this week in music

THE CHOCOLATE DANCES COSTUME PARTY TASTING PERFORMANCE

(photo by Rachel Walters)

Megan Sipe combines chocolate and dance in tasty interactive evening (photo by Rachel Walters)

The C.O.W. (Celebration of Whimsy)
21-A Clinton St.
Sunday, December 14, $45-$50, 7:00
www.thecownyc.com
www.chocolatedances.com

Hey, you got chocolate in my dance piece! Well, you got your dance piece in my chocolate! Chocolatier and choreographer Megan Sipe combines two great tastes that taste great together in The Chocolate Dances, and interactive performance that incorporates dance, theater, and music with handcrafted chocolate confections that are both worn and eaten. On December 14, Sipe, who hails from Idaho, will present the latest iteration of The Chocolate Dances at a dual costume party and tasting at Celebration of Whimsy on Clinton St. in Manhattan. Every audience member will be treated to a costume, a quartet of truffles/bon bons, cacao nibs, chocolate callets, a chocolate mustache, and chocolate raspberry birthday cake. Tickets are $45 general admission but only five bucks more for prime seating. There will be live music by Juana Aquerta, Giacomo Lamparelli, and Alesio Romano, dancing by Cara Heerdt, Catherine Murcek, and Maya Orchin, and special theatrics by Andrew Broaddus and Fritz Donnelly. Sipe (Hour of the Beast, ahy-duh-hoh-uhn), who is also a Pilates instructor and a creative movement teacher, “uses chocolate to bring people together, to celebrate dance and create joy,” which ain’t a bad mission in life.

INTERPRETATIONS: CHRIS BROWN, FRANK GRATKOWSKI, AND WILLIAM WINANT / FAST FORWARD: TEN

Chris Brown, Frank Gratkowski, William Winant, and Fast Forward will all take part in Interpretations program December 11 at Roulette in Brooklyn, with special guests

Chris Brown, Frank Gratkowski, William Winant, and Fast Forward will all take part in Interpretations program December 11 at Roulette in Brooklyn, with special guests

Roulette
509 Atlantic Ave. at Third Ave.
Thursday, December 11, $15-$20, 8:00
917-267-0363
www.roulette.org
www.interpretations.info

Since 1990, the Interpretations series has been developing “a community of experimental composers, their virtuoso interpreters, and an adventurous and supportive audience.” Over the past quarter-century, Interpretations has presented such avant-garde composers and musicians as Morton Subotnick, Anthony Braxton, Thomas Buckner, La Monte Young, Michiko Akao, Robert Ashley, Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Ho, and the FLUX Quartet. On December 11 at 8:00, the twenty-sixth Interpretations season continues at Roulette in Brooklyn with the trio of pianist and processor Chris Brown, alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and flutist Frank Gratkowski (whose name has been consistently misspelled as “Gratowsky” on both the Roulette and Interpretations websites), and percussionist William Winant, who specialize in creating unique, improvisational sound environments. In addition, New York-based English composer, multimedia artist, and culinarian Fast Forward (aka Paul Wilson) will present “10,” a work for ten musicians playing ten different instruments performing ten separate pieces, featuring Gelsey Bell, Tom Chiu, Chris Cochrane, Michael Evans, Miguel Frasconi, David Freeman, Grady Gerbracht, Gisburg, Dave Ruder, and Aliza Simons.

FIRST SATURDAYS: BROOKLYN FASHION

Christian Louboutin, “Printz,” Spring/Summer 2013 (courtesy of Christian Louboutin; photograph by Jay Zukerkorn)

Christian Louboutin, “Printz,” Spring/Summer 2013 (courtesy of Christian Louboutin; photograph by Jay Zukerkorn)

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

The Brooklyn Museum has fun with its new exhibit, “Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe,” in the December edition of its free First Saturdays program. “Brooklyn Fashion” will feature live performances by the Hot Sardines and TK Wonder; a shoe-making art workshop; a talk with Manufacture New York CEO Bob Bland; screenings of Julie Benasra’s 2011 documentary, God Save My Shoes, and Tom Kalin’s Alternate Endings, short films made in collaboration with artists Rhys Ernst, Glen Fogel, Lyle Ashton Harris, Derek Jackson, My Barbarian, and Julie Tolentino in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Visual AIDS’ Day With(out) Art; a talk with “Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe” curator Lisa Small; an interactive story hour with Aunt Helen’s Closet; a “Killer Heels” photo booth; and a social club with dapperQ.com that includes pop-up shops, a Dapper Academy, and a fashion show. In addition, you can check out such exhibitions as “Revolution! Works from the Black Arts Movement,” “Judith Scott — Bound and Unbound,” and “Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and Beyond.”

VIDEO OF THE DAY: THE BOTH

After taking a break the past two holiday seasons, Aimee Mann is back with her annual noël celebration. “The Return of the Aimee Mann Christmas Show” comes to New York City on December 13 at the Town Hall, with Aimee joined by Ted Leo, her partner in the new band the Both. Special guests for the evening, which will feature a mix of original music, holiday classics, video, sketches, and more, include Bangles leader Susanna Hoffs, singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton, and comedian Fred Armisen. In preparation for the tour, which will make stops in Tarrytown on December 10 and Westbury on December 12, the Both has released “Nothing Left to Do (Let’s Make This Christmas Blue).”

THE HILLS NYC PRESENTS CELEBRATING DON HILL — A NIGHT OF LIVE MUSIC IN SUPPORT OF ROADRECOVERY.ORG

Current Broadway Hedwig Michael C. Hall will be part of tribute show at the Hills NYC honoring Don Hill and benefiting Road Recovery

Current Broadway Hedwig Michael C. Hall will be part of tribute show at the Hills NYC honoring Don Hill and benefiting Road Recovery

The Hills NYC
314 Spring St.
Sunday, December 7, general admission $75, VIP $250, 8:00
www.thehillsnyc.com
www.roadrecovery.org

In March 2011, popular nightlife impresario Don Hill passed away at the age of sixty-six, and his eponymous club, Don Hill’s, closed the next month, after a failed makeover attempt by Nur Khan and Paul Sevigny. This past June, it was announced that the SoHo club, located on Spring St., would reopen as the Hills NYC, with the new owners proclaiming, “Reset, rebuilt, and refocused, the Hills NYC is here to bring back Don’s original vision of a legendary venue which showcases Rock and Roll icons and NY talent.” On December 7, a diverse group of musicians will gather to pay tribute to Don Hill and the opening of the new club in a special show also honoring Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which was conceived in the original Don Hill’s by Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell. The lineup includes Hedwig composer, lyricist, and cocreator Trask; Dexter’s Michael C. Hall, who is currently playing Hedwig on Broadway; New York Dolls leader and Buster Poindexter alter-ego David Johansen; New Jersey band OURS, headed by Jimmy Gnecco; and Hedwig band Tits of Clay (Tim Mislock, Justin Craig, Matt Duncan, and Peter Yanowitz), who are putting together an EP via a PledgeMusic campaign. “The band and I couldn’t be more excited to play this show,” Trask said in a statement. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that without Don Hill’s, Hedwig probably wouldn’t exist.” The event will benefit the nonprofit organization Road Recovery, which was founded in 1998 by tour manager Gene Bowen in order to “help young people battle addiction and other adversities by harnessing the influence of entertainment industry professionals who have confronted similar crises and now wish to share their experience, knowledge, and resources.” General admission is $75, while $250 VIP tickets ($100 tax-deductible) earn you access to a special standing area near the front of the stage, a preshow meet-and-greet with the performers, and a swag bag. “Coming back to Don Hill’s with Tits of Clay to play a bunch of punk rock songs would in itself inspire nostalgic swooning for me,” Trask added. “But the fact that this show is a benefit for Road Recovery, which uses music to help at-risk youth battle off the threat of addiction, really hits home.”

THE 34th ANNUAL JOHN LENNON TRIBUTE

Photographer Bob Gruen will be honored at 34th annual John Lennon Tribute concert at Symphony Space (photo © 1974 by Bob Gruen)

Photographer Bob Gruen will be honored at 34th annual John Lennon Tribute concert at Symphony Space (photo © 1974 by Bob Gruen)

Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Friday, December 5, $65-$105, 8:00
212-864-5400
www.symphonyspace.org
www.lennontribute.org

The life of John Lennon is currently being celebrated eight times a week at the Union Square Theatre with Lennon: Through a Glass Onion, in which John R. Waters portrays the Smart Beatle. The legacy of the longtime New Yorker will also be honored on December 5 at Symphony Space with the 34th annual John Lennon Tribute. Presented by Theatre Within and Music Without Borders, the evening will consist of Lennon songs performed by a fab lineup of special guests: Debbie Harry, Kate Pierson, David Johansen, Joan Osborne, Joe Raiola, Amy Helm, Marshall Crenshaw, Ben E. King, Rich Pagano, the Kennedys, and Chrissi Poland. In addition, legendary photographer Bob Gruen, who took the iconic photos of Lennon in his New York City T-shirt, will receive a special honor. The evening benefits Theatre Within’s John Lennon Real Love Project, which “offers children and young adults in medical care centers, schools, and communities in need the unique opportunity to compose their own songs.”