Donna Uchizono’s revisited STATE OF HEADS will precede world premiere of FIRE UNDERGROUND
FIRE UNDERGROUND / STATE OF HEADS
New York Live Arts
219 West 19th St.
December 4-7, $30, 7:30
212-691-6500
www.newyorklivearts.org
www.donnauchizono.org
In 2010, New York City-based dancer and choreographer Donna Uchizono performed in longing two, the first time in ten years she had taken the stage, convinced by dancer Hristoula Harakas to do so in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Donna Uchizono Company. Uchizono (Thin Air) will be back onstage again next week for the deeply personal Fire Underground, a New York Live Arts commission that relates the tremendous difficulties she encountered when trying to adopt a child. The piece, which examines the idea of performance itself, is a collaboration with dancer Becky Serrrell-Cyr, lighting designer Joe Levasseur, composer David Shively and photographer Michael Grimaldi and will feature five dancers. The piece will be preceded by an updated version of 1999’s State of Heads, which Uchizono brought back for the recent Oliver Sacks festival at NYLA and will be performed by Serrell-Cyr, Levi Gonzalez, and Harakas, set to music by James Lo and lighting by Stan Pressner. “State of Heads explores the feeling of waiting and the passage of time in the state of hiatus where familiar time and scale are pushed,” she told us in an April twi-ny talk. “Using the separation of the head from the body as a point of departure, in an exploration of disjointedness and the sense of a will apart from the mind driving the movement, surprisingly created a world of endearingly odd characters.” The double bill runs December 4-7 at NYLA; the December 4 performance will be followed by the Stay Late Discussion “Behind Fire Underground” with members of the company, moderated by Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, and the December 5 show will be preceded by the Come Early Panel Conversation “Making Dances in the ’90s Though Today’s Lens” with choreographers Tere O’Connor, John Jasperse, RoseAnne Spradlin, and Uchizono, moderated by Carla Peterson. In addition, Uchizono will lead a Shared Practice workshop on November 30 from 1:00 to 4:00, sharing her creative process with a small class; registration is $20.
Zachary Heinzerling’s 
A lot of professional fighters face adversity in and out of the ring, but “Irish” Micky Ward took it to a whole new level on his quest to be welterweight champion of the world, as documented in the winning motion picture The Fighter. Ward (Mark Wahlberg) surrounded himself with his family, with his mother, Allice Eklund (Melissa Leo), as his manager, his half-brother, the Pride of Lowell (for once knocking down Sugar Ray Leonard), Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), as his trainer, and his many big-haired sisters, including Tar (Erica McDermott), Little Alice (Melissa McMeekin), Pork (Bianca Hunter), Red Dog (Dendrie Taylor), and Beaver (Kate O’Brien), part of the team as well. Despite getting pummeled over and over again and continually finding his brother at a condemned crack house, Micky stands by the family until Dicky is back in prison and Micky finally decides to go with a new promoter. As his stock begins to rise again, he is deeply affected by his separation from his family, who are blaming the parting on his new girlfriend, local bartender Charlene (Amy Adams). Based on the true story of the Ward/Eklund clan of Lowell, Massachusetts, The Fighter is a poignant tale of fighting and family, of love and responsibility. Bale is a whirlwind as the effusive, drug-addicted Dicky, who dreams of helping his brother get a title shot even as he misses training sessions because of his dependence on crack. Leo, who nearly steals the show, is virtually unrecognizable as Alice, who can’t understand why Micky would go with a new crew and has quite a few battles of her own with Charlene. And Walhlberg, who trained for several years to get himself in shape for the film, is strong and solid as the conflicted yet determined potential boxing champion. Director David O. Russell (Three Kings) gives The Fighter a realistic feel, at times echoing the documentary that HBO made about Dicky in the movie, and even hiring Ward’s trainer, Mickey O’Keefe, to play himself. In fact, much of the cast got to meet their real-life counterparts, all of whom loved how they were portrayed onscreen, which is actually quite funny once you see how some of them come off. You don’t have to love boxing to love The Fighter, although fans of the sweet science will be impressed by the carefully choreographed fight scenes, complete with the original HBO commentary (and shot by some of the same cameramen). Nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, with Leo winning Best Supporting Actress and Bale taking home the trophy for Best Supporting Actor, The Fighter is screening November 23 at the Museum of the Moving Image, kicking off the series “Three by David O. Russell” in anticipation of the December release of his latest film, American Hustle. The series continues December 7-8 with Silver Linings Playbook, followed by a special presentation of American Hustle on December 19, with Russell on hand to discuss it.
Expanded from her 2010 short film of the same name, Rola Nashef’s first feature, Detroit Unleaded, is a well-meaning if ultimately standard romantic comedy set within the Motor City’s Arab-American community. Described by Nashef, who was born in Lebanon and raised in Michigan, as a melding of Clerks, Do the Right Thing, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the film stars E. J. Assi as Sami, a Lebanese American teenager preparing to go to college in California when his father, Ibrahim (Akram El-Ahmar), is suddenly shot and killed at the family’s gas station / convenience store. With no other choice but to take over the business, Sami soon finds himself behind newly installed protective glass, using a buzzer to let customers into his store. He works with his cousin Mike (Mike Batayeh), who will sell just about anything and has big plans for their operation. Bored and lonely, Sami is surprised when the pretty Najlah (Nada Shouhayib) begins to show an interest in him, although she’s hands-off when it comes to any physical contact, fearful of what her big brother, Fadi (Steven Soro), would do if he finds out she might have a boyfriend. Meanwhile, Sami starts giving his mother, Mariam (Mary Assel), driving lessons so she can begin putting her life back together. Assi and Shouhayib are charming in their film debuts, displaying an endearing chemistry, but the narrative staggers whenever side characters are involved, from Najlah’s friends to the various oddballs who come into the store. Even Mariam’s story feels stagnant and stale. While it’s interesting getting an inside look at the battle between the old ways and the new generation in the Lebanese-American community in Detroit, the film settles on some clichéd plot twists, leading to an ending that will have audiences scratching their heads, wondering if a scene or two was missing. Winner of the Grolsch Film Works Discovery Award at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, Detroit Unleaded opens on November 22 at Cinema Village, with Nashef participating in a half dozen Q&As on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, joined by Assi, Batayeh, and Shouhayib at some of them.
