[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.]
enero 2017
¡feliz año, difus@s!
though december offered little geopolitical cause for hope in the wake of november’s events, it did provide some compelling examples of ways in which art can reflect, empower, and transform the world. the critical task, as justin vivian bond enjoined the audience the night i saw the bipolar express, is to get that art out beyond our urban enclaves and into communities and classrooms across the country—just as we need to dispense with outsourcing politics (i.e., voting once every two to four years or consuming “ethically”) and start living politics through sustained community involvement.
among the most politically incisive—and, at least theoretically, easily disseminated—were the films i, daniel blake and toni erdmann. the former is some of ken loach’s best work, direct and honest with a deeply committed team of actors. the story could easily have been overwrought or, as friend put it, “ham-fisted,” but the film’s restraint and subtlety (even the two plot twists verging on melodramatic are scrupulously underplayed) make it terrifyingly realistic. as jonathan romney has trenchantly examined, the film urgently calls attention to how our language shapes—and too often limits—our action. equally subtle but comic instead of tragic, toni erdmann is a riotous, searing critique of conformity and, more deeply, neoliberal subjectivity (especially the muted affect of its characters). the actors, particularly sandra hüller, are phenomenal, and the script is intricately layered but exquisitely balanced. i’ll certainly see it again this month. less overtly political but still politically engaged, pablo larraín’s neruda and jackie are poetic meditations on history, politics, representation, and memory; his obsession with history is akin to sokurov's, and i wonder if he might build these two films into a counterpart to sokurov’s tetralogy of power.
on stage, queer politics were the focus of much of what i saw last month. homos, or everyone in america was an incidental allegory of this election year. the milieu it depicts (and with which i identify more than i'd probably like to admit, cf., the outs) is so acutely observed and portrayed that i worried the show might not transcend that bubble and resonate with other audiences...until that bubble shattered in a deviating, heart-breaking moment of violence, based on a 2011 crime and even more resonant now. also directed by michael urie, bright colors and bold patterns is a tour de force; drew droege’s wit is razor sharp, and his pop culture knowledge is encylopedic—but that much was already evident from his chloe series. what i hadn’t expected was just what an accomplished stage actor he is; the emotional arc of the show included some very dark, heartfelt turns that he navigated deftly, and the other three characters, present only in his reactions to them, felt as fully realized as if he’d had actual actors (and good ones at that) on stage. next faggot nation, a work in progress, was very promising but, even for being admittedly inchoate, terribly unfocused. some of the vignettes were terrific but lacked any framework that allowed them to cohere (unlike, say, bootycandy); similarly, the interviews, while occasionally illuminating, felt more like directorial status-signaling than artistic ethnography. what all three works shared was an urgent questioning of the contemporary status of gay culture, especially after years of assimilationism and complacency.
among the month’s other gifts were gorgeous performances by several personal favorites. claire chase’s density 2036: part iv was an absolutely sublime fusion of sound, light, and movement. the tallis scholars’ christmas program was, as their work always is, simply gorgeous, and the hard nut is something i’ll never tire of watching. the magnetic fields’ two-night concert at bam (program a was rather lively while program b was more brooding) reaffirmed my love of stephin merritt; the album will be out in march, and you should definitely get a copy. lucinda childs’ dance brought movement and video together more cohesively than anything i’ve seen before. isabelle huppert simply can do wrong, as things to come proved once again; with any other actress, the film might have lagged, but she made its quietness profoundly moving. ditto for cate blanchett in manifesto (which is also one of the best video installations i’ve seen since derek jarman at now disappeared x initiative in 2009). l’amour de loin was beautiful in a lot ways but, as a whole, a bit underwhelming.
the holidays can leave one (and one’s budget) rather exhausted, but january’s got much to perk us up without breaking the bank.
performance + theater: january means apap (association of performing arts presenters) nyc, which means a surfeit of performance, theater, and dance, generally clustered in annual festivals: under the radar, coil, american realness, full disclosure, special effects, and la mama’s squirts: generations of queer performance. these festivals bring together such a wide range of work at such reasonable prices that rather than recommend any specific shows, i encourage you to take some risks and experiment with whatever catches your eye. outside (or, in some cases, around) the festivals, dynasty handbag, justin vivian bond, and pwr bttm all perform at joe’s pub; chris tyler seeks to “make america gay again” (yes, please!) at arsnova; the invisible dog presents roseroserose; and nora burns (whose work as part of unitards i love) brings david’s friend to la mama. i’m especially psyched to see druid’s the beauty queen of leenane; their production of the walworth farce (also written by martin mcdonagh) remains one of the best (read “devastatingly good”) theatrical experiences i’ve ever had.
dance: the apap frenzy isn’t limited to theater. both coil and american realness prominently feature dance, and american dance platform at the joyce and adf @ dixonplace are strictly dance-focused. liveartery at new york live arts is primarily dance but also includes some multi-disciplinary performance. other performances on my radar this month include bastard (the painted bird part 1), l-e-v, sweat baby sweat, and i dream of the elections. also of note for dance enthusiasts is the screening of adam pendleton’s just back from los angeles: a portrait of yvonne rainer at anthology.
music: the musical centerpiece of the month is the prototype festival of new opera, which underscores (as if the point needed any reinforcement) just how staid and timid (put more bluntly, #irrelevant) the met is. the kaufmann center adds to that argument by presenting insightalt: the life(s) and death(s) of alan turing. for the less opera-inclined, the winter jazzfest is on early in the month. (both opera and jazz lovers should book tickets now for champion, playing at the washington national opera in march. based on a fascinating piece of sports, race, and gay history, champion is precisely what’s missing from the met’s—#metsowhite?—programming.) also high on the month’s list of musical priorities are jack quartet at le poisson rouge and brooklyn public library, ice (international contemporary ensemble) at abrons, new york polyphony at the church of st. mary the virgin, bang on a can all-stars at kaufmann, and ute lemper at 54 below.
film: though i often grouse about the film society at lincoln center, i’ll refrain from doing so this year (#resolutions) because their “illuminating moonlight” series is one of the most exquisite, compact collections of films to be screened in the city, at least in the decade i’ve been here. see. them. all. (and, if any of you know dennis lim, the curator, personally, please give him a huge, huge hug for me.) the “certain women” series at metrograph includes lucrecia martel’s the headless woman, a rare chance to see the work of a phenomenal director (her first three films are all stunning, and i’m hoping we’ll see another soon). two brilliantly titled series confront the imminent change in the white house—“inauguration of the displeasure dome: coping with the election” at anthology and “autocratic for the people: an unpresidented series of star-spangled satires” at ifc—while “based on a book by patricia highsmith” provides an escapist alternative. other films that i’d like to catch include hotel dallas, ma (which made many of the year’s best of film lists i read), staying vertical, and the two “broken senses” programs at anthology (“broken vision” and “synesthetic memory”).
art: besides trying to catch several museum shows—and manifesto again—before they close, i’m determined to start catching museum shows when they open (#resolutions). to that end, i’ll definitely seeing the much-anticipated inventing downtown: artist-run galleries in new york, 1952–1965 before the month’s end. a few gallery shows i want to catch are aline kominsky-crumb & r. crumb, “the love object,” katharina grosse, rita lundqvist, hannah van bart, susan lipper, and jim torok. film forum also has a double-feature about two women artists (elizabeth murray and carmen herrera) that merits viewing.
as always, the full calendar follows, and you can add anyone you’d like to the mailing list here.
abrazos,
p
january / enero
1-8: manifesto (art, film)
1-12: neruda (film)
1-19: i, daniel blake (film)
1-: toni erdmann (film)
2: dynasty handbag: i an, moron (performance)
3-8: american dance platform (dance)
3-22: coil 2017 (dance, music, performance)
4-8: bastard (the painted bird: part 1) (dance)
4-9: illuminating moonlight (film)
4-12: marcel pagnol's marseille triology (film)
4-15: under the radar 2017 (theater)
5: justin vivian bond shows up (music, performance)
5: showgasm (performance)
5-7: adf @ dixonplace (dance)
5-8: confucius (dance)
5-9: penny allen (film)
5-10: nyc winter jazz fest (music)
5-12: american realness festival (dance, performance, theater)
5-15: prototype festival 2017 (music, performance)
6: time for three (music)
6-7: great awakening (music, performance)
6-7: out of israel (dance)
6-8: full disclosure (performance, theater)
6-9: liveartery (dance, performance)
6-9: special effects festival (performance, theater)
6-15: candide (music, theater)
6-15: la mama’s squirts: generations of queer performance (performance)
6-16: first look 2017 (film)
6-22: certain women (film)
6-: between us (film)
7: michael gingold’s movie madness (film)
7: pwr bttm (music, performance)
7-11: ute lemper (music)
7-15: david lang / mark dion: anatomy theater (music)
8: blonde redhead feat. acme: an intimate public concert and apap showcase (early) (music)
8: blonde redhead feat. acme: an intimate public concert and apap showcase (late) (music)
8: new york philharmonic ensembles (music)
8-9: new york city ballet: pontus lidberg (dance)
9: bang on a can all-stars people's commissioning fund concert (music)
9: just back from los angeles: a portrait of yvonne rainer (dance, film)
9-13: eric rohmer (film)
10: charlie haden’s liberation music orchestra: a concert for social justice (music)
10-12: aldo tambellini (art, film)
10-: porto (theater)
11: facelessness plays unlikelihoods (music)
11: hotel dallas (film)
11-15 l-e-v (dance)
11-17: everybody knows…elizabeth murrary & the 100 years show (film)
11-24: new york jewish film festival (film)
11-: the beauty queen of leenane (theater)
12: pwr bttm (music, performance)
12: the life and death(s) of alan turing (music)
12: verve, veritas and virtuosity: music of haydn, beethoven, and weber (music)
12-14: a study on effort (dance)
13: i beg your parton: addie sings dolly (music)
13-14: funeral doom spiritual (music)
13-15: inventing downtown (art, film)
13-19: pirandello 150 (film)
13-: alone in berlin (film)
13-: ma (film)
13-: autocratic for the people: an unpresidented series of star-spangled satires (film)
14: chamberfest 2017 (music)
14: manhattan chamber players: inspired by the homeland – the music of antonín dvořák and jp jofre (music)
14: new chamber music with voice (music)
14-15: brooklyn youth chorus: silent voices (music)
16: medeski, martin, & wood (music)
16: sama: an american requiem (music)
16-: sons of joseph (film)
17: broken senses: broken vision (film)
17: fast forward (dance)
17: medeski, martin, & wood (music)
18: make america gay again (performance)
18: medeski, martin, & wood (music)
18-22: bodytraffic (dance)
18-31: leonard cohen: bird on a wire (film)
18-: show & tell (film)
19: adam tendler w/ jack quartet – serial copland (music)
19: navajazo (part of "if you can screen it there: premiering contemporary latin american cinema”) (film)
19-20: i dream of the elections (dance, performance)
19-23: based on a book by patricia highsmith (film)
20-22: sound departures 2017 (music)
20-24: inauguration of the displeasure dome: coping with the election (film)
20-29: starless dreams (film)
21: palestrina’s marcellus mass (music)
22: orange julius (theater)
23: harmony (dance)
23: openice (music)
24: glass, concrete & steel: christopher coritsidis, violin & eduard laurel, piano (music)
24: pyotr the great (music)
25: san fermin & now ensemble (music)
25-29: our secrets (theater)
26: campfire! queer storytime (performance)
26-28: paulina olowska: slavic goddesses—a wreath of ceremonies (performance, theater)
26-29: blind: strength in vulnerability (dance)
26-29: golgotha (theater)
26-31: neighboring scenes (film)
27: roseroserose (performance)
27: the sound of colors / pictures at an exhibition (art, music)
27: wuthering heights (…just the height points…) (performance, theater)
27-28: jan martens/grip: sweat baby sweat (dance)
27-: david’s friend (theater)
27-: staying vertical (film)
28: anaïs maviel & michael bisio (music)
28-29: john cohen (art, film)
29: jack quartet (music)
29-30: miami city ballet: the fairy’s kiss by alexei ratmansky (dance)
30: the unwritten law (theater)
31: broken senses: synesthetic memory (film)
31: bruckner orchestra linz: celebrating philip glass's 80th birthday (music)
31: chinese new year celebration (music)
31: underexposed (dance)
31-: the object lesson (performance, theater)