this week in lectures, signings, panel discussions, workshops, and Q&As

EXPLORING SEVEN SACRED NAMES

Who: John Schaefer, Michael Harrison, W. H. S. Gebel, Ashley Bathgate, Tim Fain
What: Online album release party and discussion
Where: Arts Letters & Numbers YouTube
When: Wednesday, June 30, free with RSVP, 7:00
Why: “I wanted to show how beautiful simple harmonies can be, especially in just intonation . . . and [to create a work] that would serve as an introduction inviting listeners and musicians to start perceiving just intonation as an infinite harmonic system encompassing limitless possibilities on a spectrum between simplicity and complexity,” contemporary classical composer and pianist Michael Harrison says about his new album, Seven Sacred Names (Cantaloupe Music, June 2021). On June 30 at 7:00, Harrison, a Guggenheim Fellow, will celebrate the album’s release with an online party and discussion featuring cellist Ashley Bathgate and violinist Tim Fain, who both play on the record, and author, astrophysicist, and modern Sufi mystic W. H. S. Gebel, who wrote the liner notes and whose book Nature’s Hidden Dimension: Envisioning the Inner Life of the Universe served as inspiration to Harrison. Seven Sacred Names is a song cycle consisting of seven compositions and a reprise about “an awakening primal Self,” according to Gebel; the songs include “”Hayy: Revealing the Tones,” “Alim: Polyphonic Raga Malkauns,” “Qadr: Etude in Raga Bhimpalasi,” and “Sami: The Acoustic Constellation,” with such guests as Roomful of Teeth, Ina Filip, violist Caleb Burhans, tabla percussionist Ritvik Yaparpalvi, and composer/dhrupad/vocalist Payton MacDonald.

Harrison writes about one of the songs, “‘Al Mureed’ is the fourth of the seven names and signifies the birth of desire, the motivation needed to direct the will which awakens as a response to the dawning of relationship. The created world has become more interesting because now there is love, lover, and beloved; there is the possibility of relationship and of learning about and understanding the divine qualities as they manifest by sensing their vibration.” The event, which is presented by Arts Letters & Numbers as part of the “SunShip: The Arc That Makes the Flood Possible” exhibition for the CITYX Venice Italian Virtual Pavilion at the seventeenth Venice Architecture Biennale and is free with advance RSVP, will be hosted by John Schaefer of WNYC’s New Sounds.

ASK A CURATOR: DAVID HAMMONS AND GORDON MATTA-CLARK IN THE WHITNEY’S COLLECTION

David Hammons’s Day’s End pays homage to Gordon Matta-Clark’s 1975 deconstruction of an abandoned warehouse (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Who: Adrienne Edwards, Elisabeth Sussman
What: Live virtual discussion about David Hammons, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Day’s End
Where: Whitney Zoom
When: Wednesday, June 30, free with RSVP, 6:30
Why: The Whitney’s “Ask a Curator” series continues June 30 with “David Hammons and Gordon Matta-Clark in the Whitney’s Collection,” a live Zoom discussion about Hammons’s recently installed permanent work, Day’s End, an homage to Matta-Clark’s 1975 similarly named intervention in an abandoned industrial building on Pier 52 at the southern edge of Gansevoort Peninsula. Whitney curators Adrienne Edwards and Elisabeth Sussman will also explore other works in the museum’s collection by the two artists, some of which were on display last fall in “Around Day’s End: Downtown New York, 1970–1986.”

The Whitney and Hudson River Park collaborated on David Hammons’s Day’s End (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Over the course of seven years, Hammons created a 325-foot-long brushed-steel outline of the warehouse, placed in its exact same former location, a ghostly reminder of what — and who — is no longer there, a reference to the gay community that congregated in the area in the 1970s and 1980s until the AIDS crisis took so many lives. “I look at it as a statue because I’ve seen so many statues in the city and they’re all about memories,” Hammons says in a Whitney video of the dedication ceremony, which he chose not to attend. Half on land and half in the water, it’s a powerful work — officially part of Hudson River Park, not the Whitney — filled with mystery that draws the attention of passersby, many of whom may think it is the skeleton of a new building, especially since there is construction under way right next to it. Down the pier is Little Island, Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg’s lovely oasis, and across the street is the Whitney itself. (The Diller-von Fürstenberg Family Foundation was one of many donors who helped fund Hammons’s piece as well.) Admission is free with advance RSVP; Edwards and Sussman will be taking questions from the audience during the event.

AGAINST THE CURRENT

AGAINST THE CURRENT (Óskar Páll Sveinsson, 2020)
Quad Cinemas
34 West 13th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Through July 1
212-255-2243
quadcinema.com

After watching Óskar Páll Sveinsson’s Against the Current, you may not want to kayak around the entire island of Iceland, but you’ll probably want to start planning a trip to this extraordinary Scandinavian nation. In May 2019, Veiga Grétarsdóttir set off from her picturesque hometown of Ísafjörð on a three-plus-month, 1,250-mile journey circumnavigating the entire country in a sixteen-foot solo kayak, paddling counterclockwise, against the current, something that had never been done before. Following her along the coastline, in a fishing boat, and using drones, director and cinematographer Oskar Pall Sveinsson documented the hazardous expedition in vivid detail in the new documentary Against the Current, a film that features a barrage of spectacular shots not only of the sea and the topography of Iceland but of humanity’s tiny place in the world, set to a score by Högni Egilsson.

Along the way, Sveinsson also tells the story of Grétarsdóttir’s recent transition to becoming a woman; born male, she participated in rugged sports when she was younger but also hid what she considered a shameful secret: a compulsion to wear women’s clothing. As a man, she married a woman and had a daughter, but she ultimately decided to go through the surgery to change her gender and then prove to herself and others her physical and emotional strength by kayaking around Iceland. Sveinsson cuts between the treacherous trip and photographs and videos from Grétarsdóttir’s childhood and marriage, with her parents, friends, daughter, and doctors sharing stories about her; every single one accepts her transition, although it was perhaps most difficult for her ex-wife. “I often say that switching your gender like that is the biggest and most complex change you can make in your life,” psychiatrist Óttar Guðmundsson, who was part of Grétarsdóttir’s transgender team, explains. “You can’t change your life more drastically than that.”

Against the Current documents Veiga Grétarsdóttir’s remarkable story

Grétarsdóttir was initially joined by three kayakers, including Örlygur Sigurjónsson, who stuck around the longest, but ultimately she was left on her own, as expected. She would paddle for as many as thirteen hours a day, then pull over onto the coast, eat, and sleep in a tent, occasionally coming into contact with local people. One such supporter was sheep farmer Elisabet Petursdottir, who says, “I feel, regarding all the prejudice, that you’re not supposed to discuss things. All talk is shut down. It would be better to talk about things and solve the problems instead of creating them. In my opinion, everybody should have an open mind. Thank God we are all not made from the same mold. People must be allowed to be as they are.”

Grétarsdóttir holds nothing back, delving deep into aspects of her life that involved depression and even suicide attempts. She hopes that completing the circumnavigation will help her as well as others dealing with issues of personal identity. “I’ve dreamed of it for a long time, but having gone through everything, the transitioning, I decided to live my life, make my dreams come true,” she says. And every step of the way, there are visuals that will take your breath away. The film continues at the Quad through July 1; you can watch a Zoom interview with Grétarsdóttir and Sveinsson (Under the Surface, Ransacked) hosted by the Gene Siskel Film Center here.

THEATER OF WAR FRONTLINE: MICHIGAN

Who: Taylor Schilling, Bill Camp, David Strathairn, Nyasha Hatendi, Bryan Doerries
What: Livestreamed Zoom reading and discussion
Where: Theater of War Zoom
When: Wednesday, June 30, free with RSVP, 8:30
Why: Theater of War continues its extraordinary pandemic programming with “Frontline,” an evening of dramatic readings featuring Taylor Schilling, Bill Camp, David Strathairn, and Nyasha Hatendi of scenes from ancient Greek plays by Sophocles (Ajax, Oedipus the King, Philoctetes, Women of Trachis) that relate to today’s health care crisis. Following the reading, there will be a discussion facilitated by director, translator, adapter, and artistic director Bryan Doerries focusing on nurses, doctors, first responders, and other health care professionals, hosted by Michigan Health & Hospital Association and Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Care Network of Michigan. Admission is free; if you haven’t seen any of Theater of War’s events, now is the time; among their other recent presentations are The Oedipus Project exploring the pandemic and the climate crisis, Antigone in Ferguson looking at racialized police violence, End of Life and King Lear Project examining caregiving and death, and Poetry for the Pandemic.

AN EVENING WITH GIBNEY COMPANY: GIBNEY’S 2021 VIRTUAL GALA

Who: Gibney Company
What: Thirtieth anniversary benefit gala
Where: Gibney online
When: Tuesday, June 30, free – $30, 7:30
Why: Founded in 1991 by choreographer Gina Gibney, Gibney Dance will be celebrating its thirtieth anniversary as a socially active company with a virtual gala on June 30 at 7:30. The evening will feature the world premiere of the dance film Dream Scenarium, by choreographic associate Rena Butler and performed by the newly expanded troupe, along with a look at both the history and future of Gibney Dance. Admission is free, although donations of $30 (or any amount) will gladly be accepted.

ANDROMEDA’S SISTERS: AN ARTS & ADVOCACY GALA

Who: The Neo-Political Cowgirls
What: Fifth annual benefit gala
Where: NPC Cowgirls online and Leiber Collection Museum in East Hampton
When: Saturday, June 26, $25 streaming, $125-$250 in person, 5:00
Why: Last summer, the nonprofit organization the Neo-Political Cowgirls hosted the fourth annual “Andromeda’s Sisters” online, two virtual evenings of short performances, workshops, and discussion focused on advocacy, including, most memorably, Catherine Curtin in Joy Behar’s stirring monologue Where Are You At? and Laura Gómez in Dipti Bramhandkar’s Brown Girl’s Guide to Self-Pleasure. This year, “Andromeda’s Sisters: An Arts & Advocacy Gala,” which took place in person in 2019 at Guild Hall, goes hybrid, happening online as well as at the Leiber Collection Museum in East Hampton on June 26 at 5:00.

The 2021 event includes a reading of Kathryn Grant’s one-act play Order My Steps, about a prison inmate reconnecting with her estranged adult daughter, directed by Florencia Lozano and NPC founder Kate Mueth and starring Curtin and Irene Sofia Lucio, followed by a panel discussion on social justice and advocacy with Planned Parenthood Federation of America president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson, New Hour for Women and Children — Long Island founder Serena Ligouri, and novelist and editor Angie Cruz. Founded in 2007, the Neo-Political Cowgirls “are committed to making work for women and about women — to creating a space where women and girls from all walks of life can share their experiences, joys, concerns, and spirits through professional dance.” The gala gets its name from the legend in which Princess Andromeda, captured by Poseidon, is saved by the daughters of the God of the Sea, leading to the idea that sisters should seek to help one another in these difficult times. Access to the livestream is $25; in-person tickets are $125-$250.

DANIEL GWIRTZMAN DANCE COMPANY: DANCE WITH US

Who: Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company with special guests Seán Curran, Michael Novak, Dante Puleio, and Tiffany Rea-Fisher
What: New dance films and launch of dance platform
Where: Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company Zoom
When: June 25-27, free with RSVP, 7:00
Why: “Contemporary dance has been seeping more and more into the mainstream culture for decades, enhanced with the advent of shows such as So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars,” dancer, choreographer, and educator Daniel Gwirtzman said in a statement. “With the proliferation of dance online, increased exponentially during the pandemic, more people are arguably seeing contemporary dance than ever. And an appetite for innovative choreography is a byproduct of this exposure. The development of Dance with Us was in place years before the pandemic, with resources that have been created over the past two decades, an extension of programming we have offered as a company since our inception in 1998. We have long been committed to conversing about dance, empowering audiences to trust their opinions, and gain more knowledge of dance in pursuit of expanding one’s dance literacy. The ubiquity of dance on film, finding more currency in popular culture, is not going to change. This platform gives everyone, regardless of their exposure to dance, tools to use to speak about dance, encouraging them to understand their viewpoint is as valid as that of an ‘expert.’ At this moment when there is so much dance to see, this platform seeks to serve as a how-to primer.”

The New York-based Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company is launching the educational digital platform Dance with Us with a series of special events June 25-27, all free with RSVP. Gwirtzman will host each evening, joined by Paul Taylor Dance Company artistic director Michael Novak, accompanied by Limón Dance Company artistic director Dante Puleio the first night, Elisa Monte Dance artistic director Tiffany Rea-Fisher the second, and Seán Curran Company artistic director Curran the third. The presentation will begin at 6:45 with an online slideshow, followed at 7:00 with Amuse-Bouche: Parade; screenings of two short dance films recorded last August in Newfield, New York, Willow, set to Scott Joplin’s “Weeping Willow,” and Dollhouse, set to George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,” played by pianist Jonny May; a virtual tour of the new website and the Library, which holds DGDC’s archives; a look at the Fantasyland Project; and a sneak peek at such upcoming works as Castillo, Adrift, and Dandelion. There will be an interactive live discussion at 8:00, and the program will conclude at 8:30 with an after-party that includes learning how to do the Bus Stop. “I don’t want to see any more dances of dancers in their living rooms,” Gwirtzman wrote to troupe members last summer about the Fantasyland Project, which also relates to Dance with Us. “I think this moment in time is one in which we all are fantasizing: about life before, and after, the pandemic. To the extent that this project can reflect the urgent events shaping all of our lives — how this theme of utopia and harmony fits against the current climate — is something the company is interested in investigating.”