Reading the previous entries, I saw that my suggestion was already posted! I was planning on blogging about seeing STOMP. I’ve been a big fan of their venue, as I have bumped into their videos on youtube a lot. I’ve always wanted to see them live, but I never knew that they held performances so close to our dorms! I know the price is a little steep compared to some of the other suggestions but I think it will be a very entertaining performance to watch because it’s has a laid back vibe, yet it’s breath-taking and inspirational at the same time!
For those who don’t know what STOMP is, it’s a type of music/theatre production where percussionists that look like ordinary people create musical harmony using everyday objects such as brooms, garbage cans, basketballs, wet socks, etc. Their performances are a combination of pure physical energy, humorous movements with a hint of theatrical atmosphere.
Here are some links for you to get a taste of what they do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYXUm8GgPjE (basketballs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-_mUAhzhkg (brooms)
“My First Time,” an exercise in Web-theater synergy at New World Stages, consists of short monologues about inaugural encounters with sex that together channel all the thrill of a photo album chronicling a trip you didn’t take. Culled from anecdotes collected on MyFirstTime.com, the stories, some meant to be funny, some meant to be poignant and sad, move back and forth among four actors like a game of pass the baton. The structure allows the players to portray variously 15-year-old virgins or 42-year-old ones, Southerners or Minnesotans: people just like you and me. Ken Davenport, who serves as the adapter and director, hasn’t created real context or characters, though he has demanded accents, an approach that leaves his project feeling without just cause. I never became convinced that listening to these stories was a whole lot more enlightening or fun than merely sitting in front of a computer and reading them. And hovering over the enterprise is the air of a specious social purpose. — Ginia Bellafante
]]>Although the intense study of human anatomy has traditionally been reserved for the medical community, this unique exhibit offers a rare opportunity for us all to examine and understand our own bodies including an up-close examination of the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, and circulatory systems. The various specimens showcase and exhibit healthy body parts and highlight the effects of disease, revealing how dramatically our daily choices influence our health.
]]>http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/gilbert_and_george/
I’m not sure if we can get in for free with our Cultural Passports, but the suggested admission rate is $8, which isn’t too bad, and the hours are more flexible than if we attended a show.
]]>“The New Museum is proud to present a hyperactive and sweaty party for December’s Get Weird, featuring Ninjasonik and Cerebral Ballzy.
Ninjasonik’s relentless beats and unstoppable swagger bring together the propulsive chant of Baltimore Club with the anything-for-a-beat scavenging of their friends Spank Rock and Diplo. Caught between the gritty charisma of Ol’ Dirty Bastard and the sharp-edged provocation of GG Allin, the group rhymes about party-lurking, resisting haters, and creeping on art school girls. The single “Tight Pants” is a raw-throated anthem that’ll have even the meekest wallflower screaming out the hook.” http://www.newmuseum.org/events/274
My second suggestion is that we take the seven train out to the first stop in Queens to see Five Pointz. It would be a little toolish to go as a class tour group, but I think the quality of the walls and the massive scale and coolness would outweigh that. Obviously free. http://www.5ptz.com/5pointzgallery.html
]]>This performance is called Bamboo Blues and is going to be at the BAM. I was thinking we could go on the 16th since that is the actual last day of classes.
The performance is a little over 2 hours and starts at 7:30PM on various days.
Tickets cost $25.
Here are my two:
Primary:
Garden of Earthly Delights
-Performance based on a wacked-out Dutch religious painting that includes a fish eating a man. (http://www.quotesque.net/images/Bosch-goed.gif)
-”Ms. Clarke also uses a single special effect: harnesses for the passages in which the performers take flight, echoing the surreal spatial relationships in the painting.” -NY Times
See: http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/theater/reviews/20gard.html?pagewanted=1&ref=theaterreviews
Alternate:
Arias With a Twist
Features:
-Aliens
-Cross-dressing
-Magic mushrooms of hell
-A 50-foot woman
-An “Edenic rain forest”
-A marionette jazz ensemble
-Giant snake
-”Cymbal-banging monkeys”
-Giant satan puppets
-etc.
Do you really need more?
NY Times: http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/theater/reviews/19twist.html?scp=1&sq=arias%20with%20a%20twist&st=cse
The most intriguing performance I was able to find (that wasn’t already listed on the blog) was “Lightning at our Feet” at BAM. It’s a multimedia stage production based on the writings of Emily Dickinson…the link is here:
http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=127
The stagings are a little earlier than Professor Israel suggested… December 9, 11-13, and the cheapest tickets are $20.
]]>Wednesday, December 17 2008
8:00pm
Midwinter Day: A 30th Anniversary Reading
An event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Midwinter Day”, by Bernadette Mayer - please join her and special guests as they read selections from this epic 1978 work - Readers include Philip Good, Marie Warsh, Lewis Warsh, Barbara Epler, Jamey Jones, Peggy DeCoursey, Lee Ann Brown and Brenda Coultas
St. Mark’s Church
131 East 10th Street @ Second Avenue
$8; $7 students & seniors; $5 members | http://www.poetryproject.com | cf@poetryproject.com | 212.674.0910
Subways: N/Q/R/W/4/5/6 to 14th St – Union Square, or L to 1st or 3rd Ave.