twi-ny recommended events

1.2.3. FESTIVAL

Ailey II’s Ghrai DeVore performs in Judith Jamison’s DIVINING, part of three-company season at the Joyce (photo by Eduardo Patino, NYC)

Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
April 13-25, $10-$49
212-242-0800
www.joyce.org

Ailey II, ABT II, and Taylor 2 come together at the Joyce for two weeks of performances in repertory, showing off the next generation of talent from these prestigious companies. On opening night, all three will take the stage for a one-time-only special event. After that, they’ll rotate evenings, with Ailey II presenting Christopher Huggins’s ESSENCE, Thang Doa’s ECHOES, and Carlos dos Santos’s PROXIMITY, ABT II performing Jerome Robbins’s INTERPLAY along with world premieres by Roger VanFleteren and Edwaard Liang, and Taylor II staging AUREOLE, 3 EPITAPHS, COMPANY B, and ESPLANADE. In addition, each company will participate in a postshow Dance Chat (Ailey II on April 14, Taylor 2 on April 15, ABT II on April 20), where the audience will get to learn a little more about these young dancers.

MI AMI

stealyourface

Cake Shop
152 Ludlow St. between Stanton & Rivington Sts.
Monday, April 12, $8, 8:00
212-253-0036
www.cake-shop.com
www.myspace.com/miamiamiami

San Fran trio Mi Ami is touring behind their brand-new release, STEAL YOUR FACE (Thrill Jockey, April 6), which consists of six carefully choreographed forays into intensely stimulating electronic noise that combine for a thirty-seven-minute freak-out of massive proportions. From the space-age battle in “Latin Lover” to the psychedelic afrobeat of “Dreamers,” from the searing guitars and propulsive percussion of “Native Americans (Born in the U.S.A.)” to the monster finale, “Slow,” which is something akin to what it would sound like if Rage Against the Machine created a new soundtrack to APOCALYPSE NOW, STEAL YOUR FACE is one huge dose of awesome primal scream therapy emanating from guitarist Daniel Martin McCormick, bassist Jacob Long, and drummer Damon Palermo. Mi Ami will be at Cake Shop on April 12, sandwiched in between Drawlings and Soft Circle, with DJ Awesome Tapes from Africa filling in the gaps.

TRIABEAUTY BLUE LOUNGE

Blue Light Lounge helps battle those blemishes (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

155 Fifth Ave. between 21st & 22nd Sts.
April 12-13, free, 11:30 am – 7:30 pm
877-321-8742
www.triabeauty.com

In celebration of the national release of its new Skin Clarifying System using blue-light therapy, TRIA has set up a pop-up shop, complete with a blue carpet entryway, in the Flatiron District, offering visitors a chance to sample the new product for free. Designed to defeat acne and lead to healthier skin in general, the system centers on a handheld device that zaps blue light onto your skin as you roll it on trouble spots anywhere on your body. According to the TRIA website, “Blue light is scientifically proven to eliminate acne-causing bacteria gently and effectively without harsh side effects such as skin dryness. . . . Blue light is safer and more effective than UV light for treating acne.” Although the full package runs $395, you can get a free two-and-a-half-minute treatment as you relax in a futuristic semicircular swivel chair in the temporary store, which will be open for two more days, April 12-13. TRIA is also offering blue candy, a blue water bottle, and hair and makeup tips and treatments, all for free. There’s even a Blue Lounge and a DJ spinning tunes. Of course, one treatment is not going to get rid of those unsightly blemishes for good, so we might be going back for a few more free sessions.

AAU JAMES E. SULLIVAN AWARD CEREMONY

Olympic medalists Tim Morehouse and Sarah Hughes will host AAU Sullivan Award presentation on April 14

New York Athletic Club
180 Central Park South, ninth floor
Wednesday, April 14, adults $80, eighteen and under $25
www.aausullivan.com

On April 14, the Amateur Athletic Union will name its amateur athlete of the year at the eightieth annual award reception and presentation, held at the New York Athletic Club. Hosted by 2008 Olympic fencing silver medalist Tim Morehouse and 2002 figure skating gold medalist Sarah Hughes, the event will also include an autograph and photo session with the nominees and a buffet dinner and dessert. “Winning an Olympic silver medal in Beijing was a dream come true,” Morehouse told us last week in an e-mail interview. “Just being able to represent the USA at the Olympics was amazing, but to also come home with one of the greatest symbols of hard-work achievement in our world was just unbelievably special.”

Among the previous award winners are such big names as Wilma Rudolph, Mark Spitz, Greg Louganis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Peyton Manning, Michelle Kwan, and Michael Phelps. This year’s finalists are Clint Moore (baseball), Amy Pamiero-Winters (ultra marathoning), Megan Hodge (volleyball), Erin Hamlin (luge), Angela Blizzari (cross country), and Zak Boggs (soccer).

Morehouse, who is a sought-after motivational speaker, offered some professional advice for all amateur athletes: “The one thing I always tell people is you have to set big goals and go for it! When I first set the goal to make the [2004] Athens Olympics, I was ranked eighteenth in the country, and there were more talented and experienced fencers ahead of me but more than half quit or didn’t try because they thought they couldn’t do it. You’d be surprised how few people actually go to the top. Morale of the story, go for it with all you have, work hard, and make no excuses.”

COLLABORATIONS: ALEXANDER PAYNE AND JIM TAYLOR

Paul Giamatti goes over, under, sideways, and down in Alexander Payne wine flick

SIDEWAYS (Alexander Payne, 2004)
92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. at Canal St.
Saturday, April 10, $12, 6:00
212-415-5500
www.92YTribeca.org/film
www2.foxsearchlight.com/sideways

Alexander Payne’s fourth film, following the underseen CITIZEN RUTH, the excellent ELECTION, and the overrated ABOUT SCHMIDT, is fabulously entertaining from start to finish, a smart, inventive, very funny dark comedy about friendship and love set in California wine country. Paul Giamatti stars as Miles, a schlumpy wine connoisseur who is having trouble getting over his divorce and the failure of his massive novel to get published. His best friend, Jack (Thomas Haden Church), is getting married, so the two head off on a road trip, with Miles looking forward to sampling fine wine, and Jack anticipating sampling fine women. While Jack finds what he is looking for in Stephanie (Sandra Oh, who was married to Payne at the time), Miles seems hell-bent on not allowing himself to enjoy life, even as a beautiful woman with a deep appreciation of the grape (the excellent Virginia Madsen in what should have been a career-redefining performance) shows an interest in him. You definitely do not have to be a wine drinker to fall in love with this marvelous movie, one of the best of 2004; it was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Madsen), and Best Supporting Actor (Haden Church), and screenwriters Jim Taylor and Payne won for Best Adapted Screenplay. The screening is part of the “Collaborations: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor” series at 92YTribeca, which continues with ABOUT SCHMIDT at 8:30 (separate admission required).

DEMONS AND DEVOTION

“Catherine of Cleves Praying to the Virgin and Child,” Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, ca. 1440

THE HOURS OF CATHERINE OF CLEVES
Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Tuesday – Saturday through May 2, $12 (free Fridays 7:00 – 9:00)
212-685-0008
www.themorgan.org

Betrothed at six, married at thirteen, and the mother of a half dozen children by the time she was twenty-three, Catherine of Cleves dealt with her life by delving into prayer. In 1440 she moved away from her husband, Arnold of Egmond (duke of Guelders and count of Zutphen), later getting involved in a struggle for power that tore the family apart. But she sought solace (and probably magnified her status) around 1440 by commissioning what would become one of the world’s most majestic illuminated manuscripts, “The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.” Gorgeously designed by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, who incorporated Dutch painting techniques into his ornate style, nearly one hundred pages from the Hours are on view, in sequence, at the Morgan Library, including the Hours of the Virgin, Penitential Psalms, the Hours of the Passion, Suffrages, the Office of the Dead, and assorted biblical scenes.

“Mouth of Hell,” Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, ca. 1440

The Master’s creative iconography spreads into the margins of each page, and Catherine herself appears in several works, as well as her reviled husband, shown praying to Jesus. (Perhaps she thought he had better be praying, considering the family division.) Among the most impressive sections is the Hours and Masses for the Seven Days of the Week, particularly Monday, which is devoted to the Dead and features “Deathbed,” “Burial,” and “Souls Released from Purgatory,” three spectacular examples of the Master’s skill. The “Holy Family at Work” shows a unusual and touching domestic scene: the baby Jesus stands in a walker perhaps made by his dad, the carpenter Joseph, hard at work at right, while Mary is busy at a loom, all three cozy in a room whose style would be instantly familiar to a reader. Each page deserves to be pored over carefully as narratives flow and symbolism runs rampant. It’s a thrilling, one-of-a-kind exhibit, as the pages will soon be bound together back into book form, so this is a rare opportunity to see each beautiful pieces spread out. The show is supplemented with illustrations from the Master’s contemporaries, placing it in context; also on display at the Morgan is “Rome After Raphael,” “Palladio and His Legacy: A Transatlantic Journey,” and “Flemish Illumination in the Era of Catherine of Cleves.”

THE NEWSPAPER PICTURE: ACE IN THE HOLE

: Kirk Douglas is looking for a way out in Billy Wilder masterpiece ACE IN THE HOLE

ACE IN THE HOLE (Billy Wilder, 1951)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Friday, April 9, and Saturday, April 10
“The Newspaper Picture” series runs through May 6
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org/films/newspaper.html

Sandwiched between such hits as THE LOST WEEKEND, SUNSET BLVD., STALAG 17, and SABRINA, Billy Wilder’s ACE IN THE HOLE might just be his lost masterpiece. A major flop upon its release in 1951, ACE IN THE HOLE is a cynical look at Americans and their values. Chuck Tatum (a classic Kirk Douglas) is a ruthless reporter who has been fired in every major city in the nation because of his love of the bottle, his success with the ladies, and his penchant for playing hard and loose with the facts. He demands a job at a small-town paper in Albuquerque, hoping to land a story that will restore his luster and put him back in the big time. He finds his patsy in the person of Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict), a low-rent Indian artifacts hunter who gets trapped in a cave-in at the base of the Mountain of the Seven Vultures. Sharpening his fangs, Tatum makes a deal with the sheriff (Ray Teal), choosing to take the long way to rescue Minosa in order to keep the sheriff’s name in the news and the reporter’s name on the front page for a longer amount of time. Meanwhile, Minosa’s wife, Lorraine (Jan Sterling, with fabulously uneven eyebrows), who was ready to leave her husband, sees a way for her to cash in as well. The whole thing turns into a huge media circus; in fact, the studio changed the name of the film to THE BIG CARNIVAL upon its release, trying for a more upbeat title. ACE IN THE HOLE opens Film Forum’s series “The Newspaper Picture,” which includes some of the best (HIS GIRL FRIDAY, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, CITIZEN KANE, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT), most overrated (THE PHILADELPHIA STORY), and worst (PARK ROW) movies set in the world of the fourth estate, all being shown in 35mm prints.