I know, I post this link every time this year. I can’t help it — it’s my favorite essay about New York ever.
Tag Archive for 'New York'
So, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamantion called Nigel Lythgoe on his anti-gay comments on SYTYCD last week and Lythgoe apologized. I missed last week’s show, but according to the Times he told a male ballroom duo that he didn’t think the show’s audiences would be receptive to them and that, though they’d had men dancing with other men on the show before, they’d never danced “in each other’s arms.” (The pair danced Samba). Lythgoe said on the show that he’d like to see them both “dancing with a girl.”
Lythgoe rightly apologized for his comments and word choice but my question is, is such a couple really not right for the show’s audience (which is mainstream America)? Would people these days really get so upset over watching two men ballroom dance together? I’ve lived in New York for so long now (and been part of the dance world) that I feel I’ve kind of lost touch with middle America. I mean, would the average American seriously be offended?
Not to sound melodramatic, but it just seems like the recession is really changing the way some people live. My apartment building seems like party central during weekday days now. Halls are filled with the cacophany of TV cartoons, soap operas, talk shows, and blaring stereos, all of which easily penetrate walls, floors, and ceilings. Either a lot of people are out of work or they work at home and enjoy lots of background noise. And people are up all night, blaring stereos, the same noise, till all hours of the morning. You ask someone politely to please turn it down a bit and they mumble and slam the door in your face. And the other day I smelled pot coming from someone’s apartment, again, during a weekday day. This used to be a professional building, with lawyers and journalists and the like as residents. Now everyone’s rude and antisocial. Maybe the middle-classes are starting to get a small sense of what those in poorer communities have had to deal with: hopelessness, frustration, anger, boredom…
So, on Saturday, because Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin are in Canada choreographing for Canadian So You Think You Can Dance, Mercedes Ellington took over emceeing responsibilities at the Dance Times Square student / teacher in-house competition.
It was interesting seeing her emcee since she talked a lot about the various musical pieces played for the comp and ran little trivia contests on who was the singer (Lena Horne, Bobby Darin, Johnny Mathis, etc. I got none right). At one point she asked the crowd what all Broadway shows they’d seen lately. People shouted out various shows. I think Spring Awakening had the most shout-outs. “Well hurry up and go see all these shows before they close,” she said, “so you can tell your ancestors that there was once this great thing called Broadway.” OUCH…
Here are the judges: former champs Vibeke Toft (who also coaches at the studio), Allan Tornsberg (of the always interesting hair, and snarky Blackpool commentary), and current top competitor Plamen Danailov (my friend Mika’s former pro/am partner, who was judging for, I think, the first time).
Hunky new Latin teacher at Dance Times Square, Manuel Favilla, with his students.
Long-time teacher Michael Choi in foreground, with his student.
All students did very well. It’s amazing how fast people improve at that studio. Some of Michael’s students began same time as I did, and they are so amazingly good now…
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There’s a Sikh guy warming for tonight’s after-show comp. Never seen that before. College ballroom’s so different, so open. Wish it existed when I was in school.
If you see the Empire State Building lit in gold tonight and wonder why, it’s in celebration of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s opening night gala this evening at City Center. It’s the company’s 50th anniversary. Also, video clips will be shown at Times Square.
Wish I could be there. Instead I’ll be at Shen Wei with Philip. Will definitely be seeing Alvin Ailey (hopefully multiple times) next week though!
For anyone who may be interested, the National Book Awards are happening right now, I think somewhere around Wall Street. Anyway, Ed Champion’s podcasts are quite entertaining — particularly this one with Candace Bushnell (#5). Hmmm, I wonder if Mr. Bushnell is there…
Update: Had a little too much fun reading all the tweets last night during the national book awards. I was following three journalists covering the event — one kind of curmudgeonly (but aren’t the smart-asses always the most fun!), one serious, and one all genuinely excited about everything. So, something would happen — dinner break, a winner announced, an interview with literary bigshot at the press table, an announcer who got a little carried away with an introduction — and you’d get three completely hilariously diverse perspectives:
“B giving speech” / “B giving emotional, compelling speech” / “B ‘more inflated than a helium tank.’” (that one, my fave of the night, is an actual quote).
Or, “going to interview B from C publication” / “shit, here comes D w/ camera; am trying to look busy.”
Or, “time for dinner, be back soon” / “oooh, caviar and whipped butter atop little toast points!” / “cream is rancid, bread is stale; journalists seriously pissed.”
Anyway, how funny would it be if dance writers did the same covering some dance event — a gala, or opening night extravaganza of some big, much-touted company. Of course a lot of interested people might actually be at the event and wouldn’t need to read via computer. But no matter, we’ll all just whip out cellphones during intermissions, or carry them around with us if at a party, bumping smack into each other while laughing or rolling our eyes at each other’s quips as shown on the faces of our Blackberrys and Iphones. I mean, when you think about it — how much better than actual talking. Human vocal chords can only reach so far. With a mobile, you can be heard easily by all in attendance, even rooms away, and of course by those not at the event as well. This is how people will communicate in the future — no words spoken with actual mouths; the room will be pure silence, save only the clicking of cell phone type pads. I’m a better writer than talker anyway, so fine with me…
If you’re in NY, this looks fascinating. Recommended by Lauren Cerand. I’ve never seen Compagnie Jant B, but do so love Urban Bush Women. Unfortunately I have a crazy full week ahead (three short stories, four dance reviews and a restaurant write-up, all before I leave for Thanksgiving next Wednesday) and don’t know if I’m going to be able to make it out to BAM before then. But if anyone can go to this, I’ll be wanting a full report!
(above image taken from here)
(Photo from Columbia U’s website)
Just a reminder that Slavik Kryklyvyy and Hanna Karttunen will be performing at Columbia University’s Big Apple Dancesport Challenge on December 6th! Arunas Bizokas and Katusha Demidova will dance as well. Tickets range from $30 to $85 (for front row seating), but it looks like tkts on the cheaper end are selling out. If you plan to go, I’d make your reservations sooner rather than later.
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From Revelations. Glen Allen Sims and Linda Celeste Sims.
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Clifton brown! (With Antonio Douthit, Kirven Boyd, and Malik LeNost in huge photo on back wall, reflecting in this one.)
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At June Kelly gallery, showcasing Eccles’s photographs of Alvin Ailey dancers, also included in his new book. This is Briana Reed.
…and it’s getting cold! Which I hate. Cold makes me think of death. Although, I was just skimming my newish Complete New Yorker (which I won by taking one of those New Yorker marketing surveys — people actually do win those!) and I ran across a review from 1988 by Arlene Croce of Edward Villella and Miami City Ballet, which I read with interest since it’s kind of timely (the company will be coming to City Center in January for the first time in a while). Anyway, in explaining why Villella had a bit of a hard time getting his company off the ground, Croce noticed that ballet seems to thrive in cold climates where people wear heavy coats, like Russia and northern Europe and New York. Too much sun, too much natural beauty, and no indoor culture. Anyway, will try to think of winter that way: it’s because I’m freezing my tush off that I have ballet in my life…
(above picture is of holiday decorations at the Time Warner Center, which I took a few days ago)
So, I had my class — first in I don’t know how long, but over a year at least. It was advanced Cha Cha at Stepping Out, with Jules Helm (above, in jeans and black shirt), a very nice, patient, and thorough teacher (we began with 20 minutes of stretching, working just about every part of the body, including the foot, which not many teachers spend time with and which I need because my feet tend to cramp. So I didn’t need my set of ridiculously shallow warm-up plies that I did at home, during which I nearly twisted my hip out of its socket… I am really prone to hurting myself…)
I was sent to the studio to write a review of the class by Explore Dance. It was a very comfy, homey, social atmosphere, not at all threatening, which was good because I’d intended to take the intermediate class, but, long story short, ended up in advanced. The routine Jules taught us was fun and challenging without being too crazy hard and I managed to get the steps down, though my technique was heinous and I’ve once again forgotten how to balance in heels (not that I ever knew). At one point I nearly flew over sideways after a double spiral (two spins in which you put one foot in front of the other and turn a full rotation without picking your feet off the ground) and took my partner down with me. The male students were thankfully very nice though — which was a welcome change from some of the other studios I’ve been to. Anyway, will post to the (serious) Explore Dance review when it’s up.
Oh and my old teacher Luis was there (teaching now at three studios); so fun to run into him!
If you’re having a lazy Sunday afternoon, here’s some reading. Some of these links are a bit old; you may have read them already:
Joan Acocella on San Francisco Ballet (she likes at least two of the same dancers as I, and gives a good overview on the company and reasoning behind its repertoire);
Robert Gottlieb reviews a new book on Balanchine by Nancy Goldner (whose writing sounds comfortably accessible, almost bloggy!) in the NY Review of Books;
Apollinaire Scherr on how to view a Wheeldon ballet, and suggestions for Wheeldon’s future in this troubled economy;
James Wolcott, in his usual hilariously hyperbolical manner, recounts his experience with ABT’s new ballet Citizen;
Alex Ross explains what went wrong between the original Doctor Atomic and the Met’s version of the opera;
Claudia La Rocco laments Gerard Mortier’s decision not to take on the directorship of New York City Opera and wonders what will happen with the planned Brokeback Mountain opera (which I was really looking forward to);
Counter Critic reflects on the passage of Proposition 8 in California.
Happy Sunday, everyone. I’m off to cover my first dance class for Explore Dance. First, meaning, I’ve never written formally about a dance class before… Please wish me luck!
My friend and fellow blogger, Taylor Gordon, is dancing in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular this year. She invited me to their dress rehearsal yesterday evening, which was more like opening night — the huge theater was completely packed and the show was totally smooth; no glitches at all.
Somewhat ridiculously, in my 15 years in New York, this is actually the first time I’ve ever been to the Christmas show. I’ve been in Radio City Music Hall to see musical artists (like Whitney Houston, long long ago) and have seen the Rockettes perform very briefly at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting, but this was my first time at the actual show.
I was so blown away. The Rockettes are absolutely amazing in their spectacular formations — with many difficult-looking formation changes — and incredible synchronicity. I see now why they’re so legendary.
The show was mostly song and dance with a small playlet about two young boys meeting Santa and Santa eventually convincing the older, more skeptical one of his magical abilities, which I thought went on a bit too long. But all the musical numbers were a thrill and really kind of made you want to get up and sing and dance yourself. Not to sound corny, but it really does get you into the holiday spirit. I’ve been kind of nervous and depressed lately and this got me out of my blue funk.
And it was such a thrill to see Taylor on that huge stage! She had a part as a dancing bear in this little Nutcracker scene at the beginning, and then as a “tourist” skipping and dancing her way through Central Park and other NYC tourist attractions. She was of course excellent! And she was also in a Santa number (all dancers dressed in heavy Santa costumes) which completely blew me away — I totally thought the Santa dancers were the Rockettes!
I took a few more pics and have a mini photo album here (click on thumbnails for a short caption). Also, Taylor’s been keeping a great journal of her experiences with the show on her blog.
Thank you, Taylor. It was magical 
Wow, look at the streets of Harlem two nights ago. The Lower East Side was nothing like this, though there was a great deal of honking and small groups of people pumping their fists in the air and cheering as they passed you on the street. And people who didn’t know each other hugged in the subways. Which of course is not exactly how New York is often perceived. But looks like Harlem had a regular street party!
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In the subway stations, and on the train everyone is wearing these little bashful smiles like they can’t hold it in. I’ve never seen the city quite like this.
Although, sad thing, but as I got home to my neighborhood and saw several people asleep on the street, bundled up in building alcoves, it was a sobering reminder of how much he has to deal with now. Then, a homeless man asked me for money — seemed not to have even seen the election, or known there was one.
Obama giving his acceptance speech
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He is, right!? I’m not just really drunk, right!?
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People in bar are nicely applauding mccain though.
Screaming and honking in ny streets
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As cnn declares obama winner.
I’m moving to the lower east side
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Am on my third glass of wine and not feeling it in the least. Excellent house merlot at this bowery wine company and only $5 a piece.
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I haven’t been this excited in 16 years!
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For friend alyssa’s election / b-day party. Need to be around alcohol and friends just in case…
My neighborhood was nothing like this! At least not mid-day and I don’t think the line was that long in the morning…
Hehe, speaking of Mr. Marshall, I remember 16 years ago celebrating with him (among others) the results of another presidential election. We were both grad students in the same program. Ugh, 16 years ago… Anyway, hopefully hopefully hopefully we’ll both feel like celebrating again in a few hours…
It’s almost time for results to start coming in, you guys!
If you haven’t already, make sure to read (and listen to) Claudia La Rocco’s excellent WNYC post containing interviews with several NYC dance artists speaking about the role of race in their work and how they view the election. She apparently came up with the idea to do the interviews after an angry back and forth between Time Out editors and readers over the fact that the magazine’s list of top 40 New Yorkers who’ve made the most impact on the city over the last decade is, as Claudia put it, rather “monochromatic.”
At least things are different in the literary world. Check out the list of recent Whiting Award recipients. Also, Galley Cat is doing a series of author interviews about the election. Here’s one with poet Douglas Kearney over harmful language used in political speeches. His upcoming projects sound very cool.
“don’t worry; we’re not in bikinis!”
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Delic appetizers @ upper east-side Brazilian restaurant Buzina Pop. Chi chi atmosphere that is also very comfy. Excellent music, of course! Slightly weird service though.
Update: I’d stopped here on my way to the Guggenheim for another Works & Process, this one on composer Charles Wuorinen. It’s his 70th birthday; he’s the composer commissioned to make the upcoming opera version of Brokeback Mountain. Anyway, choreographer Sean Curran’s modern dance troupe was performing to one of Wuorinen’s pieces. Curran’s dancers and his choreography are excellent; Wuorinen’s music interesting — very severe and unsetting… more soon…
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Not! Can’t afford Chanel but wanted to visit one of their boutiques showing more art from the mobile exhibit. One on 57th street is Pierre et Gilles‘ “I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone.” Rather amusing…
Update: So, exhibit in the 57th Street Chanel store was this: there were three large, life-sized photographs (touched up with glossy veneers). On the left was a young man in bed with a small fuschia Chanel bag. He looked a bit crazed, was staring at the camera with his mouth open. There were cigarette butts all over the floor, magazines scattered haphazardly, etc. On the right panel was a picture of him in the bathtub, looking equally catatonic; the same fuschia Chanel bag at the edge of the tub. In the middle, elevated above the other two pictures, was a photo of the man dressed in a beautiful wedding gown, looking very angelic, very happy. Oh my gosh, funny thing, I don’t even remember whether he had the Chanel bag in that picture… But the whole wall on which the photos were hung was done up in a stunning shade of fuschia — same as the handbag — with kind of a glittery facade. I guess he came to terms with his obsession and was now at peace. Or he overcame it. Or else his obsession enveloped him, and his whole world was now pink. Anyway, it was quite a spectacle, and had there been more than about three people in the store (the economy must really be hurting the couture boutiques) I’m sure everyone’s attention would have been drawn right there.
So, eh, I thought it was actually pretty pretentious to be honest. (Come back, Louise Bourgeois!)
Once inside, they took all of your belongings (you had to check even your jackets and bags, so no cell phones or anything capable of recording), and gave you a set of headphones. Because each room is so small, you have to wait until Jeanne Moreau’s sexy deep-throated voice tells you you may advance. So, you may end up spending a lot of time in a room whose art you may be all that taken with…
First room had some “chandelier”- looking pieces of mobile art hanging from the ceiling that appeared to be made of plastic Christmas-tree-like ornaments, second room a big pit / bowl over whose sides you peered down into only to see some black and white images of leaves and vertebrae and butterflies and such projected onto the bowl’s sides sliding down into oblivion.
The third room was my favorite of the whole exhibit. It was by artist Leandro Erlich from Argentina. You walked through these curtains and sat on a bench and looked across at a wall. Almost the entire wall was obscured by a big black curtain. You were to focus on the bottom, where there was a glass floor, covered with what appeared to be fake mud and dirt. Strategically-placed water appeared to be puddles. Underneath the glass was a really quaint row of 19th Century, Parisian-looking apartment buildings. I thought it was cool because in the previous exhibit it appeared you were in the sky, above the clouds, watching items float down to earth. This one seemed to continue with that theme, except here you were on earth, stepping on all its mud and grime, and the city seemed to be below you. And yet the beautiful city was actually more pristine, not affected by the mud and grime of earth. But then Jeanne Moreau said something about reflections being truer than reality to her, so I figured we were supposed to feel we were seeing a reflection; we were not atop the city after all. Anyway, at one point, the ceiling lights dimmed. The little windows of the buildings lit up, like someone was inside, turning them on for nighttime. Sweet. At the end, the lights in the little windows spelled the Chanel logo. I thought, ew, how crass, you just ruined it! Then I thought, well, maybe the artist wanted you to question our consumerism, obsession with brands and conspicuous consumption. But then I thought, well, since the exhibit was commissioned by Karl Lagerfield / Chanel, no, they’re probably trying to get you to rejoice in that not question it.
Anyway, then we walked into a room showing a film projected onto a wall with a bunch of naked Asian women rolling around in Chanel jewelry. After that was another interesting exhibit – -my second favorite, by an artistic group from Russia known as Blue Noses. You looked down into these big boxes, opened like someone was getting ready to pack for moving — and projected on the bottom were these films of obese naked women running down the street chasing a red Chanel bag being pulled by an invisible hand. It was a ridiculous sight — I’m sure the artists were questioning consumerism here, right, how could they not be… But interesting thing was that the ambient sound for this one was Swan Lake music, interspersed with the sounds of cars and other street noises.
Then, there was a room with some disturbing pictures by American David Levinthal of naked women wearing gas masks, but the masks looked like they were made out of skin, out of the women’s very flesh. In this exhibit, Jeanne Moreau kept saying things like this is my skin, my flesh that I wear, or something or other. I’d have written things down if they’d have let us bring something inside to write with. Actually, I think it was Moreau’s voice and the rather goofy things she was saying (that were supposed to be taken seriously) that made me think the exhibit overall was pretentious. Because the art in itself … much of it was really pretty good — visually arresting and thought-provoking.
There were a few other rooms bearing things like a set of furniture, all items of which appeared to be made from Chanel bag material. A final room was kind of funny. There was a giant Chanel lipstick case inside of which was a giant powder compact, which was opened, and on the compact’s mirror played a film of some women with machine guns at target practice. They were shooting Chanel bags quite to pieces. A voice-over was saying something like “and you said you were pregnant?”
The pavilion is only in NY through next week, then will travel. Go here for more info. Here are some pics by Coolhunter of the inside, though they don’t have any of the exhibits I liked.
Here are some pictures I took of the outside.
Here, am exhibiting herd mentality by doing as everyone before me did while waiting in line: taking a picture when I got up to this lighter sheet of mirrored window surrounding this building outside the pavilion. I’m not even sure what that building was, now that I think about it…
Lovely fall day in Central Park.
Anyway, on the subject of architecture, check out David Hallberg’s pics of this awesome Frank Gehry building at Bard College. It’s like an ultra-modern thatched roof house. I love it! I’m also jealous his fall pictures turned out better than mine…
On an unrelated note, my Explore Dance reviews of the Dance Times Square showcase and ABT’s opening night gala performance are now up.
Sometimes it pays to be single.
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Got bumped to front of line for being femme seule.
