Dry Earth: What Came Before
May 30, 2009
After a year of research in Fort Greene Park, Dry Earth is sharing its work on Sunday, May 31 at 3 PM and 5 PM. Dedicated to notable Fort Greene resident Walt Whitman on his 190th birthday, What Came Before takes a fresh approach to the traditional historic walking tour, replacing facts and figures with experiential learning and immersive performance.
The starting location for the tour will be the Fort Greene Park Martyrs’ Monument, between DeKalb and Myrtle Avenues. Tickets are $15. To reserve a space, email contact (at) dryearth (dot) org.
Dry Earth will also present at the Judson Memorial Church on June 1 at 8 PM, as part of the Movement Research at Judson Church series. Admission is free. The church is located at 55 Washington Square South. A/B/C/D/E/F/V to West 4th Street, R/W to 8th Street, or 6 to Astor Place.
Photo courtesy of Dry Earth on Facebook.
Cedar Lake’s Orbo Novo, From A to Z
May 29, 2009
Here’s the latest preview of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s full-length work Orbo Novo for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. The movement definitely captures the “sense of undulation” that Cherkaoui mentions in the commentary. Polish composer Szymon Brzóska created the score for strings and piano, which will be performed live when Cedar Lake premieres the piece at Jacob’s Pillow in July.
The Legacy Project: Echoes
May 28, 2009
Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company in The Legacy Project
This weekend, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company presents The Legacy Project: Echoes, an evening of dance, theater, and live music. Dorfman, who founded CDDC in 1983, created The Legacy Project to honor her Eastern-European Jewish heritage and explore the trials, triumphs, and commonalities this legacy has with others throughout history and across cultures. I was impressed when I saw the company perform the first part of this two-year project last July at Dance Theater Workshop.
The upcoming performances include the collaborative piece Silent Echoes and the world premiere of Tikkun (To Repair), with a commissioned score by jazz and Klezmer musician Greg Wall. While Silent Echoes challenges the audience to look at the past, Tikkun encourages them to look forward. The piece explores the ways we separate or divide, bind or link, engage or disengage by using images of the fractured and broken, and by interweaving individual bodies and the whole ensemble. Bente Kahan, a Jewish Norwegian actress and vocalist, will perform on stage with the company, singing in German, Yiddish, English, and Ladino, the Judaeo-Spanish language of Sephardic Jews. Kahan gave a powerful performance in the first part of the project last year.
Performances are this Friday and Saturday, 7:30 PM, at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Dance. 111 Second Avenue, 5th Floor Theater. Order tickets online or call 800.838.3006.
The Legacy Project: Echoes is part of the Festival of Jewish Theater and Ideas, which consists of performances on Jewish themes at venues throughout the city from May 20 through June 14. The festival is produced by Untitled Theater Company #61.
Ernesto Neto’s Spicy, Sensual, Interactive Art
May 26, 2009
anthropodino, photo Giorgio Benni
The dark, stuffy entrance to the Park Avenue Armory is a little intimidating with its oak paneling and glass-encased armor, but the organization’s first commissioned installation is welcoming, intimate, and engaging. The Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto has created anthropodino, a massive indoor playground that encourages viewers to actively touch, smell, see, and listen to their surroundings. Stretching 192 feet long by 122 wide, anthropodino creates a womb-like space that is wonderfully sensual and sophisticated while simultaneously evoking innocence and a return to childhood.
The central structure is a giant dome covered in translucent, golden-colored tulle, with similar tunnels in shades of blue and red extending out from it to create a giant labyrinth with myriad passageways and rooms. Fabric tubes filled with a total of 1,650 pounds of spices – cumin, cloves, turmeric, and ginger, among others – stretch down from overhead (upon entering the Armory, the intense aroma was the first thing I noticed). Some are stained yellow from the turmeric while others are a darker brown from the cloves and cumin. The pleasant scent is both relaxing and awakening. In separate parts of the exhibit, viewers can collapse into a giant purple pillow that molds to your body. It’s surrounded by white netting and a giant, hanging spice-filled sock that brings to mind an umbilical cord. Elsewhere you can jump into a pool of balls, lay down on a mat made of colorful interwoven materials, or stretch out in a tent filled with lavender-scented pillows. No matter where you are within the large space, anthropodino feels cozy and intimate.
photo by Librado Romero
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the installation is watching how others react to and interact with Neto’s work. Giddy children tend to run amok – trying to swing from the spice-filled socks and “splash” around in the pool – while older participants are content sinking into the purple pillow and dozing off for a bit. Even without a nap, it takes at least an hour to wander through the space and take in all of the sights, textures, and aromas.
Anthropodino is interactive art at its finest. But like all living things, the installation’s delicate structure is susceptible to wear and tear (Armory staff kindly reminded participants not to vigorously pull on the spice-filled socks). It is only on display until June 14, but hopefully Neto will continue to create visceral and physically resonant work.
Find more information on admission and hours at the Armory’s website. On June 7th, Shen Wei Dance Arts will perform a site-specific response to anthropodino. Reserve tickets online.
photo by Librado Romero
Memorial Day Weekend Events
May 22, 2009
Megan V. Sprenger/mvworks in within us, photo by Yi-Chun Wu
There is no shortage of performances this weekend. Here are a few suggestions:
For the 32nd year, DanceAfrica returns to Brooklyn Academy of Music this weekend to celebrate African and African-American culture. The exciting lineup of performers includes Washington DC-based percussion orchestra Farafina Kan, New York group SeeWe African Dance Company, Brooklyn-based Evidence, A Dance Company, and the BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble from Bed-Stuy. Performances are May 22 at 7:30 PM, May 23 at 2 and 7:30 PM, and May 24 and 25 at 3 PM. Tickets can be purchased online or call 718.636.4100. In addition, the DanceAfrica outdoor bazaar features over 250 vendors from Saturday through Monday and is open to the public.
“Please be advised: the performance will feature strobe lights, a smoke machine and lasers.” That’s both the warning and the enticement for MoMA’s PopRally event tomorrow night, when the artists Black Meteoric Star and assume vivid astro focus (avaf) will create a multimedia, interactive installation in the museum’s atrium. avaf’s visuals will compliment Black Meteoric Star’s musical arrangements, which are influenced by techno and house music. For the $12 ticket, participants will get a mask to wear to see the show and all the beer you can drink. MoMA promises that it will be “an ecstatic journey through the night”. Saturday, May 23, starting at 8:30 PM. Order tickets online.
assume vivid astro focus and Black Meteoric Star, photo by Yves Malenfer, 2008
Megan V. Sprenger/mvworks presents “…within us” at Performance Space 122 through May 24th. Eva Yaa Asantewaa praises the evening-length work, which explores the human instincts at the core of physical and emotional conflict while integrating audience members and the performers to create an interactive environment. Performances are tonight and Saturday at 7:30 PM, and on Sunday at 5:30 PM. Order tickets online.
David Dorfman Dance performs the NYC premiere of Disavowal at Danspace Project. Inspired by the life of abolitionist and “race traitor” John Brown, the piece is a critical examination of white supremacy, racism, alienation, and control. Disavowal probes the relationship between militancy and conviction, asking, what will we give up or push away in order to get closer to/fight for something else? Performances are tonight through Sunday at 8:30 PM. Order tickets online.
flowingdancecompany (yes, all one word), a contemporary company based in Switzerland, presents the US premiere of Anne-Sophie Fenner’s Passage Bleu at the Merce Cunningham Studios. Four loosely connected works are woven together to each represent a different inner voice. The choreography journeys among fractured selves to confront perception, relation, change, and a universal need to be seen. Performances are on Saturday and Sunday at 8 PM. Click here for more information about reserving tickets.
