[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.]
febrero 2018
¡hola, difus@s!
if january is any indication, we’re in for a very good year…at least as far as the arts go (because elsewhere…). i wasn’t able to catch much of the various festivals, but the pursuit of happiness (which began as a comically deconstructed western and then exploded into a tour-de-force of absurdist story-telling) and jupiter’s lifeless moons (an oddly endearing and engrossing—and ingeniously staged—song cycle) definitely did under the radar and coil, respectively, proud. though not part of prototype (thankfully, beth morrison projects’ monopoly isn’t secured), whisper opera was as innovative and thrilling as any of the other new opera playing last month.
richard maxwell’s paradiso wasn’t quite as cohesive as last year’s samara (which, admittedly, is probably my favorite of his work that i’ve seen), but it was really, really good, especially the opening act (what an entrance!). ballyturk was utterly enigmatic and deeply affecting, the most beckettian contemporary theater i’ve seen. america is hard to see exceeded my dangerously high hopes; the seemingly straight-forward narrative and verbatim-theater technique are effectively disarming, and their handling of the source material is as respectful as it is critical, striking a rare balance that is both courageous and poetic. don’t miss it.
on screen, antonioni’s chung kao and wang bing’s bitter money offered more critical insight on china past and present than the recent guggenheim exhibition, and diane kruger’s performance in in the fade was riveting (and the movie, although far from perfect, raises some troubling questions about europe’s direction). the strange ones, which recalled both mysterious skin and the hunt, also confronted the audience with some uncomfortable (and yet urgent) questions about adolescent sexual agency.
the winter festivals may have ended, but this month’s calendar is quite full:
dance: though i often like his ideas more than his execution, wayne mcgregor’s autobiography at the joyce does pique my interest; ronald k. brown / evidence is also playing there this month. in addition to their monthly showcases under exposed and fast forward, dixon place presents piece by piece, a dance memoir that intrigues me (partially for its potential dialogue with restless creature). other shows i’d like to catch include dana reitz at new york live arts, brother(hood) dance! at bric, abby z and the new utility at 92y, and chris ferris at roulette.
performance + theater: having missed her sold-out run at la mama last year, i’m quite excited to see nora burns’ (of comic favorites unitard) david’s friend at joe’s pub. i still haven't seen i, tonya, so i’m thinking i might do a double-header and see it on the same night as toe pick at dixon place, where two dog minimum also looks good. i’m deeply ambivalent about heathers (which i adore) being turned into a tv series (we certainly didn’t need a musical), so i’m hoping the beautiful refrigerator is empty will prove a more fitting heir to the film’s legacy. caveat is new on my list of venues, and the proposition of “talks progress administration” keenly interests me, which makes “hiv, the three epidemics” something i really want to see. also high on my list are thisispopbaby’s riot at skirball, justin sayre’s gay-b-c’s: a brief history of gay culture in 5 parts and penny arcade’s the girl who knew too much at joe’s pub, and is god is at the newly reopened soho rep.
film: the month offers a great cross section of iranian film with abbas kiarostami’s final work 24 frames, a new animated feature tehran taboo, and a retrospective of documentarian mehrdad oskouei. other noteworthy series are “fight the power: black superheroes on film” at bam, “tell me: women filmmakers, women’s stories” at metrograph (where “martial / art” and an alex ross perry series are also playing), and “art cinema / cinema art: new directions in polish filmmaking” at anthology. film forum begins a monumental ingmar bergman retrospective this month, the film society at lincoln center puts on its annual showcase “film comment selects”, and the museum of the moving image screens the “philip k. dick science fiction festival.” this month’s edition of queer / art / film at ifc presents tsai ming-liang’s phenomenal i don’t want to sleep alone (a personal favorite), valeska griesbach’s western arrives at the film society, and donna haraway: story-telling for earthly survival gets a special screening at anthology.
art: danh voh: take my breath away, which i cannot wait to see (i’m a huge, huge fan of his), opens at the guggenheim (whose midwinter shows really are their best), and the latest edition of the new museum’s triennial, songs for sabotage, also opens. the other museum show at the top of my list is gordon matta-clark: anarchitect at the bronx museum. among the gallery shows i hope to catch are nene humphrey, maryam jafri, thronton dial, jamian juliano-villani, terry adkins, latoya ruby frazier, byron kim, and survival research laboratories.
music: to experiment with new sounds, check out the mixology festival 2018 at roulette or the revolution vol. 24 at national sawdust. other promising new music concerts are openice at abrons (always a good bet), rivers of sound at skirball, beatriz ferreyra at issue project room, and bearthoven at roulette. both winterice and and flowers showered at national sawdust should be as ambitious theatrically as musically. for more classical fare, check out andsnes, britten & saint-saëns's organ symphony or wanderlust at lincoln center, new york polyphony’s “tallis lamentations” at the church of st. mary the virgin, messiaen’s quartet for the end of time at the baryshnikov arts center, or "the art of the fugue” at the morgan.
below is a full round-up for the month, and, as always, you can add anyone you’d like by signing them up here.
abrazos,
p
february / febrero
1: composer portraits: raphael cendo (music)
1-3: ny indie theatre festival 2018 (theater)
1-3: bladder inn (and x, y, z, w) (dance)
1-3: robbie mccauley (dance)
1-4: compagnie hervé koubi (dance)
1-4: ink (dance)
1-10: martial / art (film)
1-13: in the intense now (film)
1-24: america is hard to see (theater)
1-25: series of one: a solo performance festival (performance)
1-: new york film and video: no wave–transgressive (film)
2: gary lucas: the films of curtis harrington (film, music)
2-4: cinema tropical festival (film)
2-8: a fantastic woman (film)
2-11: tell me: women filmmakers, women's stories (film)
2-13: 24 frames (film)
2-18: fight the power: black superheroes on film (film)
3: darcy james argue’s secret society (music)
3: hi, are you single? (theater)
3: vincent chancey and newman baker: 2/4/three (music)
3: love sick evening concert (music)
3: lauren bakst / kensaku shinohara (dance)
3: fairer than tongue (for p. a. campos) / duo with gerald cleaver (music)
4: bridget everett and the tender moments (music, performance)
4-25: returning to reims (theater)
5: peter moore & the 1960s: a slide lecture by barbara moore (art, film)
5: observing the avant-garde: peter moore & the 1960s: a slide lecture by barbara moore (art, film)
5: dungeon (theater)
5: hiv, the three epidemics (performance)
5: the civilians: jill sobule & times square, a new musical (music, performance)
6: jessica cook: dog flats (dance)
6: under exposed (dance)
6: bridget everett and the tender moments (music, performance)
6-10: ronald k. brown / evidence (dance)
6-: is god is (theater)
7: the beautiful refrigerator is empty (performance, theater)
7: academy award-nominated short films 2018 (film)
7-: an ordinary muslim (theater)
7-: ingmar bergman centennial retrospective (film)
8: nico muhly and friends investigate the glass archive (music)
8: the music of sheila silver: a celebration (music)
8: exceptet winter concert: premieres by sarah goldfeather, brendon randall-myers, matt evans (music)
8: bridget everett and the tender moments (music, performance)
8-9: looking at you (work-in-progress) (performance, theater)
8-10: dana reitz (dance)
8-10: andsnes, britten & saint-saëns's organ symphony (music)
8-18: ajijaack on turtle island (theater)
8-25: it's all true (music, performance)
8-: some old black man (theater)
9: theo bleckmann & uri caine present winterice with ice theatre of new york (music, performance)
9-10: toe pick (performance, theater)
9-10: craig taborn (music)ç
9-11: six. twenty. outrageous. (theater)
9-13: art cinema / cinema art: new directions in polish filmmaking (film)
9-15: the peacemaker (film)
9-15: time regained (film)
10: rivers of sound (music)
10: múm (music)
10: openice (music)
10: two dog minimum (performance, theater)
10: the central park five, presented by the afrikan poetry theatre (film)
10: unboxing the compass (dance, music)
11: sight and sound: shostakovich, michelangelo, and the artistic conscience (music)
11: all we need is love cabaret for a cause benefiting broadway cares (music, theater)
11: wanderlust (music)
11-12: ryan raftery: the rise and fall (and rise) of martha stewart (performance)
12: i don't want to sleep alone (film)
12-: black light (performance)
13: berlin philharmonic quartet (music)
13: greed (film)
13: what you see is what you get (film)
13-16: mixology festival 2018 (music)
14: the art of seduction (music)
14: cup (yuka c. honda & nels cline) (music)
14-18: valentine's day massacre 2018 (film)
14-27: tehran taboo (film)
14-: the brobot johnson experience (theater)
15: andrew norman wilson: the order of ought (film)
15: longing lasts longer (performance)
15: talks progress administration: hiv, the three epidemics (performance)
15: craig taborn & kris davis (music)
15: david's friend (performance, theater)
15: longing lasts longer (performance)
15-17: thisispopbaby: riot (performance)
15-17: piece by piece (dance)
15-25: pollock (art, theater)
15-26: doc fortnight 2018: moma’s international festival of nonfiction film and media (film)
16: philip glass ensemble: music with changing parts (music)
16: artist television + “broadcasting: eai at ica” (art, film)
16-17: toe pick (performance, theater)
16-17: john zorn's bagatelles (music)
16-19: alex ross perry (film)
16-19: st. clair bourne (film)
16-22: western (film)
16-22: the housemaid (film)
16-: nostalgia (film)
17: eric wubbels / adam tendler (music)
17: welcome to lenapehoking (performance)
17-18: greed (film)
17-: terminus (theater)
17-: platonov (theater)
18: min xiao-fen with rez abbasi: the goddess (film, music)
18: avant garde arama (dance, film, music, performance)
19-22: oscilloscope at 10 (film)
20: fast forward (dance)
20-21: oyster (music)
20-25: john zorn improve week (music)
21: black queer night (performance)
21-: camae ayewa / moor mother (performance)
21-: locked up bitches (theater)
22: donna haraway: storytelling for earthly survival (film)
22: messiaen’s quartet for the end of time (music)
22-23: afro/solo/man (work-in-progress) (dance)
22-24: pawel & ebola (performance)
22-24: tatyana tenenbaum: untitled work for voice (dance, music)
22-: here / now (dance)
22-: time no line (performance)
23: aizuri quartet: japan across the world (music)
23: zofomoma (music, performance)
23-24: abandoned playground (dance)
23-24: philip k. dick science fiction festival (film)
23-27: film comment selects (film)
23-28: documentary, iranian style: the films of mehrdad oskouei (film)
23-: the cured (film)
24: new york polyphony: tallis lamentations (music)
24: beatriz ferreyra / eric frye: obfuscation morphologies (music)
24: the revolution vol. 24 (music)
24: phantom thread with live score (film, music)
24-25: justin sayre’s gay-b-c’s: a brief history of gay culture in 5 parts (performance)
25: and flowers showered (music)
26: the romantic barber (film)
26: chris ferris: present tense multiplied (dance)
26: the chaos theory of now (performance)
26-27: bridget everett and the tender moments (music, performance)
27: louisiana philharmonic orchestra (music)
27: cellox4—the art of fugue (music)
27: free jazz with bodies (film)
27: new york festival of song: protest (music)
27: penny arcade: the girl who knew too much (performance)
27-: company wayne mcgregor (dance)
28: bearthoven: new works (music)
28: hello, daddy! (performance)
28-: neighboring scenes (film)