[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.]
octubre 2019
¡hola,difus@s!
september was full, with the cultural calendar quickly nearing its annual peak, but it was also very—even, remarkably—fulfilling. everything i saw combined the two things i value most in art and life: rigor and compassion. from agá (richly ethnographic and beautifully understated) at film forum to hamid al-saadi with amir elsaffar at james cohan gallery (amid josiah mcelenhey's gorgeous show) and 600 highwaymen's manmade earth (which could have been edited more rigorously but was still a delight of formal allusions and their unique sensibility) at the invisible dog center, the work was intellectually stimulating and emotionally affecting. even the most austere works—the disorder of discourse (a conceptual tour-de-force with a virtuosic performance by guillaume bailliart), liberté (albert serra's generally underestimated / misinterpreted latest film, which has kept me ruminating), and sátántangó (béla tarr's monumental masterpiece, which i'd attempted once before under suboptimal conditions)—tempered their trenchant political critiques with a profound concern for the human condition. perhaps not surprisingly, jerome bel and anne teresa de keersmaeker arguably achieved the most exquisite balance of head and heart. bel's portrait of isadora duncan was, formally, as deceptively simple as we've come to expect (and love) from him, and catherine gallant's luminous performance brought out the generosity of spirit that characterizes his best work. de keersmaeker's fase is a staggering, astonishing work, as formally and conceptually rigorous as anything i've seen in dance (or anywhere, for that matter), but watching these new dancers struggle with(in) it made me appreciate all the more deeply her genius and their courage.
as a friend and i were commenting this past week, the latter half of september through october is easily the most dense (in terms of quality and volume) part of the cultural calendar, so take advantage of it!
dance: at the start of the month, the fall for dance festival is on at city center, and anne teresa de keersmaeker continues at new york live arts with rosas danst rosas. (a quick cautionary note: tickets for these two events are limited, at best, but i'd be remiss if i didn't highlight them. the following should have greater availability.) other favorite choreographers with work on stage this month include william forsythe (it's been too long!), bruno beltrão (ditto!), merce cunningham, and kyle abraham. other shows i'm hoping to catch are teac damsa at bam, koosil-ja at roulette (i'm keenly interested in data politics and critiques of big data), and jonathan heginbotham (though i'm not so interested in his collaborator).
music: the month's music offerings are particularly varied, ranging from the early music of carlo gesualdo (at the met cloisters, no less!) and domenico scarlatti (among others) to newly minted macarthur genius mary halvorson and even my life with the thrill kill kult. the jack quartet play what should be a gorgeous show of john luther adams' music, national sawdust hosts a night with george crumb and the ives concord centennial anniversary concert, fretwork and ieysten davies perform a sublime program at carnegie hall, and laurie anderson curates a selection of works following symphonie fanastique at lincoln center. three new operas that pique my interest are michigan trees: a guide to the trees of michigan and the great lakes region at dixon place, climate change: an opera at bric, and to music's final act at roulette.
film: the new york film festival continues, and one of its greatest pleasures, sátántangó returns on october 18, ostensibly for a limited run (hopefully more information will be available on the web site soon). series i have my eye on are "no joke: absurd comedy as political reality" at the museum of the moving image, "killer hitchcock", and "the devil probably: a century of satanic panic" at anthology film archives. both museum of the moving image and anthology film archives have interesting pairings by emerging international filmmakers, ognjen glavoni and rosine mbakam, respectively. two of canne's top films also arrive on our screens this month, padro almodóvar's pain and glory and bong joon ho's parasite. other films of note opening this month include 36 hours, gift, kinetta, and by the grace of god.
performance + theater: in addition to novenas for a lost hospital at rattlestick, my top theater priorities this month are notes on my mother's decline at next door @ nytw, all my fathers at la mama, and the johnsons at jack. nora burns' one-woman show, david's friend (which i really loved), is back for one night at dixon place, where fools in plein air's fermented rain also looks intriguing. john kelly's underneath the skin is on at skirball and seems to be gaining traction around town (not unlike adrienne truscott's show that's back at joe's pub this month). farther uptown, david byrne and alex timbers have a new collaboration, american utopia (their prior collaboration, here lies love, remains one of the best theatrical experiences i've had).
art: the fall season is in full swing across the city's galleries, so just ambling about tribeca, chelsea, or the east side (lower or upper) should turn up some good work. one show i desperately need to see before it closes is william powhida's complicities at postmasters. among the others i want to catch are the group show "stranger approaching" at bridget donahue, sarah sze at tonya bonakdar, sarah rapson at essex street, lucia stahl at queer thoughts, guadalupe maravilla at jack barrett, paulina peavy / lacomo at andrew edlin, rachel howard at blain|southern, and richard serra (also featured in a film program at anthology) and "domestic horror" at gagosian. i'm quite curious to see kehinde wiley's sculpture in times square, janine antoni's works at green-wood cemetery, jean-marie appriou's sculptures in central park, and kara walker's calliope at the whitney.
as always, there's more in the full calendar below, and you're welcome to share this as you'd like via this link.
un abrazo,
p
octubre / october
1: learning to speak (theater)
1: the slash (performance)
1: under exposed (dance)
1-2: justin vivian bond: under the influence presented as part of judy collins’ vanguard residency (performance)
1-3: fritz lang’s indian epic the tiger of eschnapur and the indian tomb (film)
1-5: american moor (theater)
1-5: rosas danst rosas (dance)
1-6: antigone (theater)
1-6: balletx (dance)
1-6: five by forsyth (film)
1-6: why? (theater)
1-6: wives (theater)
1-7: bad penny (theater)
1-7: sincerity forever (theater)
1-12: crossing the line festival (art, dance, performance, theater)
1-12: the jazz singer (performance)
1-13: adrienne truscott's (still) asking for it (a stand-up rape about comedy starring her pussy and little else) (performance)
1-13: fall for dance festival (dance)
1-13: new york film festival (film)
1-13: novenas for a lost hospital (theater)
1-13: runboyrun and in old age (theater)
1-14: the invention of tragedy (theater)
1-20: our dear dead drug lord (theater)
1-20: see it big! ghost stories (film)
1-27: heroes of the fourth turning (theater)
1-27: the wrong man (theater)
2: akira sakata with darin gray (music)
2: in the same space (theater)
2: magos herrera presents a tribute to joão gilberto (music)
2-12: el pueblo de los olvidados (the village of the forgotten), part 1 (performance)
3: night, not in four movements (music)
3: visions of the modern muse ii: contemporary vocal music (music)
3: wadada leo smith with pheeroan aklaff, akira sakata & chikamorachi (music)
3-5: symphonie fantastique (music)
3-6: truth and reconciliation: womyn working it out! (theater)
3-20: all my fathers (theater)
3-20: the glass menagerie (theater)
3-: seared (theater)
4: american fables (theater)
4: ensemble / parallax (music)
4: rhiannon giddens with francesco turrisi: there is no other (music)
4: the cleveland orchestra (music)
4-5: coloring (dance)
4-5: rhys chatham: the sun too close to the earth / jonathan kane & zeena parkins: on, suzanne (music)
4-6: monument (or, king lear) (theater)
4-20: nyc '81 (film)
4-20: the worth of water (theater)
4-: american utopia (performance)
4-: pain and glory (film)
5: 36 hours (film)
5: autumn knight: wall (art, performance)
5: depth two + the load (film)
5: electric narcissus (flaherty nyc with joan jonas) (art, film)
5: equinox / solstice (dance)
5: masters at work: balanchine & cunningham (dance)
5: nightcap: curated by laurie anderson (music)
5: resonator festival (music)
5: shanghai quartet featuring simone dinnerstein (music)
6: acronym (music)
6: cudamani gamelan (music)
6: sphinx virtuosi (music)
6-27: notes on my mother's decline (theater)
7: jessica pavone string ensemble: brick and mortar (music)
8: black thought: to amiri baraka from leroi jones (performance)
8: jonas mekas, program 1: laboratorium anthology (film)
8: thandiswa mazwai (music)
8-10: brooklyn string orchestra: pergolesi: stabat mater (music)
8-11: everyday murder (performance)
8-12: shantala shivalingappa (dance)
9: black thought: poetic justice of krs-one and rakim (performance)
9: john pennington and sean statser, percussion duo (music)
9: okkyung lee (music)
9: sonatenabend (music)
9-13: let ‘im move you (dance)
9-13: major barbara (theater)
9-: no joke: absurd comedy as political reality (film)
10: athens philharmonic (music)
10: black thought: the art of news (performance)
10: masters at work: balanchine & cunningham (dance)
10: theo bleckmann with uri caine (music)
10-11: climate change: an opera (work-in-progress) (music)
10-11: the lady power project: a devised song cycle (performance)
10-12: dance heginbotham: herz schmerz (dance)
10-20: american fables (theater)
10-26: the johnsons (theater)
10-31: the seance machine (theater)
11: sphinx virtuosi (music)
11-12: black artists retreat 2019: sonic meditations (art, performance)
11-12: underneath the skin (performance)
11-13: nathaniel dorsky: experimental lecture + nyc premieres (film, performance)
11-17: the gift: the journey of johnny cash (film)
11-17: tora-san, our lovable tramp (it’s tough being a man) (film)
11-20: in my room (film)
11-25: a quiet evening of dance (dance)
11-: gift (film)
11-: parasite (film)
12: birth of a nation (film)
12: masters at work: balanchine & cunningham (dance)
12: michigan trees: a guide to the trees of michigan and the great lakes region (music)
13: fall further viii (dance)
13: intolerance (film)
13: javier limon's flamenco legends (music)
13: sirota @ 70 (music)
14: i love you so much that i just don't know (film)
14-: for all the women who thought they were mad (theater)
15: dover quartet and emanuel ax, piano (music)
15: dvořák's american quintet (music)
15: fast forward (dance)
15: show & tell: ute aurand (film)
15: the philadephia orchestra (music)
15: vagabon (music)
15-16: american slavery project’s unheard voices (theater)
15-17: koosil-ja / dance kumiko: open data story of profit and death (dance)
15-20: a.i.m. (dance)
15-20: swan lake / loch na heala (dance)
15-24: longer lasts longer (performance)
16: blank forms third annual benefit honoring ikue mori and arto lindsay (music)
16: crossing boundaries (dance)
16: daniil trifonov, sergei babayan (music)
16: musical portraits (music)
16-17: desire (music)
16-20: last whispers (music)
16-21: last audience (dance)
16-22: chez jolie coiffure (film)
16-22: the two faces of a bamileke woman (film)
16-29: stuffed (film)
17: valerie sajdik (music)
17-18: concrète jungle (performance)
17-19: kayla farrish / decent structures arts: the new frontier (my dear america) pt. 1 (dance)
17-23: richard serra: the complete films and videos (art, film)
17-27: wildlife conservation film festival (film)
18: christopher tignor (performance)
18: donald judd (art, film)
18: ensemble connect (music)
18: takács quartet (music)
18: the second woman (theater)
18-19: fools in plein air: fermented rain (performance)
18-19: george lewis' soundlines (music)
18-24: fiddlin (film)
18-24: unlikely (film)
18-27: kinetta (film)
18-27: the happy garden of life (theater)
18-: by the grace of god (film)
18-: greener grass (film)
18-: serendipity (film)
18-: shitamachi: tales of downtown tokyo (film)
18-: tell me who i am (film)
19: an elephant sitting still (film)
19: benin international musical (music)
19: fretwork and iestyn davies (music)
19: heinavanker (music)
19: i can't sleep (performance)
19: in | between (dance)
19: lido pimienta (music)
19: namâd trio: pejman hadadi, saeed kamjoo & kourosh taghavi | ode to hope – persian music (music)
19: vox luminis (music)
19-26: blake edwards: a film selection by julie andrews (film)
19-: white light festival (dance, music, performance, theater)
20: an evening with the melbourne symphony orchestra (music)
20: les arts florissants: the sacred madrigals of carlo gesualdo (music)
20: takács quartet part ii (music)
20: the ives concord centennial anniversary concert (music)
21: jack quartet: lines made by walking (music)
21: jonas mekas, program 2: a walk (film)
21: musicians from marlboro (music)
21-: dr. ride's american beach house (theater)
21-: monsoon season (theater)
22: a pile of papers (performance)
22: asa-chang & junray / lea bertucci & amirtha kidambi (music)
22: ensemble connect (music)
22: sky & ground (film)
22: under exposed (dance)
22-27: the day (dance)
22-: fires in the mirror (theater)
23: david's friend (theater)
23: festival chamber music concert series (music)
23: nick hallett: to music’s final act // emily manzo: how to rescue (music)
23: sonatenabend (music)
23-27: what if they went to moscow? (theater)
24: brian vu (music)
24: ian bostridge, tenor, and brad mehldau, piano (music)
24: jazzfest marathon night 1 (music)
24: mario diaz de leon: cycle and reveal (music)
24: my life with the thrill kill kult (music)
24: ne(x)tworks: then ➤ now ➤ next? a farewell concert (music)
24: rose studio concert (music)
24: vijay iyer (music)
24-25: a performance dinner: taking care (art, performance)
24-26: fools in plein air: fermented rain (performance)
24-26: houston ballet (dance)
24-30: filibus (film)
25: carolina eyck (music)
25: charles atlas (art, dance, film)
25: jazzfest marathon night 2 (music)
25: miró quartet (music)
25: munich philharmonic (music)
25: the mahabharata: part 1-of vengeance & promises (theater)
25-26: bridgett everett & the tender moments (music, performance)
25-26: nightfall (music, performance)
25-26: to come (extended) (dance)
25-27: la mama puppet slam (theater)
25-31: killer hitchcock (film)
25-: burning cane (film)
25-: frankie (film)
25-: synonyms (film)
25-: the hope hypothesis (theater)
26: in memoriam: gerald o'grady (film)
26: jazzfest marathon night 3 (music)
26: nathalie joachim & spektral quartet (music)
26-27: fffest (film)
27: cappella pratensis (music)
27: dane terry (music, performance)
27: ecco (east coast chamber orchestra) & shai wosner, piano (music)
27: jonas mekas, program 3: lithuania and the collapse of the ussr (film)
27: new york philharmonic ensembles (music)
27: oíche shamhna / an irish halloween: bonfire stories (performance)
27: philharmonic ensembles (music)
27: schubert's cello quintet (music)
28: a night with george crumb (music)
28: mary halvorson & john dieterich: a tangle of stars (music)
28: the face of the planet (film)
28-: the people’s republic of valerie, living room edition (performance)
29: carine gutlerner, piano (music)
29: counter)induction: music of jessica meyer (music)
29: yemen blues: the great hallel (music)
29-: black grace (dance)
29-: paul taylor: celebrate the dancemaker (dance)
29-: the underlying chris (theater)
30: jen shyu (music)
30: joey arias: halloween lullabies (music, performance)
30: unitard: badassy! (performance)
30-: hamnet (theater)
30-: the devil probably: a century of satanic panic (film)
31: bauhaus halloween party (film, music)
31: carol lipnik and tareke ortiz: a coney island mexican halloween (music)
31: jónsi & alex somers: riceboy sleeps (music)
31: kim david smith (music)
31: liederabend (music)
31: red room orchestra: music from horror movies (music)
31-: inoah (dance)
31-: sam kim: other animal (dance)
31-: the world is full of secrets (film)