this week in dance

CaribBEING IN BROOKLYN

Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturday program includes screening of Todd Kessler’s new film, BAZODEE, followed by a Q&A

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, August 6, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum is getting ready for Labor Day weekend’s West Indian American Day Carnival with an August First Saturday presentation filled with Caribbean energy and culture. The free events, some of which require advance tickets that night, will feature the live performance “Ganggang: Creative Misunderstanding Series” by disguise artist Alejandro Guzman, with Abigail Deville, Christopher Manzione, Clifford Owens, Elan Jurado, Geraldo Mercado, Jessica Gallucci, Marcus Willis, Sam Vernon, Tré Chandler, and William Villalongo; children’s storytelling with Linda Humes; a performance and reading by ethnomusicologist Danielle Brown from her memoir, East of Flatbush, North of Love: An Ethnography of Home; screenings of Bazodee (Todd Kessler, 2016), followed by a Q&A with actor and soca star Machel Montano, writer Claire Ince, and producers Susanne Bohnet and Ancil McKain, as well as the classic reggae flick Rockers (Theodoros Bafaloukos, 1978); Rusty Zimmerman discussing his “Free Portrait Project: Crown Heights”; a hands-on workshop in which participants can make their own Caribbean-inspired instruments; pop-up gallery talks in the excellent “Disguise: Masks and Global African Art” exhibition; a Backyard Bashment dancehall workshop and party with choreographer Blacka Di Danca, actor-comedian Majah Hype, and DJ MeLo-X; and the interactive mobile art center caribBEING House, featuring Ruddy Rove’s “Fine Art of Daggering” photos, a participatory wall map, and the opportunity to share your own Caribbean tale. In addition, you can check out such exhibitions as “Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present,” “Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective, 1999–2016,” “Stephen Powers: Coney Island Is Still Dreamland (to a Seagull),” and “Agitprop!”

TICKET ALERT: BAM 2016 NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL

Mikhail Baryshnikov channels Nijinsky in Robert Wilson’s LETTER TO A MAN (photo by Lucie Jansch)

Who: Performers and/or creators Mikhail Baryshnikov, Isabelle Huppert, Ivo van Hove, Robert Wilson, Peter Brook, John Jasperse, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Alarm Will Sound, Howard Fishman, David Lang, Jonah Bokaer, Daniel Arsham, TR Warszawa, Cheek by Jowl, the Magnetic Fields, So Percussion, Wordless Music Orchestra, Shen Wei Dance Arts, Kyle Abraham / Abraham.In.Motion, Faye Driscoll, Mark Morris Dance Group, and many more
What: Annual fall interdisciplinary performance festival
Where: BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St.), BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave.), BAM Fisher (321 Ashland Pl.)
When: September 7 – December 3
Why: Tickets for BAM’s 2016 Next Wave Festival have just gone on sale to the general public, but you better hurry if you want to see some of the hottest shows of what is always a great collection of innovative dance, music, film, theater, and hard-to-describe hybrid presentations from around the world. This year there are more than five dozen events, including performances, talks, and master classes. We don’t know about you, but we’ll be practically living at BAM this fall. Below are five of our don’t miss favorites.

Isabelle Huppert stars as a modern-day mythical queen in PHAEDRA(S) (photo by Pascal Victor/ArtComArt)

PHAEDRA(S)
BAM Harvey Theater
September 13-18, $30-$95
Isabelle Huppert is back at BAM, following her stunning turns in Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis in 2005 and Robert Wilson’s Quartett in 2009. This time she stars as the mythological queen in Phaedra(s), in which director Krzysztof Warlikowski and Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe incorporate texts by Kane, Wajdi Mouawad, and J. M. Coetzee to tell the three-and-a-half-hour story of love and tragedy. On September 18, BAM will host the related panel discussion “Phaedra Interpreted” at Borough Hall as part of the Brooklyn Book Festival.

REMAINS
BAM Harvey Theater
September 21-24, $20-$45
John Jasperse, who presented the exhilarating Canyon at BAM in 2011, now looks back at his thirty-year career as well as toward the future in Remains, featuring dancers Maggie Cloud, Marc Crousillat, Burr Johnson, Heather Lang, Stuart Singer, and Claire Westby and music by John King. On September 22 at 2:00 ($30), Jasperse will teach a master class for intermediate to professional dancers at the Mark Morris Dance Center, and on September 23 at 6:00 ($25) he will participate in a talk with Tere O’Connor at BAM Fisher.

LETTER TO A MAN
BAM Harvey Theater
October 15-30, $35-$120
BAM regular Robert Wilson reteams with Mikhail Baryshnikov in this multimedia staging of the diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky; the two collaborated at BAM in 2014 with The Old Woman. Baryshnikov recently paid tribute to his friend Joseph Brodsky in Brodsky/Baryshnikov, while Wilson has presented such aural and visual spectacles at BAM as Quartett, The Black Rider, and Woyzeck. On October 24 at 7:00 at NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts, “Inside Nijinsky’s Diaries” will consist of an actor reading from the diaries, followed by a discussion (free with advance RSVP).

Ivo van Hove merges multiple Shakespeare plays into KINGS OF WAR (photo by Jan Versweyveld)

KINGS OF WAR
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
November 3-6, $24-$130
In-demand director Ivo van Hove and Toneelgroep Amsterdam return to BAM for a four-and-a-half-hour adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V, Henry VI Parts I, II & III, and Richard III. Van Hove has previously staged such works as Angels in America, Cries and Whispers, and Antigone (with Juliette Binoche) at BAM, in addition to the double shot of A View from the Bridge and The Crucible on Broadway.

THANK YOU FOR COMING: PLAY
BAM Fisher
Judith and Alan Fishman Space
November 16-19, $25
Choreographer Faye Driscoll follows up Thank You for Coming: Attendance with this new work, which we got a sneak peek at this past weekend on Governors Island. Driscoll’s presentations (There is so much mad in me, 837 Venice Blvd.) are always involving and unpredictable, and this piece is no exception. Driscoll will also be teaching a master class on November 18 at 2:00 ($30) for performers at all levels.

BRONX MUSEUM SUMMER SEASON OPEN HOUSE

David Thomson and Jonathan Gonzalez will perform solos as part of summer season open house at Bronx Museum

Bronx Museum of the Arts
1040 Grand Concourse
Wednesday, July 13, free, 6:00 – 8:00
718-681-6000
www.bronxmuseum.org

The Bronx Museum of the Arts’ annual summer open house takes place on July 13 at 6:00, celebrating not only the season but the opening of three new exhibitions. At 6:30, BAX/Dancing While Black Fellow Jonathan Gonzalez will perform Arthur Aviles’s In the Garden of Mi Amigo El id in the galleries, followed at 7:15 by a solo work by artist-choreographer and Bronx native David Thomson in the North Wing on the second floor. Attendees will also get a sneak peek at the new exhibitions “Art AIDS America,” “CAZA: Rochele Gomez, Margaret Lee, Alejandra Seeber,” and “En Foco Presents Mask: Photographs by Frank Gimpaya,” with member tours of the first at 5:00 and the third at 5:30. In addition, the Keith Haring Foundation – Project Street Beat Mobile Medical Unit of Planned Parenthood of New York City will be on hand. (On Saturday, July 16, at 3:00, Robb Hernández, PhD, and Joey Terrill will lead a free public tour of “Art AIDS in America” sponsored by AIDS Center of Queens County and AIDS Healthcare Foundation.)

THE RUBIN BLOCK PARTY

Rubin Block Party will have Nepalese-inspired theme this year (photo courtesy Rubin Museum of Art)

Rubin Museum of Art
West 17th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Sunday, July 17, free (including free museum admission all day), 1:00 – 4:00
rubinmuseum.org

Block parties are a type of social ritual, so it is rather apropos that the Rubin Museum of Art’s annual summer block party, taking place on July 17 on Seventeenth St., is being held in conjunction with the exhibition “Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual,” which runs through March of next year. Hopefully it won’t rain between 1:00 and 4:00, when the museum will host Nepalese-inspired music and dance by Dikyi, Sonam Rinzin with Brooklyn Raga Massive, and Kabina Maharjan Singh and her son; educational activities with KathaSatha, Walung Community of North America, Yulha Fund (“Voice of the Himalayas”), and Mero Gaon; traditional Nepali dress demonstrations with Adhikaar; interactive weaving demonstrations with Grassroots Movement in Nepal; yoga with Susan Verde; art workshops in which participants can make rainsticks, frog masks, pinwheels, prayer flags, flower garlands, and hybrid animals; an interactive “Karma Chain” weather ritual; henna tattoos; Himalayan food from Café Serai; ice cream from Van Leeuwen; and more. In addition, the museum will be open for free all day long (11:00 am – 6:00 pm), so you can check out such exhibits as “Gateway to Himalayan Art,” “Masterworks of Himalayan Art,” “Genesis Breyer P-Orridge,” and “Sacred Spaces” in addition to “Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual,” with museum tours and gallery searches for children. Namaste!

BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATION

bastille day

60th St. between Fifth & Lexington Aves.
Sunday, July 10, free, 12 noon – 5:00 pm
www.bastilledaynyc.com
fiaf.org

On July 14, 1789, a Parisian mob stormed the Bastille prison, a symbolic victory that kicked off the French Revolution and the establishment of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Ever since, July 14 has been a national holiday celebrating liberté, égalité, and fraternité. In New York City, the Bastille Day festivities are set for Sunday, July 10, along Sixtieth St., where the French Institute Alliance Française hosts its annual daylong party of food, music, dance, and other special activities. There will be a Wine, Beer, Cocktail, and Cheese Tasting in FIAF’s Tinker Auditorium at 12 noon, 1:30, and 3:00 ($25), as well as luxurious ninety-minute Champagne & Chocolate Tastings in Le Skyroom at 12:30 and 3:00 ($75) featuring delights from G. H. Mumm, Piper-Heidsieck, Drappier, Brimoncourt, Billecart-Salmon, La Caravelle, Neuhaus, La Maison du Chocolat, Valrhona, MarieBelle, and Maman Bakery. The annual raffle ($5 per ticket) can win you such prizes as trips to Paris and New Orleans, concert tickets, beauty treatments and gift baskets, lunches and dinners, and more. Food and drink will be available from Babeth’s Feast, Barraca, Booqoo Beignets, Dominique Ansel Bakery, Éclair Bakery, Epicerie Boulud, Financier, Bec Fin, Le Souk, St. Michel, Tipsy Scoop, François Payard Bakery, Mille-feuille, Oliviers & Co., Ponty Bistro, and others. Taking the stage will be cast members from An American in Paris (12:30), CanCan dancers led by Sarah O’Dwyer (1:15 & 2:15), a French puppet show by Samantha Grassian (1:30), the Hungry March Band (2:30), the Sheridan Fencing Academy (3:15), and Myriam Phiro’s Accordion Trio (4:00). The festivities also include a roaming French Mime for Hire (Catherina Gasta), a photobooth, a book signing with Marc Levy (A Spin on the Horizon, 1:00), the annual Citroën Car Show (1:00 – 5:00), a live screening of the UEFA Euro final between France and Portugal (3:00), and more. Vive la France!

LIZZI BOUGATSOS: THE LAST HOPE

Lizzie Bougatsos will present a site-specific performance at MAD on July 8 (photo by Brian DeGraw)

Lizzi Bougatsos will present a site-specific performance at MAD on July 8 (photo by Brian DeGraw)

MADactivates: PERFORMANCE AT MAD
Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle at 58th St. & Eighth Ave.
Friday, July 8, $20, 7:00
212-299-7777
madmuseum.org

Queens native Lizzi Bougatsos, leader of Gang Gang Dance, will be at the Museum of Arts and Design on July 8, giving a specially commissioned performance in conjunction with the exhibition “Atmosphere for Enjoyment: Harry Bertoia’s Environment for Sound.” Bertoia, who died in 1978, was a jewelry and chair designer who also created sounding sculptures that he housed in his Pennsylvania barn. For the exhibition, Bougatsos, who performed “ENERGY CHANCE” at MoMA in 2014 as part of “John Cage: There Will Never Be Silence,” created a sound and video recording at the Sonambient Barn with Brian DeGraw for the show, “We Echo Now His Love”; on Friday night, she will enact the site-specific performance “The Last Hope” at MAD, interacting with works in the exhibit. On July 15, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (aka Lichens), who made “Spell Casting” at the barn, will perform “Levitation Praxis Pt. 4” at MAD.

I WANT YOU TO WANT ME

Jack Ferver’s deviously delicious I WANT YOU TO WANT ME continues at the Kitchen through July 2 (photo by Paula Court)

The Kitchen
519 West 19th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.,
June 30 – July 2, $25
855-263-2623
www.americandance.org
thekitchen.org

Jack Ferver’s I Want You to Want Me is a devastatingly funny and clever send-up of the classic Hollywood tale of a young woman chasing dreams of stardom — as if made by an Italian giallo master. A dancer who spends most of her time waitressing, Ann Erica Rose (Carling Talcott-Steenstra) is excited when she gets offered a chance to work with a prominent company (companie) in Europe, but her boyfriend (Ferver) doesn’t want her to go, spouting clichéd heterosexual platitudes that are all the more hysterical because Ferver, a local gay icon, plays the tough straight man with delicious relish. Ann Erica (from America) heads off to Paris, where she is taken under the wing of witchy dance legend Madame M (Ferver), who is assisted by the mysterious Reid (Reid Bartelme). Madame M guides Ann Erica, Reid, and another wide-eyed new dancer, Barth (Barton Cowperthwaite), who hails from Colorado, through a series of solos, duets, and trios that are consistently outrageous as Ferver plays with conventions of modern dance and classical ballet while the devious plot thickens, leading to a finale that would make fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 shriek in delight.

Jack Ferver, Barton Cowperthwaite, Carling Talcott-Steenstra and Reid Bartelme perform solos, duets, and trios in Ferver’s latest piece of absurdist hilarity (photo by Paula Court)

I Want You to Want Me is set in a dance rehearsal studio, with two side mirrors in the corner and large mirrors against the back wall that reflect the audience. Both Madame M and Reid are able to magically turn the lights and fog machine on and off with the flick of a finger, lending an otherworldly nature to the proceedings. Talcott-Steenstra and Cowperthwaite are a riot as the Disney-esque couple from an alternate universe, and longtime Ferver collaborator Bartelme is a scream as Reid, who deadpans beautifully during extended dance sequences that feature some crazy-ass moves. Channeling such divas as Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Martha Graham, Ferver (Chambre; Mon, Ma Mes) feasts on his role as Madame M, gliding across the stage in an elegant dark costume, by Reid & Harriet Design (run by Bartelme and Harriet Jung), that can be rearranged for multiple purposes, from a devilish, hooded robe to a lovely off-the-shoulder gown to a sexy little frock. It’s no wonder Ferver spends much of the time looking at himself in one of the mirrors; he can’t take his eyes off himself, and we can’t either, especially as his thick makeup and ever-growing false eyelashes start to devolve. Part of the ADI/NYC Incubator residency program, I Want You to Want Me is another triumphant piece of thoroughly engaging dance theater as only Jack Ferver can create.