[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.]
i'd planned for this issue to be another two-month combo, but the calendar was just too full, which feels like a good sign (maybe we've gotten the hang of performing—and pivoting—amid the pandemic?). i may well have seen more dance and theater in the past two months than in all the prior year, and i'm truly grateful for all that i saw. space dogs was genuinely delightful, though seeing it now would be a bit darker an experience. even if the same wasn't as devastatingly dark as the first enda walsh play i saw, it was definitely disquieting (in a good way).
both shows were in terrific new spaces—beautifully designed, intimately scaled (well done, mcc and iac!)—but my favorite performances of the month took me back to some of my favorite old haunts, la mama and soho rep. paul lazar's cage shuffle marathon made me appreciate john cage's humor and lightness like nothing i've seen before (so often his work gets mangled by the performer's—or audience's—pretense). just as perfectly imperfect, wolf play took on the project of family constitution with refreshing brio and some riveting performances.
if soho rep and la mama had me feeling at home, the opera house at bam (i'd only been to the fisher space since the pandemic started) had me feeling homesick...for a pre-barclay's center brooklyn. four quartets didn't come close to the bar set by so many other dance performances i've seen there (e.g., ballet preljocaj, batsheva dance company, lyon opera ballet, rosas, the forsythe company, tanztheater wuppertal pina bausch, trisha brown dance company), and i should have remembered from my dtw-frequenting days that i'm just not that into pam tanowitz's work. tepid appreciation is about all i can muster, and that's not enough to seek it out in the future. oona doherty's hard to be soft — a belfast prayer was much more satisfying in comparison, but it still left me missing the conceptual rigor of, say, dv8 physical theatre. the cast of both shows, though, were wonderful to watch, and seeing dance again (regardless of the choreography) made me very, very happy.
the dance offerings this month are a bit more sparse than february's, but we still have a few promising shows, along with a wealth of music, performance, theater, and film:
music: the kaufman music center presents a three-night festival of ukranian contemporary music, and i'm hoping it sells out quickly. two other shows i'd like to see sell out (but not before i get tickets!) are "living music with nadia sirota" at julliard and blue alchemy at the kaufman (i'm a huge fan of both nadia sirota and holland andrews). other shows of note include tristan perich's infinity gradient at saint thomas (courtesy of death of classical), dawuna at blank forms, dorian wood's xavela lux aeterna at joe's pub, the carl craig synthesizer ensemble at carnegie hall, and johnny gandelsman at the baryshnikov arts center. lincoln center's david rubenstein atrium hosts musicians from peru and argentina, and roulette presents music from syria and pakistan.
performance + theater: heather christian's oratorio for living things, which originally opened just as the city closed two years ago, is back at ars nova, and i'm super excited to finally see it—her animal wisdom at the bushwick starr was _phenomenal_. steve earle is another musician whose past theatrical collaborations i've loved, so i'm quite eager to catch coal country. i'm also interested in how anne bogart and siti company are going to handle marshall mcluhan in the medium and how the builders association takes on technology and platform capitalism in i agree to these terms (because their house / divided was probably the most trenchant and poetic response to the sub-prime mortgage crisis). also high on my list this month are what we leave behind at dixon place, saguaros at jack, a song of songs at el puente (with bushwick starr), and ¡oso fabuloso & the bear backs! (high camp, for sure) at joe's pub.
film: as the oscars reflect back on last year, the museum of the moving image looks ahead with "first look 2022". both metrograph and lincoln center highlight french film this month with "left bank cinema" and "rendez-vous with french cinema," respectively. film forum brings intregalde, a new romanian film by a director i've yet to see—and i *love* new romanian cinema (if you've got hulu, the must-see bad luck banging or loony porn arrives this month!). much-talked-about-at-cannes nitram and ahed's knee hit the big screens, too.
dance: julliard's spring dances includes trisha brown's set / reset, which will be presented by at least two other companies later this spring (so a good opportunity to compare and contrast!). netta yerushalmy brings movement to montclair state, sara mearns and trinity irish dance company are on stage at the joyce, and ogemdi ude performs at abrons arts center. dixon place begins a new series featuring kathak, and city center showcases four dance companies and some new work in its spring dance festival.
art: i haven't yet made it to the museum of the moving image to see deepfake: unstable evidence on screen, so that's a high priority this month. i'm hoping to see pompeii in color: the life of roman painting at the institute for the study of the ancient world, along with nuestra casa: rediscovering the treasures of the hispanic society museum & library and several other museum shows i've mentioned before but still need to see. after catching "the devil you know" at simone subal gallery, i'll follow blake gopnik's gallery-hopping advice (which i very much trust!).
i'll do my best to get the april edition out before the first, and, in the meantime, you can share this newsletter with anyone you'd like by signing them up here.
un abrazo,
p
marzo / march
6: arden – a ritual for love and liberation (performance)
6: barococo (theater)
6: grand panorama (performance)
6: mendelssohn's octet (music)
6: the merchant of venice (theater)
6: the same (theater)
6-7: joey arias: no one knows (performance)
6-8: mohamed soueid retrospective (film)
6-12: aquifer of the weave (performance)
6-12: ryan rafferty: the trial of andy warhol (performance)
6-12: the easiest thing (theater)
6-13: jane anger (theater)
6-13: on sugarland (theater)
6-13: out of time (theater)
6-13: rendez-vous with french cinema (film
6-20: english (theater)
6-20: notes from now (theater)
6-20: space dogs (theater)
6-20: wolf play (theater)
6-27: a prayer for the french republic (theater)
6-27: the chinese lady (theater)
6-: at the wedding (theater)
6-: buster's century (film)
6-: coal country (theater)
6-: left bank cinema (film)
8: emanuel ax, piano; leonidas kavakos, violin; yo-yo ma, cello (music)
8: jerry hunt’s procession and the death of the piano (performance)
8: lynching postcards: “token of a great day” (film)
8: meredith monk & john hollenbeck (music)
8-12: ryan rafferty: the trial of andy warhol (performance)
8-13: sara mearns: body of work (dance)
8-: confederates (theater)
9: quartet (film)
9: varispeed and peggy weil: the blurring test (music)
9-12: justice film festival (film)
9-20: heartbroke 2022: a festival of short plays for the broken (theater)
9-: what you are now (theater)
10: jupiter (music)
10: late night rose: still, poulenc, bruch, bartók (music)
10: sentient. omnibus: you us them (film)
10: thomas buckner (music)
10-11: side by side (theater)
10-12: wonder of the waters (performance)
10-15: larry clark: the la rebellion and other modalities (film)
10-23: peter bogdanovich: american filmmaker (film)
10-24: a song of songs (theater)
10-24: a war begins: the ww2 documentaries of herbert kline (film)
10-27: misdemeanor dream (theater)
10-28: glasstown (performance)
10-: take me out (theater)
11: dawuna (music)
11: morton subotnick: "as i live & breathe" / antenes (music)
11-13: a song for cesar (film)
11-27: extravalue film award winners: zaho zay + please hold the line (film)
11-27: lemon girls or art for the artless (performance)
11-: i am here (film)
12: morton subotnick: "as i live & breathe" / james k (music)12: takht al-nagham: classical music of syria (music)
12: xavela lux aeterna (music)
13: shoko nagai & satoshi takeishi’s vortex~ 20th anniversary concert (music)
13: strange fruit (performance)
13: what we leave behind (theater)
13-: suffs (theater)
14: boston symphony orchestra (music)
14-31: just for us (theater)
15: avi avital, mandolin, and brooklyn rider play boccherini, golijov, and more (music)
15: beaujangless and chella man (performance)
15: boston symphony orchestra (music)
15: ensemble connect (music)
15: frisson (music)
15: new york no limits film series, art of the short, march 2022 (film)
15-19: trinity irish dance company (dance)
15-20: a book of mountains and seas (performance)
15-20: the medium (theater)
15-: help (theater)
15-: oratorio for living things (performance)
16: lea bertucci: a visible length of light + duo with ben vida (music)
16: lundú (music)
16-17: johnny gandelsman: this is america (music)
16-20: socially relevant film festival (film)
16-20: the life (theater)
16-22: first look 2022 (film)
17: born with an extra rib: the film (premiere) (performance)
17: bunker (film)
17: jane by charlotte (film)
17: wild (dance)
17-19: all you want is what you want (performance)
17-20: movement (dance)
17-23: atlantide (film)
17-24: bruce & norman yonemoto (film)
17-: 7 minutes (theater)
18: schoenberg's transfigured night (music)
18-20: ukranian contemporary music festival (music)
18-27: kinoyu tanaka retrospective (film)
18-: ahed's knee (film)
18-: intregalde (film)
18-: master (film)
19: carl craig synthesizer ensemble (music)
19: the body popular: beyond the flat with zachary fabri & samantha box (performance)
19: vengeance is mine, all others pay cash + semiotic plastic (film)
20: kathak + everlasting performances (dance)
21: living music with natalie sirota (music)
21-24: living relics (work-in-progress) (performance)
22: infinity gradient (music)
22: lesley mok and aliya ultan: a bird in its chest (music)
22-23: salty brine’s living record collection: how strange it is (performance)
22-27: ronald k. brown / evidence (dance)
22-30: upload (music)
23: decoda (music)
23-26: spring dances (dance)
23-: feast (theater)
24: ¡oso fabuloso & the bear backs! (performance)
24: sofia rei (music)
24-26: 32 sounds (film)
24-26: saguaros (theater)
24-30: wood and water (film)
24-: city center dance festival (dance)
25: sancutary (music)
25-26: frequency (performance)
25-31: bronco bullfrog (film)
25-31: outside noise (film)
25-: i agree to these terms (theater)
26: hamza akram qawwal & brothers: sufi chants of pakistan (music)
26: kelli sae: disco, dicks and dykes! (performance)
26: rose: you are who you eat (performance)
26: theo croker, trumpet (music)
26-27: the oscar micheaux suite (performance)
27: new york philharmonic ensembles (music)
27-: bridget everett & the tender moments (performance)
28: paul agnew conducts juilliard415 (music)
28-: heartland (theater)
28-: squirrels to nuts (film)
29: krzysztof penderecki: space dissonance (film)
30: moses sumney’s blackalachia in brooklyn (music)
30: sonatenabend (music)
30-: giving up the ghost (theater)
30-: nitram (film)
30-: oh, the humanity! the films of larry fessenden and glass eye pix (film)
31: dig (dance)
31: forgotten voices (music)
31: goldberg variations (music)
31: holland andrews & darian donovan thomas (music)
31: in the shadow of the cross (music)
31: miranda cookson & rand steiger (music)
31: omar sosa & seckou keita featuring gustavo ovalles “suba”: cuban/african connections (music)
31-: balkan bordello (theater)
31-: the drag seed (theater)