Lionel Popkin’s RUTH DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE makes its New York City premiere at Abrons Arts Center (photo by Cristal Jones)
Who: Lionel Popkin
What: Ruth Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, part of Travelogues series
Where: Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement, Experimental Theater, 466 Grand St. at Pitt St., 212-352-3101
When: October 29 – November 1, $20
Why: Bloomington-born, Santa Monica-based dancer, choreographer, and UCLA professor Lionel Popkin returns to New York City with his most recent evening-length piece, Ruth Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, inspired by legendary dancer and choreographer Ruth St. Denis’s fascination with “Oriental” culture, as exemplified by such works as Radha. “Was St. Denis’s Orientalism an act of cultural appropriation or a legitimate examination of sources of dance?” the half-Jewish, half-Indian Popkin asks. “Can a century of perspective help a contemporary choreographer reach his own point of equilibrium?” Danced by Popkin, Emily Beattie, and Carolyn Hall, Ruth Doesn’t Live Here Anymore features a score by composer Guy Klucevsek, performed live by avant-garde accordionist Klucevsek and violinist Mary Rowell, a bevy of fanciful costumes by set designer Marcus Kuiland-Nazario, lighting by Christopher Kuhl, and video design by Cari Ann Shim Sham, as well as the use of microphones, text-based projections, and a leaf blower. “Popkin’s talent lies in his ability to seamlessly blend his intellectual, personal, and kinetic approaches,” explains Travelogues series curator Laurie Uprichard. “He alternates between disarmingly informal narrator and highly structured creator of movement. The intermittent ‘pure dance’ sections are solidly constructed yet the audience is never at a loss for finding its place within the humorous texts.” Popkin’s previous works include There Is an Elephant in This Dance, Miniature Fantasies, and And Then We Eat, all at Danspace Project; he is currently in development with Inflatable Trio, which is set in an inflatable plastic living room.
Unless you’re a dedicated fan of table tennis, you’ve never seen Ping-Pong played quite like this. In Top Spin, first-time feature-film documentarians Sara Newens and Mina T. Son follow a trio of young Americans through the tournaments necessary to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team and compete in the London Games. At sixteen, Fremont, California, native Ariel Hsing is the youngest women’s national champion, a two-wing attacker who calls both Bill Gates and Warren Buffet “Uncle.” Seventeen-year-old Mineola, New York–born Michael Landers is a two-wing looper who is the youngest men’s national champion. And Lily Zhang is a fifteen-year-old all-around attacker from Palo Alto and the world #2 in under-fifteen girls, usually finishing right behind Ariel. Director-editor Newens and director-producer Son speak extensively with the three players and their parents, coaches, teachers, trainers, and friends while counting down the days to each event, fierce competitions in which Ariel, Michael, and Lily play against opponents who are sometimes more than twice their age. They dedicate their lives to their Olympic dreams, spending large amounts of time away from school and their friends and family as they attempt to make the low-ranked American Olympic squad that has little chance for a medal, without even a high-paying professional league in their future. Yet they battle on, despite the heavy odds against them. Much of the Ping-Pong action is mind-blowing, particularly a late match in which Michael returns slam after slam with amazing acumen and accuracy. The film is executive-produced by Jonathan Bricklin and Franck Raharinosy, cofounders of SPiN, the Ping-Pong social club on East Twenty-Third St. that is partly owned by Susan Sarandon, who appeared in Michael Tully’s indie film 
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