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marzo 2019
¡hola, difus@s!
much like the month before, i spent more time with screens than stages in february, but i’ve got no complaints. that there were no screen disappointments probably speaks more to the quality of the month’s offerings than to my discernment. the image book was terrifically trippy and still has me thinking about the relationships between experimental film and video art. the unicorn was surprisingly unsettling, as it has much more in common with grey gardens than behind the music. birds of passage is, in many ways, a straightforward generational epic, but its setting among colombia’s wayuu and sharply observed details make it a trenchant critique of economic development and much more. similarly, the wild pear tree has much to say about economic development (and / through education) and intergenerational tension. capernaum, one of the most devastating films i’ve ever seen, deftly tackles some heavy issues (inequality, migration, child abuse) on an intimate scale and manages, almost miraculously, to convey a sense of humanist hope amid bleakness and heartbreak.
outside the cinemas, what i caught was generally good, but seldom as good as the films above. new york city ballet’s “new combinations” program was rather uneven; no single work really stood out, but parts of the forsyth and abraham pieces were fantastic. though i was bummed that peter evans wasn’t playing (but very much appreciate that approach to curating the program), his compositions for violin and piano at national sawdust made for a terrific evening of music—and made me a new fan of both mazz swift (i couldn’t take my eyes off her playing) and ron stabinsky. though the frida show at the brooklyn museum was disappointingly biographical (which makes the few pieces of her actual work stand out all the more), the jasper johns show at matthew marks, the ian cheng show at gladstone, and the nancy holt show at dia:chelsea were all phenomenal.
this month, i’ll definitely be shifting my time towards the stage, as there’s a lot of great dance and theater already on my calendar. there’s also a lot in the other categories (including film) to keep us engaged and, hopefully, inspired..
art: the first round of spring fairs is upon us, with the art show open now and the armory show and others (see artnews’ cheat sheet) opening next week. in lieu of a fair, the new art dealers alliance is presenting “new york gallery open 2019,” which is definitely worth a look. public art fund has works by siah armajani (who also has a show at the met breuer) and mark manders on view this month (and beyond), and i still need to see tauba auerbach’s flow separation before it closes in may. mega-collector peter brant’s new space in the city opens with a basquiat show, and mary boone gallery closes with shows by derrick adams and julia wachtel. other shows i’m hoping to see are vivian brown, rirkrit tiravanija, judith linhares, candida höfer, keith duncan, sarah charlesworth, sky kim, and nina katchadourian.
dance: ohad naharin’s work appears twice on this month’s calendar, courtesy of hubbard street dance at the joyce and batsheva dance company at bam (the title of the latter work feels especially charged right now). 92y presents a “feast of cunningham,” douglas dunn + dancers, and jonah bokaer choreography. vertigo dance company is at baryshnikov arts center, netta yerushalmy is at new york live arts, and new york theatre ballet is at danspace.
performance / theater: the b-side: “negro folklore from texas state prisons” at st. ann’s this month is absolutely essential; southern promises, which well make a good complement, opens at the flea this month, too. though i’m leery of directors being hyped as “controversial” or “the next [insert currently hot director’s name, e.g., ivo van hove],” i am looking forward to seeing milo rau’s five easy pieces at skirball. justin vivian bond, unitard, and sasha velour are all on stage, and all three are personal favorites. the lehman trilogy at the park avenue armory is one of this month’s biggest stage events, but i’ve got more smaller scale shows on my radar: 55 shades of gay: balkan spring of sexual revolution, suicide forest at bushwick starr, chimpanzee at here (where also has a great showcase of new work, culturemart, on this month), and skinnamarink at new york theatre workshop.
music: as much as i appreciate lincoln center, i don’t find myself there often. this month, however, i may well head that way since their musical programming is particularly interesting and diverse. there’s top-notch classical fare, such as the "winter festival" (in parts 1, 2, 3, and 4) and philharmonia baroque orchestra, and more contemporary (and even popular) fare, ranging from martha plimpton to a john adams-curated program and an evening of new music (playing both early and late). john adams is a part of a new york philharmonic program that looks great; i still need to see jaap van zweden conduct, but i’m really into what he’s doing with the philharmonic. carnegie hall is another venue i don’t frequent much, but their programming will have me there at least once this month. theatre of voices is presenting a program of arvo pärt and david lang that i can’t wait to hear, and the "migrations: the making of america" festival has a lot to see and hear (of particular note is “two wings: the music of black migration in america,” which seems a good complement to the b-side: “negro folklore from texas state prisons” and southern promises mentioned above. further uptown, both john zorn and tyshawn sorey are subjects of composer portraits at the miller theatre. downtown and brooklyn shows that have my interest piqued this month are rafiq bhatia at the kitchen, talea at the stone, amanda gookin at national sawdust, and hard wood at issue project room.
film: several international film series take place this month: “carte blanche: mariette rissenbeek on german women cinematographers” (which includes ulrike ottinger’s under snow), “rendez-vous with french cinema," “caribbean film series: a 5th anniversary,", and “canada now 2019." other series of note include “nyc feminist film week,” “infrastructure on film,” “forbidden fruit: the golden age of the exploitation picture,” “on resentment,” and the always essential “new directors new films.” after all the cannes buzz, i’m quite eager to see jia zhangke’s ash is the purest white, and, as a long-time admirer of his work, i can’t wait to see christian petzold’s latest, transit. i haven’t kept up with michael winterbottom’s work over the last decade (but remain convinced that his code 46 is one of the most underrated films of the 2000s), so i’m curious to see his new film the wedding guest. two other films that are high on my must-see list this month are the island of hungry ghosts and an elephant sitting still.
feel free to share this boletín via this page and be sure to check out the full calendar below!
abrazos,
paul
marzo / march
1: wu man with fellow silkroad artists (music)
1-2: a feast of cunningham (dance)
1-2: grieg's piano concerto featuring thibaudet (music)
1-2: bonnie's last flight (theater)
1-2: johnnie cruise mercer / angie pittman: a shared evening of new work (dance)
1-2: grieg's piano concerto featuring thibaudet (music)
1-3: rameau maître à danser (music)
1-3: ben hecht: fighting words, moving pictures (film)
1-3: switzerland (theater)
1-3: living with the dead: the films of george a. romero (film)
1-7: henri-georges clouzot’s the mystery of picasso (art, film)
1-9: rocco, chelsea, adriana, sean, claudia, gianna, alex (theater)
1-10: rendez-vous with french cinema (film)
1-10: hurricane diane (theater)
1-10: spaceman (theater)
1-12: carte blanche: mariette rissenbeek on german women cinematographers (film)
1-12: styx (film)
1-17: boesman and lena (theater)
1-17: the light (theater)
1-17: dying in boulder (theater)
1-23: imagining madoff (theater)
1-23: suicide forest (theater)
1-24: the b-side: “negro folklore from texas state prisons” (theater)
1-24: marys seacole (theater)
1-24: recent alien abductions (theater)
1-25: good friday (theater)
1-26: more restorations and rediscoveries from the fox film corporation (film)
1-30: forbidden fruit: the golden age of the exploitation picture (film)
1-31: early godard (film)
1-: transit (film)
1-: the wedding guest (film)
1-: woman at war (film)
1-: joseph pulitzer: voice of the people (film)
1-: the mother (theater)
2: christine groult / ariadne (music)
2: kim david smith’s morphium kabarett (performance)
2: martha plimpton: all the presidents mann (music)
2: under snow (art, film)
2: innov gnawa (music)
3: signature theatre: octet by dave malloy with paige evans and annie tippe (theater)
3: hungarian fire (music)
3: jesús gonzález (music)
3-6: kota yamazaki / fluid hug-hug (dance)
4: heimat quartet (music)
4: greed (film)
5: arbor music series vi - program two (music)
5: underexposed (dance)
5: adam o'farrill nonet & aaron burnett and the big machine featuring peter evans (music)
5-6: vertigo dance company: one. one & one (dance)
5-10: nyc feminist film week (film)
5-17: justin vivian bond: under the influence (performance)
6: 2019 bang on a can people's commissioning fund concert (music)
6: unitard (performance)
6-9: molly lieber and eleanor smith : body comes apart (dance)
6-17: hubbard street dance chicago (dance)
7: john zorn (music)
7: alkemie (music)
7: queer baby jesus (performance)
7: telsa quartet (music)
7: julia kent (music)
7-9: five easy pieces (theater)
7-9: future faith (performance)
7-9: identity: freedom (music)
7-10: the four horsemen (dance)
7-10: canada now 2019 (film)
7-10: flamenco festival 2019 (dance, music)
7-14: babylon (film)
7-17: 55 shades of gay: balkan spring of sexual revolution (theater)
7-17: chimpanzee (theater)
8: scharoun ensemble berlin (music)
8: bridget kibbey, harp & guests (music)
8: gemma peacocke (music)
8-9: douglas dunn + dancers (dance)
8-10: songs from the spirit (dance, music)
8-17: island of the hungry ghosts (film)
8-21: an elephant sitting still (film)
8-23: skinnamarink (theater)
9: kelly suttenfield trio (music)
9: greed (film)
9: charmaine lee: laminals with id m theft able & andrea pensado (music)
9: petra haden, julian lage, jorge roeder, kenny wollesen, and jesse harris (music)
9-10: ny international children's film festival (film)
9-24: holy day (theater)
9-: migrations: the making of america (music)
10: greed (film)
10: winter festival i (music)
10: philharmonia orchestra (music)
10-11: the washington ballet: julie kent with dana genshaft and ethan stiefel (dance)
11-: southern promises (theater)
12: ensemble connect (music)
12: philharmonia baroque orchestra (music)
12-16: talea (music)
12-17: ashes (theater)
13: thomas adès, piano, & kirill gerstein, piano (music)
13-19: mozart's requiem (music)
14: noelí overseas (film)
14: marta pereira da costa: a portuguese guitar (music)
14: takács quartet (music)
14: magos herrera with brooklyn rider: dreamers (music)
14-15: double yolk moon (work-in-progress) (theater)
14-16: new york theatre ballet (dance)
14-17: caribbean film series: a 5th anniversary festival (film)
14-28: infrastructure on film (film)
14-30: variations on the main (performance)
15: syncretics series: hprizm: pressure wave / josh sinton: krasa (music)
15: winter festival ii (music)
15: rafiq bhatia: breaking english (music)
15-16: dylan crossman dans(c)e (dance)
15-17: netta yerushalmy (dance)
15-21: socially relevant film festival (film)
15-: ash is the purest white (film)
15-: the eyes of orson welles (film)
17: ethel & face the music (music)
17: lúnasa with natalie merchant (music)
17: distant constellation (film)
17-: julius ceasar (theater)
18-23: culturemart (performance, theater)
19: new york festival of song: love at the crossroads (music)
19: nyc shorts (film)
19: fast forward (dance)
19: max vernon: existential life crisis lullaby (performance)
19: winter festival iii (music)
19-23: pan asian sounding festival (music)
20: boston symphony orchestra (music)
20: theatre of voices (music)
20: amanda gookin (music)
20-28: on resentment (film)
20-: buddy (film)
21: wye oak & brooklyn youth chorus (music)
21: paul o’dette, lute (music)
21: mark fell with okkyung lee / kara-lis coverdale: solo organ / lxv (music)
21: new music (6:30pm) (music)
21: new music (9:00pm) (music)
21: sid sriram (music)
21-23: sasha velour: smoke & mirrors (performance)
21-26: jaap van zweden conducts brahms's first symphony (music)
21-: now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories (performance)
21-: the fat lady sings (theater)
21-: the cradle will rock (theater)
22: american symphony orchestra (music)
22-23: jonah bokaer choreography (dance)
22-23: miho hatori: salon mondialité (performance)
22-28: the cinema of gender transgression: trans film (film)
22-: the lehmann triology (theater)
22-: life sucks (theater)
23: nightcap: curated by john adams (music)
24: a special evening with isabelle huppert (film)
24: winter festival iv (music)
24: karen akers, jean brassard, kathleen landis, and steve ross (music)
26-: mrs. murray's menagerie (theater)
27: 8 in show (dance)
27: sonatenabend (music)
27: ava mendoza - solos and duos with nels cline (music)
27-30: venezuela (dance)
27-30: spring dances (dance)
27-: new directors new films (film)
28: tyshawn sorey (music)
28: hamid al-saadi with safaafir: the maqam of iraq (music)
28: fire! and madalyn merkey (music)
28-30: dorrance dance (dance)
28-30: oba qween baba king baba (dance)
28-30: sasha velour: smoke & mirrors (performance)
28-: eh dah? questions for my father (theater)
29: new chamber music (music)
29: citizen kane (film)
29-30: ellen cornfield/cornfield dance (dance)
29-30: films by william ferris (film, music)
29-: diane (film)
30: dido and aeneas (music)
30: two wings: the music of black america in migration (music)
30: never sleep alone (performance)
30: hard wood: daxophone consort with daniel fishkin, cleek schrey & ron shalom (music)
30-: i carry your heart (theater)
31: warhol / watson & webber / whitney (film)
31: harlot (film)
31: seven last words (music)