[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 2021
¡felices fiestas, difus@s!
after a wonderfully gluttonous thanksgiving, kiki & herb's sleigh at bam was a perfect start to the holiday performance season—everything i wanted, even without my favorite jvb yuletide standard. since i haven't been able to do a full mapping of the season's offerings (for all sorts of reasons not worth bothering to revisit), what follows is a bit truncated...but hopefully enough to get you through to mid-january, when pablo will be back in good form:
dance: balachine's nutcracker is an indisputable holiday classic. as nutcrackers go, morris' the hard nut is my favorite, but, as it's not on this year, i'll gladly get my dose of christmas camp from les ballets trockadero de monte carlo at the joyce, where parsons dance is currently on stage. for more contemporary (non-holiday) dance, check out "new dances: edition 2021" from julliard, "antidote" at abrons arts center, or "interglacial" at dixon place.
music: top of the music list this month is "praetorious: in dulci jubilo" at st. luke's of the fields, followed closely by so percussion and friends at carnegie hall. presentations of handel's messiah are in no short supply: the ny phil, the oratorio society of new york, musica sacra, and the masterwork chorus and orchestra are just a few of the presentations on this month. for more holiday fare, you can hear the vienna boys choir at carnegie hall or holiday brass at lincoln center. to celebrate the solstice, check out phil niblock's "six hours of music and film" at roulette. as we head into the new year, please be sure to check out the 10th anniversary of the prototype festival.
film: everyone should take full advantage of "in here, time stops" at ifc and see as much of apichatpong weerasekathul's films as possible (especially his breakthrough tropical malady); i need to give his latest, memoria, another viewing before making up my mind, but i wasn't as taken with it as with his prior work. i'm also very eager to see the latest from pedro almodovar (whom i adore), parallel mothers, and sean baker (whose depictions of sex work are fodder from some serious cultural studies scholarship), red rocket (casting simon rex as the lead is pure genius). other films and series of note include sorrentino's latest, "the world of gordon parks," "retrospective: michael snow," france, the color of pomegranates, and first and last men (the director's "flight from the city" featured prominently in my pandemic playist..).
performance + theater: i had meant to see while you were partying this past month, so i am really hoping to catch it now. drag queen (in the full rpdr sense of the phrase) sasha velour brings smoke & mirrors back to new york live arts. (fwiw, i HIGHLY recommend watching the spanish version of rupaul's globe-conquering show.) other performances on my list this month are fractales at montclair state university, murray hill at joe's pub (holiday queerness!), and dick rivington & the cat (family fare!). while i haven't yet read reviews for kimberly akimbo, selling kabul, or tammany hall, i'd probably go without reading them just to support their hosts. be sure, too, to check out the annual under the radar festival at the start of the new year.
art: just spend some time at your favorite museum—or one you've never visited!—and go see carrie weems' the shape of things at the park avenue armory and gilded figures: wood and clay made flesh at the hispanic society.
please, please, please consider arts memberships (museums, theaters, cinemas, music venues, etc.) as gifts this year, whether for those you love (or just happen to be related to, what justin vivian bond would describe as "bio-illogical family") as well as yourself. see you in the new year!
un abrazo navideño,
p