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noviembre 2019
¡hola, difus@s!
october was a very, very full month (hence the delay), and the work i saw ranged from excellent to execrable. william forsythe and anne teresa de keersmaeker were, as expected, phenomenal shows, and françois chaingaud, whom i'd never seen before, was a revelation. circa's en masse had flashes of brilliance (particularly in their rendition of the rite of spring) but didn't cohere as well as, say, their opus. bruno beltrão completely lost his way with inoah (as has bam with this year's next wave); i (like claudia la rocco) was quite sympathetic to his prior h3, but this new work veered dangerously close to my personal vision of hell (like a beth morrison production of flexn).
on screen, the rest of the new york film festival was fantastic. both fire will come (a sharply observed portrait of contemporary rural spain) and endless night (a conceptually rigorous exercise in historical memory) made a strong case for galician cinema (of which the cervantes institute should take note), poromboiu's the whistlers furthers his reputation as a master filmmaker, and pedro costa's vitalina varela left me wanting to see everything else he's ever done. where's my roy cohn? was an engrossing (and eye-opening) character study and history lesson, parasite was an eminently satisfying class-conflict feature (if a bit overhyped), and by the grace of god was a surprisingly nuanced and compassionate work of journalistic fiction filmmaking (if, at times, a little too loosely structured). gift, while beautiful, was maddeningly apolitical (or, perhaps, recklessly depoliticized) and, thus, an affront—rather than an homage—to art-making.
william powhida's show, complicities, at postmasters was the perfect corrective to gift and a stand-out among a number of terrific shows that i managed to catch over the month (e.g., richard serra, sarah sze, jeppe hein, wael shawky). powhida's humor is as trenchant as his politics are incisive; the connections he traces, which (like where's my roy cohn?) span decades and cross party lines, underscore, to devastating effect, how superficial partisan differences actually are—and how unchanged the underlying economic interests remain. the politics of novenas for a lost hospital weren't quite as sharp as i'd wanted, but its sincerity and sensibility were rather affecting. even more moving was the superbly acted and rigorously unsentimental notes on my mother's decline, which i hope will play again soon.
i don't know that i'll be quite as voracious this month, but there's more than enough to tempt me in that direction...
music: several of my favorite musical artists are on stage this month: peter evans plays a one-week residency at the stone, philip glass' new opera akhnaten opens at the met, the jack quartet presents a terrific program (xenakis, farrin, and akiho) with colin currie at the 92y, and magnetic fields perform at symphony space. for early music, check out both new york polyphony and boston early music festival chamber ensemble; for string quartets, berg's lyric suite (with tony arnold, who is riveting) and the all-caroline shaw program are my top recommendations. other concerts i'm keenly interested in are nate wooley, matan porat, hamid al-saadi with safaafir, and jozef van wissem.
art: performa, the performance art biennial, returns this month with a wide array of programming (among which yvonne rainer, dynasty handbag, and bunny rogers' contributions have me particularly enthused). metrograph screens isaac julien's looking for langston, matthew barney's redoubt is on at film forum (in conjunction with his latest show at gladstone 64), and moma has an evening of films by barbara hammer, a pairing of films about nancy holt and judy chicago, two programs of films by and about artists as part of its "histories of film: the circulating film and video library" series. though i'm not usually much for comedy shows, the art-focused "modern whitney" show at caveat has my interest piqued. in the galleries and museums, shows i'm hoping to catch this month include hans haacke at the new museum, rayyane tabet at the met (along with the last knight and félix vallotton), rachel harrison at the whitney, pope.l and betye saar at moma, daniel arnold at larrie, john zurier at peter blum, william t. williams at michael rosenfeld, jordan casteel at casey kaplan, and douglas gordon at eva presenhuber.
film: moma's reopening is as much an event for the art world as it is for the film world, and "vision statement: early directorial works" is itself a compelling statement of the museum's importance in this field. their annual "the contenders" series and bam's "programmers' notebook: in case you missed it" series are great opportunities to see some of the year's best films before all the year-end lists come out. other series that are high on my list are "some other lives of time: subjective spaces for non-fiction" at the museum of the moving image, "jessica hausner: the miracle worker" at film at lincoln center, and "the romanians: 30 years of cinema revolution" at film forum. among the month's other offerings, atlantics, equation to an unknown, varda by agnès, and mickey and the bear are all high priorities.
theater + performance: a history of violence at st. ann's is at the top of my list, followed closely by is this a room? at the vineyard and for all the women who thought they were mad at soho rep. caveat has two politically focused comedy shows that also have my attention: "political circus: why democracy is f*cked and what we can do about it" and "united states of outrage." i'm also quite curious about black exhibition at bushwick starr, bedlam's take on the crucible, and halfway bitches go straight to heaven at atlantic theater.
dance: compared with the past two months, this month's dance offerings feel a bit more, well, modest, but there's still a lot to see (and more than anywhere else in the country). perfume genius' collaboration with kate wallich + the yc at the joyce and the guggenheim's works & process program of merce cunningham both look great, and i'm curious about brandocapote at the tank. other shows of note include rashaad newsome at new york live arts, jerron herman and molly joyce at danspace project, collin dunne at the baryshnikov arts center, and elisa monte dance at the flea.
below you'll find even more events to fill your calendar, and you can add anyone you'd like to this newsletter by signing them up here.
abrazos,
p
noviembre / november
1: #branded (theater)
1: american dharma (film)
1: leila bordreuil & lee ranaldo with stephan moore / asha sheshadri / the new york review of cocksucking (music)
1: on 1 condition (dance)
1: sounding the dutch baroque: paul o'dette (music)
1-2: ecm records at 50 (music)
1-2: inoah (dance)
1-2: sam kim: other animal (dance)
1-3: z (dance)
1-3: hamnet (theater)
1-3: scope docs: the wild world in widescreen (film)
1-3: the people’s republic of valerie, living room edition (performance)
1-6: poetry and partition: the films of ritwik ghatak (film)
1-6: the world is full of secrets (film)
1-7: new york short film festival (film)
1-7: shitamachi: tales of downtown tokyo (film)
1-8: the devil probably: a century of satanic panic (film)
1-10: seared (theater)
1-12: redoubt (art, film)
1-15: the hope hypothesis (theater)
1-16: no joke: absurd comedy as political reality (film)
1-17: for all the women who thought they were mad (theater)
1-17: paul taylor: celebrate the dancemaker (dance)
1-17: the regime is female (theater)
1-23: dr. ride's american beach house (theater)
1-23: monsoon season (theater)
1-24: is this a room? (theater)
1-24: fires in the mirror (theater)
1-24: performa 19 (art, performance)
1-24: the black history museum…according to the united states of america (theater)
1-24: white light festival (dance, music, performance, theater)
1-: the underlying chris (theater)
2: angela hewitt—bach odyssey x (music)
2: bonfire of the agencies: the shrinking administrative state (performance)
2: incesaz, featuring ny ataturk chorus (music)
2: megalopolis (music)
2: memorial for douglas crimp: mourning and militancy (performance)
2-24: fur (theater)
2-: vision statement: early directorial works (film)
3: lessons of darkness (film)
4-25: diane (film)
5: astro-electronics: tania caroline chen & ikue mori with guest jim staley (music)
5: borodin quartet (music)
5: ensemble connect (music)
5: under exposed (dance)
5-7: ephrat asherie dance (dance)
5-9: peter evans residency (music)
5-: einstein's dreams (theater)
5-: the young man from atlanta (theater)
6: angélica negrón with muriel louveau and emily marie pope: "isterica" (music)
6: bretano string quartet (music)
6: christopher knowles / will rawls (performance)
6: geneva camerata (music)
6: joel harrison with the talujon percussion quartet: still point: turning world (music)
6-9: the manganiyar seduction (music)
6-10: bright half life (theater)
6-10: nairy baghramian and maria hassabi: entre deux actes (ménage à quatre) (performance)
6-12: salonen, bach, and hindemith (music)
6-15: doc nyc (film)
6-16: user not found (theater)
6-23: black exhibition (theater)
6-: marriage story (film)
7: borodin quartet part ii (music)
7: decoda (music)
7: isabelle o'connell (music)
7: ivankaplay (theater)
7: maxim lando, piano (music)
7: stabat mater (music)
7-10: hoppla, we're alive! (theater)
7-12: the films of holly fisher (film)
7-23: richard iii (theater)
7-24: brandocapote (dance)
7-: the contenders (film)
8: berg's lyric suite (music)
8: goreum, traditional korean dance with jae seung kim and maholra dance company (dance)
8-9: available bodies (performance)
8-9: black magic: five (dance)
8-10: jessica hausner: the miracle worker (film)
8-10: some other lives of time: subjective spaces for nonfiction (film)
8-10: the apollo (film)
8-21: watson (film)
8-30: akhnaten (music)
8-: the crucible (theater)
9: babylon (film)
9: bavarian radio symphony orchestra (music)
9: fall of the berlin wall anniversary screening (film)
9: l. shankar | music of india (music)
9: new york polyphony (music)
9: what if we never fell apart? (theater)
9: william basinski: durational performance for suzanne (music)
9-10: a singular journey: women choreographers from korea (dance)
9-10: camille a. brown & dancers (dance)
10: darlinda just darlinda: one woman rainbow (performance)
10: ensemble connect (music)
10: female choreographers of color in ballet (dance)
10: goldberg variations (music)
10: happiness (film)
10: il pomo d’oro (music)
10: open spectrum: ballroom has something to say: class, taught by jason a. rodriguez and pony zion (dance)
10: open spectrum: ballroom has something to say: discussion + ballroom competition (dance)
10: yama – attack to attack (film)
11: show & tell: anja dornieden & juan david gonzález monroy, pgm 1 (film)
12: fast forward (dance)
12: jerron herman & molly joyce: breaking and entering (dance)
12: neil rolnick: journey’s end (music, performance)
12: show & tell: anja dornieden & juan david gonzález monroy, pgm 2 (film)
12: the kitchen l.a.b. (art, performance)
12-14: in this climate: brett story selects (film)
12-18: bridget everett and the tender moments (music, performance)
13: new england echoes (music)
13: no holds barred (performance)
13: show & tell: anja dornieden & juan david gonzález monroy, pgm 3 (film)
13: the hammer mix: decades (art, film)
13-14: folly systems: a real-time media festival (performance)
13-16: justice film festival (film)
13-16: not then, not yet (dance)
13-17: kate wallich + the yc x perfume genius (dance)
13-26: mickey and the bear (film) https://filmforum.org/film/mickey-and-the-bear
13-: a history of violence (theater)
13-: halfway bitches go straight to heaven (theater)
14: annea lockwood (music)
14: attacca quartet with caroline shaw (music)
14: inon barnatan, piano (music)
14: late night rose: calidore string quartet, xavier foley (music)
14: political circus: why democracy is f*cked (and what to do about it) (performance)
14: rose studio concert: calidore string quartet, xavier foley (music)
14-16: colin dunne: concert (dance)
14-16: tchaikovsky, sibelius, and bryce dessner (music)
14-16: what time is it? (dance)
14-17: martha graham dance company (dance)
14-17: the great tamer (performance)
14-19: greater clements (theater)
14-20: equation to an unknown (film)
14-21: the end of eddy (theater)
14-: virgo star (performance)
15: chicago symphony orchestra (music)
15: for: works by eva-maria houben, katherine young, ryoko akama (music)
15: linda simpson's slideshow extravaganza! the drag explosion (performance)
15: modern whitney (art, performance)
15: muted blast (.2), presented by meta.ξ (music, performance)
15: the edge of democracy (film)
15-16: chucho valdés (music)
15-16: jerron herman & molly joyce: breaking and entering (dance)
15-17: rebel spirit: the films of patricia mazuy (film)
15-17: recorder: the marion stokes project (film)
15-24: my twentieth century (film)
15-26: the romanians: 30 years of cinematic revolution (film)
15-28: i lost my body (film)
15-: moments of grace: the collected terrence malick (film)
15-: scandalous: the untold story of the national enquirer (film)
15-: to kid or not to kid (film)
16: brandee young quartet (music)
16: chicago symphony orchestra (music)
16: jack quartet & colin currie, percussion (music)
16: magnetic fields (music)
16: nightcap: curated by bryce dessner (music)
16: war, oil and power + amid the corn (film)
16: with: works by sarah hennies and eva-maria houben (music)
16-18: éliane radigue: adnos i-iii (music)
17: brian brooks moving company: immersive technology (dance)
17: catalyst quartet (music)
17: emi ferguson, flute, and ruckus (music)
17: looking for langston (film)
17: national symphony orchestra (music)
18: andrea geyer: dance in a future with all present (performance)
18: boston symphony orchestra (music)
18: united states of outrage (performance)
19: brahm's clarinet quintet (music)
19: from mozart to glass (music)
19: irish chamber orchestra (music)
19: jazz singers of the civil rights era: nina simone, bob dorough, abby lincoln, and oscar brown jr. (music)
19: lux (music)
19: marc blitzstein’s "no for an answer" & kurt weill’s "der silbersee" (music)
19-24: requiem (music)
20: 8 in show (dance)
20: conrad tao, piano (music)
20: meredith monk’s birthday dance party (music)
20: new firmament presents feast of the epiphany and nick podgurski (music)
21: future bible heroes (music)
21: gloria (music)
21: liederbend (music)
21: roland p. young and l’rain (music)
21: stephane wrembel’s django l’impressionniste (music)
21-22: pink sheets (work-in-progress) (dance)
21-23: saint-saëns and dvořák (music)
21-23: the abyssinian mass by wynton marsalis (music)
21-24: emerged nation (dance)
21-27: luc ferrari: recherches filmiques (film)
21-: other than we (theater)
22: benjamin hochman, piano (music)
22: dessa (music)
22: kyle simpson chamber orchestra presents a trip to the moon (music)
22: orchestre métropolitain de montréal (music)
22: pablo heras-casado conducts juilliard415 (music)
22-23: unsound new york (music)
22-27: piotr kamler (film)
22-27: programmers’ notebook: in case you missed it (film)
22-28: atlantics (film)
22-: anna karenina: a riff (theater)
22-: dark waters (film)
22-: relentless invention: new korean cinema, 1996–2003 (film)
22-: shooting the mafia (film)
22-: the thin place (theater)
22-: varda by agnès (film)
23: american federation of the arts collaborations (art, film)
23: beatriz ferreyra & christine groult (music)
23: cemetery of splendor + everything and more (film)
23: glenn dicetrow with pegasus (music)
23: hamid al-saadi with safaafir | journey to the heart of the iraqi maqam (music)
23: lucy dhegrae (music)
23: nate wooley: seven storey mountain vi (music)
23-24: dancing the coral suite (dance)
24: cathedral of sound (music)
24: gavin rayna russom (music)
24: gunner palace (film)
24: maximilian's musical armory (music)
24: new york philharmonic ensembles (music)
24: not in our name (film)
24: ny phil ensembles (music)
24: reverend billy & the church of stop shopping: earth riot (music, performance)
24: stravinsky's the soldier's tale (music)
24-25: merce cunningham centennial celebration (dance)
25: face the music: transformations (music)
25: films by and about artists, program 1 (art, film)
25: mark beke, trombone, and new york brass ensemble (music)
25: with merce (dance, film)
25-: sing street (theater)
26: dayramir gonzalez & habana entrancé (music)
26: la storia di orfeo: monteverdi, sartorio, rossi (music)
26: tak quartet (music)
27: ben goldberg (music)
27-30: daniil trifonov performs scriabin (music)
27-30: north by northwest (film)
27-: the two popes (film)
29: a day of animated films by women (film)
29-: temblores (tremors) (film)
30: bridget everett and the tender moments (music, performance)
30: films by and about artists, program 2 (art, film)
30: jozef van wissem (music)
30-: nylon fusion: the listening room and ray gun sayonara (theater)