[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.]
diciembre 2016
¡hola, difus@s!
november was, to quote my previous therapist, “shocking, but not surprising,” especially given the global context from which america so often considers itself separate. now, i’ll admit, was not the time i wanted irrefutable, unavoidable evidence that american exceptionalism has always been a dangerous fiction, but politics is the solution—democratic politics in which empathy, critical reflection (not least about our oracular relationship to statistical modeling and computational reason), and art have profound, urgent roles. the bulk of what i saw in november comprised one-person shows, and each, in its way, embodied qualities sorely missing from the month’s political discourse. (the presidential campaigns were, effectively, one-person shows of the worst sort.)
sarah jones’ sell / buy / date tackled the complex issue of sex work with such wit and grace (and even levity!) that it disarmed the audience while drawing them in to a nuanced, thorough exploration of labor, race, and gender—all without falling into the now oft-cited false binary of political economy vs. identity politics. indeed, the family dynamic that underpins the show’s narrative effects a very trenchant critique of identity politics and academic knowledge production.
the wooster group’s the b-side (not entirely a one-person show but close) also began on a pedagogical note—the album being interpreted was an ethnomusicological recording—that, in contrast to jones’ framing, put the audience at a certain remove, a very shrewd directorial decision that probably frustrated the audience’s default expectations (think white tourists in harlem on sunday morning looking for a church service) and, thus, productively complicated their default thinking about race. that initial distancing made the later impact of hearing the music (sung by forced laborers at a texas penitentiary in 1965) and watching a young man wrestle with his relationship to the music’s history all the more visceral.
gideon irving’s my name is gideon continues the focus on hospitality—and the intimacy and vulnerability it implies—that is central to his practice. he’s an endlessly charming and talented performer, so his shows are always a delight. in contrast to his living room shows, this more conventional setting felt less cohesive and cogent, largely because he seemed distracted with stage tricks. (note to gideon: remember “the spandex rule”, i.e., just because you can doesn’t mean you should.) the final trick, though, is pure magic.
daniel kitson’s mouse – the persistence of an unlikely thought was, in many ways, a summa of (most) all his work to date—with subtle nods to a show for christmas, it’s always right now until its later, analog.ue, and several others i’ve only read about—and a deeply (perhaps deceptively so) philosophical treatise on communication and connection, on knowledge and belief, on love and doubt. he made an off-handed remark during one performance about his working with “ontological duality” (consistently evident in his narrative structure), and, while that phrase might sound egregiously pretentious coming from some other artists (several immediately come to mind), it quite accurately sums up just what makes him so special: he has a way of occupying an impossible subject position, say, between scrupulous misanthropy and unabashed humanism—or, to use his words, between “paralyzing doubt” and “joyous, burgeoning certainty.” his commitment to plumbing and sharing that liminal (parallactic?) space is truly extraordinary. for me, his use of “ontological duality” recalls miwon kwon’s exegesis of the phrase “fragile truce” that felix gonzalez-torres wrote on the back of a snapshot postcard: “but what did he mean by ‘fragile truce’? truce is … is a suspension, in other words, in an artificially constructed zone of unreality, an imaginary stopping of time, and a vulnerable state of peace. in the end, i have no conclusion about what felix meant by fragile truce. but i would like to think that he was describing love. since love is a fragile truce hovering between self-rescue and self-obliteration.”
while i did spend a third of the month seeing daniel kitson (literally, i saw him 10 times, which was an unprecedented experience for me with any performance / performer, though not with film), i managed to see a number of other good shows. ice and so percussion were in excellent form at the steve reich program at carnegie hall, and ice played beautifully as part of the mannes school of music’s presentation of saariaho’s la passione de simone. kyle abraham’s pavement at bam, which i finally got to see in its entirety, and lucinda childs dance company’s program a at the joyce were welcome reminders of how great american choreography can be. abraham’s work is tender and tough, deeply political but never heavy-handed. childs’ dances are exercises in sublime precision, the very best kind of minimalism. kings of war had ivo van hove at the top of his game; the five-hour show was sharply focused, amazingly staged (visualizing the "corridors of power" quite brilliantly), with exceptionally well integrated live (and recorded) video and live music. that it only played four times is an epic tragedy. all that fall was also gorgeously designed and executed (though beckett is, admittedly, often less viscerally engaging than shakespeare). notes on blindness is a film of extraordinary, quiet beauty and profound courage and vitality. (apropos vitality, if i have half of chita rivera’s vim and vigor when i’m anywhere near her age, i’ll have done something right. ditto for isabelle huppert, who was delight to watch in elle…which i did enjoy but left craving a new claire denis movie.)
of the rest, jonah bokaer’s the rules of the game had some crisp, elegant movement and a great score (surprisingly so, honestly), but the piece lacked the depth or humor of pina bausch, an obvious influence. similarly, compagnie 111’s plexus had a great set piece and a charismatic performer but never really figured out what to do with either. faye driscoll’s thank you for coming: play had every pretense of depth, and i understand how her work must look good to grant selection committees (i.e., on paper or in short recorded segments)…but i won’t bother seeing any more of it myself. a gun show was a noble attempt but a dismal failure, an object lesson in "more is less". because so percussion are such consummate performers and because their art has so much inherent drama and choreography, ain gordon should have just built the piece around them. including visual artist emily johnson was utterly counterproductive, making the piece feel less like a statement on gun control and more like some aesthetic sibling drama: kid sister desperately tries to keep up with patient older brothers. (for the record, working in "performance" does not automatically qualify one as a performer, and not every work of art needs every kind of artist involved. furthermore, visual artists need to show a bit more respect for the discipline of choreography. the “appropriation” of it, e.g., as “body-based work” in ms. johnson’s case or as “remixing” in ryan mcnamara’s case, participates in some deeply problematic and ethically dubious labor politics.)
the last month of the year brings plenty to enjoy, with or without any holiday trimmings:
dance: though classic takes on the nutcracker will certainly be the month’s most popular dance ticket, mark morris’ the hard nut is mine, and this year will be my third time relishing it. (other twisted takes on the nutcracker that i’m curious about are nutcracker rouge and yule shul vs. nutcracker: rated r – a love show holiday extravaganza.) les ballets trockadero de monte carlo return to the joyce with their all-male ballet that is as reverent about technique as it is irreverent about all else (and that is exactly how i like my ballet). just before the trocks arrive, the lucida childs dance company finishes its run. other performances worth looking into include xaviera simmons at the kitchen, both “crossing boundaries” and “moving men” at dixon, “new dances: edition 2016” at lincoln center, and “paul taylor’s early repertory: dances from 1956 – 1962” at the 92y.
performance + theater: gideon irving continues his run at rattlestick, and, despite preferring his living room shows, i do highly recommend seeing him. geoff sobelle, who share a certain sensibility with gideon, has a work-in-progress performance of his home at bric. geoff will be bringing his award-winning the object lesson to new york theatre workshop this spring, so take this chance to get familiar with his work now. the builders association’s elements of oz comes to the city at the start of the month; i saw it at montclair state last year and am curious as to how it’s evolved. (ditto for penny arcade’s longing lasts longer, which i saw in workshops at joe’s pub.) another film-related show that i’ll be seeing is in between silence, where we really exist at barrow street theatre, where i’ll also be catching bright patterns and bold colors (because i missed its earlier one-weekend run). after the election, i want to take in (and put out) all the queer culture i can, so homos, or everyone in america and next faggot nation are definitely on the calendar. for some more holiday-specific fare, check out isaac oliver’s lonely christmas, an actor’s christmas, vodka is the reason for the season, or reverend billy and the stop shopping choir.
music: claire chase’s density 2036: part iv gets the month off to an auspicious start; each part of this project has taken claire’s phenomenal talents to new heights, so i’m particularly excited for this performance. i’m also quite excited to see saariaho’s l’amour de loin at the met, the magnetic fields’ 50 song memoir (both program a and program b) at bam, and the tallis scholars’ a renaissance christmas at the church of st. mary the virgin (courtesy of the miller theatre), holiday music in gilbert court at the morgan, and justin vivian bond’s bipolar express at joe’s pub. other shows on my wish list include the secret trio at roulette, loftopera’s macbeth, an die fernen geliebten: monodramas by beethoven and jeremy gill at national sawdust, "experimental music year book" at invisible dog, and memory city at issue project room. for new year’s eve, check out thurston moore at the stone.
film: three must-see series this month (in addition to the pedro almodóvar retrospective that began last month) are busby berkeley at film forum (gold diggers of 1933 is essential viewing for numbers like “shadow waltz” and “we’re in the money”), maggie cheung: center stage at metrograph (if you’re not familiar with her, this profile is worth reading), and best film not playing at a theater near you (a very laudable gift from moma). to complement the queer theater mentioned above, i really want to catch lionel soukaz: a queer avant-garde pioneer, desert hearts (because i’m also fascinated by the 1930s divorce economy in reno since seeing the women), and 149 lewis. pablo larraín’s (i’ve been a fan since seeing his remarkable no) neruda arrives this month, and the raul ruíz retrospective at film society provides an excellent opportunity to explore more chilean cinema. other films i’ll definitely catch during my annual inter-holiday movie binge (if not before) are i, daniel blake, i am not your negro, ghostland, and julieta.
art: my favorite art event this month is not in galleries or museums but on newsstands (ok, yeah, and online): the december issue of artforum. their “best of” lists are far and away the most incisive summaries of the year’s highlights and are also terrific sources for discovery. besides that, i really hope to catch all the museums shows i’ve been neglecting, including insecurities: tracing displacement and shelter at moma. i also want to start early on my new year’s resolutions and make a concerted effort to seek out and support the work of women artists: mierle laderman ukeles: maintenance art at the queens museum, marilyn minter: pretty / dirty at the brooklyn museum, agnes martin at the guggenheim, joan mitchell at cheim & read, sara deraedt at at essex street, andrea grützner at julie saul gallery and rosemary mayer at southfirst.
you can give the gift of pablo difuso to your loved ones for free by adding them to the list, but i’d encourage you all to think about supporting the arts through your gift-giving, whether that’s by gifting your loved ones memberships to organizations or by making donations in their honor. i’m obviously a huge advocate for supporting our local institutions, but i urge you to consider supporting arts organizations farther afield, ones that are very much on the front lines of the political struggles rendered so visible in these elections. the salina arts center is just one example, but one that is very close to my heart because its cinema (which is bringing films like loving and moonlight to a town of 47,846 in the middle of kansas) was my refuge when i most needed it.
¡felices fiestas, querid@s difus@s!
abrazos,
p
december / diciembre
1: baden baden (film)
1: missy mazzoli // gabi (music)
1: adrienne truscott’s asking for it: a one-lady rape about comedy starring her pussy and little else! (performance)
1-2: claire chase: density 2036: part iv (music, performance)
1-3: a gun show (music)
1-3: josie long: something better (performance, theater)
1-3: la sirene: rutas de azucar (performance, theater)
1-3: elements of oz (theater)
1-4: joseph cornell’s rose hobart: a collage film at 80 (film)
1-4: the gabriels: election year in the life of one family play three: women of a certain age (theater)
1-5: daughters of dust (film)
1-11: the lucinda childs dance company (dance)
1-11: penny arcade: longing lasts longer (performance, theater)
1-11: homos, or everyone in america (theater)
1-11: my name is gideon (theater)
1-16: ride the cyclone (theater)
1-17: pedro almodóvar (film)
1-18: sweat (theater)
1-18: clover (theater)
1-29: l’amour de loin (music)
1-: natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812 (music, theater)
1-: nutcracker rouge (music, theater)
1-: othello (theater)
2: le pont du nord (film)
2: the magnetic fields: a 50 song memoir (program a) (music)
2-3: pam ann: air bitch (performance)
2-5: lionel soukaz: a queer avant-garde pioneer (film)
2-8: desert hearts (film)
2-11: dark hopper (film)
2-15: things to come (film)
2-17: wonder / through the looking-glass houses (dance)
2-17: anna christie (theater)
2-22: life is a dream: the films of raúl ruiz (part 1) (film)
3: michael barker's western triple feature (film)
3: marwencol (art, film)
3: the magnetic fields: a 50 song memoir (program b) (music)
3: the secret trio: tamer pinarbasi, ismail lumanovski & ara dinkjian (music)
3: xiii encuentro nyc colombian music festival (music)
3: a tunnel year (performance)
3: motherland (performance)
3: the weakness in me (theater)
3-13: in between silence, where we really exist (theater)
3-28: performance | portrait by a canary torsi (art, performance)
4: conflicted journeys (dance)
4: platform (film)
4: paris, texas (film)
4: steve swell’s kende dreams (music)
4: reverend billy and the stop shopping choir (performance)
5: face the music: large ensembles and string quartets (music)
5: tori scott: vodka is the reason for the season (performance)
6: crossing boundaries (dance)
6: ensemble acjw (music)
6: iron & coal (music)
6-11: the winter's tale (theater)
7: i am not your negro (film)
7: the magic of too late (theater)
7-11: new dances: edition 2016 (dance)
7-12: peter hutton (film)
7-13: busby berkeley (film)
7-: manifesto (art)
8: when we said no (performance)
8-9: xaviera simmons: coded (dance, performance)
8-9: geoff sobelle: home (work-in-progress) (performance, theater)
8-18: macbeth (music)
8-31: maggie cheung: center stage (film)
9: yoshimio / susie ibarra / robert aiki aubrey lowe trio (music)
9: david virelles: antenna (music)
9: the martha graham cracker cabaret (performance)
9: isaac oliver's lonely christmas (theater)
9-10: almost ibsen (theater)
9-15: i am not your negro (film)
9-15: apparatus films (film)
9-17: sonya tayeh: you'll still call me by name (dance, performance)
10: joe carducci: requiem for the living picture (film)
10: tallis scholars: a renaissance christmas (music)
10: issue year end party: id m theft able / lea bertucci & chris mcintyre (music)
10: steve reich celebration: repercussion (music)
10: an actor's christmas (theater)
10-18: the hard nut (dance)
10-30: christmas at metrograph (film)
11: baroque collection: italian splendor (music)
11: reverend billy and the stop shopping choir (performance)
12: design for living (theater)
12-23: justin vivian bond: bipolar express (music, performance)
12-23: nina conti: in your face (performance, theater)
13: moving men (dance)
13: kristin kontrol (in-the-round) (music)
13: an die fernen geliebten: monodramas by beethoven and jeremy gill (music)
13-31: les ballets trockadero de monte carlo (dance)
14: 195 lewis (film)
14: liederabend (music)
14: talea ensemble (music)
14: a ‘winterreise’ for the 21st century (music)
14: bowen yang: findings (performance, theater)
14-27: ghostland (film)
15: beavis and butt-head do america (film)
15: joyce didonato: in war and peace: harmony through music (music)
15: ghost ensemble (music)
15-30: bright colors and bold patterns (theater)
16: holiday music in gilbert court (music)
16: experimental music year book (music)
16: memory city (music)
16: peculiar violence: a music recital for the gift-based holidays (music, performance)
16-17: walter dundervill: live feed in process: skybox (dance)
16-18: paul taylor's early repertory: dances from 1956-1962 performed by taylor 2 (dance)
16-19: best film not playing at a theater near you (film)
16-22: short stay (film)
16-22: the dumb girl of portici (film)
16-: neruda (film)
18: brandenberg concertos (music)
18: reverend billy and the stop shopping choir (performance)
20: beavis and butt-head do america (film)
20: next faggot nation (performance)
21: phill niblock: 6 hours of music and film (film, music)
22-23: i was born, but… (film)
22-23: there was a father (film)
22-23: yule shul vs. nutcracker: rated r – a love show holiday extravaganza (performance)
23: holiday music in gilbert court (music)
23-: i, daniel blake (film)
31: thurston moore—new year's improv concert (music)