[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 + mayo 2018

¡hola, difus@s!

mil disculpas for the egregious delay in getting this month’s issue out (hence, the april / may combo). this academic year has been a bit grueling (#understatement), but it’s almost over (#passinglikeakidneystone). outside work, this spring has been terrific so far. much of what i saw in february (e.g., in the intense now, david’s friend, returning to rheims, peter hujar: speed of life, justin sayre’s gay-b-c’s: a brief history of gay culture in five parts) explored nostalgia and politics—the politics of nostalgia, the nostalgia of politics—and to generally good effect. march brought back several artists (and one artwork) whose work (and manifestations) i’ve followed and will certainly continue to follow, even if their latest wasn’t quite on the level of their prior work: jerome bel, claire chase, yve laris cohen, gob squad, angels in america (a worthwhile production and a testament to the work’s timelessness—but ivo van hove’s take is more my style). diamanda galas was march’s exception. while schrei 27 is excellent, it didn’t need to be looped three times to make it feature length. listening to her speak afterwards, though, was absolutely enthralling, one of the best artist talks i’ve heard…only to be matched by lucrecia martel, after a screening of zama a few weeks later. her eloquence and intellect were all the more impressive for the humility with which she shared them. so far, this month’s other highlight has been yerma at the park avenue armory, an inspired adaptation of lorca’s classic with an incandescent performance by billie piper.

between the remains of this month and all of may, there’s quite a bit worth catching before summer arrives:

dance: i’ve been wanting to see sarah michelson for some time, so i’m very excited that she’ll be at performance space new york with may 2018 /\. abraham.in.motion, always enjoyable, will be at the joyce, and rashaad newsome (check out his “shade compositions”) presents work-in-progress at new york live arts. la mama hosts its annual month-long dance festival, city center features acosta danza as a part of its ¡adelante cuba! festival, and new york city ballet showcases work by 21st-century choreographers. other shows worth looking into are netta yerushalmy’s para-modernities, david parker’s family suite, and full circle souljah’s boxed in.

performance + theater: i’m definitely seeing basil twist’s symphonie fantastique this month (tickets are going fast), the wooster group’s a pink chair (in place of an antique), and isabella rosellini’s link link circus. lesley manville and jeremy irons should be riveting in long day’s journey into night at bam. after seeing caryl churchill’s escaped alone at bam last spring, i’m curious to see her light shining in buckinghamshire at new york theatre workshop. nikos karanthanos’ production of the birds at st. ann’s also looks promising. joe’s pub is featuring two of my favorites this month, too: unitard (with tardcore — refreshed) and justin vivian bond (with boys in the trees, a benefit concert, and the return of down on creation). dixon place has several experimental shows that pique my interest: mixing marx with madness, pmurt, the wapshot whatever: the secret lives of computer programs, and i am the end.

film: few things make me happier than news of a new claire denis film (especially when it’s preceded by a new lucrecia martell film), which is my top cinematic priority this month. “karl marx on film” at anthology and “emile de antonio” at metrograph are also high on my list. other series of note include “a different picture: women filmmakers in the new hollywood era, 1967-1980”, “the films of agnes varda: part 2”, “the chelsea girls exploded”, “sara driver’s ‘boom for the reel’: the annotated edition”, “panorama europe 2018”, and “art of the real 2018." other films worth checking out are mrs. hyde, everything else, i had nowhere to go, edward ii, and that summer.

music: a trio of festivals offer a wide range of music this month: red bull music festival, a world in trance, and vision festival. new music lovers should look into the jack quartet at carnegie hall, thomas buckner’s show at roulette, michael gordon’s record release at joe’s pub, and ice’s program of anna thorvaldsdottir at national sawdust. classical piano virtuosos leif ove andsnes and evgeny kissin both perform this month; michael feinstein presents the music of lena horne, and somi sings the protest songs of nina simone and miriam makeba. roulette and issue project room have a number of promising experimental shows on: dreams of a departed maestra; nine numbers, vol. 1; the dirt and transmutation helix; diáspora / cross times; all’s well that ends well; and elektra (scream through the eyes of a statue).

art: the first of may is frieze week, which brings out a lot of high-quality art with a little less frenzy than march’s armory week. in addition to (or, depending on your preferences, in place of) the main fair, tefaf new york spring, 1-54 african contemporary art fair, the other art fair, and the collective design fair are all worthwhile. the new show at the met’s costume institute has me more excited than anything they’ve done in recent years, and i’ll try and combine that with their pre-colombian gold and 18th-century mexican painting shows when i visit. the title of the institute for the study of the ancient world’s current show, romance and reason, is enough to make me go. other shows i want to catch include chloë bass at the knockdown center, surface/depth: the decorative after miriam schapiro at the museum of art and design, radical women: latin american art, 1960–1985 at the brooklyn museum of art, harmony hammond at alexander gray associates, through a different lens: stanley kubrick photographs at the museum of the city of new york, martin roth at yours mine & ours, and arakawa and madeline gins: eternal gradient at columbia’s arthur ross architecture gallery.

below is a full round-up, and, as always, you can add anyone you’d like by signing them up here.

abrazos,
p

april / abril (what's left of it… / lo que queda…)
23: bad activist, sex politics, palestine and you (theater)
23-25: the puppet master: the complete jiri trnka (film)
23-29: kazuo miyagawa: japan’s greatest cinematographer (film)
24: boys in the trees (music, performance)
24-29: king lear (theater)
24-29: seagullmachine (theater)
24-30: symphonie fantastique (theater)
24-30: zürich (theater)
24-20: assembled identity (theater)
24-27: light shining in buckinghamshire (theater)
25-28: ¡adelante, cuba! festival (dance, music)
26: ecstatic music festival: margaret leng tan premieres george crumb, suzanne farrin & kelly moran (music)
26: john holliday (music)
26-28: megan williams dance project (dance)
26-30: art of the real 2018 (film)
27: anybody: an improvised historical hip-hopera with north coast (music, performance)
27: evgeny kissin and emerson string quartet (music)
27: meshell ndegeocello (music)
27-29: a world in trance (music)
27-29: big green theater festival (theater)
27-29: donna haraway: story telling for earthly survival (film)
27-30: american socialist: the life and times of eugene victor debs (film)
27-30: cold water (film)
27-30: danger signals (theater)
27-30: emile de antonio (film)
27-30: in the last days of the city (film)
27-30: judas (theater)
27-30: let the sunshine in (film)
27-30: may 2018 /\ (dance)
27-30: mrs. hyde (film)
27-30: the rachel divide (film)
28: 21st century choreographers (dance)
28-29: a pink chair (in place of a fake antique) (theater)
29: greek film expo 2018 (film)
29: jack quartet (music)