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septiembre 2016

¡hola, difus@s!

in august, to borrow from daniil kharma, i saw nothing…well, almost nothing, apart from the jersey shore. the only performance i caught was pj harvey’s show at terminal five, which was everything i’d hoped it would be. she’s kept her set list and staging very consistent on this tour (cf., her june 18 performance in moscow), so the show is more that, a “show,” than a “concert,” and, as such, an integral part of her larger artistic project that includes film, installation, and literature as well as the album.

of the films i saw, both will you dance with me? and hieronymus bosch: touched by the devil, were terrific for those with significant prior knowledge and / or serious interest but probably less so for others. the former felt like poring over jarman’s sketchbook or diary and left me pondering how much nightlife—and its forms of community and communion—has changed in the two and a half decades since jarman’s filming. while i’ll admit to enjoying lo and behold, reveries of the connected world, it lacked herzog’s usual depth and insight…which, as i read after, may well reflect its status as “branded content,” the focus of jon dieringer's incisve critique for bomb (and you can read more about the film's backing here). an excellent (and certainly more critical) complement, which i streamed at home after seeing the herzog film, is alex gibney’s zerodays. streaming them back-to-back as a double-header makes for an wonderful evening of home viewing.

not that you should be spending your evenings at home, of course. the fall season is upon us, which means our stages and screens are full of things you should be seeing.

dance: joe’s pub kicks off the month with their "dance now festival", and city center ends the month by kicking off its annual "fall for dance" bonanza, which features several premieres by some renowned choreographers. also at the end of the month, the joyce begins a series entitled “new york quadrille,” which looks promising if also uneven. bam presents work by nora chipaumire, holy body tattoo (with live music by personal icons godspeed you! black emperor), and jon jasperse, all of which i’ll be seeing. other shows that i might try and catch include mamela nyamza at abrons, “fast forward” at dixon place, and bruno isaković at la mama. if your tastes run a bit more classical, check out balanchine's gounod symphony at skirball and the “21st century choreographers” program at new york city ballet. also hitting cinemas this month is a film about “bad boy” ukrainian [corrected] ballet star sergei polunin.

music: many personal favorites are playing this month, and i’ve yet to figure out how to see them all. david lang has a new opera at bam, the jack quartet plays in elliot sharp’s vivarium at roulette, international contemporary ensemble continues its openice program at abrons, missy mizzoli’s new opera gets previewed at the guggenheim (the nyc premiere is slated for the prototype festival in january), and nick cave releases a new album via cinemas. (two favorites from my youth are also on stage, federica von stade at carnegie hall, and tiffany—yes, she of “beautiful you: celebrating the good life shopping mall tour ’87”—at wonderbar in asbury park.) other shows i’d like to catch are steve reich: variations, æon music ensemble and dj spooky: music for a sustainable planet, loftopera’s cosi fan tutte, and sama: an american requiem.

performance + theater: three shows top of my list of priorities this month: phaedra(s) and battleground at bam and underground railroad game at ars nova. isabelle huppert is absolutely riveting on stage (as in just about anything she does)—i saw her in quartett twice despite not being able to read the supertitles (or understand the french)—and peter brook is a peerless director; i’m keenly interested in scott shepard’s work and ars nova’s programming more generally. other shows i’d like to see, time-permitting, are pandæmonium at new york live arts, et’teffeh / apples at la mama, mom in the car on the way to the airport at dixon place, and bright colors, bold patterns at barrow street theatre.

art: after the august doldrums, the art world kicks into high gear this month, with a number of performances and films complementing the new exhibitions in museums and galleries. taryn simon has a performance piece at the armory, suzanne bocanegra has a new artist talk at abrons (the last at bam was fantastic), verdensteatret brings a performance-installation to bam, fridman gallery revisits a historic series of performances that issue project room then follows with a series of responses, and anthology presents films of artists jennifer walshe and charlotte moorman. among the museum and gallery shows on view that i want to catch are bruce conner, lynda benglis, stuart davis, tony oursler, zoe leonard, rashid johnson, meleko morgosi, robert polidori, lorna simpson, matthew barney, bruce nauman, walter robinson, sally mann, and elmgreen & dragset.

film: two monumental works by two of the past century’s most influential directors are on screens this month: kieslowski’s dekalog (with a short film about love and a short film about killing included) and fassbinder’s berlin alexanderplatz, which together would occupy roughly a full work week of viewing (if only that were my job!). among the month’s series worth watching are meltdown: nuclear fears on film—which is perfect context for command and control, opening this month—, woman with a camera: female film directors before 1950, kurosawa x 11, the films of robert frank, and the master: philip seymour hoffman. new films opening that i want to see this month are cameraperson, starving the beast, and the apostate.

the full monthly calendar is below, and you can also share all this information with those you love here.

abrazos,
p