this week in dance

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY: 90th ANNIVERSARY SEASON

Mats Ek's AXE is part of Martha Graham Dance Companys ninetieth anniversary season (photo by Hibbard Nash Photography)

Mats Ek’s AXE is part of Martha Graham Dance Company’s ninetieth anniversary season at City Center (photo by Hibbard Nash Photography)

New York City Center (and other locations)
130 West 56th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
April 14−18, $35-$95
212-581-1212
marthagraham.org
www.nycitycenter.org

On April 18, 1926, the Martha Graham Concert Group made its public debut, presenting a program at the 48th Street Theater that featured works by Debussy, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, Satie, and others. This month the Martha Graham Dance Company is celebrating its ninetieth anniversary with a series of special events in New York City. MGDC will be at City Center April 14-18, performing old and new works that honor the past, present, and future of the company and its legendary founder. On April 14, the schedule consists of 1946’s Medea-inspired Cave of the Heart, with music by Barber and set design by Isamu Noguchi; 1947’s Night Journey, an Oedipal tale with music by Schumann and set by Noguchi; and two new pieces, Mats Ek’s AXE, set to Ulf Andersson’s version of Albinoni’s “Adagio,” and Marie Chouinard’s Inner Resources, with music by Louis Dufort. On April 15, Night Journey and AXE will be joined by 1944’s Appalachian Spring, with music by Aaron Copland and set by Noguchi, and Andonis Foniadakis’s Echo, about Echo and Narcissus, with a score by Julien Tarride. The April 16 program comprises Cave of the Heart, Inner Resources, 1936’s politically themed Chronicle, with music by Wallingford Riegger and set by Noguchi, and Nacho Duato’s Rust, with music by Arvo Pärt.

CAVE OF THE HEART will be among the Graham classics performed at ninetieth anniversary season (photo by Hibbard Nash Photography)

April 18 is the big gala, with works ranging from 1926 to 2016: Tanagra, Heretic, Celebration, Lamentation, Chronicle, the Lament from Acts of Light, an excerpt from Appalachian Spring, and the New York premiere of Pontus Lidberg’s Woodland, set to music by Irving Fine. As a bonus, Aurélie Dupont will perform in Lament and Appalachian Spring. In addition, Graham 2 will perform Heretic, and there will be a film screening of rare footage of Three Gopi Maidens from 1926 as well as the new 90 Years in 90 Seconds. The Mannes Orchestra will perform all the music for the Graham classics live throughout the run at City Center. “We are dedicating this celebration to the unknown, to Martha Graham’s appetite for the new,” artistic director Janet Eilber said in a statement. “Graham’s legacy is a wellspring of originality and inspiration . . . of exploration, experimentation, and risk. The new works on our programs this season are part of this directive from the past and will be seen beside the greatest Graham classics.” Prior to the gala, you can head over to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts for a free marathon reading of Graham’s 1991 autobiography, Blood Memory, taking place from 11:00 am to 5:30 pm; among the readers are Patricia Birch, Carmen DeLavallade, Michelle Dorrance, Liz Gerring, Ellen Graff, Virginia Johnson, Deborah Jowitt, Annie-B Parson, Tiler Peck, Wendy Perron, Valda Setterfield, Sonya Tayeh, Wendy Whelan, and Marni Thomas Wood. And finally, the Martha Graham School, Graham 2, the Teens@Graham / All-City Panorama Project, and MGDC principal dancer Blakeley White-McGuire will team up for Martha Graham : We the People on April 21 and 22 at 7:30 at the Martha Graham Studio Theater on Bethune St.; admission is $10-$25. “‘Age’ is the acceptance of a term of years. But maturity is the glory of years,” Graham, who passed away in 1991 at the age of ninety-six, famously said. There should be plenty to glory about in these diverse anniversary programs.

OPEN PLAN: CECIL TAYLOR

Jazz great Cecil Taylor rehearses at the Whitney in November 2015

Whitney Museum of American Art
Neil Bluhm Family Galleries, fifth floor
99 Gansevoort St.
April 14-24, free with museum admission unless otherwise noted
212-570-3600
whitney.org

The fourth stage of the Whitney’s “Open Plan” series, which previously saw Andrea Fraser, Lucy Dodd, and Michael Heizer take over the large fifth-floor space in the new downtown building, hands the reins over to free jazz legend, poet, and New York City native Cecil Taylor. The eighty-seven-year-old pianist will be celebrated in a series of programs beginning April 14 at 8:00 ($50), when Taylor will make a rare public appearance, collaborating with British drummer Tony Oxley and Japanese dancer and choreographer Min Tanaka. On April 15 at 7:00, cellist Tristan Honsinger will perform a solo set, while writer Thulani Davis, dancer and professor Cheryl Banks-Smith, and bassist Henry Grimes join forces for a unique presentation. On April 16 at 2:00, Banks-Smith will moderate “Cecil Taylor and Dance,” a panel discussion with Dianne McIntyre, Heather Watts, and Tanaka. That evening at 7:00, trumpter Enrico Rava, double bassist William Parker, and drummer Andrew Cyrille will perform as a trio, in addition to a solo set by Cyrille. On April 20 at 3:00, a Poetry and Music gathering brings together poets A. B. Spellman and Anne Waldman and saxophonist Devin Brahja Waldman, Anne’s nephew. On April 21 at 3:00, Poetry and Music features Steve Dalachinsky, Clark Coolidge with Michael Bisio, and Nathaniel Mackey with Grimes. That night at 9:00 ($10), Hilton Als directs a restaging of Adrienne Kennedy’s one-act play A Rat’s Mass, starring Helga Davis; Taylor wrote and directed the music for the show. And on April 22 at 6:00, Chris Funkhouser, Tracie Morris and Susie Ibarra, Fred Moten and William Parker, and Jemeel Moondoc/Ensemble Muntu (featuring Parker, Mark Hennen, and Charles Downs) will present an evening of poetry and music. Throughout this part of “Open Plan,” there will also be listening sessions hosted by Davis, Archie Rand, André Martinez, Gary Giddins, Moten and Funkhouser, Ben Young, and Nahum Chandler in addition to screenings in the Kaufman Gallery of such films as Sheldon Rochlin’s Cecil Taylor: Burning Poles, Chris Felver’s Cecil Taylor: All the Notes, Billy Woodberry’s And When I Die, I Won’t Stay Dead, and the world premiere of Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s The Silent Eye about Taylor and Tanaka (and followed by Q&As with the director, who sat on Taylor’s stoop until the pianist would finally talk to him). There will also be documents, videos, audio, scores, photographs, poetry, and ephemera from throughout Taylor’s life and career on view.

TICKET ALERT: LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL 2016

Jonathan Pryce will play Shylock in Shakespeare’s Globe production of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE at Lincoln Center Festival this summer (photo by Manuel Harden)

Multiple venues at Lincoln Center
July 13-31, $30-$125
Tickets on sale now
www.lincolncenterfestival.org

For twenty years, one of the highlights of every summer arts season has been the Lincoln Center Festival, and 2016 is no exception, with another stellar lineup of dance, music, opera, and theater from around the globe. The festival begins with six presentations by Japan’s Kanze Noh Theatre at the Rose Theater in Jazz at Lincoln Center. Led by Grand Master Kiyokazu Kanze, the troupe, which rarely ventures outside its home country, will perform Okina with Kanze’s son, Saburota, and Hagoromo on July 13, Sumida Gawa, Busshi, and Shakkyo on July 14, Hagoromo, Kaki Yamabushi, and Sumida Gawa on July 15, Okina and Aoi No Ue on July 16 at 1:30, Hagoromo, Busshi, and Aoi No Ue on July 16 at 7:30, and Okina and Shakkyo on July 17. From July 13 to 16 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, visual artist Jennifer Wen Ma directs composer Huang Ruo’s Ming Dynasty romantic opera, Paradise Interrupted. Japan’s Takarazuka Revue will bring “All That Jazz” and more to the David H. Koch Theater July 20–24 with an all-female version of Chicago, with a rotating cast, lyrics in Japanese, and Bob Fosse’s original choreography. Shakespeare’s Globe, which recently staged the marvelous Broadway double shot of Twelfth Night and Richard III, will make its Lincoln Center debut July 20–24 at the Rose Theater with Jonathan Pryce in The Merchant of Venice, directed by Jonathan Munby. British company 1927 reinvents a traditional tale in Golem, incorporating animation, puppetry, crazy set design and costumes, and general absurdity July 26–31 at the Lynch.

Japan’s Takarazuka Revue will present an all-female version of CHICAGO at Lincoln Center Festival (photo by Maiko Miagawa and Nobuhiko Hikichi)

The National Ballet of Canada waltzes into the Koch Theater July 28–31 with Tony winner Christopher Wheeldon’s unique take on The Winter’s Tale, featuring music by Joby Talbot, scenic design by Tony winner Bob Crowley, and silk effects by Basil Twist. In addition, Goran Bregović’s Wedding and Funeral Orchestra marches into David Geffen Hall July 15–16; Reich/Reverberations pays tribute to Steve Reich July 16, 19, and 21 with Sō Percussion, Ensemble Signal, and JACK Quartet; C.I.C.T. / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord’s version of Molière’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme goes for laughs July 20–24 at the Lynch, directed by Denis Podalydès and with choreography by Kaori Ito; musicians Wang Li and Wu Wei team up on July 23 at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse; and a few days later Sō Percussion’s Trilogy takes over the Penthouse, with Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting playing works by Reich, Dessner, and Lang on July 28, Xenakis, Ergun, and Trueman on July 29, and Cage, Lansky, and Mackey on July 30. There are various special ticket packages that can save you between twenty and thirty-five percent if you go for multiple shows, but those deals are going fast.

LIVE IDEAS: DESERT DANCER

Director Richard Raymond will be at NYLA on April 3 for screening of DESERT DANCER and a reception as part of Live Ideas festival

Director Richard Raymond will be at NYLA on April 3 for screening of DESERT DANCER and reception as part of Live Ideas festival

Who: Richard Raymond
What: Screening of Richard Raymond’s 2014 film, Desert Dancer, followed by a reception with the director
Where: New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves., 212-924-0077
When: Sunday, April 3, $10, 3:00
Why: New York Live Arts’ 2016 Live Ideas multidisciplinary festival concludes this weekend with several unique programs, including a screening of Desert Dancer, a biopic about Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, portrayed by Reece Ritchie; the film also features Freida Pinto as Elaheh, Nazanin Boniadi as Parisa Ghaffarian, and Tom Cullen as Ardavan, with choreography by Akram Khan. The theme of this year’s Live Ideas is “MENA/Future — Cultural Transformations in the Middle East North Africa Region.” Also on tap this weekend at NYLA are Adham Hafez Company’s 2065 BC, Radouan Mriziga’s ~55, and the conversation “Dance & the New Politic” with Adham Hafez, Andre Lepecki, and guests.

STREB: SEA (SINGULAR EXTREME ACTIONS)

STREB SLAM
51 North First St. betweeen Kent & Wythe Aves.
Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30pm
Saturdays & Sundays at 3:00pm
March 31- April 24, $20-$25
866-811-4111
streb.org

“Throughout my career, my goal has always been to create a motion lexicon that all humans recognize,” Elizabeth Streb says on her company website. “I call it POP ACTION and it exists now, not only on stage as a fusion of dance, sports, gymnastics, and the American circus — but also in a place, SLAM, where an exchange of human acts takes place every day, enriching my vocabulary and hopefully expanding the lives of my company’s co-conspirators, the audience.” Streb has seen a rise in popularity in recent years, with the 2010 release of her book, Streb: How to Become an Extreme Action Hero, the popular Kiss the Air at the Park Avenue Armory in 2011, the 2014 documentary Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, and the 2015 doc OXD: One Extraordinary Day. The company’s thirtieth anniversary celebration continues with its latest daring show, SEA, which stands for Singular Extreme Actions. At its Williamsburg headquarters, Streb will present a “pure Action-Explosion,” as the company combines dance and acrobatics at SLAM, the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics. Led by Streb and associate artistic director Fabio Tavares, Action Heroes Leonardo Giron Torres, Cassandre Joseph, Jackie Carlson, Daniel Rysak, Samantha Jakus, Felix Hess, Jamarious Stewart, Justina Grayman, and Loganne Bond will perform on rotating ladders, trampolines, and various specially created objects to dazzle with their amazing skill. In addition, DJ/MC Zaire Baptiste will use an interactive live mix incorporating music contributed by the audience. Performances take place Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 and Saturdays and Sundays at 3:00 from March 31 through April 24; tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Prepare to be blown away by what this fearless company can do.

FIRST SATURDAY: A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

Maya Azucena will perform for free at Brooklyn Museum First Saturday program on April 1

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, April 1, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum celebrates spring with the April edition of its free First Saturday multidisciplinary program. There will be live music by Falu, the Brown Rice Family, and Maya Azucena; a dance performance and workshop by Earl Mosley’s Diversity of Dance; poetry readings by Desiree Bailey and Laura Lamb Brown; screenings of Guy Reid’s Planetary, followed by a talkback, and Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater, and Sabrina Schmidt Gordon’s BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez, followed by a talkback with Gordon and Imani Uzuri; an art workshop led by Steven and William Ladd for a community mural project in City Point; a dance break hosted by WNYC’s Death, Sex & Money podcast; and pop-up gallery talks. In addition, the galleries are open late so you can check out such exhibitions as “Stephen Powers: Coney Island Is Still Dreamland (to a Seagull),’” “This Place,” and “Agitprop!”

DE MATERIE (THE MATTER)

Heiner Goebbels’s adaptation of Louis Andriessen’s DE MATERIE is an audio and visual wonder — complete with sheep and light-up zeppelins (photo by Stephanie Berger)

Park Ave. Armory, Wade Thompson Drill Hall
643 Park Ave. between 66th & 67th Sts.
March 22–30, $85-$195
212-933-5812
www.armoryonpark.org

Regardless of how well prepared you think you are for Heiner Goebbels’s awesomely strange spectacle De Materie, you’re not; get ready to be confused, amazed, bewildered, delighted, mesmerized, and frustrated, often all at the same time. Goebbels’s awe-inspiring version of Dutch new music composer Louis Andriessen’s four-part masterwork, initially presented at the 2014 Ruhrtriennale at a former power plant in Germany, is making its North American stage premiere this month in the Wade Thompson Drill Hall at the Park Avenue Armory, where it fits like a glove. The nearly two-hour work is divided into four very different sections that explore freedom and innovation through the age-old philosophical battle between matter and spirit. De Materie is constructed like an architectural magnum opus of experimental music, dance, art, theater, opera, and science, with many memorable parts that come together to form an ever-greater whole . . . or not, as tenor Pascal Charbonneau explains, intoning passages from Dutch physicist Gorlaeus’s Idea physicae. A small choir sings “Plakkaat van Verlatinghe,” the Act of Abjuration declaring Dutch independence from Spain, and later adds sections from a 1690 primer on shipbuilding (“Aeloude and hedendaegsche Scheepsbouw en Bestier”) by Nicolaas Witsen. Subtitles are projected onto glowing zeppelins, walls, and tents in which silhouettes mysteriously gather.

DE MATERIE features music, dance, theater, art, spoken word, philosophy, mysticism, and even boogie-woogie (photo by Wonge Bergmann)

Thirteenth-century devotional mystic poet Hadewijch (soprano Evgeniya Sotnikova) sings of corporeal love with God as black-covered figures on benches behind her change position every time the lights go off and then on again. Piet Mondrian’s 1927 “Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue” is brought to life with swinging pendulums as Gauthier Dedieu and Niklas Taffner dance the boogie-woogie and the theory of the line is discussed through texts by mathematician and theosophist M. H. J. Schoenmaekers. Madame Curie (Catherine Milliken) reads from her Nobel Prize acceptance speech and the diary she kept following the death of her husband. And one hundred sheep from Pennsylvania bleat from the back of the hall, although no translation is provided. The dramatic, varied score is performed with vigor by the fifty-plus members of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and ChorWerk Ruhr, conducted by Peter Rundel. The sets and lighting by Klaus Grünberg and sound design by Norbert Ommer are mind-blowing; the fab costumes are by Florence von Gerkan, with choreography by Florian Bilbao. So, when put together, what’s it all about? In his director’s note in the program, Goebbels, who previously presented Stifters Dinge at the armory in December 2009, writes, “Our visual solutions for this piece — tents in the first act, benches in the second, the pendulum in the third, and the sheep in the fourth act — aren’t symbols for something that needs to be deciphered or understood. They all are what they are: tents, benches, pendulum, and sheep — and zeppelins. But what you feel or imagine about them — that is your business alone. Just don’t underestimate the sheep.” Actually, you shouldn’t underestimate any of this equally dazzling and head-scratching adaptation of one of the great new-music compositions of the twentieth-century.