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noviembre 2017
¡hola, difus@s!
though my october was truncated by a trip to lima (where the food is world-class and the art world is rapidly evolving) and bogotá (which is emerging as a regional art capital and developing its own culinary scene), i managed to catch several shows here, which varied widely in form and quality.
faces places is absolutely amazing, thoughtfully canvassing so much political, social, and cultural terrain (labor, energy, agriculture, urbanization, social media) with an extraordinary lightness that can only be described as grace (agnes varda even redeems jr, who’s just so wrong in so many ways). peter evans’ show at the stone was a mind-blowing tour de force, as his virtuosity reflects a selfless devotion to craft (not a crafty devotion to self, like so many “celebrity artists”—which is, i would argue, fundamentally an oxymoron). the same can be said of diamanda galas, whose presence on the murmrr theatre stage was as commanding as her voice. manifest in all these was the generosity of spirit that makes ghost quartet one of the most enchanting and moving performances i’ve ever seen (it hit me even harder this time than when i first saw it in 2014); the show’s ending, particularly, shares felix gonzalez-torres’ sensibility, which i adore.
thomas ostermeier’s take on richard iii was bracingly original (as was lars eldinger’s portrayal of the title character), and his handling of the play’s final acts was especially haunting. in the solitude of cotton fields, with its rather difficult text, would have benefitted from both ostermeier and eldinger’s talents, but it was still enjoyable, especially for the innovative staging of its first 20 minutes. pierre boulez’s repons featured excellent playing and gorgeous lighting, and the two-part program made it cerebrally (if not necessarily viscerally) engaging. the life and death of marsha p. johnson contained some terrific archival footage (most notably, sylvia rivera’s scathing 1973 indictment of the race and class politics of the gay pride movement) and recent interviews, but its conspiratorial narrative focuses too insistently on police negligence and, in so doing, disappointingly avoids the more difficult, complex, and critically reflexive story about the alignment of police negligence and organized crime that effectively allowed bars like stonewall to operate prior to legal recognition of gay rights.
while david france’s documentary may have been a missed opportunity for gay historical inquiry, both crossing and tom of finland were near affronts to the gay community specifically and art-making more generally. walt whitman and touko lakksonen were remarkable, transgressive artists, and these works based on their lives and creative output are execrable and regressive. tom of finland is the lesser offense as a middle-brow biopic. crossing, even ignoring its abysmally unimaginative staging, was the much greater offense for its trafficking in hackneyed, pre-stonewall tropes of homosexual masculinity. matthew aucoin is to composition what justin peck is to choreography—certainly talented but egregiously overrated, exemplary of the continued assumption and fetishization of “genius” as young, white, and male.
november’s got a lot on offer, and i’m hoping at least some of it will approach the highs of ghost quartet and that none of it will near the lows of crossing:
film: the end of the year is prime season for cinema, with festival hits and oscar aspirants arriving on city screens. moma provides an excellent selection of both with its series “the contenders”—and also features a tribute to julianne moore. the quad’s quality programming continues apace with series curated by greta gerwig (whose solo directorial debut is out this month) and louis c. k. while anthology film archives has “generation wealth” and “flaherty nyc: out from under”. two historical series that merit a look are bam’s “strange victories: black soldiers and world war ii” and film society’s “the lost years of german cinema: 1949–1963”. i’m particularly interested in letters from war because i’m a fan of other portuguese directors (e.g., joao pedro rodrigues, miguel gomes, gabriel abrantes) as well as of antonio lobo antunes (who remains unfortunately unknown here). both jacques rivette’s marathon la belle noiseuse and carl theodor dreyer’s the passion of joan of arc are must-sees for any serious cinephile. other films i’d like to catch include 11/8/16, song of granite, brimstone and glory, and bombshell: the hedy lamarr story.
music: lincoln center's white light festival ends this month with several (potentially) moving concerts: “the psalms experience”, “darkness and light”, “beethoven’s missa solemnis”, “eternal light”, and “the routes of slavery”. though not quite in time for all saints and all souls, the met presents verdi’s requiem, and the miller theatre presents “vox luminis: royal funeral music”. a bit ahead of the christmas season, new york chamber orchestra offers a holiday program at the morgan library and museum (which is one of my all-time favorite concert spaces). after a salon performance of excerpts at baryshnikov arts center, pauline oliveros’ opera premieres (posthumously) at roulette. john cale and friends celebrate the 50th anniversary of the velvet underground & nico at bam (program a plays for two nights, but program b plays for only one). other concerts of note include “our art, our stories – the voice of refugee artists” at national sawdust, “song of lahore” at skirball, and “rebetika istoria: rebetika music of greece” at roulette.
dance: presented as part of performa 2017, xavier cha’s buffer opens the month at bam, followed by david dorman dance’s aroundtown. new york theatre ballet, gillian walsh, and the movement research festival are all on at danspace project this month. other festivals and combined programs of interest include the world dance festival at roulette, pan-asian dance festival at 92y, perforations at la mama, and the monthly “under exposed” and “fast forward” showcases at dixon place. liz gerring and garth fagan are at the joyce, yvonne meier is at the invisible dog, and preeti vasudevan is at new york live arts. (note also that les ballets trockadero de monte carlo are on screen in rebels on pointe.)
performance + theater: bam has some exciting productions this month (including state of siege and man to man), of which i’m most eager how ivo van hove handles the fountainhead, both politically and theatrically. the elephant in every room and you’re a good man, charlie brown are high on my list for their explorations of neurodiversity. as we mark the year anniversary of our country’s descent into authoritarianism (enabled by the prior decades of neoliberalism, whose legacy still thrives among democrat leadership), i’m also quite interested in seeing rebirth of a nation, canto contra reagan, "blackness, citizenship, and reparations in the afro-atlantic" (for which gregory beckett’s “the ontology of freedom: the unthinkable miracle of haiti” should be required reading), staying alive, and don’t feed the indians.
art: performa 2017 is on, which is often equally exhilarating and frustrating but always a good bet for experimentation. several shows complement the politically engaged theater and performance highlighted above: an incomplete history of protests at the whitney, after darkness: southeast asian art in the wake of history at the asia society, uproot at smack mellon, danilo corrale at art in general, and keith mayerson at marlborough contemporary. angel otero at the bronx museum, alvaro barrington at moma ps1, and josé leonilson at the americas society provide insights into contemporary latin american art while the met offers an opportunity to explore asian art with raghubir singh and on country: australian aboriginal art from the kaplan-levi gift. to celebrate the linda nochlin’s legacy (re/read her canonical essay, which also has an illustrated guide), i want to visit louise bourgeois and carolee schneemann at moma.
the full calendar follows, and please feel free to share (anyone interested can subscribe here).
abrazos,
p
november / noviembre
1: american modern ensemble: music by david feurzeig, pierce gradone, texu kim, robert paterson and aaron mencher (music)
1-2: stabat mater (dance, music)
1-2: holy blood: mexican horror cinema (film)
1-3: forman/passer: 3 restorations (film)
1-3: justin hicks & the hawtplates with charlotte brathwaite: 690 wishes in concert (music, performance)
1-4: buffer (dance, performance)
1-5: the red shoes (dance)
1-9: origin stories: greta gerwig’s footnotes to lady bird (film)
1-11: stanisław lem on film (film)
1-11: the psalms experience (music)
1-11: squeamish (theater)
1-12: tartuffe (theater)
1-12: the b-side: "negro folklore from texas state prisons" (theater)
1-12: fuck marry kill (theater)
1-14: 1945 (film)
1-18: animal wisdom (theater)
1-19: performa 17 (art, performance)
1-19: marcel + the art of laughter (theater)
1-21: the exterminating angel (music)
1-: the light of the moon (film)
1-: torch song (theater)
2: sounds from the avant-garde: alireza mashayekhi, john cage, henry cowell and others by cyrus forough / ramin amir arjomand / margaret leng tan / daisy press (music)
2: ensemble signal (music)
2: the foreclosure follies: a cabaret (performance)
2-3: philip scheffner x 3 (film)
2-3: the raincoats: gina birch & ana da silva (music)
2-4: preeti vasudevan : stories by hand (dance)
2-4: legends & visionaries (dance)
2-4: state of siege (theater)
2-12: julianne moore: a tribute (film)
2-19: conquest of the universe or when queens collide (theater)
2-19: don't feed the indians (theater)
2-19: the life and times of lee harvey oswald (theater)
3: new york short film festival (film)
3: morton subotnick: silver apples of the moon (music)
3-5: along for the ride (film)
3-5: new york korean film festival (film)
3-5: the beckett triology (theater)
3-8: directed by dennis hopper (film)
3-9: true west: sam shepard on film (film)
3-9: 11/8/16 (film)
3-9: a gray state (film)
3-12: talk about the passion: stephen cone's first act (film)
3-19: dream boat (film)
4: event for a stage (art, film)
4: béla balázs studio short film festival: selected works by hungarian avant-garde filmmakers: program 1: istván antal (film)
4: dj spooky: rebirth of a nation (performance)
4: rakia!: myeyesdontcrynomore (performance)
4: canto contra reagan (performance)
4-5: world dance festival (dance)
5: eiko otake: a body in places—the met edition (dance)
5: béla balázs studio short film festival: program 2 (film)
5: the sachal ensemble: song of lahore (music)
5-6: nathalie magnan: interventions and collaborations (film)
6-13: afroglossia (art, film)
6-18: thomas paine in violence (performance)
7: under exposed (dance)
7-9: the activist videos of carole roussopoulos (film)
7-9: optics 0:1 combinations (performance)
7-11: man to man (theater)
7-12: garth fagan dance (dance)
7-: the mad ones (theater)
8: works by alvin lucier + record/book release: alvin lucier, joan la barbara, ever present orchestra (music)
8: angela hewitt — bach odyssey iv: partitas (music)
8: tolerance (performance)
8-9: the animal show (performance)
8-10: wendy and lucy (film)
8-11: aroundtown (dance)
9: works by alvin lucier + record/book release: alvin lucier, oren ambarchi & gary schmalzl, ever present orchestra (music)
9: darkness and light (music)
9: new music (6:30pm) (music)
9: new music (9:00pm) (music)
9-11: grande finale (dance)
9-11: glass (theater)
9-12: yvonne meier (dance)
9-12: the commons choir: mayday heyday parfait (dance)
9-12: india kaleidoscope: celebrating india’s regional cinema (film)
9-25: the elephant in every room i enter (theater)
9-: the contenders 2017 (film)
10: freethinkers of the keyboard: from cpe bach to john cage — pedja muzijevic, piano & prepared piano (music)
10: adrienne truscott: asking for it (performance)
10: vincent d’onofrio & dana lyn: slim bone head volt (performance)
10-13: playing favorites: louis c.k. selects (film)
10-16: strange victories: black soldiers and world war ii (film)
10-16: requiem for a running back (film)
10-21: the strugatsky brothers on film (film)
10-23: lady bird (film)
10-23: no stone unturned (film)
11: justin vivian bond (music, performance)
11: pam ann: miss worldwide (performance)
12: eiko otake: a body in places—the met edition (dance)
12: rick prelinger: lost landscapes of new york (film)
12: beethoven's missa solemnis (music)
12: new york philharmonic string quartet (music)
12: our art, our stories — the voice of refugee artists (music)
12: bridget everett & the tender moments (music, performance)
13: flaherty nyc: program 4: an opera of the world (film)
14: on air: artist television (film)
14: eternal light (music)
14: david first: the western enisphere (music)
15: the routes of slavery (music)
15: raz mesinai: sleepwalker 3 (music)
15: blackness, citizenship & reparations in the afro-atlantic (performance)
15: unitard: tard core - there are no safe words (performance)
15: marjani forté & works : memoirs of a… unicorn (dance)
15-18: a billion nights on earth (theater)
15-23: the lost years of german cinema: 1949–1963 (film)
15-28: song of granite (film)
15-: rebels on pointe (film)
15-: 100 days (theater)
16: pacífico (film)
16: composer portraits: marcos balter (music)
16: the five borough songbook, vol ii (music)
16-17: john cale: the velvet underground & nico (program a) (music)
16-18: moon fate sin (dance)
16-19: le sorelle macaluso (the sisters macaluso) (theater)
16-19: you’re a good man, charlie brown (theater)
17: jeffrey bradetich (music)
17: chamber orchestra of new york (music)
17: tcf & inigo wilkins: xenopoietic deviations (performance)
17-18: staying alive (performance)
17-18: justin sayre: eggplants, peaches & tears (performance)
17-19: big mouth: pan-asian dance festival (dance)
17-19: the artist (film)
17-30: generation wealth (film)
17-: on the beach at night alone (film)
18: letters from war (film)
18: john cale: the velvet underground & nico (program b) (music)
18: extended play with joel fan, lafawndah, teengirl fantasy, adr and more (music)
18: rebetiki istoria: rebetika music of greece (music)
18: vox luminis: royal funeral music (music)
18: beyond monteverdi: lasciatemi morire (music, performance)
19: eiko otake: a body in places—the met edition (dance)
19: invisible: films by barbara hammer, oxford university, and james sibley watson (film)
19: suite for the summer rain / dance of the yellow leaf (music)
20: bryan eubanks: object v / sarah hennies: contralto (music)
20: ryan raftery: the rise and fall (and rise) of martha stewart (performance)
21: fast forward (dance)
21: piazzolla’s central park concert featuring the pablo ziegler quartet for new tango (music)
21-22: joey arias featuring charly zastrau on piano (music, performance)
21-26: the perforations festival (dance, performance, theater)
21-: throw away your books: the films of shūji terayama (film)
22-25: blue velvet (film)
22-: brimstone and glory (film)
23-25: best in show (film)
24-30: pictures from the revolution: bertolucci’s italian period (film)
24-: bombshell: the hedy lamarr story (film)
24-: la belle noiseuse (film)
24-: the passion of joan of arc (film)
24-: requiem (music)
27: flaherty nyc: program 5: death (film)
27-28: synth nights: laurel halo (music)
28: pauline oliveros featuring ione + international contemporary ensemble in an evening of music + conversation (music)
28-29: bridget everett & the tender moments (music, performance)
28-: the fountainhead (theater)
28-: today is my birthday (theater)
29: jad atoui biosonics premiere (music)
29-: haruki murakami’s sleep (theater)
29-: greencard wedding (theater)
30: the nubian word for flowers; a phantom opera / rainbird (music)
30-: movement research festival (dance)
30-: liz gerring dance (dance)
30-: book of travelers (music)
30-: tree pop, an imaginative pageant amongst the pines-an ode to friends that leave & objects that speak (performance)
30-: upside down (theater)