[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.]
noviembre 2016
¡hola, difus@s!
work had me away from the city for roughly half the month, and while the travel was great, everything i saw between trips made me sorely wish i’d be here the whole time. 13th and do not resist, which i caught on consecutive nights, were both excellent, unsettling documentaries. while do not resist was more focused and stylistically accomplished, the breadth and depth of research in 13th was impressive, precisely the kind of public scholarship of which we need much, much more. the concerns of both films are present in the background of moonlight, which deserves all the praise it’s been getting. the film is gorgeously acted, beautifully shot, and deeply, achingly human. kelly reichardt’s certain women is also quite astutely observed and rigorously understated, a marked contrast to park chai-wook’s phenomenal “korean gothic lesbian revenge thriller” (emphasis on “thrill”) the handmaiden.
anne teresa de keersmaeker, rachid ouramdane, and jérôme bel made a strong case for europe as the center of modern choreography. (the divide between european and american dance is not unlike the divide between continental and analytic philosophy, and i strongly prefer the former in both cases.) in vortex temporum, de keersmaeker showed once again how unique her understanding of music—and her ability to make movement consubstantial with it—is. her work is so intricately structured and so thoroughly thought through that every performance leaves me wishing i could see it several more times. though bel’s work often demands less technical training from the performers, his the show must go on at the joyce was as intensely structured as de keersmaker’s vortex temporum, and his repetition and layering are absolutely genius. the first few acts were deliberately challenging (an dark theater, an empty stage, a wry deconstruction of a “dance party”), making some of the audience squirm (the joyce crowd tends toward #teampsl basic), but the humor and humanity that followed got everyone on their feet for a rousing ovation. seldom have i seen something so conceptually rigorous be so joyously democratic. rachid ouramdane’s architecture isn't quite as finely wrought as de keersmaeker's s or bel’s, but his shows are as thought-provoking and moving as these peers. his tordre(wrought) was marvelous, with stunning performances by both dancers
i only caught two performances each in music and theater this month. both concerts were at the park avenue armory: the ny philharmonic (i was wishfully mistaken last month in thinking ice was performing) with circle map and the jack quartet with flight. saariaho’s music is gorgeous, and the ny phil’s playing was terrific, which made the use of video rather distracting and, in the latter half of the program, terribly aggravating. jennifer tipton’s lighting design talent could have been but to much better use without a screen, as she could have activated the entire space more fully and focused the audience on the performers. the jack quartet’s performance of roger reynold’s flight was much more successful in its use of video, and the two new members sounded great (partial though i am to the original configuration of the group). the recorded text in the piece, though, was terribly overproduced and overlong. letter to a man, was fine robert wilson, as obliquely narrative (granted, “narrative” is a stretch) and visually arresting as one would expect but also surprisingly gentle (especially given the material). request concert was worthwhile but, for the apparent effort put into updating the work, the director’s loyalty to the original narrative left it feeling dated and, thus, less relevant.
november’s a bit less packed than october, but at least i’m looking forward to being here for all of it:
performance + theater: the performance i’ve most been looking forward to (ardent fanboy that i am) arrives this month, as daniel kitson brings mouse: the persistence of an unlikely thought to st. ann’s. if you haven’t seen him before, you need to. if you have seen him before, you need to see him again. and again. and again. seriously, his work holds up to repeated viewings and close scrutiny; i saw analog.ue and a show for christmas six times (each) and would gladly have seen them more. he is one of the most generous, sensitive, romantic, compassionate, intelligent, rigorous artists working in any form. i’ll also be seeing sarah jones’ sell / buy / date, incredible in workshop at new york live arts in january; i can’t wait to see how it’s evolved. also booked already are ivo van hove’s (who had a great interview in fantastic man) kings of war, a return to the form of his roman tragedies (riveting!), pan pan theatre’s production of beckett’s all that fall, and wooster group’s work-in-progress the b-side: negro folklore from texas state prisons (a record album interpretation). other shows that are high on my list include asymptote, phantasmagoria, or let us seek death, wilderness, ride the cyclone, the return of ulysses, and blacktop highway.
dance: bam has quite a bit of good dance on this month: kyle abraham’s pavement, jonah bokaer and daniel arsham’s rules of the game, compagnie 111’s plexus, and faye driscoll’s thank you for coming: play. nederlands dans theater (about whom i’m admittedly lukewarm but feel i should see again) will be performing at city center, which will also present vail dance festival: remix nyc. kate weare and pioneer lucinda childs both have shows at the joyce this month.
film: paul verhoeven’s buzz-worthy elle arrives mid-month, bringing with it a verhoeven retrospective at the film society and (even better!) an isabelle huppert series at metrograph that includes an abuse of weakness (which played for only one week in new york in august 2014...precisely the week i was on vacation in cherry grove). other single-screening second chances this month include wong kar-wai’s masterpiece happy together (also at metrograph) and kenneth lonergan’s margaret (at museum of the moving image). idiocracy and the prison in twelve landscapes continue this fall’s offering of quality political film. notes on blindness is also very, very high on my list. kicking off at the end of the month is pedro almodóvar’s retrospective at moma (¡por fin! ¡qué emotion!), getting us primed for the december release of his latest, julieta.
art: after attending artbo last week, i’m keen to get to el museo del barrio and see the antonio lopez show before it closes. other current shows i want to catch are gcc, art & language, carolee schneeman (and here), elmgreen & dragset, aki sasamoto, charlotte moorman, william eggleston, and salvatore scarpitta. a number of interesting shows are opening this month, too: jacob kassay, alex da corte, jim hodges, josef albers, matt mullican, ragnar kjartansson, nan goldin, mark rothko, ellen cantor, paul mccarthy, and wade guyton.
music: ice has its carnegie hall debut this month with a steve reich program, the jack quartet joins the le boeuf brothers for an album release at national sawdust, and the met museum presents arvo pärt’s kanon pokajanen. seu jorge pays tribute to david bowie at le poisson rouge, conor oberst gives an “intimate solo performance” at carnegie hall, and theo bleckmann interprets the kate bush songbook at roulette. other shows of note include flanders remembers: music and words from wwi, see you later, fallujah (an opera!), and memory / nostalgia / somesuch thing.
of course, there’s much more to see, as detailed below (which is just, again, a very idiosyncratic list). share the love with those you love here.
abrazos,
p
november / noviembre
1: portrait of a garden (film)
1: three tales: steve reich, music, and beryl korot, video (music)
1-3: crossing the line festival (dance, music, performance)
1-3: 13 cats (film)
1-3: tampopo (film)
1-3: gianfranco rosi (film)
1-5: mark morris dance group: sounds of india (dance)
1-6: bill t. jones / arnie zane company (dance)
1-6: krystof kieslowski: a complete retrospective (film)
1-6: duat (music, theater)
1-6: public enemy (theater)
1-6: plenty (theater)
1-6: phantasmagoria; or, let us seek death (theater)
1-7: tomo uchida (film)
1-13: a life (theater)
1-13: the resistible rise of arturo ui by bertolt brecht (theater)
1-13: wilderness (theater)
1-16: white light festival (art, dance, music, theater)
1-20: sell / buy / date (theater)
1-: certain women (film)
1-: natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812 (music, theater)
1-: sweat (theater)
2: thomas bernhard – three days (film)
2-4: optics 0:0 festival (performance)
2-5: pavement (dance)
2-15: don’t call me son (film)
3: rhys chatham (music)
3: / vanitas / (performance)
3-6: vail dance festival: remix nyc (dance)
3-6: darkmatter presents asymptote (performance)
3-6: kings of war (theater)
4: margaret (film)
4: carolina eyck + acme: fantasias (music)
4: heath quartet (music)
4: salomé chamber orchestra (music)
4-5: idiocracy (film)
4-5: the red krayola (music, performance)
4-10: the prison in twelve landscapes (film)
4-15: bresson on cinema (film)
4-19: blacktop highway (performance, theater)
4-: the gabriels: election year in the life of one family play three: women of a certain age (theater)
5: 12th annual new york short film festival (film)
5: happy together (film)
5: madeleine peyroux (music)
7: chita rivera: nowadays (music, performance)
7: campaigns are like wildfires: an election song cycle (music, theater)
7: the metropolitan opera: l’amour de loin by kaija saariaho (music)
7: tectonic 25! (theater)
9-12: a star has burnt my eyes (theater)
9-12: all that fall (theater)
9-13: kate weare company (dance)
9-13: plexus (dance)
9-19: fear in porcelain (dance)
9-19: the b-side: negro folklore from texas state prisons (a record album interpretation) (theater)
9-23: total verhoeven (film)
9-27: mouse: the persistence of an unlikely thought (theater)
9-: ride the cyclone (theater)
10-11: the commons choir: brooklyn rezound (work-in-progress) (dance, music)
10-12: liz gerring dance company: (t)here to (t)here (dance)
10-12: natalia osipova & artists (dance)
10-12: rules of the game (dance)
10-27: man in snow (theater)
11: anthony cheung (music)
11: seu jorge: the life aquatic – a tribute to david bowie (music)
11-13: new york korean film festival (film)
11-22: memorable fantasies: jorge luis borges & adolfo bioy casares on film (film)
12: andrew bird (music)
12-13: food on film: a weekend with alton brown (film)
13-14: jodi melnick with sara mearns, jared angle, and gretchen smith (dance)
13-15: ensemble acjw (music)
14-16: the return of ulysses (theater)
15: nederlands dans theater with sol león and paul lightfoot (dance)
15: ’stockhausen’s originale: doubletakes,’ expanded (film, music)
16: le boeuf brothers + jack quartet (music)
16-18: brooklyn touring outfit: co. venture (dance, performance)
16-19: nederlands dans theater (dance)
16-19: thank you for coming: play (dance)
16-22: the illinois parables (film)
16-29: notes on blindness (film)\
17: flanders remembers: music and words from wwi (music)
17: meredith monk & ani choying drolma (music)
17-19: ronald k. brown / evidence, a dance company (dance)
17-19: new york no limits summit (film)
17-20: see you later (music)
17-20: fallujah (music)
17-20: memory rings (theater)
17-22: william burke + modesto flako jimenez (theater)
18: ellen reid – memory / nostalgia / somesuch thing (music)
18-19: lary 7: owl movie (film, music)
18-19: tree of life (film, music)
18-19: matt mullican: that person and that world (performance)
18-20: four — one: christopher caines dance (dance)
18-20: kate royal, soprano / joseph middleton, piano (music)
18-20: piano tales (performance, theater)
18-20: cowboy bob (theater)
18-27: ne me quitte pas (don't leave me) (film)
18-: daughters of dust (film)
19: arvo part: kanon pokajanen (music)
19: juilliard415 and the royal conservatoire of the hague (music)
19: la banda morisca: from andalusia to north africa and the near east (music)
19-21: isabelle huppert (film)
19-: josie long: something better (performance, theater)
20: juilliard dance: new dances (dance)
20: new york philharmonic ensembles (music)
20: the meeting* hosted by justin sayre (performance)
22-: othello (theater)
23: an intimate solo performance with conor oberst (music)
25-: baden baden (film)
26: theo bleckmann’s hello earth! the music of kate bush (music)
28-29: versaille, portrait of a royal domain (music)
29: hayden (music)
29-: the lucinda childs dance company (dance)
29-: pedro almodóvar (film)
30: liederabend (music)
30-: joseph cornell’s rose hobart: a collage film at 80 (film)
30-: a gun show (music)