Eiko Otake and Tomoe Aihara will perform site-specific TWO WOMEN on Governors Island June 20 & 22 (photo by William Johnston)
Multiple locations
June 19-29, free
www.lmcc.net/program/river-to-river
The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s annual summer arts festival, River to River, is shorter than ever this year, running only eleven days, but they are packing a whole lot into that time, especially when it comes to dance, which features several choreographers who have participated in twi-ny talks over the last few years; in fact, it feels like we could have curated this exciting lineup. On June 20 and 22 at 2:00, the New York–based Eiko Otake, half of the longtime dance duo Eiko & Koma, will perform the site-specific Two Women with Japan-based dancer Tomoe Aihara on Governors Island, exploring their differences in age and geography. On June 20 at 3:00 and June 21 at 1:00 and 3:00, dance fans who missed Vanessa Anspaugh’s We Were an Island earlier this year at Danspace will get another chance to see the work, inspired by Rebecca Solnit’s book The Faraway Nearby, about creating stories and making connections; Anspaugh will perform the piece with Addys Gonzalez and Bessie McDonough-Thayer at Building 10A in Nolan Park on Governors Island. On June 21 at 9:00, “R2R Living Room: Everyday I’m Hustlin’” brings together food and drink with a Hustle-inspired piece from Ephrat Asherie Dance and DJ Hector Arce-Espasas at Nelson Blue at the South Street Seaport. On June 22 at 4:30, “In Conversation: Susan Rosenberg on Trisha Brown” takes place at LMCC’s Arts Center on Governors Island, with art historian Rosenberg and Trisha Brown dancer Tamara Riewe sharing their thoughts on the legendary choreographer, in conjunction with the multimedia exhibition “Trisha Brown: Embodied Practice and Site-Specificity,” which continues through September 28. Tere O’Connor will present a new, site-specific duet for Michael Ingle and Silas Riender at the Elevated Acre June 23-25 at 1:00. Souleyman Badolo’s , of history (Virgule de l’histoire) examines transformation and acceptance, June 24 at 3:00 and June 25 at 3:00 & 5:00 in the John Street United Methodist Church courtyard.
Reggie Wilson’s . . . MOSES(ES) is part of exciting River to River dance lineup this month (photo courtesy of the artist)
On June 25 at 2:45 and June 26 at 1:45 and 3:45 at St. Cornelius Chapel on Governors Island, Reggie Wilson’s . . . Moses(es) explores the concept of leadership. On June 25 at 7:00 on Pier 15, the Trisha Brown Dance Company will hold a public dress rehearsal of the choreographer’s final piece, “I’m going to toss my arms — if you catch them they’re yours,” followed the next afternoon at 4:00 by the official performance. On June 26 at 5:00 and June 27-28 at 120 Wall St., Wally Cardona and Jennifer Lacey continue their eight-part collaboration with the fifth installment, The Set Up: I Nyoman Catra, creating a new work with Topeng master Nyoman Catra. And on June 27 at 3:00 and June 28 at 3:00 and 5:00 in Bowling Green, Maria Hassabi will restage her grippingly original Premiere, which takes another unusual look at the relationship between audience and performer; Hassabi will also participate in the panel discussion “In Conversation: Maria Hassabi, Paolo Javier, and Kaneza Schaal” June 27 at 7:00 at Poets House. River to River and LMCC have put together one helluva dance lineup that actually has us salivating; be sure to catch at least one of these fab events, which are all free.
Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn delve into the very real and personal impact of Nicaragua’s total ban on abortion as seen through the eyes of a doctor forced to comply with the law in the eye-opening documentary A Quiet Inquisition. In Hospital Aleman Nicaraguense, Dr. Carla Cerrato must regularly deal with patients, many of whom are teenagers, whose pregnancies could severely harm or even kill them. But since 2006, when former president Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front ran for reelection in Nicaragua, all kinds of abortions are illegal, including cases involving rape, incest, and the health of the mother and fetus. The film shows Dr. Cerrato counseling pregnant girls, attempting to come up with options that can save their lives through what are known as therapeutic abortions, but she is often thwarted by her colleagues. They refuse to carry out her orders even when the live birth of the baby is considered impossible and the death of the mother a certainty, fearing their own prosecution and imprisonment. “We are at a crossroads because of a law that impedes us from inducing a pregnancy or making a determination that can prevent further complications in the mother,” says Dr. Zamora, another OBGYN at the public hospital. He later adds, “I have fear too. My wife is pregnant. If any of these complications happen to her, as a doctor my hands would be tied. But as a person I would decide to act on it differently.” While Dr. Cerrato applauds the Sandinista revolution for helping her and other women become doctors in the first place, she now blames President Ortega and the FSLN for making deals with the Catholic Church, trading votes for the rights of women to control their own bodies. As the title of the film implies, Dr. Cerrato, a calm, good-natured woman with a realistic perspective on the situation, is fighting back in a quiet way; anything louder is liable to place her career in jeopardy.
Journalist and documentarian Frauke Finsterwalder’s twisted and dark feature-length fiction debut, Finsterworld, paints a rather unflattering portrait of a modern-day Germany still haunted by World War II. Written by Finsterwalder (Die große Pyramide, Weil der Mensch ein Mensch ist) and her author husband, Christian Kracht, the black comedy follows a dozen interrelated characters, each with his or her own personal hang-ups and fetishes, as they go through one very wild and crazy day. Claude Petersdorf (Michael Maertens) is a pedicurist who has an unnatural desire for the feet of Frau Sandberg (Margit Carstensen), a wheelchair-bound resident of an old age home. Her son, Georg Sandberg (Bernhard Schütz), and his wife, Inga (Corinna Harfouch), are a wealthy, self-obsessed couple who are embarrassed to be Germans. Their son, Maximilian (Jakub Gierszał), is a spoiled brat who, with his best friend, Jonas (Max Pellny), bullies quirky-nerdy fellow students Natalie (Carla Juri) and Dominik (Leonard Scheicher) during a class trip to a concentration camp led by teacher Lehrer Nickel (Christoph Bach), who thinks the kids can actually learn something from the sins of the past. Tom (Ronald Zehrfeld) is a cop who likes to put on a different kind of uniform at times — he’s a closet Furry. Tom’s girlfriend, Franziska Feldenhoven (Sandra Hüller), is a frustrated documentary filmmaker stuck with a boring subject. And Einsiedler (Johannes Krisch) is a hermit who captures and cares for a forest raven. Various odd actions intersect, bringing the diverse cast of characters together in strange, ultimately dangerous ways as they all keep picking at their scabs, both physical and psychological.
