Merce Cunningham’s Nearly Ninety at BAM

So this is your very dance-uniformed reviewer thanking her lucky stars that she brought her camera with her last night. I wouldn’t know how to describe what I saw properly. I caught the sold-out production of Nearly Ninety arranged by legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham. Cunningham is a legend, but not one I had heard of when I bought these tickets months ago–I came for Sonic Youth.

As you can see in this short video, this was no Sonic Youth concert, but it was a interesting and exciting collaboration. I enjoyed it, but let me say that the experimental music did not strive to be harmonious and the dance was at times slow. The glittery spaceship-like set that the musicians played on and the black and white costumes were great. But check out some snippets for yourself and see what you think. And don’t hesitate to enlighten me!

Ravels in Review Friday

It’s been a long time since I did a Ravels in Review post between my trip to Costa Rica and skipping last week because there was very little that needed to be summed up. It’s so nice to be swinging these art ravels in full force, you won’t even here me rail on the weather. Especially as it is supposed to be a fantastic 71 degrees in NYC today.

But as to these past ravels, you’ll see we have some interesting debates raised as to beauty, what it is and whether society values it, tales of rapscallions both old and new, a review of MoMA’s photography exhibition Into the Sunset, and we even poked our nose across the pond to check out happenings at the Louvre and the situation for art recovery in L’Aquila.
Whew–time to take a breath. I also am excited by the idea of a public cafe cum art studio. So read, enjoy, comment: I always like to hear from people.

If you’re wondering why I’ve said so little about Costa Rica, it’s not that it was a cultural black hole per se. Watching a soccer match between Costa Rica and Mexico proved to be quite the cultural experience, and Costa Rica possesses great natural beauty. Not to mention surfing, zip lining, sloths (like the cute one above), toucans and tons of monkeys. It makes for a wonderful vacation, just not so artsy.



I surfed! (the smallest waves). Anyhow, happy Friday to you all! Enjoy the warm weekend!