this week in dance

SUNDAY SESSIONS

Mårten Spångberg will be at MoMA PS1 for a special performance and book signing (photo by Gaetano Cammarota)

MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave.
Sunday, March 4, 1:00 – 6:00
Series continues through May 13
Suggested admission: $10 (free for MoMA ticket holders within thirty days of ticket)
718-784-2084
www.ps1.org

MoMA PS1’s weekly Sunday Sessions continues on March 4 with another afternoon of diverse, cutting-edge programming. Darren Bader, whose sculptures are on view in “Images” (and where salad is served on Saturdays and Mondays), will present “E-Party” under the Performance Dome, an exploration of the letter E[e] with Enya and Ed Hardy at 1:00, Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Eclisse at 2:30, and an experimental dance party at 4:30 with DJs Justin Strauss, Darshan Jesrani, and Domie Nation. At 3:00 in the Mini-Kunsthalle, dancer-choreographer Maria Hassabi has invited Swedish multidisciplinary artist Mårten Spångberg to give an hour-long comedic lecture in conjunction with the publication of his latest book, Spangbergianism, followed by a discussion moderated by André Lepecki. “It’s an exorcism, an attempt to engage in the lowest and dirtiest truths, delusions, opportunisms and what we don’t talk about. It shows no mercy,” Spångberg writes in the preface. Also at 3:00, ARTBOOK @ MOMA PS1 will present Lars Müller in conversation with Steven Holl in the museum lobby, followed by a book signing of Steven Holl: Color Light Time and Steven Holl: Scale. In addition, be sure to check out the current exhibitions, which include “Darren Bader: Images,” “Clifford Owens: Anthology,” “Frances Stark: My Best Thing,” and shows by Henry Taylor, Surasi Kusolwong, Rania Stephan, and the art collective Chim↑Pom.

FIRST SATURDAYS: FIERCE, PHENOMENAL WOMEN

Rachel Kneebone, “The Descent,” porcelain, 2008 (© Rachel Kneebone; photo by Stephen White, courtesy White Cube)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, March 3, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum honors “Fierce, Phenomenal Women” in its March First Saturday programming with a series of events celebrating the second sex. The evening will feature live performances by Alakande! Spread Joy!, Making Friendz, Fredericks Brown, the Brooklyn Ballet, and Queen Godis, artist and curator talks with Mary Lucier, Kate Gilmore, and Catherine Morris, a book talk with author Sara Marcus, a presentation of “The Bad Feminist Readings,” a newspaper illustration workshop, a dance party hosted by DJs Reborn, Moni, Selly, and shErOck, and an action station where visitors can contribute to a community panel inspired by Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party.” In addition, the galleries will be open late, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to check out “Playing House,” “Rachel Kneebone: Regarding Rodin,” “Raw/Cooked: Shura Chernozatonskaya,” “Newspaper Fiction: The New York Journalism of Djuna Barnes, 1913–1919,” “Question Bridge: Black Males,” and “19th-Century Modern.”

WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2012: LIVE EVENTS

Dawn Kasper has moved into the Whitney and will present live performances May 23-25 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Ave. at 75th St.
March 1 – May 27, $18 (pay-what-you-wish Fridays 6:00 – 9:00)
212-570-3600
www.whitney.org

The seventy-sixth Whitney Biennial opens today with an entire floor dedicated to live performance and performance-based installation. The premier events include a series of residencies beginning March 1-11 with Sarah Michelson’s “Devotion Study #1 — The American Dancer” and continuing March 14 – April 8 with a new multimedia piece by Michael Clark in collaboration with Charles Atlas. The specially commissioned works, which take place on the fourth floor in a white space with rows of folding chairs, require advance tickets for some performances while at other times are first come, first served with regular museum admission. Atlas will also screen several of his films April 11-15, participate in a conversation with biennial curators and Robert Swinston on April 12, and present the live audio-visual show “Atlas/Basinski” on April 20-21. The rock band the Red Krayola will perform ensemble music and a free-form freakout on April 13 and opera on April 14, while Richard Maxwell will hold open rehearsals for a new play April 25-29. Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran’s “BLEED” involves five days of live music May 9-13, while K8 Hardy will examine the state of fashion with a unique runway show on May 20. Buster Keaton fan Dawn Kasper has taken all of her possessions from her L.A. studio apartment and moved into the Whitney’s third floor, where she will be rearranging her cluttered space and hosting performances with friends May 23-25. From May 23 through June 3, Lutz Bacher, whose “Celestial Handbook” framed pages hang on walls throughout the museum, will be scattering hundreds of baseballs to redefine her space. Arika’s philosophical foray “A survey is a process of listening” invites audiences to share their thoughts May 2-6, while Yair Oelbaum and Kai Althoff will perform the play There we will be buried May 16-19. On Sundays and other select days, Georgia Sagri will create a book with the concept “Working the No Work.” And Tom Thayer’s third-floor installation will come to life May 20 and 27.

Laida Lertxunde will be at the Whitney April 1 to screen and discuss such works as A LAX RIDDLE UNIT

Curators Elisabeth Sussman, Jay Sanders, Thomas Beard, and Ed Halter have put together a wide-ranging film series that runs throughout the biennial, with programs dedicated to shorts and feature-length works by Luther Price, Michael Robinson, Jerome Hiler, Nathaniel Dorsky, Laida Lertxunde, Thom Andersen, Moyra Davey, Kelly Reichardt, Matt Porterfield, Wu Tsang, Kevin Jerome Everson, and Laura Poitras, all of whom will participate in individual conversations; films by the recently deceased George Kuchar and Mike Kelly will also be screened, as well as the very much alive Frederick Wiseman’s 2010 Boxing Gym. With all of these special programs, you should allow yourself plenty of time to experience this year’s biennial — or even set aside a few days, because there’s a whole lot to see and experience.

MASCULINE/FEMININE: REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER ROLES IN FIGURE SKATING

David Parsons’s TWIST will be part of free program at the Rink at Rockefeller Center on Wednesday afternoon

City Skate Concert Series
The Rink at Rockefeller Center
Fifth Ave. between 49th & 50th Sts.
Wednesday, February 29, free, 1:00
212-929-5811
www.icetheatre.org
www.therinkatrockcenter.com

The Ice Theatre of New York’s free City Skate Concert Series continues February 29 at 1:00 with “Masculine/Feminine,” a program of works that examine gender roles in figure skating. One of the highlights is “Masculine/Feminine,” a restaging of David Parsons’s 2003 duet “Twist,” choreographed by Parsons specifically for ITNY, which has been integrating contemporary dance, music, and art into its repertoire since 1984; it will be performed by Eve Chalom and Jonathon Hunt. Also on the bill will be “Inner Eye” by Jim May of the Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble in addition to pieces by Douglas Webster of ITNY and Young Artist Showcase winner Tommy Steenberg. And as a bonus, free hot chocolate will be served. ITNY will be back at the rink on March 14 with “Energy Flow” and April 4 with “Angel Part I.” They will also present the seventeenth New Works & Young Artists series at Riverbank State Park on Thursday mornings at 10:30 in March and at the World Ice Arena in Flushing on Tuesday, March 27.

MOLLY LIEBER + ELEANOR SMITH: BEAUTIFUL BONE

Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith team up for BEAUTIFUL BONE at the Chocolate Factory

The Chocolate Factory
5-49 49th Ave., Long Island City
February 29 – March 3, $15, 8:00
718-482-7069
www.chocolatefactorytheater.org

Pittsburgh native Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith, who hails from North Carolina, have been teaming up to present their own works since 2006 while also dancing for many other companies. Their latest collaboration, Beautiful Bone, which premieres at the Chocolate Factory in Long Island City this week, examines shame and love through imagination and feeling. The evening-length piece features sound design by James Lo, costume design and construction by Shelley Smith, and lighting by Madeline Best, who performed with Smith in a reprise of Juliana F. May / MAYDANCE’s Gutter Gate at New York Live Arts in January as part of APAP/NYC. Smith will also be presenting a Studio Series work at NYLA in June that will include an In Process Talk with May.

LEVYdance: ROMP

ROMP invites the audience to be part of the show at the Joyce SoHo

Joyce SoHo
155 Mercer St. between Houston & Prince Sts.
February 17-19, $24, 8:00
212-242-0800
www.joyce.org
www.levydance.org

There has been a recent slew of dance productions that involve ticket holders becoming part of the experience, from being invited onstage to dance to David Dorfman’s Prophets of Funk at the Joyce and Alvin Ailey’s version of Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16 at City Center to having two dancers weave their way through the crowd on the floor in Maria Hassabi’s SHOW at the Kitchen. San Francisco–based company LEVYdance will employ a different method of bringing audience and performer together this weekend in its latest evening-length piece, ROMP. The dancers and audience members congregate at banquet tables on the stage, everyone immersed in the action. Thus, things can unfold immediately in front of you, under you, or on top of you as the company goes from floor to chair to table and back again, with the crowd encouraged to walk through the space as the show continues. The February 17 performance will be followed by a discussion with the cast and creators, while the February 18 performance will be videotaped by roaming cameramen, so be prepared to be in the picture if you go that night. Choreographer, dancer, and artistic director Benjamin Levy, who founded LEVYdance in 2002, is also holding ROMP classes in New York through February 23 at such locations as Dance New Amsterdam, Peridance, 100 Grand, and the Broadway Dance Center.

LAR LUBOVITCH DANCE COMPANY: HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT / CRISIS VARIATIONS

The Lars Lubovitch Dance Company will present CRISIS VARIATIONS and HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT at MMAC this weekend (photo by Kokyat)

Manhattan Movement & Arts Center
248 West 60th St. between Amsterdam & West End Aves.
February 10-12, $15-$45
212-787-1178
www.manhattanmovement.com
www.lubovitch.org

Last March, an all-star lineup teamed up for a one-night-only presentation of a new English-language production of Igor Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO. The production is now back for three shows this weekend at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, running February 10-12. The 1918 work, based on a parable about a Russian soldier who makes a deal with the devil, will be conducted by flutist Ransom Wilson for his Le Train Bleu ensemble, with choreography by Lar Lubovitch. The production features Lar Lubovitch Dance Company members Reid Bartelme as the soldier, Nicole Corea as the princess, and Attila Joey Csiki as the devil, with Reed Armstrong acting the part of the devil and Corey Dargel the soldier; Marni Nixon will serve as narrator. The evening will also include Lubovitch’s Crisis Variations, which plays off the word “crisis,” with dancers Katarzyna Skarpetowksa, Brian McGinnis, Corea, Csiki, Reed Luplau, Jason McDole, and Laura Rutledge along with five musicians performing a commissioned score by Yevgeniy Sharlat. The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company will then head farther uptown for the Harkness Dance Festival at the 92nd St. Y, where Stripped/Dressed will feature The Legend of Ten and various demonstrations, with Lubovitch discussing the creative process with dance writers Anna Kisselgoff (February 17), Deborah Jowitt (February 18) and Gus Solomons Jr. (February 19).