Last fall, well into the already busy cultural season, I saw a production of Antigone at BAM. Today, as the season is winding down, I spent an afternoon immersed in another of Sophokles’ tragedies: Elektra. This version was the 1909 opera by Richard Strauss, as staged by the late Patrice Chéreau at the Metropolitan Opera….
Author: victoriab • CurlyV
Designer | Artist | Writer | Blogger | Maker | Collector | Cultural Omnivore
Dorrance Dance
The last time I experienced live tap dancing was when I lived in Park Slope. An older man regularly tapped on a plywood board near the entrance to one of the ornate tunnels near Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park. The acoustics were amazing, and I always admired his dedication to his art. The last…
Henry IV, Parts I & II
On two separate evenings, I immersed myself in the world of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, as performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at BAM. (April 6 for Henry IV part I and last night for part II.) I must say, it’s been great to see the lively commentary about the plays on BAM’s blog. I am…
Ballet Preljocaj: Empty moves (Parts I, II, & III)
“It’s John Cage [audible sigh] reading random syllables for over an hour,” the long-suffering husband complains to to his wife. “How avant-garde is this?” the woman behind me asks her friend. So began my evening at The Joyce Theater last night. I knew full well what I was getting myself into. I attended Ballet Preljocaj’s Empty moves performance at…
Winter/Spring 2016 Cultural Highlights
I try very hard to keep up with this blog, but sometimes life gets in the way. In my case, very often it’s a wealth of cultural outings crowding out my writing time. (Not a bad problem to have, I admit!) Before the spring turns to summer, I want to note some of the rich…
Les Fêtes Vénitiennes
I admit it, this was the performance I was most looking forward to this spring at BAM: I saw Les Fêtes Vénitiennes on Thursday evening. Wow! It was thrilling. It was funny. It was lush. It was over the top. It was everything I love about French Baroque opéra-ballet. William Christie and Les Arts Florissants are always exciting to experience. I was lucky to have…
Roberto Devereux
I woke up to a beautiful spring day here in Brooklyn. My plans, however, took me to BAM’s Rose Cinema to join the regulars who attend the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD performances. There I staked out my seat well ahead of time (I kid you not, mini turf wars break out regularly) and ate a…
John Prine & Iris Dement
My folk music club friend and I found ourselves in the last row of seats in the gorgeous Kings Theater in Brooklyn on April 8th — a Friday evening. This is a venue in the grand tradition of old movie houses. There is literally not a bad seat in the house. The strangely beautiful voice…
De Materie
I smelled the sheep before I saw them: there was the distinct aroma of barn. (I’m from the Midwest, mind you!) It was last Wednesday evening, and I was entranced by the zeppelin making lazy circles in the cavernous space that is the Wade Thompson Drill Hall at the Park Avenue Armory. Soon, I heard…
Richard II
Seeing a big name celebrity being billed does not determine whether or not I will select a play. I have to be drawn to the play itself. If it happens to have a star in the lead role, great, but that is no guarantee of a good performance. That said, I attended opening night of Richard…
Krapp’s Last Tape
After a bit of a hiatus, I was once again compelled to make the trek to Montclair State University last night for their incredible Peak Performances series. One of the first performances I ever attended there was in 2013 when I saw the delightful Robert Wilson production of Zinnias: The Life of Clementine Hunter. It was a…
Rebecca Lazier with Dan Trueman: There Might Be Others
I had the privilege of witnessing a one-of-a-kind dance/music performance Thursday evening at New York Live Arts. Literally. What I saw that evening will never happen again in exactly the same way. Intrigued? Choreographer Rebecca Lazier, along with composer Dan Trueman, created a dance/music piece entitled There Might Be Others. It was inspired by Terry…
victoriab:culture 