Susan Graham being interviewed by The New York Times for her premiere in The Met’s new production of Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride: “[Christa] Ludwig didn’t like singing Octavian,” Ms. Graham said recently. “She found him petulant. I never thought that. I try to imbue him with human qualities…” Hot. Who actually uses the word “imbue” [...]
Extreme Makeover: State Theater Edition
Sweet. The State Theater is getting a makeover! Turns out NYCO and NYCB have kissed and made up, and are joining hands to update the rhinestone horse, as reported by The Times. There will be an acoustical clip-on that will allow for a better opera experience. I guess they’re also aiming to pimp up the [...]
Da Noise: Chapter 2
The most provocative part of Alex Ross’ first book, The Rest Is Noise, a large tome about the classical music of the twentieth century that is part document, part muse, is the aim he takes at Arnold Schoenberg and the authority of the atonal school of writing. This book would not have been written fifty [...]
Watch out, 60s: Here come the 70s
In a blazingly sycophantic review/profile/editorial, Deborah Jowitt, celebrating five decades of writing for The Village Voice, lionizes Douglas Dunn and the 70s in much the same way that has befallen the 1960s in recent dance/performance art discussions. I feel less of a need to harsh on the 70s, since that decade has never had much [...]
Back It Up
Simone Forti & Turtles: Performance review by Benn Widdey Returning to Los Angeles after a highly respected career as PoMo pioneer in NY dance, choreographer/dancer/writer/educator Simone Forti got together with three friends to improvise for a two week (eight performance) run at the Unknown Theater in Hollywood, October 18-28, 2007. With each show a new [...]
Time(s) To Dance: Post-Tryptophan Edition
L. Ro signs out on Performa 07 with a pit stop at Micky D’s and some more stern words for RoS Then she leaves Complexions dry eyed but with another sports metaphor under her belt Alastair Macaulay (where the F has that bitch been?) brings his awkward handling of racial identity to Stravinsky and Balanchine’s [...]
Liebestodt: Performa 07, “Grand Finale”
RITE OF SPRING MONDAY! (Oh boy…) The second round of the rock-em-sock-em performance art biennial known as Performa, ended Monday night in a self-immolating “Grand Finale” at the Hudson Theater in Times Square. The festival, which has made us all laugh, cry, pull out our hair, stress out way too much about our fashion sensibility, [...]
Speaking of Pina…
RITE OF SPRING MONDAY! (We can’t stop…)
Pina does Japan…In L.A.
Performance review by Benn Widdey Pina Bausch came to Los Angeles with her seventeen member Tanztheater Wuppertal and performed her 2004 travelogue-inspired take on Japan, “Ten Chi” November 8-11, 2007. Amidst a blizzard of excitement, she did not fail to appease the thousands who were able to witness this return trip to southern California at [...]
Merde!
RITE OF SPRING MONDAY! (I know…I know…) Here’s to someone who knew how to choreograph for those of us in the balcony… (And here’s the link to the AP obit in The Times.)
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