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diciembre 2023
¡hola, difus@s!
so far this season has been thoroughly enjoyable, without any major revelations or regrets. in the interest of time, i'll keep the run-down brief, so we can get to what's on offer for the remainder of the year.
the things i was expecting the most from generally delivered. on stage, the wooster group was in peak form with a symphony of rats (which i can't wait to see in full next year), suzanne bocanegra's mind is a place i want to visit more, boris charmatz's somnole felt surpisingly more akin to israel galván than to anne teresa de keersmaeker, pina bausch's rite of spring was as vital as ever (though the other half of the program was unfortunately misplaced), and the tiger lilies' finely honed craft (and devoted fan base) made for a delightful musical evening. on screen paul b. preciado's brilliant directorial debut has more than earned its place on so many best-of-the-year lists, justine triet's anatomy of a fall was disturbingly indeterminate, todd haynes' may december was incredibly pervy (in the best possible way, and portman really is at her best playing overeager and undertalented performers), and aki kaurismäki's fallen leaves is wryly hilarious and deeply human. the other things i saw (e.g., hebel, wilderness, the refuge plays, judy chicago: herstory) were definitely worth seeing (if not worth spending much time commenting on now), and, after that nyt profile, i gave my ivo dimchev tickets back to la mama's box office.
with just three weeks left in the year, we've got a lot to see and share:
music: having missed sō percussion (who are always worth seeing), i hope to catch either julliard's percussion ensemble or the jack quartet with tyshawn sorey (or both!). the rest of the musical calendar is full of holiday fare, but that's more than ok with me. i'm most excited for the little match girl passion but also have my eye on "a midwinter feast" and "winter wassail." other holiday-themed musical performances include the vienna boys choir, the boys of saint thomas choir with the map string ensemble, the ny phil's holiday brass, and el niño: nativity reconsidered (of interest for john adam's fans but that left me lukewarm last year). if handel's messiah is your thing, you've got a lot to choose from: the masterwork chorus and orchestra, musica sacra, the ny phil, the oratorio society of new york, and even a sing-in with the national chorale.
film: i love spending the last week of the year binging on film (in the cinema, that is), and high on my to-see list are several buzz-worth cannes selections: all of us strangers, anselm, occupied city, poor things, and the zone of interest. other new features on my list include american fiction, the apocalyptic is the mother of all christian theology, the crime is mine (i like ozon), godard cinema (along with the newly restored alphaville), and society of the snow (spain's oscar entry). for a full round-up of oscar hopefuls, moma's annual "the contenders" is in full swing. other series of note are "todd haynes" (YES!), "being human: the films of roy andersson" (run, don't walk to see these films but beware the insufferable hipster man-children who also flock to them), "desire / expectations: the films of edward yang," "hong kong 1997," and "25y2k" (the latter two are total gen x nostalgia trips). for varied holiday fare, check out "jesus christ! at the movies" (my top choice), "holiday classics 2023" (note the kubrick inclusion), and "yuletide sublime."
dance: i've yet to visit the new perelman arts center, and both the march and is it thursday yet could be good reasons to do so. other dance shows i'm curious about are catie cuan and ken goldberg at national sawdust, sean curran company and darrah carr dance at the irish arts center, koma otake at danspace project, flamencodanza at the tank, and navidad flamenca at chelsea factory (yes, i have soft spot for flamenco). new york city ballet presents balachine's traditional and trademarked (literally) the nutcracker, and 92y offers bang on a can's more irreverent nut/cracked. (alas, mark morris' brilliant the hard nut has yet to become an annual tradition.)
performance + theater: jack gets us ready for next month's festival blitz with their "radical acts 2023" festival. other shows i'm curious to see before the year's end are adrift: a medieval wayward folly, becoming chavela, discarded clouds – the discarded 2.0, export quality: a theatrical exploration based on true stories of mail-order brides from the philippines, the mother dirt mass, and the scientist. there's also a wide variety of holiday-themed fare on stage: a christmas carol, chloe saves christmas, the jo lynn butterfly country hour of sunshine christmas special, sleeping beauty, and santacide, along with shows by kiki ball-change, justin vivian bond (one of my holiday traditions), lady bunny, murray hill, and issac oliver.
art: i'm still working my way through last issue's list of museum shows, to which i've added a lot of gallery shows i'd love to catch as soon as my classes end: trey abdella, daniel arnold, ed atkins with steve zultanski, "the collective school," rineke dijkstra, tracey emin, tom friedman, "friends & lovers," mark grotjahn, guillermo kuitca, erik n. mack, josiah mcelheny, asif mian, delcy morelos, martin parr, "retroaction," ad reinhardt, robert ryman, chico da silva, and john wesley.
'tis the season to be giving, and if you'd like to give someone this boletín, you can do so here.
un abrazo,
p
diciembre / december
10: african diaspora film festival (film)
10: dancing with glass: the piano etudes (dance)
10: entomom (theater)
10: fluffy the pine tree (theater)
10: friends & lovers & others (theater)
10: from nest to kingdom (theater)
10: marty ehrlich: dark woods/bright sparks (music)
10: new dances: edition 2023 (dance)
10: new york philharmonic ensembles (music)
10: ny phil ensembles (music)
10: oskar sinclair: “mammy may i…?”: a paroxysm back home (performance)
10: reverend billy and the stop shopping choir (performance)
10-12: the apocalyptic is the mother of all christian theology (film)
10-12: the little match girl passion (music)
10-13: world cinema project (film)
10-14: florencia en el amazonas (music)
10-14: the rite of spring / common ground[s] (dance)
10-16: march (dance)
10-17: bread + puppet (theater)
10-17: export quality: a theatrical exploration based on true stories of mail-order brides from the philippines (theater)
10-17: killin' republicans (theater)
10-17: manahatta (theater)
10-17: questions (theater)
10-17: radical acts 2023 (performance, theater)
10-17: schmidtsmithschmidt (performance)
10-17: spain (theater)
10-17: untitled jane austen experiment (theater)
10-21: jesus christ! at the movies (film)
10-22: unconfined (theater)
10-23: is it thursday yet? (dance)
10-23: waiting for godot (theater)
10-24: adrift | a medieval wayward folly (theater)
10-24: monsieur chopin (theater)
10-24: sleeping beauty (theater)
10-30: a christmas carol (theater)
10-30: mario the maker magician (theater)
10-30: the magic flute—holiday presentation (music)
10-31: 25y2k (film)
10-31: alvin ailey american dance theater (dance)
10-31: buena vista social club (theater)
10-31: george balanchine's the nutcracker® (dance)
10-31: the gardens of anuncia (theater)
10-31: todd haynes (film)
10-31: translations (theater)
10-: anselm (film)
10-: days of heaven (film)
10-: ennio morricone (film)
10-: poor things (film)
10-: the contenders 2023 (film)
10-: the sweet east (film)
10-: total trust (film)
11: golnaz shariatzadeh: fabric of sorrow (music)
11: julliard orchestra (music)
11: nadia and lili boulanger & the boulangerie (music)
11: the met orchestra chamber ensemble (music)
11: times square angel (theater)
11-12: isaac oliver's lonely christmas (performance)
11-17: as i eat the world (theater)
12: daniil trifonov, piano (music)
12: flamencodanza (dance)
12: gabby fluke-mogul: am/fm (music)
12: kaleidoscope chamber collective (music)
12: percussion ensemble (music)
12-16: a murray little christmas (performance)
12-16: handel's messiah (music)
12-17: bzzz (dance)
12-23: tannhäuser (music)
13: kiki ball-change: hanukiki (performance)
13: mannes orchestra: an evening of eastman, bartók, and rochberg (music)
13-15: the stakeout (theater)
13-16: washington (theater)
13-17: chloe saves christmas (theater)
13-17: ikue mori (music)
13-17: the jo lynn butterfly country hour of sunshine christmas special (theater)
13-19: the taste of things (film)
14: ahmed abdullah's diaspora and isaiah collier + the chosen few (music)
14: chamber orchestra of new york (music)
14: christmas on fifth avenue: the boys of the saint thomas choir with the map string ensemble (music)
14: georgian classical music of the xx-xxi centuries (music)
14: jaime lozano's navidad en familia (music)
14: jjjjjerome ellis (music)
14: julliard celebrates the holidays (music)
14: orpheus chamber orchestra with anthony mcgill, clarinet: american dream (music)
14: tallulah haddon, elin kuo, and anh vo, curated by kenneth tam (performance)
14-15: lady bunny: a very blue christmas (performance)
14-16: koma otake: you (dance)
14-16: long night of the american dream (theater)
14-17: céilí: seán curran company and darrah carr dance (dance)
14-18: dream runner: the films of katsu kanai (film)
15: cécile mclorin salvant (music)
15: hamlet: the telenovela (theater)
15: i was unbecoming then (music)
15: la excelencia (music)
15-16: discarded clouds – the discarded 2.0 (performance)
15-16: highlights, favorites and deep cuts from filmmaker magazine’s 25 new faces (film)
15-16: navidad flamenca (dance)
15-16: the scientist: live performance with jon torn and freddie katz (performance)
15-19: brandenburg concertos (music)
15-24: about golshifteh (film)
15-31: being human: the films of roy andersson (film)
15-: alphaville (film)
15-: american fiction (film)
15-: call me dancer (film)
15-: godard cinema (film)
15-: the zone of interest (film)
16: an improvisational symphony: coordinated by suzanne langille (music)
16: breathless: catie and the robot – an eight-hour modern dance homage to physical labor (dance)
16: jack quartet with tyshawn sorey, percussion (music)
16: map wind ensemble, string ensemble, orchestra (music)
16: modernmedieval voices: a midwinter feast (music)
16: nut/cracked (dance)
16: our hospitality (film)
16: solo and collaborative pieces | relaxed performance (music)
16-17: christmas in nickyland: the return (performance)
16-17: holiday brass (music)
16-18: the blueprint: a dna musical (theater)
17: reverend billy and the stop shopping choir (performance)
17: the new york philharmonic string quartet and emanuel ax, piano (music)
17: vienna boys choir: christmas in vienna (music)
17: winter wassail (music)
17-21: santacide (theater)
18: messiah sing-in, handel, national chorale (music)18: oratorio society of new york: handel's messiah (music)
18: rolando villazón and xavier de maistre's serenata latina (music)
18-19: puppet parlor (theater)
19-21: justin vivian bond: icing (music, performance)
19-: momix (dance)
20: circle songs: anthony roth costanzo and friends (music)
20: musica sacra: handel's messiah (music)
20-23: marvel studio's black panther in concert (film, music)
20-30: a christmas carol (theater)
21: circle songs: toshi reagon (music)
21: el niño: nativity reconsidered (music)
21: phill niblock 90th birthday winter solstice: 24 hours of music and film (film, music)
21: the masterwork chorus and orchestra: handel's messiah (music)
21-: becoming chavela (theater)
22: circle songs: time for three (music)
22: ghost in the shell (film)
22: phill niblock 90th birthday winter solstice: 24 hours of music and film, part 2 (film, music)
22: the new york pops: the best christmas of all with norm lewis (music)
22-28: chaplin (film)
22-31: hong kong 1997 (film)
22-: all of us strangers (film)
22-: desire/expectations: the films of edward yang (film)
22-: the society of the snow (film)
23: circle songs: orfeh and andy karl (music)
23: the new york pops: the best christmas of all with norm lewis (music)
23-31: holiday classics at metrograph: 2023 (film)
23-31: yuletide sublime: foreign holiday films (film)
25-: occupied city (film)
25-: the color purple (film)
25-: the crime is mine (film)
25-: the teachers' lounge (film)
28: new york string orchestra (music)
30: 30-30-30 (dance)
31-: carmen (music)