, and baryshnikov playing nijinsky sounds unbeatable.
vortex temporum: de keersmaeker is another artist whose work i’ll always see, and this show will likely be one of the highlights of the autumn dance calendar.
the magnetic fields: a 50 song memoir (program a, program b): though i wish stephin merritt were celebrating his 50th by reviving “runt,” his erstwhile party at nowhere, i’m happy he and his bandmates are gracing the bam’s stage for two nights in what will certainly be a hot, hot ticket.
jerome bel: after seeing disabled theatre, i want to see all of this man’s work that i can.
circle map: the new york philharmonic plays kaija saariaho at the park avenue armory. in a word, bliss.
as always, a full calendar follows, and you can share the love here.
abrazos,
p
junio / june
1-2: jia zhangke, a guy from fenyang (film)
1-4: a streetcar named desire (theater)
1-5: cherchez la femme (the musical) (music, theater)
1-5: leonard nimoy's vincent (theater)
1-9: chevalier (film)
1-11: ny phil biennial (music)
1-12: a doll's house (theater)
1-12: the father (theater)
1-12: the judas kiss (theater)
1-16: genre is a woman (film)
1-18: cal in camo (theater)
1-22: panorama europe 2016 (film)
1-26: incognito (theater)
1-26: the total bent (theater)
1-30: brian de palma (film)
1-30: blue note jazz festival (music)
2-4: paul sharits (film)
2-8: open roads: new italian cinema (film)
2-11: le comte ory (music)
2-19: dark night bright starts (theater)
2-25: the iceman (theater)
2-30: fab flicks: 70s black cinema (film)
3-9: kamikaze ’89 (film)
3-9: the fits (film)
3-12: the films of thom andersen (film)
3-12: the thoughts we once had (film)
3-19: tales of cinema: the films of hong sang-soo (film)
4-5: la double coquette (music)
5: the next festival of emerging artists (music)
6: tigue: surfaces (music)
6-11: movement research festival (dance, performance)
6-11: new dance alliance: 30th anniversary performance mix festival (dance)
6-30: ant fest 2016 (performance, theater)
7: moving men (dance)
7: vincent d’onofrio & dana lyn: slim bone head volt (performance, theater)
7-12: vision 21 (music)
8: shakina nayfack: manifest pussy, presented in association with musical theatre factory (music, performance)
8: sex: a sex worker community revival of mae west's play (theater)
8-11: vanessa anspaugh: the end of men (dance)
8-: martin creed (art)
9: yasunao tone: ai deviation (music)
9-11: wilderness (dance)
9-12: go down, moses (theater)
9-15: til madness do we part (film)
10-12: satellite collective (dance)
10-12: dane terry: west (performance, theater)
10-14: around the world in 5 restorations (film)
10-16: call her applebroog (film)
10-16: tikkun (film)
10-18: human rights watch film festival (film)
11-13: beth b retrospective (film)
11-13: adrienne truscott’s asking for it: a one-lady rape about comedy starring her pussy and little else! (performance, theater)
12: killa (film)
12: charmaine lee and guests (music)
13-19: nyc electro acoustic music festival (music)
14: martin creed and his band (art, music)
14: lea bertucci (music, performance)
14-16: yoshiko chuma: dead end - don't let me down π=3.14 continues (dance)
14-16: b movies: the films of beth b and scott b (film)
14-19: jessica lang dance (dance)
15-26: bam cinemafest (film)
16-18: brooklyn experimental song carnival (music)
17-23: wave rising 2016 (dance)
17-23: cold cases: the department q trilogy and the new nordic noir (film)
17-23: heaven can wait (film)
17-25: minor character (performance, theater)
17-: sense & sensibility (theater)
18: bill t. jones/arnie zane company: dances by dancers 2016 (dance)
18: young choreographers festival (dance)
18: maya deren (film)
18: nikara warren presents: black wall street (music)
18: tongues: performance, panel, and workshop (music)
18-25: that’s not tango—astor piazzolla, a life in music (music, theater)
19: new vintage barqoue (music)
19: solar flare: a celebration of women composers (music)
20: the downtown music gallery 25th anniversary celebration + benefit (music)
20: guys we fucked (performance)
21-23: justin vivian bond: songs of a dendrophile (music, performance)
22-26: 16th annual bicycle film festival (film)
22-: new york asian film festival (film)
22-: nuts! (film)
23: book of love (music)
23-25: chromatic (dance)
23-26: 10 hairy legs: 4th season – 3 world premieres (dance)
24: an evacuation music (music)
24-30: from this day forward (film)
24-: right now, wrong then (film)
25: i see international video art festival: program 1: the end of the image as we know it (art, film)
25: i see international video art festival: program 2: the animal within (art, film)
25: prague–new york effects: helga davis & jiří bartovanec (dance, music, performance)
26: i see international video art festival: program 3: post everything (art, film)
27-: mass rhetoric: a new works festival (theater)
28-29: collectif a directed by astrid bas: let my people go (dance, performance)
30-: sight unseen (music, performance)
30-: i want you to want me (dance, performance)
30-: the animals (theater)