this week in dance

BREATH MADE VISIBLE

Anna Halprin shares her inspiring approach to life and art in BREATH MADE VISIBLE

BREATH MADE VISIBLE (Ruedi Gerber, 2009)
Cinema Village
22 East 12th St. between Fifth Ave. & University Pl.
Opens Friday, April 23
212-924-3363
www.breathmadevisible.com
www.cinemavillage.com

Revolutionary dancer and choreographer Anna Halprin shares her inspirational life in the unforgettable new documentary BREATH MADE VISIBLE. Producer-director Ruedi Gerber (HEARTBREAK HOSPITAL) lets the innovative dance pioneer tell her own story, starting out as a child of the Great Depression, through her years dancing with and/or teaching Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer, Eiko and Koma, and Meredith Monk. The film reveals her remarkable battle with cancer and her long, beautiful relationship with her husband, landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, as well her life today. As Halprin approaches ninety, she is still performing, teaching, and choreographing in her unique way. Gerber tracks down amazing archival footage of Halprin from throughout her career, including many gatherings on the deck she and her husband built at their home, a sort of hippie commune in Marin County. In her work, Halprin gets close to nature, allowing the body to express deeply felt emotions while exploring its spiritual presence and its relationship with the land. The documentary features clips from such pieces as “Planetary Dance: A Prayer for Peace,” “Circle the Earth,” “Parades and Changes,” “Intensive Care, Reflections on Death and Dying,” “Seniors Rocking,” and, most dramatically, her 2003 one-woman show at the Joyce in Chelsea and her epic outdoor elegy “Return to Home.”

Halprin is an engaging, generous figure who seems to have thoroughly processed her life experiences, intelligently assessing her vast history as she reunites with longtime partners John Graham and A. A. Leath, deals with her husband’s fading health, shares even the most personal stories without fear or regret, and exhibits an infectious joie de vivre that will have viewers reconnecting with themselves and reevaluating their own destinies. Halprin clearly cherishes every moment of her life, just as audiences will cherish every moment of BREATH MADE VISIBLE. As a special treat, Gerber and Halprin will be at Cinema Village on Friday and Saturday nights to talk about the film but even more exciting is that Halprin will be leading a rare all-day New York City workshop, addressing the question “How does dance inform our real life relationships with our own bodies in interaction with others and in community?” at Judson Memorial Church on Saturday that’s not limited to experienced dancers, so don’t miss what should be an incredible, very special event.

NATIONAL DANCE WEEK: CARMEN DE LAVALLADE

The magnificent partnership of Carmen & Geoffrey is on view in documentary

CARMEN & GEOFFREY (Linda Atkinson & Nick Doob, 2006)
Film: Friday, April 23, Maysles Cinema, 343 Malcolm X Blvd. / Lenox Ave between 127th & 128th Sts., 7:30
Performance & discussion: Sunday, April 25, the Philoctetes Center, 247 East 82nd St., free, 2:30
www.mayslesinstitute.org
www.philoctetes.org

CARMEN & GEOFFREY is an endearing look at Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder’s lifelong love affair with dance—and each other. The New Orleans-born de Lavallade studied with Lester Horton and went to high school with Alvin Ailey, whom she brought to his first dance class. Trinidadian Holder is a larger-than-life gentle giant who is a dancer, choreographer, composer, costume designer, actor director, writer, photographer, painter, and just about anything else he wants to be. The two met when they both were cast in Truman Capote and Harold Arlen’s Broadway show HOUSE OF FLOWERS in 1954, with Holder instantly falling in love with de Lavallade; they’ve been together ever since. Directors Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob combine amazing archival footage—of Eartha Kitt, Josephine Baker, Ulysses Dove, de Lavallade dancing with Ailey, and other splendid moments—with contemporary rehearsal scenes, dance performances, and interviews with such stalwarts as dance critic Jennifer Dunning, Alvin Ailey artistic director Judith Jamison, and choreographer Joe Layton (watch out for his eyebrows), along with family members and Gus Solomons jr and Dudley Williams, who still work with de Lavallade. The film was made on an extremely low budget, and it shows, but it is filled with such glorious footage that you’ll get over that quickly. The film is being screened at the Maysles Cinema in Harlem on April 23 as part of National Dance Week, followed by an after-party at the Harlem Brewing Company.

In addition, de Lavallade will be participating in “Moving and Playing: Jazz Improvisation and Dance Conversation” on April 25 at the Philoctetes Center, a free program that also features Jane Ira Bloom, Rufus Reid, Aaron Shafer-Haiss, and Andrea Weber discussing collaboration and performing.

TRIBECA DRIVE-IN

Mat Hoffman will take to the air onscreen and in person at special Tribeca Drive-In presentation

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
World Financial Center Plaza
April 22-24, free
Doors open at 6:00, activities at 6:30, films at approximately 8:15
www.tribecafilm.com

This year’s free Tribeca Drive-In features three films on successive nights outside at World Financial Center Plaza. On April 22, live performances by salsa bands, a dance contest, and salsa lessons will precede a screening of Francisco Bello and Tim Sternberg’s 2009 documentary, THE SPIRIT OF SALSA, about New Yorkers who take salsa classes at the Santo Rico Dance School. On April 23, a waterfront carnival accompanies Penny Marshall’s endearing comedy BIG, starring Robert Loggia, Elizabeth Perkins, and Tom Hanks about a boy inside a man’s body. And on April 24, Jeff Tremaine’s THE BIRTH OF BIG AIR, which looks at BMX competitor Mat Hoffman, will feature BMX demos before and after the movie, including a live stunt by Hoffman himself.

IMMIGRANT HERITAGE WEEK

immigration

Multiple locations
Most events free
Through April 21
www.nyc.gov/immigrants

The seventh annual Immigrant Heritage Week continues through April 21 with numerous, mostly free events across the city. Art exhibitions include “Our Heritage Through Fashion: A Showcase of NYC’s Russian-Speaking Designers” at the Russian American Foundation, “Photographs of the Mexican Immigrant Community of Staten Island” at Snug Harbor, “Art Without Borders” at El Taller Latino Americano, “Immigrant Women United in Art” at Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano, “Impractical Hats: Indie Crafts Reinvent Everyday Gear” at the Bronx Council on the Arts, “LibertyNeighborhoodStory” at the A.I.R. Gallery, “Immigrant Trail Painting” at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, and a photo exhibit of “Non-Native New Yorkers” at the Statue of Liberty. On April 20 at 6:00 at the International Center in New York, a group of Tibetan immigrants will discuss their work in “Ancient Art in a Modern City,” while on April 21 at 6:00, the Greek Museum will host “In Search of the American Dream: The Greeks of New York.” Also on Wednesday, “Voices of Liberty” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage invites visitors to share their own personal stories. In addition, there will be family programs at several branches of the New York Public Library.

At NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, the Havana Film Festival will feature New York and U.S. premieres (April 19-20), DCTV will present the Oscar-nominated documentary THE BETRAYAL (April 19), and the Turkish Cultural Center will celebrate “New York Sufi Night with Rumi” through film, performance, and poetry readings (April 20). There will also be film screenings and/or theatrical productions at the YMCA, the Maysles Cinema, the Alwan Foundation, and the CUNY Graduate Center and live dance and/or music at Michael Mao Dance, the American Composers Orchestra’s Langston Hughes Branch, and the Djoniba Dance and Drum Centre as well as a host of walking tours.

INSIDE MEDIA

Edie Falco will discuss Nurse Jackie’s bedside manner and more at the Paley Center

Paley Center for Media
25 West 52nd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Closed Monday & Tuesday
Suggested contribution: $10 adults, $5 children under fourteen
212-621-6600
www.paleycenter.org

While Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s and Elvis Mitchell’s “The Black List Project” continues at the Paley Center through May 1, featuring scenes from their third documentary and photographs of a wide range of successful African Americans, the institution formerly known as the Museum of Television and Radio will be hosting a series of very special events, with tickets going very fast. In collaboration with Food for Thought Productions, the Paley Center is in the midst of a three-month series of live staged afternoon readings ($65, followed by a Q&A and a reception); coming up is Arthur Miller’s sister, Joan Copeland, reenacting scenes from her brother’s plays (April 21) and Len Cariou taking on Thornton Wilder and Dorothy Parker (April 26), with future shows dedicated to Tennessee Williams’s IN THE BAR OF A TOKYO HOTEL (May 5) and A. R. Gurney’s LOVE LETTERS (June 17). The cast of THE GOOD WIFE gathers together on April 21 ($25, 6:30), while THE BIG BANG’s Jim Parsons will have the stage all to himself on May 4 ($15, 6:30). On April 26, prima ballerina Cynthia Gregory interviews choreographer Eliot Feld about his career ($25, 7:00), on April 27, actor and photographer Joel Grey will talk about television (don’t forget he was on BUFFY) and more ($35, 6:30), and on April 28, Harry Potter audiobook reader and Broadway star Jim Dale will present “Jim Dale: Still Carrying On,” previewing his new one-man show ($30, 6:30). We’re most excited about “Paging Jackie” ($25, 7:00), in which star Edie Falco and the executive producers behind Showtime’s excellent NURSE JACKIE will screen a sneak-peek episode and take the audience behind the scenes of this unusual, entertaining drama. And looking further ahead, Jimmy Fallon will get into the late-night wars on May 27 ($25, 7:30).

STREB: HOW TO BECOME AN EXTREME ACTION HERO

streb

Friday, April 16, SLAM Studios, 51 North First St., Brooklyn, performance $10-$20, after-party free, 7:00
Tuesday, April 20, KGB Bar, 85 East Fourth St., free, 7:00
Wednesday, April 21, CUNY Graduate School, Proshansky Auditorium, 365 Fifth Ave., free, 6:30
www.streb.org
www.feministpress.org

Celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of her Extreme Action Company, dancer and choreographer Elizabeth Streb has several special events planned surrounding the publication of her new book, STREB: HOW TO BECOME AN EXTREME ACTION HERO (Feminist Press, April 2010, $18.95). In 2003, Streb, who believes in what she calls PopAction and pure movement and stresses the physical, athletic abilities of the human body, established SLAM Studios in Williamsburg, the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics. “The doors of SLAM are never closed,” Streb writes on her website. “Performances at SLAM are not stiff, class-coded, regimented affairs; they are neighborhood happenings where the company’s longtime fans from the high-art crowd mingle with the at-risk kids from the local public schools and their parents. At the heart of this machine is the driving force of art and action, and the belief that art can provide a service to a community such that voters, taxpayers, and consumers will consider it indispensable.” Streb, the Evel Knievel of Dance, will be launching her book April 16 at SLAM Studios, where her company will perform RUN UP WALLS, followed by a reception. Next week she’ll be at KGB Bar on April 20 with Jack Hitt as part of the KGB Nonfiction Series, then participate in a reading and discussion at the CUNY Graduate Center for the CUNY Science & the Arts Series.

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.