[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.]
diciembre 2018
¡hola, difus@s!
two quick things before getting into this month’s issue: (1) today is world aids day, so i’d encourage you to attend any of the local commemorations or maybe just dedicate some personal time to 99 percent invisible’s profile of visual aids’ work or david france’s remarkable act up documentary, and (2) if you’re looking for something to do later this evening, check out concerts by peter evans, julia wolfe, and the tallis scholars, all of which should be great (if only i could be in three places at once!).
despite the bevy of great films out, i ended up focusing more on stage than screen in november. sasha waltz’ kreatur and jan fabre’s mount olympus: to glorify the cult of tragedy were both enjoyable works of dance theater…that underscored just how difficult the genre can be. the former was much stronger choreographically while the latter succeeded more dramatically, but neither achieved the balance of masters like pina bausch and lloyd newson.
i’m glad to have seen ron athey’s acephalous monster, even though it didn’t deliver the kind of visceral experience i’d hoped form, and jesper just’s interpassivities was formally elegant but conceptually weak. narcissister: organ player was, by contrast, affecting and engaging, perhaps because her practice feels more akin to experimental theater than performance art (though these categories are, admittedly, insufficiently specific). as experimental theater, the white album was a handsome production and offered some genuinely transportive moments, but the weight of the text was difficult to surmount. hype man was much more straightforward in its narrative and structure, sincere in its politics and successful in its critique.
peter sellars’ spare, focused production of kaija saariaho’s only the sound remains was definitely the month’s highlight, with gorgeous singing, minimal staging, and an exquisite score; it far surpassed robert lepage’s treatment of her l’amour de loin and nathan davis’ interpretation of the same source material. jonathan moore and david j. cuomo’s savage winter was also good (if not great) and certainly the kind of opera i wish the met would support, but it really left me craving scott walker (the musical genius—and the only thing that will get me to see vox lux—, not the political reprobate).
amid all the holiday hustle and bustle, there’s plenty worth seeing and sharing this month (tickets make great gifts!):
music: december features many promising concerts, whether holiday-themed or otherwise. for seasonal fare, check out the vienna boys choir and musica sacra at carnegie hall, the winter solstice celebration at the irish arts center, the rotunda holiday concert at the guggenheim, and the chamber version of john adam’s el niño and spanish golden age christmas music at the met cloisers. for non-seasonal fare, check out dave malloy and ghost quartet at bushwick starr, john adams and the julliard orchestra at lincoln center (where the baroque collection, liederabend and sonatenabend series continue), “vivaldi, venice, and the influence of italy” at the morgan, or the quodlibet ensemble at the baryshnikov arts center.
dance: if george balanchine’s the nutcracker isn’t your thing (it’s not mine), there are plenty of others to see, e.g., nut/cracked at the flea and shell shocked nut at la mama. my favorite is mark morris’ the hard nut, which i’ve seen three times already and can’t wait to see again. doug varone and dancers’ everything is fine has my interest piqued, as do new works by moriah evans and neil greenberg. lincoln center showcases new choreographers with the julliard dance division, new york live arts presents “fresh tracks showcase,” and dixon place presents its regular programs of emerging choreographers and new work under the titles “crossing boundaries” and “moving men.”
performance + theater: one of my most cherished holiday traditions is seeing justin vivian bond’s show (which often includes “somebody’s house always burns on christmas”) which is playing at joe’s pub, along with a number of other wryly seasonal shows: tori scott’s “vodka is the reason for the season,” murray hill’s “a murray little christmas,” and “pam ann’s christmas cracker.” for more traditional sentiment (and, reportedly, some excellent singing), look into all is calm: the christmas of 1914 at the sheen center. outside the holiday offerings, i’m most excited to see how to learn at jack and strange window: the turn of the screw at bam; i’m also interested in nassim and some of the various puppet shows taking place this month (e.g., “puppet blok,” gothic opera, and “puppet parlor”).
film: the last of cannes’ most talked-about films to arrive on our screens this year are under the silver lake (which seemed to polarize critics) and cold war (whose reception was also a bit mixed). preceding the latter is a series dedicated to director pawel pawlikowski at the museum of the moving image. if you missed its one-day screening last month, wang bing’s dead souls (split into parts 1, 2, and 3) will be on for a week at anthology film archives, where terror nullius, los territorios / the territories, and the great pretender are also on screen and of note. following last month’s orson welles frenzy at ifc, the quad presents “actor for hire: the other side of orson welles,” along with the series “rated x” (perfect for those looking to avoid family fare and its audience). that way madness lies may be a bit heavy for the season, but it also sounds like it could be a phenomenal work of personal and political documentary.
art: due to holiday travel, i’ll probably save the museum shows for right after the new year and instead prioritize shows closing before i’m back. among those high on my list are jibade-khalil huffman at the kitchen, "devotion and decadence" at the institute for the study of the ancient world, klara liden at reena spauldings, sam borstein at charles moffett, cynthia talmadge at 56 henry, faith ringgold at aca galleries, zarina at luhring augustine, lorraine o’grady at alexander gray, and al loving at garth greenan. though i’ll likely miss it, william kentridge’s the head and the load is sure to be one of the month’s art biggest events.
during this season of giving, be sure to give to your favorite arts organizations (memberships and donations make great gifts for your loved ones), and consider supporting arts organizations elsewhere in the country through americans for the arts or by directly supporting an arts organization in a red congressional district. if you’d like to gift someone pablo difuso, you can do so here—and it’s free!
abrazos,
p
diciembre / december
1: handel in rome ii (music)
1: julia wolfe: anthracite fields (music)
1: movement research festival fall 2018 (dance)
1: sally silvers & dancers: along (dance)
1: screening of alternate endings, activist risings for day with(out) art, on world aids day (art, film)
1: tallis scholars (music)
1: the good swimmer (music)
1: the white album (theater)
1: wet ink * being and becoming (with peter evans) (music)
1-2: inquiring nuns (film)
1-2: lewiston & clarkston (theater)
1-2: making waves: new romanian cinema (film)
1-2: the yesterday morning church (theater)
1-4: ism, ism, ism: experimental cinema in latin america (film)
1-5: spike lee x 6 (film)
1-6: electro-pythagoras (a portrait of martin bartlett) (film)
1-8: zapatografia / shoeography (dance)
1-9: chasing the new white whale (theater)
1-9: the brutes (theater)
1-13: christian petzold: the state we are in (film)
1-16: the prisoner (theater)
1-20: hype man (theater)
1-22: selkie (theater)
1-22: the hello girls (theater)
1-30: all is calm: the christmas truce of 1914 (theater)
1-30: dataatadata: everything and nothing (art, performance)
1-30: fabulation, or the re-education of undine (theater) ç
1-30: slave play (theater)
1-30: what the constitution means to me (theater)
1-: the contenders 2018 (film)
2: gohenge (dance)
2: of fathers and sons (film)ç
2: reverend billy & the stop shopping choir: love, no border (performance)
2: the orchestra now: dvorák's sixth symphony (music)
2: tori scott: vodka is the reason for the season (performance)
2: we may never dance again (performance)
3: sasha velour's nightgowns (performance)
3: sylvie courvoisier trio // nate wooley: battle pieces iv (music)
3-12: bridgett everett and the tender moments (music, performance)
4: loadbang: the music that defines (music)
4: moving men (dance)
4-15: the head and the load (art, performance)
4-: jungle (theater)
5: lainie fefferman: white fire / seth cluett: the deformation of figures, between truly equal beings (music)
5: quodlibet ensemble (music)
5: sonatenabend (music)
5: vivaldi, venice, and the influence of italy (music)
5: wayne horvitz: the snowghost sessions (music)
5-8: dorrance dance (dance)
5-8: moriah evans: configure (dance)
5-9: greek (music)
5-15: to the things themselves! (dance)
5-30: ugo tognazzi: tragedies of a ridiculous man (film)
5-: nassim (theater)
6: an evening with liv ullmann + the emigrants (film)
6: harun farocki program (film)
6: itzhak perlman conducts the julliard orchestra (music)
6: love sick: a rock opera (music)
6: nouveau classical project: currents (music)
6: vienna boys choir (music)
6-7: bonnie's last flight (work-in-progress) (theater)
6-7: dave malloy & ghost quartet (music)
6-8: how to learn (theater)
6-9: mario ruspoli (film)
6-12: the great pretender (film)
7: performing justice: dancing while black (dance)
7: swimming with men (film)
7-8: fresh tracks 2018-19 (dance)
7-9: sources of light other than the sun (theater)
7-11: new dances: 2018 edition (dance)
7-13: actor for hire: the other side of orson welles (film)
7-13: amazing grace (film, music)
7-13: the seventh seal (film)
7-16: pawel pawlikowski (film)
7-: under the silver lake (film)
8: gothic opera (theater)
8: hypatia and the heathens: a musical bacchanalia (music, theater)
8: iowa (performance)
8: skeleton architecture (dance)
9: baroque collection (music)
9: new york philharmonic ensembles (music)
9: reverend billy & the stop shopping choir: love, no border (performance)
10: capernaum (film)
10: face the music (music)
10: john adams conducts the juilliard orchestra (music)
10: liederabend (music)
11: cecil taylor memorial (music)
11: classics of french cinema with olivier barrot (film)
11-30: les ballets trockadero de monte carlo (dance)
12: jamal jackson dance company (dance)
12: michaël attias: nine (music)
12: puppet blok (theater)
12-15: dancenoise (dance)
12-15: nervous / system (performance)
12-15: strange window: the turn of the screw (theater)
12-16: everything is fine (dance)
12-: blue ridge (theater)
13: interpretations: anthony davis // earl howard (music)
13: james k: american womin (performance)
13: puppet blok (theater)
13-15: black is beautiful, but it ain't always pretty (theater)
13-15: valerie green / dance entropy (dance)
13-22: justin vivian bond is refrigerated (music, performance)
14: bang bang gun amok ii (performance)
14: brandenberg concertos (music)
14: terror nullius (film)
14: winter solstice celebration (music)
14-19: dead souls (part 1) (film)
14-20: that way madness lies (film)
14-22: the year of the grifter (film)
14-23: the hard nut (dance)
14-: jacques tourneur, fearmaker (film)
14-: rated x (film)
15: 1968 on screen: american revolution 2 (film)
15: the romero guitar quartet (music)
15-20: dead souls (part 2) (film)
15-21: dead souls (part 3) (film)
16: attendre et espérer (dance)
16: heavenly bodies (performance)
16: reverend billy & the stop shopping choir: love, no border (performance)
16: terror nullius (film)
16-17: rotunda holiday concert (music)
17: 1968 on screen: american revolution 2 (film)
17: an evening honoring jessye norman (music)
17: puppet blok (theater)
17-18: thomas oliemans (music)
18: puppet blok (theater)
18: puppet parlor (theater)
18: the territories / los territorios (film)
19: crossing boundaries (dance)
19: musica sacra (music)
20-22: a murray little christmas: murray hill, bridget everett, angie pontani & more (performance)
20-22: busy white people, goodnight (performance)
20-22: nut/cracked (dance)
20-23: shell shocked nut (dance)
21: phill niblock: 6 hours of music and film (film, music)
21-22: nativity reconsidered (music)
21-22: pam ann's christmas cracker (performance)
21-: cold war (film
22: spanish christmas at the met cloisters (music)
23: reverend billy & the stop shopping choir: love, no border (performance)
26-31: sandra bernhard: quick sand (performance)