[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.]
abril 2017
¡hola, difus@s!
the best things i saw in march all seemed to subvert or transcend (sometimes both) the genres (or traditions, if you want) within which they were working. in film, kedi turned the internet cat video (and nature documentary) into a profound and poetic meditation on history, urbanism, and interspecies relationships; get out was a formally by-the-book horror movie made all the more terrifying and urgent by its trenchant social commentary; and the giant (screened in the new directors / new films series) made the underdog sports movie into something absolutely affecting and deeply human. in dance, anne teresa de keersmaeker re-interpreted her vortex temporum to question the boundaries of dance, performance, and exhibition under the title work / travail / arbeid—and the results were sublime. in opera, john adams’ the gospel according to the other mary reworked the passion play to focus on jesus’ female disciples and contemporary social justice issues (e.g., by incorporating dorothy day's journals into the libretto). had i only seen these five works, the month would have been more than satisfying.
much of the rest i saw was good, which made the month even better. champion at the kennedy center is rather uneven, but it deserves the chance to evolve and mature through performance (the met really should take this on). mark morris’ two operas were very enjoyable; i preferred the britten for its spareness, as the purcell featured classic morris choreography, which is a bit too broad for my taste. every bit as american as morris stylistically, the paul taylor show i saw at lincoln center was most notable for its presentation of merce cunningham’s summerspace, which was a marked contrast to taylor’s heavy-handed narrative and empty formalism. doug varone’s narrative interpretation of philip glass was a bit more poetic, but i always leave his shows feeling like his musical reach exceeds his choreographic grasp. he has a terrific ear—the music by glass, julia wolfe, and michael gordon—was dense and complex, but the movement, valiant in its attempts, never achieved the union that, say, de keersmaeker’s work does. stephen petronio’s “bloodlines” project is a phenomenal initiative, but the rainer and paxton pieces in his latest show at the joyce far eclipsed his own work (though its last few minutes were truly gorgeous).
robert lepage’s 887 took on some worthy themes (memory, family, separatist politics) and featured gorgeous production (exquisite sets and video), but it lacked the sublimeness of the emigrants and the vitality of tarnation. like all of lepage's work i've seen (which, admittedly, may be biased towards "late style"), it was much too safe aesthetically, intellectually, politically…and much too unaware of that quality (he, like much of his audience, clearly overestimates his relationship to risk and depth) for me to want to continue seeing his work. the two-thirds of olivier assayas’ “international triology” that i saw, clean and boarding gate (kim gordon barking orders in cantonese—i think—while chasing asia argento may be the coolest thing i’ve seen on film), were somewhat underwhelming, but i still want to see personal shopper.
finally, kiki, the pig iron school show at dixon, and sundown, yellow moon all left me thinking, “the kids are all right,” and wanting to get out and see more student and emerging performers’ work…where else does one look for hope these days, right?
april’s a relatively quiet month (if the full listings at the end of these missives are anything to go by), but there’s plenty to keep one busy:
dance: this weekend, anne teresa de keersmaeker’s work / travail / arbeid is at moma, which sets a high bar from the rest of the month. much of the work on offer should at least get close to de keersmaeker’s level of artistry. compagnie cndc-angers / robert swinston brings some of merce cunningham’s classics to the joyce, okwui okpokwasili’s poor people's tv room is at new york live arts, and jimena paz’s yellow is at the chocolate factory. new york city ballet actually has good contemporary programs featuring christopher wheedon and alexei ratmansky (i think justin peck is generally overrated). some other shows that might be worth exploring include the story of tap…etc., doug elkins choreography, etc., and james sewall ballet’s titticut follies.
music: "a nonesuch celebration" at bam should get the month off to a fantastic start. carnegie hall has a trio of concerts under the heading “three generations”, all of which look good, especially the first (arvo pärt, philip glass, steve reich) and second (david lang, julia wolfe, michael gordon). symphony space has several interesting shows: le mystere des voix bulgares, cutting edge concerts new music festival, new chamber music, and “wall to wall steve reich.” the morgan hosts a concert with dawn upshaw. at the end of the month, the mata festival arrives at the kitchen, a week-long openice takes place at abrons, and the red bull music academy kicks off. also on my short list for the month are charlemagne palestine & rhys chatham duo, new york polyphony, “sing like a man,” and leif ove andsnes.
performance + theater: given how good the flick was, i really want to see annie baker’s new work, the antipodes. richard maxwell also has a new play, samara, that is high on my list. two other (not new) plays i’d like to check out are sweeney todd and venus. arsnova has a one night stand-up show called you’ve changed: a remedial sex ed course for adults (date night, anyone?), and dixon place has a show that seems right up my alley (since i’m drawn to one-person shows), this is not a monologue (about spalding gray).
art: i have to see the raymond pettibon show and the latin american video art show before they close, and i probably should see the half of the whitney biennial that i missed last month (lest i contribute to the metastasis of uniformed commentary). other shows on my to-see list, especially if the weather warms up, include “one” at we buy gold, “the intricacies of love” at bronxartspace, “do what i want: selections for the arthur russell papers” at bam, “march madness” at fort gansevoort, paul chan at greene naftali, sue williams at 303 gallery, agnès varda at blum & poe, lawrence weiner at marian goodman, alice neel at david zwirner, and olafur elisasson at tonya bonakdar.
film: the film i’m most excited to see this month is do what i want: arthur russell on film (which is especially fitting since i first discovered his work on a film soundtrack). moma has great series of contemporary latin american and early czech film. metrograph pairs jeanne dielman and wanda to celebrate the publication of durga chew-bode’s too much and not in the mood. the museum of the moving image screes johnnie to’s latest, three. two new features, glory and obit., arrive at film forum at the end of the month.
as always, the full calendar follows, and you can add anyone you’d like to the mailing list here.
abrazos,
p
april / abril
1: doug varone and dancers (dance)
1: ursula eagly: pieces with gaps for each other (dance)
1: yackez (larissa & jon velez-jackson): give it to you stage (dance)
1: a nonesuch celebration (music)
1: percussion festival (1) (music)
1: percussion festival (2) (music)
1: martha graham cracker (music, performance)
1: villa (theater)
1-: gently down the stream (theater)
1-: sweeney todd (theater)
1-2: stephen petronio dance company (dance)
1-2: punishment park (film)
1-2: aynsley vandenbroucke: and (performance)
1-2: the light years (theater)
1-2: the terrifying (theater)
1-3: the singularity (film)
1-3: buñuel in france (film)
1-6: the brit new wave: from angry young men to swinging london (film)
1-6: jean-pierre léaud (film)
1-6: personal shopper (film)
1-9: latin american cinema: the state of the art (film)
1-11: karl marx city (film)
1-13: the death of louis xiv (film)
1-14: all this panic (film)
1-14: david lynch: the art of life (film)
1-14: how to hamlet, or hamleting hamlet (theater)
1-22: the hairy ape (theater)
1-23: cry havoc! (theater)
1-23: latin history of morons (theater)
1-25: vanity fair (theater)
1-30: joan of arc: into the fire (music, theater)
1-30: the profane (theater)
3-: leslie thorton (film)
4: underexposed (dance)
4-9: compagnie cndc angers-robert swinston (dance)
4-: richard maxwell: samara (theater)
4-: the antipodes (theater)
5: polk awards: hooligan sparrow (film)
5: helga davis: my favorite things (night 1) (music, performance)
5-8: adrienne truscott: this (performance)
5-8: adrienne truscott: wild bore (performance, theater)
5-29: casablancabox (performance)
6: sanam marvi (music)
6: the music of composer lisa bielawa (music)
6: three generations: arvo pärt, philip glass, and steve reich (music)
6: helga davis: my favorite things (night 2) (music, performance)
6-8: good mud (dance)
7: spectral density: an evening of performances dedicated to tony conrad with henry flynt, dan conrad, lary 7 and special guest (music)
7: frantic mcdormand: hammersmith odeon london 75 (performance)
8: the story of tap…etc. (dance)
8: barry lyndon: screening + live score (film, music)
8: you’ve changed: a remedial sex ed course for adults (performance)
8-: downtown urban arts festival (film, music, theater)
9: charlemagne palestine & rhys chatham duo (music)
9: helga davis: my favorite things (night 3) (music, performance)
9-10: the (r)evolution of steve jobs by mason bates and mark campbell (music)
10: let me ascertain you: hate actually (music, performance)
11: new york polyphony (music)
11-16: scottish ballet (dance)
11-23: ecstasy and irony: czech cinema, 1927–1943 (film)
12-15: james gray (film)
12-25: glory (film)
13: first songs: dawn upshaw and the bard college conservatory graduate vocal arts program (music)
13-14: interruption! (theater)
13-15: abby z and the new utility: abandoned playground (dance)
13-15: too much and not in the mood (film)
13-15: the losers lounge tribute to george michael (music)
14: three (film)
14-15: tcs x roya carreras: the big balloon (performance, theater)
14-29: it will all work out (performance)
16: le mystere des voix bulgares (music)
17: this is not a monologue (about spalding gray) (performance)
18: justin vivian bond shows up for resurrections and deductions: jesus christ i need a break (music, performance)
18: songs from my shows by ivo dimchev (music, performance)
18-23: ballet hispanico (dance)
18-26: making faces on film: a collaboration with bfi black star (film)
19: three generations: david lang, julia wolfe, and michael gordon (music)
19-22: okwui okpokwasili: poor people’s tv room (dance)
19-29: jimena paz (dance)
20: do what i want: arthur russell on film (film)
20-23: doug elkins choreography, etc. (dance)
22: dance up! / a national platform of emerging choreographers (dance)
22: byron westbrook: interval/habitat 22 boerum with performances from madeline hollander and charity coleman (performance)
23: new york philharmonic ensembles (music)
24: cutting edge concerts new music festival 2017 (music)
24-28: openice (music)
24-29: mata festival (music)
25: ensemble acjw (music)
25-29: here / now no. 1: wheeldon (dance)
25-: obit. (film)
25-: venus (theater)
26: daniel lebhardt (music)
26: three generations: bryce dessner and nico muhly (music)
26-29: james sewall ballet: titticut follies (dance)
26-30: ballet santa fe (dance)
26-: here / now no. 2: ratmansky (dance)
26-: mourning becomes electra (theater)
27: sing like a man (music)
27-: here / now no. 3: peck (dance)
28: moving forward: women ballet choreographers east and west (dance)
28: leif ove andsnes, marc-andré hamelin (music)
28: new chamber music (music)
28-29: madrigal opera (music)
29-: red bull music academy (music)
30: handel’s ariodante (opera in concert) (music)
30: now ensemble (music)
30: wall to wall steve reich (music)
30-: american ballet theatre: whipped cream by alexei ratmansky (dance)
30-: happy days (theater)