[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.]
enero 2023
despite my frustration with the tourist horde's return, december provided a very satisfying end to the year in culture. all the beauty and the bloodshed and no bears, which bookended my month, were potent reminders of the very critical difference between "activist artist" and "celebrity dissident." seeing no bears again is a high priority this month, as is rewatching all his features from this is not a film onward.
i thoroughly enjoyed euphoria (the bank scene is *truly* spectacular), but i'm still wrestling with the tension between its production values and textual sources (because some are *very* familiar). somewhat similarly, i found downstate finely crafted and sensitively acted, but i wasn't as gutted by it (as i think the audience was meant to be) because i'd seen pervert park years ago and had read about allyn walker's academic research and resignation earlier in the year.
tere o'connor's rivulets (which made me recall how transformative my first encounter with his work was) and justin vivian bond's "oh, mary, is christmas!" (i'm forever grateful to the friend who introduced me to this yuletide tradition) were the month's on-stage highlights for me. underneath the skin touching in its earnest appreciation (and with john kelly’s mark rylance-esque charm), but the wildness of samuel steward’s life was underserved by the piece’s formal timidity (i longed for some enter achilles-era lloyd newson or some of jan fabre's better impulses). el niño: nativity reconsidered is a beautiful work and was beautifully performed, but its appeal is more cerebral than visceral (unlike, for example, sellars' staging of st. matthew passion)—and tradition (which the presenters said they hoped this show would become) depends much more on feeling than on thought.
with apap back in person and in town, the new year is off to a very promising start:
performance + theater: the public theater's under the radar festival is always something to look forward to, especially when it includes 600 highwaymen and new york city players, but be sure to check out the exponential festival and international human rights arts festival winterfest, too. taxonomy fascinates me, so i'd love to catch "kingdom, phylum, ass" at caveat (where "unstuck: a solo show about growing up with ocd" also looks interesting). mabou mines premieres the vicksburg project, the tank presents modern swimwear and somewhere between mars and venus, 59 e 59 hosts the immortal jellyfish girl, and la mama stages fedeli d'amore (love's faithful). if you missed either wolf play or poof!(what the faeries know), you can see them this month at mcc and dixon place, respectively.
music: the prototype festival celebrates its 10th anniversary of bringing new opera to the city, and the winter jazzfest (going strong for 18 years now) features a wide array of artists across a number of venues. tomas fujiwara premieres a percussion quartet at roulette, loren connors and alan licht perform at blank forms, gabriel martins and wynona wang and kebra-seyoun charles play (mostly classical programs but with some new work) at kaufman music center, kronos quartet and leif ove andsnes play carnegie hall, and anna thorvaldsdottir curates a "nightcap" program for the ny phil. among this month's chamber and early music concerts are jullliard's chamberfest 2023, the dover quartet with edgar meyer, the chamber music society's schubert-themed winter festival, the argus quartet, the american contemporary music ensemble, beo string quartet, and twelfth night. lincoln center's geffen hall hosts artists from across the world in its globalfest showcase, and the rubenstein atrium presents concerts of music from tunisia, brazil and spain, and colombia.
film: alcarrás is at the top of my to-see list this month since i didn't get to see it at nyff, and the wounded man / l'homme blessé is another film whose screening i missed last year and so am eager to see this time around. other films of interest include in the waves, geographies of solitude, saint omer, and the invisible extinction. among the month's series and programs of note are "taipei stories" at metrograph, "curator's choice 2022" at museum of the moving image, "to save and project" and "guillermo del toro: tales of mourning and imagination" at moma (pinocchio is genuinely great), the new york jewish film festival at film at lincoln center, and "james baldwin abroad," "alexander hammid" and "fred ward: ward to the wise." animation fans should be sure to check out "the 22nd annual animation show of shows" and "animation first 2023."
dance: the joyce features waheedworks, les ballets afrik, and b. moore dance in american dance platform, and the guggenheim hosts ephrat asherie and music from the sole, the missing element, les ballets afrik and pricess lockeroo, brian hallowdreamz henry, and layerhythm with masterz at work in the underground uptown dance festival. vertigo dance company and israel galván present "pardes" and "solo," respectively, at the baryshnikov arts center, peter chu performs at 92y, and joanna kotze presents "'lectric eye" at new york live arts. city center hosts both hong kong ballet and natalia osipova.
art: now that the holiday tourist wave has passed, i'm eager to venture back to the museums and catch the fall and winter shows i've so far missed: theaster gates at the new museum, nick cave at the guggenheim, meret oppenheim at moma (where i'll also be among the crowds pleased by the guillermo del toro pinocchio show), and "the tudors: art and majesty in renaissance england" and "hear me now: the black potters of old edgefield, south carolina" at the met. among the other non-profit and commercial art spaces, i'm keen to see spencer finch at the hill art foundation, sophie kitching at 3a gallery, will boone and alvaro barrington at karma, elsa gramcko and lee mullican at james cohan, and "color effects" at galerie lelong & co., rebecca horn at sean kelly, david hockney and tara donovan at pace, and lucio fontana and charles gaines at hauser & wirth.
un abrazo,
p
enero / january
1-5: the kingdom exodus (film)
1-6: the 22nd annual animation show of shows (film)
1-8: international fringe encore series 2022 (theater)
1-8: les ballets trockadero de monte carlo (dance)
1-8: merrily we roll along (theater)
1-8: taipei stories (film)
1-19: the contenders (film)
1-21: merrily we roll along (theater)
1-22: curator's choice 2022 (film)
1-: living (film)
1-: no bears (film)
1-: the broker (film)
1-: turn every page – the adventures of robert caro and robert gottlieb (film)
3: aida (music)
3-15: mike birbiglia: the old man & the pool (theater)
4-7: matt shipp (music)
4-22: under the radar festival (theater)
4-28: fedora (music)
4-29: guillermo del toro: tales of mourning and imagination (film)
4-: alcarrás (film)
4-: the exponential festival (performance)
5-10: yuja wang, lindberg, and beethoven (music)
5-12: the wounded man / l’homme blessé (film)
5-15: prototype (music)
5-26: la traviata (music)
6: brittany carney: kingdom, phylum, ass (performance)
6: muyassar kurdi: where my olive trees grow (music)
6: song of joy (theater)
6-12: james baldwin abroad: a program of 3 films (film)
6-15: live by the sword, die by the gun: samurais & cowboys (film)
6-19: the conformist (film)
6-: the invisible extinction (film)
7: aida (music)
7-8: modesty and shame / la pudeur ou l’impudeur (film)
10: chamberfest 2023 (music)
10: illia ovcharenko, piano (music)
10-12: the immortal jellyfish girl (theater)
10-15: american dance platform (dance)
10-27: l’elisir d’amore (music)
11: tomas fujiwara: percussion quartet (music)
11: yacine boularès – night in tunisia (music)
11-14: ingrid laubrock (music)
11-21: solo: a show about friendship (performance)
11-28: frankenstein's monster is drunk (theater)
11-28: sugar daddy (theater)
11-29: heaven (theater)
12: ensemble connect (music)
12: ephrat asherie dance and music from the sole (dance)
12: guitar: a reason to be "me" (music)
12: showgasm: the camp edition (performance)
12-14: pardes (dance)
12-14: rouvali conducts the rite of spring (music)
12-14: the vicksburg project (theater)
12-18: winter jazz fest 2023 (music)
12-23: new york jewish film festival 2023 (film)
12-: to save and project: the 19th moma international festival of film preservation (film)
13: monad (music)
13: songs from native sounds (music)
13: the missing element (dance)
13-14: hong kong ballet: romeo + juliet (dance)
13-19: memoria (film)
13-22: fred ward: ward to the wise (film)
13-: chess story (film)
13-: saint omer (film)
13-: skinamarink (film)
14: kravis nightcap: anna thorvaldsdottir (music)
14: morgan guerin (music)
14: stan brakhage x fred camper (film)
14-15: space/space (film)
15: globalfest (music)
15: les ballet afrik and princess lockeroo (dance)
15: stan brakhage on 8mm + 35mm (film)
15: twelfth night (music)
15-16: joanna kotze : 'lectric eye (dance)
15-16: shamel pitts | tribe : black hole: trilogy and triathlon (performance)
15-28: dialogues des carmélites (music)
16: existence by brian “hallowdreamz” henry (dance)
16: fred camper (film)
16: the music of sir karl jenkins (music)
17: conrad tao (music)
17: dover quartet with edgar meyer (music)
17: kebra-seyoun charles, double bass (music)
17: layerhythm (on the move) with masterz at work (dance)
17: lessons for an incomplete blackboy (performance)
17-22: ronald k. brown / evidence (dance)
17-28: all balanchine (music)
18: aristo sham, piano (music)
18: the cleveland orchestra (music)
18-21: ches smith (music)
18-22: somewhere between mars and venus (theater)
19: a fiddler's tale (music)
19: gregorio uribe (music)
19: improv nights – a tribute to derek bailey (music)
19: nobuyuki tsujii, piano (music)
19: ymusic (music)
19-20: peter chu (dance)
19-21: the case for american exceptionalism by a lady muz (performance)
19-: modern swimwear (theater)
20: celebrating chinese new year 2023: year of the rabbit (music)ç
20: charlene kaye: tiger daughter (performance)20: improv nights – a tribute to derek bailey (music)
20: jimmy "el trombon criollo" bosch and the salsa masters orchestra (music)
20: metamorphosis (music)
20: the oberlin orchestra and conservatory choral ensembles (music)
20-22: lisa batiashvili plays tchaikovsky (music)
20-27: classic nycb i (dance)
20-29: alexander hammid (film)
20-: after love (film)
20-: cornelia street (theater)
20-: written and directed by preston sturges (film)
21: change the frame (music)
21: improv nights – a tribute to derek bailey (music)
21: map wind ensemble, string ensemble, and orchestra (music)
21: natalia osipova: force of nature (dance)
22-29: the magic of schubert (music)
23: the met chamber ensemble (music)
23-24: solo (dance)
23-: jill sobule’s f*ck7thgrade (theater)
24: argus quartet (music)
24: in the waves (film)
24: juilliard jazz ensembles | o bruxo: hermeto pascoal (music)
24: michael formanek drome trio featuring special guest pianist angelica sanchez (music)
24-28: soul chain by tanzmainz / sharon eyal (dance)
24-28: the dating show (performance)
25: mao fujita, piano (music)
25: poof!(or what the fairies know) (theater)
25: sonatenabend (music)
25-28: case 84-1410: my korean adoptee experience (theater)
25-28: miles okazaki (music)
25-31: geographies of solitude (film)
26: an evening with branford marsalis (music)
26: gabriel martins, cello & wynona wang, piano (music)
26: jean-michel blais (music)
26: joel harrison: new works (music)
26: juilliard orchestra conducted by bertrand de billy (music)
26: new milestones: impression (music)
26: scarecrow (performance)
26: tashi dorji & alex zhang hungtai / c. spencer yeh & kwami winfield / ka baird (music)
26: unstuck: a solo show about growing up with ocd (theater)
26: we are here: songs from the holocaust (music)
26-29: animation first 2023 (film)
26-29: new peck (dance)
26-: fedeli d'amore (love's faithful) (performance)
26-: richard ii & henry iv workshops (theater)
26-: wolf play (theater)
27: american contemporary music ensemble (music)
27: brandon ross presents “glyph/sonic” (music)
27: kronos quartet (music)
27-: life upside down (film)
27-: one fine morning (film)
28: lessons for an incomplete blackboy (performance)
28: loren connors and alan licht (music)
28: michael evans tribute (music)
28: the philadelphia orchestra (music)
28-29: ellen robbins : dances by very young choreographers (dance)
29: deep listening: the story of pauline oliveros (nyc premiere) (film, music)
29: juan diego flórez, tenor; vincenzo scalera, piano (music)
29: song of joy (theater)
30: axiom (music)
30: charles neidich, clarinet (music)
31: beo string quartet (music)
31: classic nycb ii (dance)
31: leif ove andsnes, piano (music)
31: lunar new year (music)
31-: a bright new boise (theater)