01/ 15/ 2012
When the credits rolled after Wim Wender’s 3-D film PINA, Juliet’s most famous line rang out in my thoughts. Instead of pining for Romeo, Pina Bausch’s dancers longed for their Artistic Director: “O Pina, Pina, wherefore art thou Pina?” Clearly the film was more than a documentary. It was a testament of the love that develops between a dancer and a choreographer.
Prior to Bausch’s sudden death in 2009, Wender and Bausch planned to make the film together. They selected four featured works for the project: “Café Müller”, “Le Sacre du printemps”, “Vollmond” and “Kontakthof,” and planned to build the documentary around these pieces. Thinking the project died with Bausch, Wender stopped production. After some time though, he decided to go through with the project. In addition to the selected pieces, Wender re-envisioned the film by incorporating archival footage of Bausch choreographing and solos from her company members. What Wender created was something volatile and visually astonishing.
01/ 02/ 2012
Park Avenue Armory Events
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Choreography by Merce Cunningham
Arranged by Robert Swinston
Music by David Behrman, John King, Takehisa Kosugi, and Christian Wolf
Décor by Daniel Arsham
New Years Eve is a night for fun and celebration. We think about the previous year, it’s ups and downs, and resolve for the next one to be much better. It’s also a night of saying good bye, even to dance legends.
To close out 2011, I went to the Park Avenue Armory to witness one of the final performances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Called the Park Avenue Armory Events, the show was a meld of structural movement, live music and visual art. It was nothing short of pure magic.
10/ 02/ 2011
After entering graduate school, I developed a nasty habit. Instead of writing the way I wanted to, I made it my goal to write how I thought a graduate student should write. Not surprisingly, my work wasn’t great. It made me and my research sound unsure, timid, and overly verbose. Seeing that my professional goal is to become a writer, this was problematic.
When I moved to New York City I realized that this bad writing habit was going to have to go. As I pondered on how to remedy this problem, I realized what the heart of the issue was. I had lost all confidence in my writing, so much so that I was too scared to let my true self be heard.
