this week in music

WHITNEY BIENNIAL PERFORMANCES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Lisa Anne Auerbach will activate her “American Megazine” on Friday nights at the Whitney Biennial (photograph © Lisa Anne Auerbach)

Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Ave. at 75th St.
Through May 25, $18 (pay-what-you-wish Fridays 6:00 – 9:00)
Many programs require advance registration and/or tickets
212-570-3600
www.whitney.org

The 2014 Whitney Biennial, the last to be held in Marcel Breuer and Hamilton P. Smith’s 1960s building on the corner of Madison and Seventy-Fifth, is another mixed bag, further complicated by the curious decision to have three floors organized by three different curators, creating a more disjointed survey of the state of American art than usual. Perhaps the best time to take in this year’s model is when you get the added bonus of a special performance or program, many of which require advance RSVP or tickets. On May 7 at 7:30 ($8), the curators, Stuart Comer, Anthony Elms, and Michelle Grabner, will participate in a roundtable discussion with Jay Sanders that should shed plenty of light on their choices, but there are lots of other events as well. From April 2 to 6 in the second-floor Kaufman Astoria Studios Film and Video Gallery, Academy Records and Matt Hanner present the concurrent film loop The Bower with the three-hour audio No Jets, combining visuals of a cherry tree with audio of flight delays immediately following the events of September 11, while Gary Indiana’s Stanley Park merges images of a Cuban prison with shots of jellyfish. Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst’s twenty-three-minute short, She Gone Rogue, plays April 2-6 and 9-13 in the lobby gallery. On April 4, New York City teens in grades nine through twelve are invited to a free artist workshop led by the collective My Barbarian; the program continues April 11 with Joshua Mosley. On Friday nights through May 23, Lisa Anne Auerbach will activate her large-scale American Megazine on the third floor.

Miguel Gutierrez and Mickey Mahar team up for dance performance that examines midcareer anxiety (photo by Eric McNatt)

On April 6 at 4:00, James Benning’s re-creation of the 1969 classic Easy Rider will be shown in the Kaufman gallery in conjunction with Julie Ault’s “Afterlife: a constellation.” Composer Robert Ashley and director Alex Waterman will present the world premiere of their opera, Crash, April 10-13 ($20); their Spanish-language TV opera, Vidas Perfectas, runs April 17-20 ($20), while their reimagined speaking opera, The Trial of Anne Opie Wehrer and Unknown Accomplices for Crimes Against Humanity, with Amy Sillman, Wayne Koestenbaum, Mary Farley, and Barbara Bloom, plays April 23-27 ($20). Fred Lonidier will lead a teach-in on April 11 at 7:00 that looks at art and labor. On April 12 and 26 ($10 per family), Whitney Wees offers kid-friendly tours and workshops for families with children ages four to five, in addition to the sketching tour “Sculpture and Drawing” for families with kids ages six to ten ($10); also on April 12, Mosely will be leading an Artist’s Choice Workshop for families with children ages eight to twelve ($10), and the Open Studio program, for kids of all ages, will examine Sheila Hicks’s “Pillar of Inquiry / Supple Column.” (Other family workshops are scheduled for April 26 in the Whitney Studio, May 2 with Dan Walsh, May 10 for kids with autism and with My Barbarian, and May 17 with Sara Greenberger Rafferty.) From April 16 to 20, Taisha Paggett will debut a new performance piece in the lobby gallery. On April 17 at 7:00 ($8), Miguel Gutierrez and My Barbarian’s Alexandro Segade have put together “Take Ecstasy with Me,” an evening of performances and reflections by Kalup Linzy, Jacolby Satterwhite, Nao Bustamante, Jorge Cortiñas, A. L. Steiner, Kate Bush Dance Troupe, Juliana Huxtable, and others, inspired by the work of the late Cuban theorist José Esteban Muñoz; Gutierrez will perform the duet Age & Beauty Part 1: Mid-Career Artist/Suicide Note or &:-/ with dancer Mickey Mahar April 23 – May 4 ($20).

Anthony Elms, Stuart Comer, and Michelle Grabner will discuss their curatorial choices at May 7 panel discussion (photo by Filip Wolak)

On April 18 at 7:30, Kevin Beasley, with Leon Finley and Christhian Diaz, will present the interactive audio piece “Public Programs in Sonic Masses.” (Beasley will also host a teen workshop on May 2 and activate his sound sculptures on May 14 at noon, May 16 at 1:00, and May 17 at 3:00 in the lobby gallery.) On April 26 at 6:30 ($8), Triple Canopy will investigate “Media Replication Services.” Doug Ischar’s Come Lontano, Tristes Tarzan, and Alone with You will screen April 30 – May 4 in the Kaufman gallery. On May 1 at 6:30 ($8), Joseph Grigely will deliver a “Seminars with Artists” lecture about communication and miscommunication, followed by Susan Howe’s talk on the “telepathy of archives” on May 14 at 6:30 ($8) and Amy Sillman examining the materiality of color on May 22 at 6:30 ($8). On May 6 at 7:00 ($8), Ault, Benning, and William Least Heat-Moon will discuss “Histories of Place.” On May 11, Travis Jeppesen will read his novel The Suiciders in a durational performance on the third floor. And on May 19 at 7:00 ($8), Dawoud Bey will lead a roundtable Conversations of Art discussion about the portrayal of southern blacks during the civil rights movement. Tickets are available in advance for all of the above events that require an additional fee, as indicated in parentheses; some free programs require preregistration, so don’t hesitate if you want to attend any of these Whitney Biennial bonuses.

THE MINISTRY OF SILLY DANCES: SILLY DANCE CONTEST

The Emerson
561 Myrtle Ave. between Emerson Pl. & Classon Ave.
Saturday, March 29, $5 to compete (includes silly shot), free to watch
Sign up begins around 10:00 pm, competition begins around 11:00 (after NCAA game)
www.facebook.com

Do you dance with a reckless wild abandon, not caring what others think of how you move and groove? Perhaps you have a little Elaine Benes in you? Then this weekend’s Silly Dance Contest should be right up your alley. On Saturday night at the Emerson in Brooklyn, the Ministry of Silly Dances is hosting this crazy competition, with the silliest dancer winning a $50 bar tab; two runners-up will earn a $25 bar tab apiece. It’s free to watch, but it will cost you five bucks to get on the floor and strut your stuff (and get a free silly shot). The Ministry of Silly Dances, whose critical mission is “to rid the world of grim groovers and sober strutters,” will guide the evening through three rounds, followed by the finale with the silliest three competitors. There will be short breaks, with music provided by DJs Max Power and Maggit and free drinks for particularly extraordinary dancers.

LA BELLE HÉLÈNE

The students of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School will perform Offenbach operetta March 28-30 (photo by Margo Drucker)

LA BELLE HÉLÈNE
Concert Hall at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
100 Amsterdam Ave.
March 28-30, students $15, adults $25
212-496-0700 ext228
www.laguardiahs.org

In December 1864, Jacques Offenbach’s operetta, La belle Hélène (“The Beautiful Helen”), premiered in Paris, a playful romp through the Homeric story of Helen and the Trojan War and Greek mythology. The three-act opéra bouffe, with lyrics by Henry de Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, features such characters as Agamemnon, Menelaus, Paris, Orestes, Achilles, Bacchis, and Ajax I and II. This weekend, the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts will present La belle Hélène as its annual opera, in an English-language version by Geoffrey Dunn, conducted by Lucinda Santiago, directed by Mary Ann Swerdfeger, and choreographed by Mary Brienza. Performances take place in the Concert Hall on March 28 at 7:30, March 29 at 2:00 and 7:30, and March 30 at 2:00; tickets are $15 for students and $25 for adults.

VISIONS AND VOICES — CHINA: RICHARD III

National Theatre of China makes its U.S. company debut with RICHARD III at Skirball Center (photo by Liu Weilen)

NATIONAL THEATRE OF CHINA: RICHARD III
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 La Guardia Pl. between Third & Fourth Sts.
March 26-30, $39-$65
212-992-8484
nyuskirball.org

In just the last two years, New York has seen numerous productions of Richard III, from Mark Rylance in the throwback Globe version on Broadway to Kevin Spacey’s star turn as part of the Bridge Project at BAM, from Ron Cephas Jones’s multiborough performance in the Public Theater’s Mobile Shakespeare Unit to Alessandro Colla in a suit and tie for Shakespeare in the Parking Lot’s outdoor production on the Lower East Side. Each of those shows had its own unique take on the Bard’s exploration of power, desire, and corruption, but perhaps the most unusual rendition is the National Theatre of China’s presentation, which comes to NYU’s Skirball Center March 26-30 as part of the second annual “Visions + Voices” festival. Streamlined to a mere hundred minutes, this Richard III will feature Chinese costumes, martial arts, acrobatics, music, and other elements of traditional Eastern staging by the National Theatre of China, in its U.S. company debut. The March 27 performance will be followed by a talk with director and National Theatre vice president Wang Xiaoying and script editor and dramaturge Luo Dajun, and the March 28 and 30 shows will be followed by conversations with Wang and actors Zhang Donglei and Zhang Xin; in addition, the panel discussion and audience Q&A “Beyond Puck: Performing Shakespeare in Asian America” will take place March 28 at 5:30 (free with advance registration) with Farah Bala, Ruy Iskander, Ching Valdes-Aran, Danielle Ma, Vandit Bhatt, Tisa Chang, and Ariel Estrada. “Visions + Voices: China” continues April 12 with a screening of Zhang Meng’s The Piano in a Factory and May 12 with Tan Dun’s “The Map” and “Concerto for String Orchestra and Pipa,” performed by the NYU Symphony Orchestra, featuring conductor Andrew Cyr, pipa virtuoso Zhou Yi, and cellist Wendy Sutter.

Chinese production of RICHARD III leaves a lot to the imagination (photo by Liu Weilen)

Update: The National Theatre of China’s American debut ended up being a rather curious affair. What was advertised as a one-hundred-minute Chinese production of Shakespeare’s Richard III with English surtitles ended up being around two and a half hours, with extremely limited descriptive sentences (that often worked improperly) instead of a full translation. The action, which includes acrobatics and martial arts, takes place on Liu Kedong’s spare but elegant set, featuring two carved columns and an ornate throne behind which hangs a series of calligraphy banners displaying such words as “Truth,” “Blood,” and “Conspiracy.” Zhang Dongyu portrays the title character with a sexy bravado, hunching and limping only when he’s delivering his scheming monologues; otherwise, he stands tall and proud as he woos Lady Anne (Zhang Xin) and kills off all possible challengers; following each death, blood drips down the banners, almost as if keeping score. Shakespeare’s story of the power struggles within and between the Yorks and the Lancasters, rival dynasties fighting for the English crown, moves easily across cultures, settling smoothly into an imperial Chinese milieu. But even for those who are very familiar with the details of Shakespeare’s tale, the decision to not translate any of the dialogue left many in the dark; it was particularly disconcerting when those members of the audience who understood Mandarin would laugh at a line, making everyone else feel left out — and resulting in dozens of people not returning after intermission. It also made it difficult to figure out why three witches seemed to have come over from Macbeth. But the costumes are colorfully grand, and percussionist Wang Jianan virtually steals the show, as no translation is needed for his thrilling, evocative live score.

TALES OF US: GOLDFRAPP LIVE

AMC Empire 25, 234 West 42nd St. at Eighth Ave.
IndieScreen, 289 Kent Ave. at South Second St.
Tuesday, March 25, and Thursday, March 27, IndieScreen 7:00, AMC Empire 8:00
www.goldfrapp.com

“Every word is soft as fur / I’m drifting deep, deeper in,” Alison Goldfrapp sings on “Stranger,” one of ten tracks on Tales of Us (Mute, September 2013), the sixth full-length album from the English duo known as Goldfrapp, consisting of Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp. Formed in 1999, Goldfrapp has gone from trip-hop to dance pop to electronica; on Tales of Us, the sound is far more subdued and mysterious, bathed in a dreamy atmosphere highlighted by whispery vocals amid luminous orchestrations. On March 25 and 27, select theaters around the world will present a thirty-minute film by Goldfrapp based on five interrelated songs on the new album, “Stranger,” “Laurel,” “Jo,” “Drew,” and “Annabel.” Directed by film editor Lisa Gunning (Seven Psychopaths, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen), the haunting video, shot in both color and black-and-white, traces love, romance, and escape in such natural settings as vast fields, forests, and water. The film will be followed by a live broadcast of Goldfrapp at Air Studios in London playing songs from throughout their career, including “Utopia” from Felt Mountain and “Train” and “Strict Machine” from Black Cherry. (A recorded version of the mini-concert will be seen in the States.) Tickets are available in advance for this intimate look at a fascinating band.

DOCUMENTARY IN BLOOM: BROTHERS HYPNOTIC

Documentary follows Hypnotic Brass Ensemble as brothers travel the world sharing their artistic vision

NEW FILMS PRESENTED BY LIVIA BLOOM: BROTHERS HYPNOTIC (Reuben Atlas, 2013)
Maysles Cinema
343 Malcolm X Blvd. between 127th & 128th Sts.
March 24-30, 7:30
212-582-6050
www.mayslesinstitute.org
www.hypnoticbrassfilm.com

A real family affair, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble includes eight sons of jazz musician Kelan Phil Cohran, a trumpeter who played with such legends as Jay McShann and Sun Ra, cofounded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and started the Affro-Arts Theatre in Chicago. HBE’s compelling story is told in Reuben Atlas’s spirited feature documentary debut, Brothers Hypnotic, which is having its exclusive U.S. theatrical premiere March 24-30 as part of Livia Bloom’s “Documentary in Bloom” series at Harlem’s Maysles Cinema. Atlas followed the band for four years, from its hometown of Chicago to Amsterdam, from Ireland to London, and to numerous spots in New York City, a kind of second home for the group, which consists of siblings Gabriel “Hudah” Hubert on trumpet, Saiph “Cid” Graves on tenor trombone, Amal “Baji” Hubert on trumpet, Tycho “L.T.” Cohran on bass/sousaphone, Jafar “Yosh” Graves on trumpet, Uttama “Rocco” Hubert on euphonium, Seba “Clef” Graves on bass trombone, and Tarik “Smoove” Graves on trumpet (in addition to Christopher Anderson on drums). Atlas shows the band playing its unique blend of funk, jazz, and hip-hop at major festivals, in clubs, on the street, in the subway, and in the studio. Their music comes together organically, as evidenced onstage and on such albums as Flipside, Bulletproof Brass, and The Brothas, highlighted by such original songs as “War,” “Balicky Bon,” “Touch the Sky,” “Black Boy,” and “Party Started.” The members of HBE talk about what it was like being raised by two mothers on Chicago’s South Side (the eight brothers come from three different women; their father has nearly two dozen children total) and a father who would get them up at six in the morning to start rehearsing in what became the Phil Cohran Youth Ensemble. They discuss their father’s legacy and their career strategies, in particular an offer from Atlantic Records; meet with managers Knox Robinson and Mark Murphy; and, later, hang with Blur frontman Damon Albarn, who runs the independent label Honest Jon’s. Along the way, they get to play with Yasin Bey (Mos Def) and Prince while striving to maintain their artistic integrity and high moral values. It’s a feel-good tale that turns poignant when they reconvene with their father near the end of the film. Atlas and members of the band will be on hand for Q&As following the March 28 and 29 screenings; HBE will also be performing live at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on March 29 and 30.

BOB DYLAN IN THE 80s

RECORD RELEASE SHOW
Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 North Sixth St. between Wythe & Kent Aves.
Monday, March 24, $18-$20, 9:00
80sdylan.com
www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com

Over the course of his fifty-plus-year career, Robert Allen Zimmerman has released more than thirty studio albums, many of which are among the best and most influential in the history of popular music. But when was the last time you put on Saved, Shot of Love, Infidels, Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded, Down in the Groove, or Under the Red Sky and listened to them all the way through? The 1980s were not very kind to Bob Dylan, who tried to stay relevant in the MTV age while still exploring his relationship with God and religion. But each of those LPs had at least one shining nugget, which are given the tribute treatment on Bob Dylan in the 80s: Volume One (ATO, March 25). Conceived by producers Jesse Lauter and Sean O’Brien, the album features covers of seventeen songs originally recorded by Dylan between 1980s Saved and 1990s Under the Red Sky, with 1989’s critical comeback, Oh Mercy, passed over. Built to Spill takes on “Jokerman,” Reggie Watts reconfigures “Brownsville Girl,” Craig Finn faithfully renders “Sweetheart Like You,” Elvis Perkins offers “Congratulations” (from Dylan’s stint with the Traveling Wilburys), and Carl Broemel promises “Death Is Not the End.” Dawn Landes and Bonnie “Prince” Billy team up for “Dark Eyes,” Marco Benevento shuns the lyrics to “Every Grain of Sand,” and Yellowbirds frolic through “Series of Dreams.” (You can currently stream the disc here; a portion of the proceeds from album sales will go to the international education charity Pencils of Promise). On Monday, March 24, many of the participants in the project will gather together at the Music Hall of Williamsburg for a record release party, featuring appearances by Perkins, Landes, Langhorne Slim, John McCauley and Ian O’Neil of Deer Tick, Spirit Family Reunion, Yellowbirds, Hannah Cohen, members of Tea Leaf Green, and others, playing Dylan’s 1980s oeuvre and more.