InfiniteBody

Meshell Ndegeocello. Nina Simone. 'nuff said.

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:40:31 PST

Women's Jazz Festival presents

Meshell Ndegeocello:

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, The Works of Nina Simone

Monday, March 5, 7pm

Celebrate Women's History Month!

Meshell Ndegeocello makes her debut at the Schomburg Center's Women's Jazz Festival. A bass player above all else, Meshell brings her signature warm, fat, and melodic groove to everything she does. Canonized, marginalized or just scrutinized, she has given up trying to explain herself. After 20+ years in an industry that has called her everything from avant garde to a dying breed, what unquestionably remains is the fearsome bassist, prolific songwriter and the creativity and curiosity of an authentic musical force. With that, she has earned critical acclaim, the unfailing respect of fellow players, songwriters and composers, and the dedication of her diverse, unclassifiable fans.

Click here for information and ticketing.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
(Langston Hughes Auditorium)
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, Manhattan (map/directions)

"Dark Shadows" rules!

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:22:28 PST

Spain's Neanderthal cave paintings

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:59:58 PST

Cave paintings in Malaga, Spain, could be the oldest yet found – and the first to have been created by Neanderthals.

Read more: First Neanderthal cave paintings discovered in Spain by Fergal MacErlean, New Scientist, February 10, 2012

Moving on to arts management

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:23:15 PST

Performers in Transition Arts Management Fellowship

a program of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center, offered in conjunction with the BAM Professional Development Program, a collaboration between the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the DeVos Institute

The 2012 Fellowship is for professional dancers in New York City who have a committed interest in transitioning into arts management. The Fellowship will run from June 2012 to September 2013 and provide formal arts management training and applied experience in producing with a Brooklyn based dance organization. This opportunity is offered in conjunction with the BAM Professional Development Program that will provide professional development training and deeply discounted theater and rehearsal studio rental to a select group of Brooklyn non-profit organizations each year. Fellowship participation is free of charge for successful applicants.

Application deadline: March 15

Complete information and application available online here

Cloud Gate 2 debuts in New York

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:07:18 PST

Taiwan's Cloud Gate 2 takes pains to clarify its identity: not Cloud Gate Junior, not Cloud Gate Lite. Although also led by Lin Hwai-Min, who founded and directs the famed Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Cloud Gate 2 tackles the work of Taiwan's young innovators. The New York stop on its international tour--The Joyce Theater now through Sunday--features five works by four compatriots. While these are not brand new pieces--the most recent ones premiered in 2009--they serve as a good introduction to this strong, striking troupe.

Huang Yi's Wicked Fish (2009) had me from hello and, I'll admit, spoiled me for what came after in this roughly two-hour evening. A more seamless, perfect marriage of movement and dancers--let alone dancers and lighting--I cannot imagine. With nothing hokey, obvious or the least bit tentative, Huang and lighting designer Lee Chien-chang evoke a deep sea world of darkness and sudden, mysterious illumination, of increasingly swift, fluent motion. The ensemble--thirteen dancers including Huang--exhibits potent technique, guts and believability. This work leaves me astonished, once again, at how the human body can transform to make art, how the energy of the body can transform to make magic(k).

Huang Yi's whimsical Ta-Ta For Now, set to a Khachaturian violin concerto, opens with the image of a guy tying his shoelaces and pedaling his floating feet like an astronaut in free fall. I really want to see what follows here--a quintet of dancers perched and rhythmically, goofily interacting across a row of folding chairs--back-to-back with Camille A. Brown's The Groove to Nobody's Business, although Huang serves up his own clever, cutesy groove. He's a confident artist, an audacious one, and I want to see more of what he's got up his sleeve.

Tantalus (2000), by the late Wu Kuo-chu, turns its eight dancers into what appears to be a tribe of meerkats with a serious case of the twitchees and an inclination towards slapstick. The Passage (2000), a lusciously surreal sextet by Bulareyaung Pagarlava, plays with dreamily, effortlessly shifting costumes and simulated nudity. As with Cheng Tsung-lung's The Wall (2009), which appears stuffed with and distended by every movement idea that the choreographer could imagine, lengthiness quickly diminishes virtue. Both pieces, however, make the ensemble look fantastic--and vice versa.

Cloud Gate 2 appears again at the The Joyce on Friday night at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm and 8pm. For information and tickets, click here.

The Joyce Theater
Eight Avenue and 19th Street, Manhattan
(directions)

With art as your end goal

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:03:47 PST

Dancer as Athlete (video; 5:07)
William C. Rhoden, The New York Times, February 9, 2012

New York Times sportswriter William C. Rhoden discusses dance as an athletic endeavor with Alicia Graf Mack, a dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Contemporary dance from Turkey

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:04:18 PST

Mustafa Kaplan and Filiz Sizanli of Taldans

INFLUX: Turkish Contemporary Dance

Queens College Kupferberg Center for the Arts

Saturday, February 25, 8pm

As part of Queens College's extensive Year of Turkey: Exploring Past, Present, Future programming, Taldans' Mustafa Kaplan and Feliz Sizanli--two of Turkey's most notable dance innovators--will present work at the college's Kupferberg Center for the Arts. The artists join colleague Ayşe Orhon, an emerging choreographer, for INFLUX: Turkish Contemporary Dance, a free event.

Scholar Gurur Ertem, artistic director of programming at iDANS (Istanbul International Dance and Performance Festival) will moderate a post-show Q&A.

On February 22 (12:15pm), Ms. Ertem offer the free lecture, "The Contemporary Dance Scene in Istanbul," at Campbell Dome.

A sociology doctoral student at the New School for Social Research, Ertem is developing a thesis on the sociology of contemporary dance. She frequently writes about contemporary choreography and is the editor of 20.YY’da Dans Sanatı: Kuram ve Pratik (2007, Bogazici University Publications, Istanbul; Turkish); Çağdaş Dansta Solo? In Contemporary Dance (2007, Bimeras Publications, Istanbul; Turkish and English); and Dance on Time! (2009, Bimeras Publications, Istanbul; Turkish and English).

Both events are hosted by Edisa Weeks, QC Drama, Theatre & Dance Department, in collaboration with the Kupferberg Center.

Admission: Free

For complete INFLUX programming information, click here or call the box office at 718 793-8080.

For information about all of Queens College's Year of Turkey events, click here.

Goldstein Theater, Queens College Kupferberg Center for the Arts
65-30 Kissena Blvd. Flushing, Queens
(corner of Kissena Blvd and the LIE, Exit 24)
(map/directions)

Homeless artist/author remembered

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:18:40 PST

The Fiery End of a Life Lived Beneath the City
by Christine Haughney, The New York Times, February 6, 2012

Anouk van Dijk prepares for Melbourne post

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:28:49 PST

Director makes her first move
by Philippa Hawker, theage.com.au, February 3, 2012

Up by their bootstraps!

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:20:36 PST

You go to omnibus dance shows featuring emerging choreographers with hopes that you'll catch someone worth following. Last night, The Bootstrap Festival--a multidisciplinary showcase created by the New York Foundation on the Arts--devoted an hour to short pieces by five up-and-coming dancemakers, all women, at Joyce SoHo.

Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie, whose solo Brothers I enjoyed at Dixon Place last year, led the evening with Sonatina (in three movements), a title offering no hint of what would come. The Israeli-born dancer, steeped in the ways of hip hop and club dancing, is compact and forceful. In Sonatina, she flings and splatters angular movement against space but manages to do so with wit, musicality and the kind of upfront, audience-snaring presentation I associate more with jazz dance than contemporary dance. Bounce is, I think, working on being a star and should get there in due time. I also liked Cristina Jasen's Mouth for String, a quintet that displays a sensibility that's intriguingly off-centered and roomy. Discover this artist.

Caitlin Trainor's (un)Square dance is a refined modern-ballet hybrid for a quartet of women--Alison Cook Beatty, Aditi Dhruv, Julia Lindpaintner and Leslie Ziff, all lovely performers. Trainor has a fresh eye for picturesque lyricism and unusual transition but deserves a conclusion that doesn't look pat, like a quick snip and tuck.

Sydnie L. Mosley showed an excerpt from The Window Sex Project which raised a bunch of questions for me, including: Who are the four women in this piece? Are they sex workers (sort of judging by their costumes and the title)? Or are they everyday Black women who, as can happen, get showered with all kinds of verbal harrassment, like the ones litanized here, from Black men just for simply walking down the street? I ask because not only the costuming but the flow of the dance blurs these identities. The overall loopy chorus line vibe and neutrally energetic dancing also makes me wonder: What's Mosley's point of view? That doesn't really become clear until the very end when actress Leah King delivers her final line, "Is this the kind of culture we want to see?"

Throughout Shandoah Goldman's vivid ensemble piece, 23 skiddoo, I kept thinking of Pina Bausch (wacky doings among women in evening gowns and their dashing dans) and wondering if I should be tickled or alarmed by the clever resemblance. I still haven't decided. But if Goldman can marry an original vision to the kind of brazenness on display in 23 skiddoo, I'll certainly want to see more.

The Bootstrap Festival continues through February 18, culminating with a "Celebration of Movement and Interdisciplinary Art" at Brooklyn's new Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance. For complete schedule and venue information for all festival events, click here.

Objects in the mirror...

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:08:05 PST

By far, the foxiest, scariest object on hand at Object as Performer, a program of videos and dances curated by Sarah Dahnke, is actually two objects--a needle and thread in the hands of dancers Anna Adams Stark and Emily Skillings in barrish (curation #4). This work-in-progress, choreographed by Sarah A. O. Rosner in development with various pairs of dancers, begins in the lobby at Center for Performance Research while the audience waits to be admitted to CPR's studio.

Since the women's movements are so small, close and intimate, this prelude of sorts serves to shift the crowd's consciousness, taking watchers from the energy of the urban nighttime streets to something quieter, more sensual. But with a distinct edge. After all, we're watching that always-threatening sewing needle, the implication of piercing flesh. We watch the women sew together a patch of each of their lightweight, stretchy shirts, winding the length of thread around that point of connection. Each one them pulls back from this curious suture, making visible lines of force between them as they move, externalizing their interdependence, their balance and imbalance, their support and risk.

This provocative interaction continues and is expanded after the audience enters the studio but, this time, with the sculptural beauty and enhanced implications of full and partial nudity.

Object as Performer--including works by Rebecca Davis, Juri Onuki and Abigail Levine--concludes with this evening's performance at 8pm. For more information, click here.

Be sure to wear warm socks. You will be required to remove your shoes before entering the studio; the temperature is decidedly chilly and the program, long.

Center for Performance Research
361 Manhattan Avenue (between Jackson and Withers Streets), Brooklyn
(directions)

Ben Gazzara, 81

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:23:42 PST

Ben Gazzara, Actor of Stage and Screen, Dies at 81
by Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times, February 3, 2012

Dance in Queens wants you!

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:28:07 PST

TOPAZ ARTS Space Exploration Dance Residency

TOPAZ ARTS announces a new open call for Dance in Queens 2012:

Space Exploration Dance Residency. Taking place at TOPAZ ARTS, this artist residency focuses on contemporary dance makers, offering choreographers concentrated time and a private space in which to explore new ideas.

Up to six choreographers will be selected to receive free rehearsal space at TOPAZ ARTS. Choreographers will each be awarded 30 hours during April to June 2012 (hours to be used within a one-month period). The intent of this residency is to support the creation process within a concentrated time, allowing choreographers a space in which to explore ideas or new working methods, with an opportunity to have informal open rehearsals or artist talks to discuss their findings of this space exploration among peers and audiences.

Choreographers from all five boroughs of New York City may apply. Also open to artists outside of NYC, but please note: there is no stipend, no travel and no housing provided. Choreographers will be chosen from a competitive application process and reviewed by a panel of professionals in the dance field on the basis of artistic merit, description of intent for the residency and video work samples. Awardees will be announced by mid-March.

Get full information and download an application here.

DEADLINE: Friday, MARCH 9 (Must be received by 11:59pm EST)

Ishmael Houston-Jones launches "Parallels"

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:28:05 PST

Report on "The Artist"s Voice: Ishmael Houston-Jones" (mp3)

Audio: 2:56

Here's a brief report on last night's launch of Parallels, the latest Danspace Project platform. The series opened with a fascinating evening of conversation featuring Parallels curator--dancer-choreographer Ishmael Houston-Jones--with Kenya-born artist Wangechi Mutu and Thomas J. Lax at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

For complete information about Danspace Project and Parallels, click here.

Camilla Williams, 92

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:52:32 PST

Camilla Williams, Barrier-Breaking Opera Star, Dies at 92
by Margalit Fox, The New York Times, February 2, 2012

Screening of Trinh T. Minh-ha's "Naked Spaces"

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:13:24 PST

Light Industry presents
Naked Spaces—Living Is Round
directed by Trinh T. Minh-ha (16mm, 1985, 135 mins)

Wednesday, February 8, 7pm

"Naked Spaces surveys the integration of ritual and work, the home and the world, culture and nature, in the traditional villages of six West African countries (Senegal, Mauritania, Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Benin). Over the course of its two-hour-plus running time, the film effortlessly attests to the rich variety of the region's indigenous architecture. Trinh documents adobe cities and stilt-set river towns, villages nestled in the rocks and settlements splayed out across the bush, turreted straw houses and domelike huts. Each dwelling has its own blend of environmental logic and irrational splendor—simultaneously, as Trinh puts it, 'a tool, a sanctuary, and a work of art.'

Fittingly, considering her subject matter, Trinh's images are as unpretentious as home movies—exhibiting the same gorgeous overexposures, casual jump cuts, and, at times, jarring incompletion. Just as some shots refuse to take possession of their subject, Trinh's narrative declines to generalize about the Other (nor does she present her film as a unified whole). Not only is her use of sound purposefully erratic, there are times in Naked Spaces when representation decomposes into isolated details and pure sensation. More than a mosaic of impressions, however, the film is nonlinear, decentered, and deliberately unsettling.

Like Reassemblage, Naked Spaces sets out to challenge and criticize—not to mention derange—the conventions of ethnographic film."

- J. Hoberman

Admission: $7, available at door

Seating is limited. First-come, first-served. Box office opens at 6:30.

Light Industry

155 Freeman Street, Brooklyn

(map/directions)

John Rich--"All in the Family" director--86

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:07:45 PST

John Rich, Director of ‘All in the Family,’ Dies at 86
by Dennis Hevesi, The New York Times, February 1, 2012

Dorothea Tanning, 101 (NY Times obit)

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:56:49 PST

Dorothea Tanning, Surrealist Painter, Dies at 101
by Grace Glueck, The New York Times, February 1, 2012

Mike Kelley, 57

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:56:21 PST

Mike Kelley, California Artist, An Apparent Suicide at 57
by Patricia Cohen, The New York Times, February 1, 2012

Mike Kelley, Influential American Artist, Dies at 57
by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, February 1, 2012

Wislawa Szymborska, 88

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:51:48 PST

Wislawa Szymborska, Nobel-Winning Polish Poet, Dies at 88
by Raymond H. Anderson, The New York Times, February 1, 2012

Jon Pareles remembers Don Cornelius

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:55:51 PST

Don Cornelius, Smooth Operator on Behalf of Soul
by Jon Pareles, The New York Times, February 1, 2012

Jerry Saltz on Dorothea Tanning, 1910-2012

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:56:26 PST

Dorothea Tanning, 1910–2012
by Jerry Saltz, Vulture, February 1, 2012

Sherman Alexie makes it perfectly clear...

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:41:57 PST

Let's get one thing out of the way: Mexican immigration is an oxymoron. Mexicans are indigenous...In the effort to vanish our books, Arizona has actually given them enormous power. Arizona has made our books sacred documents now.

--author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie in The Progressive

Read more here.

Channeling New York Live Arts

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:28:11 PST

Have you guys seen New York Live Arts' Channel?

Don Cornelius, 75

hummingwitch@gmail.com (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:55:29 PST

Don Cornelius, ‘Soul Train’ Creator, Is Dead
by James C. McKinley, Jr., The New York Times, February 1, 2012