It is raining and dark. I am tired. I approach the stoop of a Chelsea brownstone. White lights arch over the steps leading up to the door. I am warmly greeted — so good to be home. I cross the threshold, and in doing so, I enter into myself. Thus begins the experience of the…
Tesseract
I knew when I was given 3D glasses on Friday night prior to Tesseract (at Brooklyn Academy of Music) that this was not going to be your usual dance performance. But wait a minute. That’s not quite true. I knew that already, because Charles Atlas was involved. I chose this show for that reason — I…
LAVA: A Godessey (aka The Show I Missed)
I had a ticket to this show last Friday, December 1, but I didn’t get to see it. Let me tell you what happened instead: Brooklyn-based LAVA is a feminist acrobatic dance company. Their latest show is called A Goddessey. On the night in question, I head to their space in Brooklyn, excited to have a…
The Fountainhead: Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Directed by Ivo van Hove
When I made my Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival subscription selections, I hesitated a moment on this show. Four hours of Toneelgroep Amsterdam — as directed by Ivo van Hove — I knew I would enjoy; four hours of the Objectivist doctrines of Ayn Rand, not so much. Turns out I was right….
John Cale: 50th Anniversary of The Velvet Underground & Nico
One of the first cassette tapes I purchased at Tower Records when I moved to the East Village in the late 1980s was The Velvet Underground & Nico. I would walk down St. Marks Place and imagine what it would have been like to have been at one of Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable shows…
Big Dance Theater: 17c
Before there was social media, there was the diary — written in private, but often to an imagined public. Some diaries become read by millions: case in point, the diary of Samuel Pepys. He actually is known to us mainly because of his diary, which he wrote from 1660 until 1669. He spared nothing: his…
Grand Finale: Hofesh Shechter Company
Let me just say it: Grand Finale — performed Thursday evening by Hofesh Shechter Company at Brooklyn Academy of Music — was nothing short of epic. In a smoky world of deep shadows and imposing monoliths, ten dancers navigate a constantly shifting environment that seems at turns like a war zone or a celebration of life….
State of Siege (L’État de siège)
“Every time I hear a political speech or I read those of our leaders, I am horrified at having, for years, heard nothing which sounded human. It is always the same words telling the same lies. And the fact that men accept this, that the people’s anger has not destroyed these hollow clowns, strikes me…
Point Pleasant, The Legend of The Mothman
“Hello? Can you hear me? Hello? Hello?” I hang up. My friend from Ohio is on his way to visit family who live just over the Ohio River in West Virginia, and his phone has cut out. No surprise. We often chat on the phone during his drives there and back, and almost like clockwork,…
Richard III
Richard III, as portrayed by William Shakespeare, is a vile humpbacked villain. Richard III, as portrayed by Lars Eidenger of Schaubühne Berlin (and directed by Thomas Ostermeier) last night at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, is almost like an evil deformed rock star dressed in clothing more suited for bondage than for ruling. He is…
Dance Heginbotham: The Principles of Uncertainty
flâ·ne·rie * flän(ə)ˈrē * noun * aimless idle behavior Place a beloved illustrator/artist/author on the stage. Mix in an exciting dance company who happened to be new to me — Dance Heginbotham. Stir in a bit of whimsy, and a fun music ensemble, The Knights (featuring an accordian player and a flutist with an incredible voice.) What you…
Dance Double Header: Twyla Tharp Dance and Bobbi Jene
Sometimes the dance gods dish out back-to-back goodness. This week was one of those weeks. On Thursday I attended the Twyla Tharp Dance performance at The Joyce Theater, and then the next evening — thank you CUNY Dance Initiative for your post — I won free tickets to see a documentary called Bobbi Jene, about…
victoriab:culture 