Park Ave. Armory
643 Park Ave. at 67th St.
Tuesday, February 15, free with RSVP, 8:00
www.bootsbykora.com
Less than a year after emigrating in the fall of 2001 from her hometown of Bucharest, Romania, where she worked as a painter on Costa-Gavras’s AMEN., artist and designer Coralia Nitu had her first solo show in New York, “ARTectonic,” held at the East-West Gallery of the Romanian Cultural Center in Murray Hill. Back then, Nitu, who was pursuing her MFA at Parsons, told us how she loved working with metal, embracing its coldness while twisting it into unique geometric patterns. She also raved about how she fed off the fast-paced energy of New York. In 2006 she returned to designing footwear; back in Romania, she had started redecorating shoes when she was twelve. All of those elements will come together on February 15 as Nitu, now known professionally as Kora Mancini, will present “These Boots Are Made for Dancin’,” a Fashion Week event being held at the Park Ave. Armory. Mancini will show off her Made in America collection of ten shiny metallic styles, crafted in Italian leather, reminiscent of her early painting and sculpture, with an assist from her friend Kate Jewett, dancer and rehearsal director for Shen Wei Dance Arts, who will perform in the footwear. (Jewett is rather familiar with the armory, as the Shen Wei company previously danced in and around Ernesto Neto’s “Anthropodino” installation in 2009 and will be back in the armory November 30 – December 4 for a world premiere and two repertory pieces.) According to the invitation, “The theme is glam, the season is all year round, and the target is young, athletic, and cosmopolitan women (or admirers of women) with a penchant for the flashy and outrageous.” There are very few remaining spots available, so if you wish to attend, you should RSVP immediately for what promises to be a very different kind of fashion show.