[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.]
marzo 2017
¡hola, difus@s!
this month’s missive will be, like last month, quite brief, partly because i didn’t see nearly as much as i’d have like but mostly because much i did see didn’t leave me with much to say (#meh). the best of the month were two films, markedly different in style and subject but equally relevant and resonant at our crucial historical juncture. i am not your negro is a poetic, near perfect film (its one major flaw has been analyzed quite trenchantly by dagmawi woubshet) that deserves muchpraise and support for elevating james baldwin’s peerless voice in the current discourse on race in the us. his courage to see so clearly, to feel so deeply, and to persevere indefatigably is something to which we should all aspire. (like last summer’s the best of enemies, the documentary also bears devastating witness to how improverished our public discourse has now become.) tony oursler’s mesmerizing imponderable, which i’ll be returning soon to see in its entirety, is a gorgeous meditation on technology and belief, leaving us with much to ponder about our “post-truth” moment and the transformative power (for good and bad) of belief.
the rest of the month was good, but not great. (i would almost say disappointing, except that the democratic party—whose name becomes ever more hypocritical, perhaps “corporatists” and “oligarchs” would be more reflective of the party’s values and leadership, which have long lacked an active commitment to social justice—has a monopoly on disappointment in my life right now.) batsheva dance company’s last work had some moments of absolute beauty (what an opening!) but lacked the consistency and richness of their last bam appearance. mr. gaga, the film about their artistic director ohad naharin, is much more a portrait of charisma than of the choreographer or his choreography, which might well be the director’s subtle, critical point. like naharin, kim david smith is a phenomenally charismatic performer (like the lovechild of justin vivian bond and taylor mac raised by his fairy godmother kylie minogue). good samaritans has all of richard maxwell’s signature touches, but it does deploy them quite as effective as, say, his isolde. if anything, i enjoyed it mostly as the antithesis of la la land. while here lies love is an admittedly high bar for any musical theater experience to clear, i expected much, much more for that creative team’s joan of arc: into the fire, which mostly plays like a fine (if not quite memorable) rock opera. a few numbers, though, were terrific and have stuck with me (especially the torture scene, which was deliciously bizarre).
march should, i hope, prove a bit more satisfying, if only because of the sheer volume of interesting work being presented (see the full calendar below):
art: the armory show arrives this week and brings with it a host of satellite fairs (e.g., the art show, volta). independent, nada, and spring / break are my top pics, and artnews has a handy run-down of the week. after the fair frenzy has died down, there’s plenty to see in the galleries (steve wolfe, pieter hugo, henry chapman, lynn hershman leeson, anne ryan, lawrence weiner, eija-liisa ahtila, sarah morris), the museums (nan goldin, marisa merz, hercules seger, j. m. w. turner, sascha braunig), and in the wild (torbjørn rødland, liz glynn).
film: several great film series on are on this month, including rendezvous with french cinema, reelabilities: ny disabilities film festival, new york feminist film week, new directors / new films (whose line-up is particularly stellar), oshima x godard, and migrating forms (perhaps the most experimental). i’m especially interested in some smaller series: agnès b: les hommes, cinekink: nyc, and cross-dressing on film. oliver assayas’ personal shopper, a huge hit at cannes, opens this month, and metrograph is fêting its arrival with a special showing of his international trilogy. fellow frenchman françois ozon is back on screens this month with frantz, kelly reichardt presents two of her films, and david lynch gets the documentary treatment.
dance: wendy whelan, brian brooks, and brooklyn rider open the month at the joyce, followed by sydney dance company and gauthier dance. dixon place has some potentially interesting showcases throughout the month: underexposed, collective thread, and fast forward. emily coates brings her incarnations to danspace project. apart from the hard nut, i’m not an avid fan of mark morris, but i do like what he does with opera, which has me excited for two operas: an evening of britten and purcell. two other reliably good choreographers, stephen petronio and doug varone, are also on stage at the end of the month.
music: the two performances i’m most looking forward to arrive at carnegie hall at the end of the month: john adam’s latest opera, the gospel according to the other mary, and a concert of his work alongside terry riley’s. at the start of the month, long-time favorites ice return to abrons arts center with their openice series. over at roulette, ginsburg sings works by michel foucault and friedrich nietzsche, which i really, really want to hear. the miller theatre offers some early music with “rediscovering compère”, and the morgan library presents a concert of “three centuries of swedish music.”
performance + theater: new york live arts’ annual live ideas festival has a terrific mix of performing arts, curated this year by mx. justin vivian bond and preceded by a work-in-progress from jack ferver. doug fitch works his stage magic at national sawdust, skirball presents a sampler of contemporary circus, and joe’s pub features x-files burlesque (!!!)—all of which pique my interest. i’m definitely seeing gently down the stream and 887 (though the latter may be the last time i prioritize anything by robert lepage), and, if i can squeeze them in, cry havoc! and frontieres sans frontieres.
as always, the full calendar follows, and you can add anyone you’d like to the mailing list here.
abrazos,
p
march / marzo
1: believer (film)
1: remember the future (theater)
1-2: paraguay remembered (film)
1-4: dadan 2017 (music)
1-4: jen rosenblit & geo wyeth: swivel spot (performance)
1-4: richard maxwell & new york city players: good samaritans (theater)
1-5: wendy whelan / brian brooks / brooklyn rider (dance)
1-5: dreaming of lions (dance)
1-5: the object lesson (performance, theater)
1-8: gimme shelter: hollywood north (film)
1-9: between twilight and dawn: julio bracho and the golden age of mexican cinema (film)
1-12: rendezvous with french cinema (film)
1-14: show & tell (film)
1-16: turning page (theater)
1-18: frontieres sans frontieres (theater)
1-: kiki (film)
1-: joan of arc: into the fire (music, theater)
1-: villa (theater)
1-: the light years (theater)
2: a tribute to mercedes sosa (music)
2-8: reelabilities: ny disabilities film festival (film)
3: call of heroes (film)
3: doug fitch's art gallery variety show (performance, theater)
3-4: circus now! (performance)
3-4: jack ferver: live feed in process: everything is imaginable (performance)
3-5: international human rights arts festival (dance, film, performance, theater)
3-5: idiocracy (film)
3-5: openice (music)
3-7: citizen kane (film)
3-14: ben-gurion: epilogue (film)
3-14: the settlers (film)
3-16: oshima x godard (film)
4: don byron: works for quartet (music)
4: thums up (vijay iyer, himanshu suri, rafiq bhatia, kassa overall) & arooj aftab (music)
4-5: passage through: some soundtracks for brakhage (film, music)
4-28: buster keaton (film)
6: film & notfilm (film)
7: underexposed (dance)
7: kronos quartet & face the music (music)
7: mrs. smith in while my guitar gently shrieks (music, performance)
7-12: sydney dance company (dance)
7-12: new york feminist film week (film)
7-31: i called him morgan (film)
8: one night of excess (music, performance)
8: blackthorn & quindley (theater)
8-11: richard move and moveopolis!: xxyy & martha@…20 (dance)
9-11: the bang group: a mouthful of shoes (dance)
9-11: alan gilbert conducts john adams (music)
9-12: flamenco festival 2017 (dance)
9-12: 1970s canadian independents (film)
9-15: uncertain (film)
10: flamenco festival featuring josemi carmona & javier colina: de cerca presented in association with fundación sgae (dance, music)
10: martha & niki (film)
10: a mouth is not for talking (music, performance)
10: hookin’ or daughters of jerusalem (theater)
10-11: jessica lang dance (dance)
10-16: who’s crazy? (film)
10-21: manhattan (film)
10-: personal shopper (film)
11: collective thread (dance)
11: flamenco festival featuring alfonso aroca: orilla del mundo presented in association with fundación sgae (dance, music)
11: olivier assayas's international trilogy (film)
11: a brief history of brazilian music - andre midani, from vinyl to download (film, music)
11: curtis roads / eric frye (music)
11: the pink room: x-files burlesque (performance)
12: haraamkhor (the wretched) (film)
12: roomful of teeth & nick zammuto (music)
12: mr. & miss liberty continental pageant: kings & queens (performance)
12-: minor theater: the terrifying (theater)
14: broken senses: tracing touch (film)
14: four islands (music)
14-18: agnès b.: les hommes (film)
14-19: live ideas 2017: mx'd messages (art, dance, music, performance)
14-19: gauthier dance (dance)
14-19: cinekink: nyc (film)
14-: gently down the stream (theater)
15: daughters of the dust (film)
15: tortoise (music)
15-19: mark morris: two operas an evening of britten and purcell (dance, music)15-26: new directors / new films (film)
15-28: frantz (film)
15-: cry havoc! (theater)
16: david behrman: “unexpected places” // gisburg sings with michel foucault & friedrich nietzsche (music)
16: three centuries of swedish music (music)
16: queen for a day (performance)
16-18: emily coates: incarnations (dance)
16-19: distant touch: josé val de mar: a retrospective (film)
16-26: 887 (theater)
16-27: otello (music)
17: flamenco festival featuring sonia olla & ismael fernández: raudal (dance, music)
17: robin holcomb: quartet (music)
17: pussy riot theatre (music, performance)
17-18: boomerang (dance)
17-23: taipei story (film)
17-: the singularity (film)
17-: latin history of morons (theater)17-: the profane (theater)
18: flamenco festival featuring uhf: ultra high flamenco presented in association with fundación sgae (dance, music)
18: kelly reichardt (film)
18: jem cohen: gravity hill sound + image with guy picciotto, jim white & george xylouris (film, music)
18: carlos núñez (music)
18-19: joan tewkesbury (film)
18-20: baby, dream your dream: dorothy fields and the women of the american songbook (music)
19: persian arts festival 11th annual nowruz celebration (dance, film, music, performance)
19: the prison in twelve landscapes (film)
20-21: bac salon: janáček + ives (music)
21: fast forward (dance)
21: toby driver / madonnawhore with string noise (music)
21: she was a great dad (theater)
22-23: bac salon: biber + nancarrow (music)
22-31: a woman, a part (film)
22-: the brit new wave: from angry young men to swinging london (film)
23: ellen fisher: time don’t stop for nobody (dance, performance)
23: verano (part of "if you can screen it there: premiering contemporary latin american cinema”) (film)
23: kabir carter: feelings are rooms (music)
23-26: quixote (music, performance)
23-31: cross-dressing on screen (film)
24: american composers orchestra: orchestra underground: past forward (music)
24: falu’s bollywood orchestra (music)
24-25: jillian peña (dance)
24-30: migrating forms (film)
24-: prevenge (film)
24-: vanity fair (theater)
25: it all started at the end (film)
25: rediscovering compère (music)
25-: the hairy ape (theater)
26: love lives of sea creatures: films by jean painlevé, isabella rossellini, and roberto rossellini (film)
27: prize winners from the 2nd austrian american short film festival (film, music)
27: steve lehman & sélébéyone (music)
27: tubman (theater)
28: broken senses: tightly bound consciousness (film)
28: deathprod / jeremy gara (music)
28-: stephen petronio dance company (dance)
29: 8 in show (dance)
29: the music of anna clyne with mivos quartet (music)
29: the summis auspiciis concert (music)
29-: doug varone and dancers (dance)
29-: ursula eagly: pieces with gaps for each other (dance)
29-: yackez (larissa & jon velez-jackson): give it to you stage (dance)
29-: jean-pierre léaud (film)
29-: karl marx city (film)
30: cantata profana: two-part invention featuring gleb kanasevich & jacob ashworth (music)
30: three generations: john adams and terry riley (music)
30-: aynsley vandenbroucke: and (performance)
31-: the death of louis xiv (film)
31: tony conrad: completely in the present (art, film, music)
31: john adams's the gospel according to the other mary (music)
31-: buñuel in france (film)
31-: david lynch: the art of life (film)