Culture & Arts

By Joshua Rosenblum, ZEALnyc Contributing Writer, December 23, 2016

It's a little late in the game to weigh in on Kaija Saariaho's much lauded opera L'Amour de Loin, which has been showered with praise since its premiere in Salzburg in 2000, continuing through numerous worldwide productions and culminating in its triumphant unveiling at the Met on December 1. Something of a Johnny-come-lately, I saw the Met's fourth performance on December 14, so I'll try not to be too redundant in my observations (ZEALnyc's review of the opening on 12/1; ZEALnyc's review of 12/6). I promise not to use the word "luminous" to describe Saariaho's score, since I have already seen that one used in at least four reviews. How about sumptuous and shimmering? And the assurance that you've never heard sounds like these coming from an orchestra (with the non-acoustic addition of one synthesizer)? Saariaho's innovative approach is that while the orchestral music floats through a spectral, sonority-driven world in which the usual distinctions of tonal and atonal don't really apply, the sung melodic lines are lyrical, modal, and vocally sympathetic.

The plot, such as it is, is simple: Jaufré, a prince/troubadour, hears from a Pilgrim about a beautiful, virtuous woman in far-off Tripoli, falls in love with her from her description, and begins writing songs in praise of her. The Pilgrim sails to the woman (a countess named Clémence), informs her of the smitten troubadour, and sings some of his songs. The prince, informed by the Pilgrim on his return trip that Clémence has heard his songs and knows that he loves her, decides he must now sing for her in person. On the long journey, however, the prince falls ill, and after a heartbreakingly brief encounter with his beloved, dies. She, somewhat paradoxically, reproaches God for his cruelty and also decides to join a convent.

This seems to be a story of love at its most profound and also its most superficial. He falls hopelessly in love with descriptions of her, and she falls in love with the idea of his being love with her. It sounds deep, mythic, and quintessentially of its era (Amin Maalouf's French libretto is based on a twelfth century legend) and yet it also sounds suspiciously like fifth grade, with the Pilgrim as the appointed go-between who delivers a love note to the cute girl at the end of the row and asks her if she likes you. This churlish observation, however, should take nothing away from the singular achievement this opera represents. The three stars--Susanna Phillips as Clémence, Eric Owens as Jaufré, and Tamara Mumford as the Pilgrim--are all superheroes, giving astonishing, musically and theatrically impeccable performances of difficult, marathon roles. Owens' fine-grained bass-baritone manages to be both dark and glowing, full of tormented humanity. Phillips looked and sounded stunning, with a resplendent soprano befitting a love object. She also displayed impressive acting chops, particularly at the end, in her grief over the Jaufré's death. Mumford, wigged and costumed to look convincingly male, has a luscious mezzo and an appealingly direct delivery. Many of the Pilgrim's vocal lines end with downward motion and a final word or syllable that is spoken rather than sung, a sort of last-minute Sprechstimme. It's a striking technique that Mumford incorporated naturally and expressively.

Robert Lepage's controversial production turns the ocean into a fully-fledged fourth character. It consists of dozens of rows of tiny LED lights, (courtesy, presumably, of "lightscape image designer" Lionel Arnould), which cycle continuously through various groupings and colors, depicting the passage of time and relative levels of calm and storminess. In an instrumental prelude at the top of Act II, the electronic sea undergoes a series of dazzling (and dizzying) shape-shifting transformations, at one point appearing to morph into a giant wall of water. The members of the Met Chorus make aurally beautiful contributions, but when they appear, their heads popping up from beneath the "ocean" surface, the visual impact is slightly comical. The only other set piece is what my companion for the evening described as an "oil rig": a large bridge-like structure that also pivots vertically to form a staircase. It drifts and twists its way across the stage, and during one of Owens's scenes, it rotated to unexpectedly reveal Phillips standing at the opposite end, a striking theatrical effect.

The Met Orchestra gave a transcendent performance of Saariaho's hypnotic score. Conductor Susanna Malkki led the instrumentalists with great authority. Her floating arm movements frequently mirrored the rolling waves onstage, but she was also crystal clear when she needed to be, which was frequently. She obviously knows the sprawling, often amorphous score cold. How does Saariaho come up with these incandescent sonorities? She is literally a magician with the orchestra.

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L'Amour de Loin at the Metropolitan Opera through December 29th. Music by Kaija Saariaho with a libretto by Amin Maalouf; conducted by Susanna Mälkki; production by Robert Lepage; set and costume design by Michael Curry; lighting design by Kevin Adams; lightscape image design by Lionel Arnould; sound design by Mark Grey. Susanna Phillips (Clémence), Tamara Mumford (The Pilgrim), and Eric Owens (Jaufré Rudel).

Cover: Tamara Mumford as the Pilgrim and Susanna Phillips as Clémence in 'L'Amour de Loin;' photo by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.
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Joshua Rosenblum, a Contributing Writer for ZEALnyc, writes on classical music performance, theater, and related topics.

For more ZEALnyc features, read:

On the Birth of a Twentieth-Century Operatic Masterpiece

Royal Concertgebouw 'Wows' with Mahler at Carnegie Hall

60th Anniversary of original Broadway production of 'Candide'

For all the news on New York City arts and culture, visit ZEALnyc Front Page.

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It may be a bit of blarney, but the current revival of Finian's Rainbow at the Irish Rep is charming and magical. Director Charlotte Moore's scaled-down production offers an intimacy and meaning somewhat lost in the 2009 Broadway version.

It also hits the right political note, especially in a post-election world.

The Burton Lane-Yip Harburg musical, set in the segregated 1947 South, addresses racism, corrupt politicians and immigration -- within a fantastical setting.

If it resonates today, with lines like "I've been bothered by immigrants ever since I got to this country," so much the better.

The show has lost none of its relevance, and its racial plot twist, while simple, remains a clever theatrical device.

Finian, a spry Irishman (Ken Jennings) and his daughter Sharon (a mesmerizing Melissa Errico) come to America with a stolen pot of gold. Throw in friendly sharecroppers, a growing leprechaun (a delightful Mark Evans) and sweep-you-off-your-feet romance for good measure.

If that sounds too saccharine, consider the memorable score.

Songs like "Old Devil Moon," the bluesy "Necessity" and "How are Things in Glocca Morra?" are glorious. Errico has played Sharon in previous incarnations -- and she sounds better than ever, accompanied by a first-rate chamber quartet: piano, harp, cello and fiddle.

The social satire is light, but it makes the point -- and no one can resist the songs, be they romantic or energetic, such as "The Great Come-And-Get-It Day." Every number clicks, and the first-rate cast doesn't miss a beat.

Barry McNabb's choreography and James Morgan's set design make the most of the small space, proving less is more.

Part fairy tale, part commentary, Finian's Rainbow has something to say about tolerance, love and the importance of dreams. And that message never grows old.

Photos: Carol Rosegg

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A traveling fellowship had brought me after college to London. My roommate there, a young civil servant, son of a Cambridge don, and a reader of Persian literature in the original, suggested that I start paying attention to a British artist called David Jones, author of a long poem with the title of In Parenthesis. Despite having attended a good university in the U.S., I'd never even heard of Jones. Was this recommendation an act of aesthetic chauvinism?
Okay, so T.S. Eliot had called In Parenthesis "a work of genius." But Eliot was the book's acquiring editor at Faber. W.H. Auden had written that David Jones had given us "probably the finest long poem written in English in this century." But like the author Auden had grown up English (and was still living there). Perhaps, I wondered, he was somehow prejudiced in the poet's favor? Ezra Pound was neither the publisher nor a Brit. Pound had concluded: "it is one of the most important poems of our time." He called it "a masterpiece."
David Jones wrote about the Great War, in which he fought, and his style was influenced by, almost marinated in, Welsh culture and Arthurian legend or, as Jones called the culture he brought, "the matter of Britain." I read up a little about the poet and bought his work at Foyle's bookshop, an easy walk from my flat on Great Russell Street, across from where Karl Marx had written his famous manifesto and near the offices of the original publisher of In Parenthesis.
Jones was both a poet and painter. In fact, Kenneth Clark described him in the mid-1930s as "the most gifted of all the young British painters." Of course this combination immediately reminded people of William Blake, whose work, like that of Jones, has hung at the Tate.
When my English roommate invited me for a weekend at his family's holiday house in Herefordshire, near the Welsh border, I was happy for the opportunity to walk in the mountains. My roommate had already impressed me as a happy eccentric by bringing in the Times every morning and adding it to a stack of a year's worth of newspapers, then pulling out the bottom paper, with the same date but a year earlier, and taking it on the Underground to the office. He said it was restful to know how things had come out.
From the holiday house we walked to the nearby border of Wales and along a long ridge, looking down on a small settlement that he told me was called Capel-y-ffin (though I didn't know about the doubled "f" until later). I vaguely recognized the name. Yes, David Jones had lived there in the late 1920s, joining a community of artists led by Eric Gill. I'd heard that Gill had designed more than one typeface, including one inspired by signs in the London Underground, and now I learned that he worked extensively as an engraver in stone.
My friend and I decided to descend to Capel-y-ffin. As I recall, the run down was quite steep. For me it was like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Of all the obscure settlements tucked into the Welsh hills, we had happened on one that had some meaning to me. Arriving on the valley floor, we met a family arriving to occupy holiday accommodations they'd rented. They invited us to join them for tea. Our hosts were as new to the place as my friend and I. As we looked around the rooms I was astonished to spot a mural by David Jones.
I recognized his style, having looked up some of his work as an engraver and watercolorist in the drawers of a London gallery. However, I'd been procrastinating over studying In Parenthesis, Jones' 1937 subtle, allusive, powerful book about the war that had ended almost two decades earlier.
I'd known the Great War was a disaster to many who fought. One whole wall of the cloister in an Oxford college was covered with the names of graduates who had died in that war. In those years they called the result of frequent nearby explosions "shell shock" or what we today term "post-traumatic stress disorder." Long incubated, In Parenthesis was one of David Jones' ways of living with PTSD, a way that, like his intricate, overlaid visual art, has become a gift to many others.
It was not until graduate school that I had an opportunity, in a seminar on "war poets," to write about David Jones. Both my fellow students and also the professor had never heard of him. The reputation of artists has always been fickle. Herman Melville was not celebrated for Moby Dick until the 20th century. As for painters, consider this passage from The Art of Rivalry: "They were modern artists in search of a public. It was a search fraught with risk and uncertain reward, as they knew from the stories of their immediate predecessors: the Impressionists, who struggled for so long in poverty; Manet, who was so relentlessly abused; van Gogh, who took his own life; and Cézanne, who labored his entire life in obscurity."
After the sojourn in Europe, my grad school years coincided with the Vietnam war and the anti-war movement that was especially strong on campuses. Of course the mechanics of war were different than those experienced by David Jones: helicopter gunships instead of rushes "over the top," napalm instead of mainly artillery shells and machine-guns, and so forth. But the experience of not knowing whether you'd be alive the next day, or minute, was similar. And it was not until half a century after Vietnam that the first effective treatments for PTSD were even the subject of research.
Poetry does not by itself heal PTSD, but it can at least express something of the experience of war, even if you read the poem in a campus easy chair. Veterans typically don't talk much about the war after returning home. At a party in the 1990s I met a World War II vet who, at that distance, standing around a swimming pool, surrounded by old friends, was willing to answer my eager questions about his experience as a young solider. He said he had not talked about his feelings for half a century, because who wanted to listen? I felt honored by his trust, as I had been moved by David Jones' generous, heartfelt, book-length poem.
In writing Gift of Darkness, a memoir about the adolescence of a Jewish friend who had grown up under Nazi rule in his native Amsterdam, I felt gratitude to him for being willing to revisit the trauma of those years and respond to my thousands of questions. In his poetry, what David Jones did was ask himself thousands of questions and hunt for words to express the truth of what he felt. That day in the Black Mountains of Wales, I could only imagine that peaceful Capel-y-ffin had helped him to get from the battlefield to In Parenthesis. (Which is now available from the reprints division of The New York Review of Books.)
The poem opens with the hero John Ball late for parade. "Private Ball's pack, ill adjusted and without form, hangs more heavily on his shoulder blades, a sense of ill-usage pervades him. He withdraws within himself to soothe himself--the iniquity of those in high places is forgotten." So it begins, the work of remembering what was immediate and timeless.

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By Jil Picariello, ZEALnyc Theater Editor, December 26, 2016

If you took the movies Defending Your Life and Final Destination (the third one, to be specific) and mixed them in a blender with Glee and then put the result on a stage, you might get Ride the Cyclone.

It's a weird little musical comedy about a horrific disaster: six members of the Saint Cassian High School Chamber Choir of Uranium City, Saskatchewan meet their tragic demise when a roller coaster goes off the rails. Yes, they're dead. But now, thanks to a mechanical fortune teller (add Big to the mix), they discover that one of them can return to life, via a unanimous vote of the group.

Each defends his life in turn, the Tracy Flick-ish Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg (her parents were uber-hippes), chubby and schlubby Constance Blackwood (her catchphrase is "I'm sorry"), Ukranian-born would-be rapper Mischa Bachinski, Marlene Dietrich wannabe Noel Gruber, fantasy lover Ricky Potts, and a spooky sixth contestant identified only as Jane Doe, because she, literally, lost her head in the fatal accident and remains unidentified.

All of the performances are terrific, revealing both the teenage cliché of their characters, as well as the genuine human being underneath. And it's charmingly pulled together by director and choreographer Rachel Rockwell, doing a fine service to the hilarious, inventive, and often surprising work of writers Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond.

It's creepy, it's campy, it's touching, and, for a musical about a bunch of dead teenagers, it's very funny. Take a ride.

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Ride the Cyclone at the Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, through December 29, 2016. Running time is 1 hour and 30 minutes with no intermission. Book, music and lyrics by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell. Directed by Rachel Rockwell. Cast: Lillian Castillo, Karl Hamilton, Emily Rohm, Kholby Wardell, Tiffany Tatreau, Alex Wyse, Gus Halper, Johnny Newcomb, Emily Walton.

Cover: Emily Rohm and the cast of 'Ride the Cyclone;' photo by Joan Marcus

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Jil Picariello ZEALnyc's Theater Editor writes frequently on theater and culture.

For more features from ZEALnyc read:

'For Annie'--an Immersive and Cathartic Theater Experience

Scaled-Down 'Finian's Rainbow' Charms at Irish Rep

Finding your inner Olaf at all the NYC area ice skating rinks

For all the news on New York City arts and culture, visit ZEALnyc Front Page.

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A collaboration between two of the nation's most innovative architecture firms - and one of the most well-known builders - has solved a one-of-a kind educational issue:

How to introduce art to agriculture students.

SO-IL, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) and Whiting-Turner recently completed a design/build project at U.C. Davis - a museum that completes a quad on campus.

Manetti Shrem Museum of Art , U. C. Davis

Like Caesar's Gaul, the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art is divided into three parts: pavilions for classroom, administration and exhibition. And they're all integrated together on one level.

"Education is very prominent within the building - the classrooms are at the forefront," says Florian Idenberg, founding partner at SO-IL. "I see it as galaxy of spaces - a museum for the students practicing and experimenting in the arts. That was the aspiration."

Manetti Shrem Museum of Art , U. C. Davis

Students on campus are welcomed and invited into the museum via a gigantic canopy made of steel and perforated aluminum infill beams, designed to create different patterns of shadows underneath.

"It comes down to 12 feet, draws you into this plaza and then underneath the canopy and to the front door," says Karl Backus, principal in BCJ. "So it invites you to enter the site, underneath the canopy and the bay."

Inside, the building addresses the rapidly changing nature of education, as fixed and formal classrooms are giving way to online learning.

Manetti Shrem Museum of Art , U. C. Davis

"The question was how to create spaces where students can study and hang out - so the lobby is a study area for exams, and they can check in the gallery quickly and just be," Idenberg says. "Walls are flat for movie screening, and there's an open and permeable infrastructure for different events that the students create. It's lofty, but that's the aspiration."

It's also a very cool place to forget about agriculture - and ponder the art.

J. Michael Welton writes about architecture, art and design for national and international publications, and edits Architects + Artisans, where portions of this post first appeared. He is architecture critic for the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., and the author of "Drawing from Practice: Architects and the Meaning of Freehand" (Routledge, 2015)

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There are two immediately pressing reasons to see Sholem Asch's God of Vengeance, currently produced by the New Yiddish Rep at La MaMa.

The first is historical curiosity. This is the 1906 play that scandalized theater-going Jews and others at its 1923 production for depicting a lesbian relationship. Included in it--horror of horrors!--was a first-time on-stage same-sex kiss.

The second, and related, reason to rush out is that this is the controversial work serving as the inspiration for Indecent, Paula Vogel's inspiring retroactive look at the original production. Vogel's top-drawer undertaking, co-created and also directed by Rebecca Taichman, appeared at the Vineyard earlier this season and will open on Broadway in April with obvious Tony consideration intentions. Not a bad bet for one, either.

Along with these persuasive motives to attend the revival, there are a few reasons not to attend. Although I don't rate them sufficiently persuasive to stay away, they need to be mentioned.

The first is that God of Vengeance may have passed as dramaturgically strong over a century ago--i. e., once aghast onlookers paid attention beyond the licked-lips scene--but it registers as more than a little awkward now.

Yekel Tchaptchovitch (Shayne Baker) is the busy brothel proprietor and authoritarian husband to deferential Sarah (Eleanor Reissa, who also directs) and overbearing father to seemingly reticent daughter Rifkele (Shayna Schmidt). Aside from lording it over just about everyone with whom he comes into contact (some requesting monetary favors), he's also trying to marry Rifkele off in a beneficial cash exchange. (Yekel is called Yankl in other translations.)

Ready to slap Sarah around if the urge comes on him, which it does, and to chastise Rifkele, which he gets to do when she transgresses (as he sees it) with less-than-respectable Manke (Melissa Weisz), he is the actual crux of Asch's entirely humorless tragedy.

The crucial Rifkele-Manke get-together, carried on when the former runs off for a short time to the latter, is something to see but many today might consider the fully clothed bonding relatively chaste at a time when movies and television include sequences far more explicit. The Lena Dunham of Girls would likely chuckle at these previously outrageous proceedings.

Incidentally, while the famous besame-mucho scene may be the one that enraged the populace and even brought out the cops, it must be that presenting a Jew who's as unlikable as Yekel surely bothered those Jewish audiences sensitive about any Jews shown as less than upright citizens. It's a concern that hasn't abated much since then. Just ask Philip Roth.

A few other reasons that this God of Vengeance doesn't pass contemporary muster is that although a few of the actors are up to the requirements--Baker, Reissa, Weisz and especially New Jewish Rep artistic director David Mandelbaum as Reb Eli--a heap of the thesping leaves a lot to be desired. (The production is in Yiddish with English subtitles.)

The physical look (as opposed to the Indecent production) isn't convincing, perhaps due to a restrictive budget. Budget may also explain why this God of Vengeance is done is modern dress. Perhaps using period costumes was too expensive. Unfortunately, today's clothes--those for Sarah and including her well-coiffed sheytl (Vicki Davis is the costumer and set designer)--throw the effect off-kilter.

Maybe Mandelbaum, Reissa and Davis decided modern dress makes the point that the situation is as dire now as it was at Orthodox homes in 1906. If so, they don't convince.
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One of the best 2015 New York City theater offerings was Jonny Donahoe's Every Brilliant Thing. During an interactive hour and a half, the charismatic and instantly lovable British comedian went about compiling a list of uplifting notions based on his attempting to find a way to cheer his depressed mother. The exercise eventually helped brighten his own romantic outlook, as well as those of his audiences'.

Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato have now documented the enterprise but without viewers' ability to participate--a restriction that may become yet another item to jolly up spectators who shy away from these kinds of immersive entertainments.

Every Brilliant Thing is a must-see that can now be watched on HBO. Check times and get ready to become brilliant.

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By Sheila Kogan, ZEALnyc Contributing Writer, December 27, 2016

Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo (referred to as "The Trocks") is made up of an international group of professional dancers who have a strong affinity and understanding of the formal, stylized art of classical ballet. What differentiates this company from others is that these dancers are all men en travestie who dance en pointe. In other words, the dancers are all men in drag who dance in pointe shoes, a technique that few male ballet dancers ever experience. Since 1974, The Trocks have entertained audiences with their particular mix of traditional dance with silliness, laugh-out-loud humor, clever parody, satire and/or all-out physical slapstick.

The laughs work because the company dances with fine technique, brio, conviction, and a lot of talent. Balletomanes can enjoy the inside jokes that satirize details of the choreography; and those who may never have seen a ballet can appreciate the broad humor and the physical ability of the dancers. In the midst of the goofiness, ridiculous pratfalls and silly gestures, it's also possible to feel awed by the exquisitely touching execution of a famous pas de deux or by the number of centered fouétte turns, a measure of any ballerina. These guys can really dance, are believable as ballerinas, and can "sell" a performance. The sense that they were having as much fun as the audience is a vital element, I think, of why they are so entertaining.

I attended a performance of Giselle (Act II) and Paquita, two familiar mainstays of the classical repertoire (Program B). Basically, the original choreography was presented and seriously performed; but frequently tweaked to exaggerate the movement for comic effect, and embellished for added humor.

Before the curtain rises, there are laughs just hearing the Russian-sounding names being announced over the loudspeaker. The dancers have chosen to be called names like Tatiana Youbetyabootskaya or Ida Nevasayneva, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the caché of being Russian-trained.

In Giselle, the corps de ballet looked more like the cast of "The Walking Dead" than traditional Wilis -- but the zombie-like makeup added to an edge of nonsense. On the other hand, Nina Immobilasvili (Alberto Pretto) was a touching Giselle. "She" danced with the lightness and delicacy associated with the part - along with an ability to crash into scenery for a laugh. Her Albert (Vyacheslav Legupski/Paolo Cervellera) was a fine partner, and received cheers for his beats. Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis (Olga Supphozova/Robert Carter) was appropriately magisterial and menacing, even though there was a silly flower standing straight up on top of "her" head.

Paquita is an entertainment with no story, full of bravura highlights and usually performed at galas to show off the virtuosity of dancers. It was choreographed by Petipa, the grand master of classics like Swan Lake. Yakaterina Verbovich (Chase Johnsey) and one of the "Legupski Brothers," Sergey (Giovanni Goffredo) led the company in grand style. The ballerinas performed their showy variations wearing traditional, saucer-like, brightly colored tutus (along with hugely thick, fake eyelashes); comported themselves in the strict posture of this classical-style ballet; and performed the technically difficult choreography well (along with some gymnastic somersaults, which are certainly not in Petipa's choreographic vocabulary). At the same time, there was some hanky-panky going on behind the back of the ballerina.

For an encore, the company donned foam-rubber Statue of Liberty crowns and did a Rockettes-style number to the song, "New York, New York". They may have lacked the precision of the Rockettes, but they made up for it with their flamboyant joie de vivre. So, a good time was had by all.

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Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo at the Joyce Theater (175 Eighth Avenue) December 13-31, 2016. Tory Dobrin, Artistic Director; Isabel Martinez Rivera, Associate Director/Production Manager; Liz Harler, General Manager; George Daugherty, Music Director.

Giselle: Music by Adolphe Adam; Scenario by T. Gautier and V. De Saint Georges; staged by Yelena Tchernychova after J. Perrot and M. Petipa; costumes by Mike Gonzales; décor by Edward Gorey; lighting by Kip Marsh

Paquita: Music by Ludwig Minkus; Choreography after Marius Petipa; staged by Elena Kunikova; costumes and décor by Mike Gonzales; lighting by Kip Marsh.

Dancers: Paolo Cervellera, Jack Furlong, Jr., Paul Ghiselin, Giovanni Goffredo, Duane Gosa, Carlos Hopuy, Chase Johnsey, Laszo Major, Philip Martin-Nielson, Raffaele Morra, Christopher Ouellette, Matthew Poppe, Alberto Pretto, Giovanni Ravelo, Carlos Renedo, Joshua Thake, and Long Zou.

Cover: Members of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo; photo: Zoran Jelenic.
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Sheila Kogan is a Contributing Writer for ZEALnyc and writes frequently on theater, dance and other cultural events.

For more ZEALnyc features read:

Alvin Ailey Continues to Thrill

The Zoo is 'onstage' with 'Carnival of the Animals' at the Miller Theatre

'Exhibitionism--The Rolling Stones' is a 'rocker's Nirvana'

For all the news on New York City arts and culture, visit ZEALnyc Front Page.

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Art-wise, 2016 was a good year for Los Angeles. LACMA presented the blockbuster exhibition, New Objectivity: Modern German Art in the Weimar Republic, 1919-1933, which started and ended with a number of Max Beckmann's powerful paintings. It was simply amazing to see so much great work by leading German artists in the aftermath of the disasters of World War I. The country was devastated, broken, but artists like Max Beckmann, Georg Grosz, Otto Dix, and August Sander, with their divergent style, gave sober, unsentimental and graphic depictions of the tumultuous years of the Weimar Republic.

Twenty-five years ago, the Director of Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center was arrested and put on trial for pandering obscenity. What was his offense? Exhibiting photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe (1946 - 1989). Nothing of the kind happened this year during the Mapplethorpe double-exhibition at the Getty and LACMA. I've been to many museum openings, but the crowd for Mapplethorpe's shows were the biggest, the noisiest, and definitely the most colorful that I have ever encountered.

Another rather provocative exhibition took place at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, where Los Angeles-based sculptor/ceramicist Keiko Fukazawa, made gentle -- and sometimes not-so-gentle -- fun of Chairman Mao. Mao's famous (or rather, infamous) 1956 Hundred Flowers Campaign was initially presented as the "policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom..." But after a brief period of liberalization, Chairman Mao abruptly changed course and spearheaded a political crackdown.

The Broad Museum, which opened in downtown last year, proudly celebrated its first year -- and proud it should be. Every time I pass by, I see a long line of visitors waiting for admission. Initially, the annual attendance was expected to be at about 300,000 people, but at the end of its first year, the actual number was three times higher.

At the exhibition Electric Earth by Los Angeles-based artist Doug Aitken at the Geffen Contemporary, one is plunged into a dark labyrinth of galleries showing video installations, sculptures, photographs, and architectural works created in the last 20 years by this internationally celebrated artist. Museum curators achieved the near impossible by organizing an exhibition where visitors -- instead of politely walking through -- sit and even lie on the floor, transfixed by a stream of videos on large screens in front and above their heads.

Last but not least, let's revisit the great masterpiece by James Ensor (1860 - 1949), Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889 (1888) on permanent display at the Getty Museum. Standing in front of this painting, created more than 100 years ago, one still hears the noise of its huge crowd, including a number of politicians and religious leaders, all of whom Ensor mocks mercilessly. Hidden deep in the crowd is a small figure of Christ himself. The question remains, is Christ the subject of celebration? Or mockery? It's up to us to decide. Ensor is obviously referring to the deep cultural, religious, and ethnic issues dividing his country. Sounds uncomfortably familiar, doesn't it?

To learn about Edward's Fine Art of Art Collecting Classes, please visit his website. You can also read The New York Times article about his classes here, or an Artillery Magazine article about Edward and his classes here.

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Edward Goldman is an art critic and the host of Art Talk, a program on art and culture for NPR affiliate KCRW 89.9 FM. To listen to the complete show and hear Edward's charming Russian accent, click here.

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Dina Litovsky is a very talented documentary photographer based in New York City. She recently covered various election events throughout 2016 for TIME, MSNBC, and Buzzfeed, as well as other news outlets. Her photographs often feature a distinctive visual style that frequently uses flash to emphasize a particular character or scene.

Dina’s work examines social performances and group interactions in both public and private spaces. This is evident in many of her personal projects as well as a good deal of her assignment work. Dina’s latest project, entitled Meatpacking, offers a fascinating glimpse into contemporary romance through its examination of the sexual politics on display in New York’s Meatpacking District.

I recently sat down with Dina to learn more about the social psychology and the photographic techniques that make her work stand out. Here is my interview with Dina.

Ben Arnon: How do you think your Ukrainian background informs your approach to photography?

Dina Litovsky: The fact that it's Ukrainian doesn't really inform it. I don't remember Ukraine much, but I am still somewhat of foreigner so I look at things from an outsider's lens. I think there is a bit of a cultural barrier. I haven't internalized all the rituals, for example, that I'm photographing, like bachelorette parties.

You photographed a lot of this cycle’s election season. Did you feel any cultural barrier when photographing campaign events?

Initially I wasn't very interested in politics. I was not personally invested. Now, I think, it's because I didn't really understand it, how it really works. But when I saw the Nevada caucuses, to me I saw that [democracy] actually does work from some kind of [grassroots] level. There was one specific moment where there was a man who was undecided between Bernie and Clinton, and they spent 15 minutes convincing him to go to one side or another. To me that was such an interesting display that there is an actual democracy, and though you think your voice maybe doesn't matter, this guy's voice in some way actually did. I remember that moment and from then on I started paying more attention to politics and for the first time really getting the scoop on all the candidates and really following it. This is the only election that I followed very closely.

How old were you when you first knew that you wanted to be a professional photographer, that this was what you were passionate about and you wanted to do this?

I don't think I had a eureka moment. I got into it pretty much by accident. After I graduated from NYU, I was intending to go to med school, had a psychology degree, and then I changed my mind. I spent a couple of years just photographing my friends, and then I started doing weddings. It was essentially a hobby.

The first time I ever photographed I was maybe 23 or 24 years old. Around 23, with my first camera, I thought, “I'm going to do this until I find a real job, or a real profession.” I always kept looking for something. I wanted to be an art historian. After a few years I met Sasha, my husband, and he pretty much convinced me to go for a master's degree in photography.

How would you describe your photography? Are you a documentary photographer, a photojournalist, something else?

Not a photojournalist, I'm a documentary photographer. I don't know, labels are tricky. I think I'm not objective enough to be a photojournalist. I don't even try to be objective. I studied social psychology and that's exactly what I like photographing. The social situations, rituals, culture.

Do you think your psychology background has been helpful in terms of informing how you work with people, approach people, and approach situations?

Yes, helpful, but also I think it's kind of the foundation of what I'm looking for to photograph. I have a fascination with studying groups of people and public behaviors, so it drives my work. It’s a curiosity to explore the world through the camera. I do a lot of research for my projects, for example. Any time I start a project, halfway through, I read up a lot of relevant sociology/psychology material that relates to the specific subject. For instance, I read a book about the sociology of bachelorette parties when shooting the series. So I have this foundation of research which helps to inform my work.

How do you decide which personal projects you work on? Describe the process. Additionally, how long do you work on these projects?

Bachelorette was about three years on and off. It's not a continuous project. On weekend nights I would go to bachelorette parties. I think from the first to the last party, it was about three years, and Meatpacking same.

In terms of how I get into it, I usually happen upon it. I went to my first bachelorette party of a friend and photographed just for fun, but then became interested in what came out of that. I started reading about bachelorette parties, and continued photographing them. Only after the first few, I thought this is turning in to a real project.

How did you convince people at the bachelorette parties to let their guard down and allow you to take all of these photographs?

There's definitely a lot of people who said no, but a lot of people said yes. I would offer a free photo shoot for the access. I said that I will only use one to two images from each event. Also, if there was real objection to using an image, I would not include it, though I don’t remember anyone asking me for that in the end. If the bachelorette didn't want me to shoot at a specific moment, I always put the camera down.

Many of your photographs, especially the political ones, use a strong flash which creates a very distinctive style. You obviously get really close to your subjects as well. How would you describe your process and your approach when photographing, say the RNC Convention, or any of these events where you're right up in people's faces with the flash? From both a psychological perspective and a technical perspective, what's going through your mind?

It's a handheld flash that’s on a wireless transmitter. I often photograph in very chaotic scenes and I like how it can isolate the subject. With this flash I can really decide on my focus, and not have to depend on ambient light. This is what separates, I guess in my mind, photojournalism from documentary. I kind of influence the picture with the light. I can isolate a subject in a crowded room and make it seem like he/she is the only person in the space. I can emphasize something which wouldn't be emphasized otherwise. I use flash almost like a theatre light shining on a specific part that I want the viewer to pay attention to. And it can also distort. Again, I don’t really try to be very objective in my images. I can either use it to just emphasize something visually or as an opinion on the situation.

Can you elaborate on that? At the Trump election party, or at the RNC Convention, is there an image that you can highlight for us in which you wanted to create a certain type of reality, so you used light in a certain way?

For example, the closeup of the Trump supporters screaming at the Republican Convention is pretty harsh. The light is coming from down under. If I had a soft light, or the natural light, that woman would just be a woman screaming. I think with this light, it introduces a bit of the grotesque. Just a bit. I don't want to overdo it and make it Halloween style, but I definitely used that to emphasize whatever reality I saw in it.

I suppose a lot of these scenes are chaotic and frantic like you said, so people are sort of oblivious to their surroundings. But obviously if you're there photographing without a flash, it's very easy for them not to notice. With a big flash, do you ever have any situations where it throws people a little bit?

Of course, often. I have some tricks for them not to notice me. I never look in the person's eyes, so they don't know that I'm photographing them. Sometimes I photograph a few times and they get used to me and then they look away for a second. Sometimes they first pose, and then I say, 'Okay, now go on, whatever you were doing.' Sometimes it just doesn't work. Often people don’t expect the flash on the side and look at it instead of my camera, which can also sort of work. I have just one shot before they realize.

Tell me about the Meatpacking project. What was the genesis of that idea?

I found myself in the [New York City] Meatpacking district in 2012, and I was amazed. Again it's all the themes that I enjoy, like sexual politics, a lot of performance play, careful self- presentation and interesting interactions. The women are out on the town in a full armor of short dresses and high heels. These are the themes that I've been looking for in my work before, so it was mostly a curiosity to explore this further.

Only after a couple of summers it started crystallizing into a more coherent idea. I was really interested in the interplay between the sexes that happened outside. I've seen it before in clubs, but I've never really seen it in the streets, so open and blatant. In America especially, you don't look at people on the street. I tried street photography before, but it was too quiet for me. There weren't a lot of emotions and interactions. I like really expressive, theatrical scenes. Nobody looks at each other on the street. There's no connection.

In a weird way, this was the place that I've seen the most human connection in all of New York. People seem to totally lose a sense of decorum. The men would be gawking and whistling and looking. There were a lot of exchanges of glances and comments. It was like a theatre play being put on throughout the streets of the Meatpacking district.

When you were photographing Meatpacking, what was your process? Would you go out on, say, a Saturday night, and spend countless hours on the streets observing and photographing? Would you be out there all night?

I would have about three hours each night before it would start getting overwhelming. So usually it would be a three-hour night. I would either come earlier or come later, depending what I wanted to get. It was different pictures. Early it was much more about presentation, very careful self-assembly. Later at night it became a little more alcohol-fueled, looser, more chaotic.

Are there one or two photographs you've made during your career that really stand out to you as either your favorite, most memorable, or most meaningful for your career?

There's a picture of an audience from fashion week, I got lucky with that one. I wanted to photograph the audience, and I was trying at many shows, but it just didn't look how I imagined it could. Then I got this image from Paris when it was just rows of audience. Everybody's on their cellphones, and they’re all watching the show through their devices.

What advice do you have for emerging or up-and-coming photographers?

Find what you are really interested in, and follow that, rather than trying to follow trends. Everybody has something they're passionate about, or have some kind of expertise in, and I feel like it's important to stay true to that.

In terms of assignment work, my lesson was that there are no small assignments. You can turn any assignment into something interesting if you just treat it as something that’s fun and relevant to you. I try to find something that catches me with every assignment. I think it's really important to treat every single job as maybe your best photo shoot ever.

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There is a scene in Pedro Almodovar's Julieta (based on three short stories by Alice Munro) in which a towel is pulled off the head of the youthful version of the character (Adriana Ugarte) to reveal the mature self played by the actress Emma Suarez. What's so moving about the scene in question is that it epitomizes the theme of loss that pervades the action. Julietta loses her youth, but she also loses her innocence more than once when a man she fobs off throws himself under a train, when she loses her husband Xoan (Daniel Grao) to an accident at sea, her daughter Antia (Patricia Delgado and Blanca Pares) to a cult and her mother, Sara (Susi Sanchez) to illness. Almodovar's latest outing is, in fact, a fugue about loss. Julietta also loses her friend, the sculptress Ava (Inma Cuesta) to MS while her father loses Julietta when he runs off with his housekeeper. Julieta's estranged daughter loses her 9 year old son, Xoan. Alice Munro is well known for her brilliant polyphonic narratives and narrative itself is the subject of the film whose humanity derives from the notion that everything that goes around comes around. Julieta is furnished in what might be called Spanish Modern. A Lucien Freud hangs on a wall, a book about the composer Ryuichi Sakamoto lies on a table while Julieta walks around in a robe printed in a Gustav Klimt pattern and at times the movie seems to succumb to the weight of all the narrative and symbolism it's carrying. Esthetic posturing undermines profundity; the exuberant flourishes and grand brush strokes overwhelm substance. It's cinematic over emotional reality. While you may admire the complexity, ambition and brilliance, it's unclear if the irresolution at the end is a reflection of human life or a surfeit of information that's hard to digest.

{This was originally posted to The Screaming Pope, Francis Levy's blog of rants and reactions to contemporary politics, art and culture}

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(l. to r.) Andrew Cyrille; photo: Petra Cvelbar; Thelonious Monk (1966); photo: Everett Collection

By Dan Ouellette, ZEALnyc Senior Editor, December 28, 2016

Think the brutal cold and sometimes snow or freezing rain of New York in January can keep musicians and crowds off the streets and huddled under blankets at home? Think again. In fact, it seems that the city's annual festivals have found a vital life in one of the darkest and bleakest months of the year. Think of it as the heat factor in the short days of daylight. There is no hibernation season, but rather a sizzling of high-caliber music that has been sprouting to life despite the chill.

You'd think summer, with all its green glory, would be the season of choice for music--especially jazz--to swing right into our lives. But the gray, leafless, snowy or icy season of the winter wonderland has in recent years made for a different kind of celebration that eclipses other times of the year. Of course, the cultural impact of New York City, in all its boroughs, is the grand central of local and international musicians gathering in artistic anticipation. It could well be the act of keeping warm by gathering.

Herein are the top 5 fests of the wintertide.

••• Five Snowballs: NYC Winter Jazzfest, January 5-10

What started twelve years ago as an inspired goal of giving voice to the plethora of relatively unknown but immensely talented jazz musicians toiling in the multitude of the New York's tiny and obscure clubs, the Jazzfest has become hands down the best festival for jazz in the entire year in a city where improvised music never sleeps. Some call it the SXSW of jazz.

It's immense. This year's fest stretches over six days, highlighted by the two-night Jazzfest Marathon on Friday, Jan. 6 and continues on Saturday, Jan. 7 at thirteen venues in and around Greenwich Village and across Lower Manhattan. More than 140 different groups comprising four hundred musicians take the various stages.

The range of music is dizzying. There's a not-to-be-missed opening night show (Thursday, Jan. 5 at Le Poisson Rouge) featuring jazz elder saxophonist Pharoah Sanders (who played in one of John Coltrane's later bands) and the young upstart from Britain, saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, who is one of the most dynamic young saxophonists in jazz today--though not well known because he hails from across the pond and has rarely played in the U.S. The bookend of the fest takes place on Tuesday, Jan. 10, when Le Poisson Rouge presents Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra and its Concert for Social Justice with special guest pianist Geri Allen and arrangements by LMO co-founder Carla Bley.

In between, there's a plethora of jazz wonder, including salutes two of jazz's top labels, Blue Note and ECM, with bands from their stables. Plus there's a #BlackLivesMatter showcase of poetry and song by several groups as well as the Jazz Legends Play for Disability Pride NYC benefit concert at the Quaker's Friends Meeting House.

Salutes go to two of jazz's greats: artist in residence drummer/composer Andrew Cyrille and a special honoring of the 100th birthday anniversary of one of jazz's top masters: piano genius Thelonious Monk--one of the most influential artists to the new class of jazz musicians.

If it all seems a bit overwhelming, well, it is--like going to the North Sea Jazz Festival in July in Rotterdam and being faced with acts playing on 13 different stages all at the same time. So, a word to the potentially weary: choose carefully and become immersed in only tidbits of the offerings.

••• Four Snowballs: globalFEST, January 8, Webster Hall

Granted it's only a one-night shot (scaled down from what it used to be), but globalFEST (globalfest.org) is a multifarious extravaganza of world music from around the planet that takes place in the multiple performance spaces in Webster Hall). "This year's edition brings us full circle to why we started globalFEST in 2003 following 9/11 and the country's closing of borders," noted globalFEST co-founder Isabel Soffer. "We wanted to encourage our colleagues in the performing arts field to take artistic risks, and put international perspectives centerstage."

With "building bridges" culturally by music as its theme, this year's edition features tradion and experimentalists including old-school Congo rumba by L'Orchestre Afrisa International), Africa-rooted Latin by Betsayda Machado, socio-political Cuban club music by Batida, shaman-rooted glam rock of Korea's SsingSsing, African nu-soul singer Jojo Abot, and digital-looping Estonian folk violinist/singer Maarja Nuut. Also on the program are the global facets of very regional American styles: D.C.'s Rare Essence's funk-fired go-go and Ranky Tanky's take on the Gullah Sea Island traditions in South Carolina.

Added tastemaker and festival co-founder Bill Bragin: "globalFEST strongly believes that these unique cultural and personal expressions are what bring us closer together as a society. Diversity is a force that unites, not divides." Indeed this is the world in all its diverse beauty.

There is no place to better dive into the wealth of the world's music on the same evening as globalFEST. It's a unique event--only in New York--put together by the wise and wily expertise of the show's founders and programmers. Support it!

Lineup of artists for this year's globalFEST:

* AlSarah and the Nubatones (Sudan/Brooklyn): East African Retro-Pop
* Batida (Portugal/Angola): Afro electronic dance party
* Betsayda Machado y La Parranda El Clavo (Venezuela): Powerhouse Afro-Venezuelan vocalist (U.S. debut)
* Jojo Abot (Ghana/Denmark/USA): Experimental Afropolitan pop-soul
* Hoba Hoba Spirit (Morocco): Casablanca's irreverent rock stars.
* L'Orchestre Afrisa International et M'bilia Bel (DRC/USA): Tabu Ley Rochereau's Congolese rumba legends return
* Maarja Nuut featuring Hendrik Kaljujärv (Estonia): Digital Estonian folk soundscapes
* Ranky Tanky (USA): Funky Gullah songs of the South Carolina Sea Islands
* Rare Essence (USA): D.C.'s pioneering polyrhythmic Go-Go superstars
* Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition (USA): Indo-jazz
* Septeto Santiaguero (Cuba): Grammy-winning son cubano stars
* SsingSsing (Korea): Shamanistic Korean folk songs meet rock

••• Three Snowballs: Jazz at Lincoln Center, January/February Lineup

While Jazz at Lincoln Center is not advertising it as such, but iut sure looks like a January/February festival if there ever has been. Whether it's staged at Rose Theater (the centerpiece of the jazz performance spaces) or at the amphitheater-like stage, the Appel Room with its backdrop of a picture window onto the colorful Columbus Circle, the shows this winter are top-tier events.

A brief overview:

* Branford Marsalis Quartet With Special Guest Vocalist Kurt Elling: January 20-21, Rose Theater
This collaboration, once viewed as a one-shot event/recording, has been a perfect fit. Adventurous jazz from the saxophonist teamed with the quirky, equally daring vocals by one of the best in jazz makes for a special evening of song.

* Celebrating Dizzy Gillespie: January 26-28, Rose Theater
The Diz would have been 100 years old this year. While he passed away in 1993, nearly a quarter century ago, the trumpeter/musical adventurer--who co-founded the bebop movement and brought Afro-Cuban music into the jazz vernacular--still influences the vital music of today. Wynton Marsalis leads his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with musical director Vincent Gardner in well-recognized Dizzy standards (i.e., "Salt Peanuts," "Night in Tunisia") as well new pieces inspired by the icon.

* The Latin Side of Dizzy With Carlos Henriquez: January 27-28, Appel Room
Musical director and bassist Carlos Henriquez brings together an all-star Latin jazz cast to celebrate Gillespie's contribution to Latin jazz.

* Dianne Reeves: February 10-11, Rose Theater
One of the top-tier jazz singers of this generation, the Grammy Award-winning Dianne Reeves sings lush swing for this special pre-Valentine engagement. Love and romance in the mix!

* Jazz of the '50s: Overflowing With Style: February 17-18, Rose Theater
While today's jazz continues to evolve and grow in experimentation and in popularity, the golden age of the idiom historically inarguably took place in the 1950s. Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with musical director Chris Crenshaw prove that assessment by performing the classic music of the eras by Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Gerry Mulligan and others.

••• Two Snowballs: The Ferus Festival, January 5-10

In its fourth annual year, the Ferus Festival sets up shop in January at National Sawdust, curated by its in-house producing and touring company VisionIntoArt. This festival features "untamed voices" showcasing multimedia collaborations and works-in-progress. As might be expected with National Sawdust, the mix is very eclectic, including collaborations in new music, theater and multimedia by innovative international and local artists

A snapshot roundup of shows:

* M IS BLACK ENOUGH: Poetry by Roger Bonair-Agard; music by Andy Akiho, Thursday, January 5

* The Afield and Nelson Patton with Lonnie Holley (split bill): Friday, January 6
Visual and textual storytelling within musical performance. Violinist Rebecca Fischer performs with a band and a film by Anthony Hawley is shown; Nelson Patton is an experimental duo of looped trombone (Dave Nelson) and drums & Moog bass pedals (Marlon Patton) with Lonnie Holley contributing vocals.

* Revert to Sea created and composed by Yuka C. Honda: Friday, January 6
Multimedia work-in-progress based on the writings of Japanese author Ryu Murakami, created and composed by Yuka C. Honda and performed by Honda, Alex Cline, Nels Cline, Devin Hoff and Zeena Parkins with video production by Brian Close, Kiki Kudo and Honda.

* Requiem for: A Tuesday: Saturday, January 7
A theatrical concert that takes the form of a ceremony in which those assembled are invited to overcome fear by looking to each other. Music, dance, with vocalist/improviser Helga Davis and bass-baritone Davóne Tines.

* Mass Reimaginings Showcase: Sunday, January 8
For this Sunday evening engagement, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and its companion chamber ensemble NOVUS NY are led by conductor Julian Wachner in an evening of contemporary Mass music.

* Record Release: Sxip Shirey's A Bottle of Whiskey and a Handful of Bees: Monday, January 9
National Sawdust's in-house record label VIA Records celebrates its release of the new album by composer, producer, interdisciplinary performer and NS curator Sxip Shirey.

* Lullaby Movement: Tuesday, January 10
A contemporary performance work incorporating music, movement and theater exploring lullaby ritual from around the world in over 20 languages and dialects as a staged theatrical song-cycle. Music composed by Sophia Brous, Leo Abrahams and David Coulter.

••• One Snowball: Evolving--Justice Is Compassion/Not a Police State

In this massive festival of social commentary, Evolving runs from January 2 through 22 (except 1/8 and 1/15) at Abrazo Interno Gallery, Clemente Soto Valez Cultural Center (107 Suffolk Street, Manhattan). Three sets each night by an array of under-the-cover jazz ensembles musically speaking out on the big clampdown we all fear. Let music be our shield!
_________________________

Dan Ouellette, Senior Editor at ZEALnyc, writes frequently for noted Jazz publications, including DownBeat and Rolling Stone, and is the author of Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes and Bruce Lundvall: Playing by Ear.

Read more from ZEALnyc below:

'Exhibitionism--The Rolling Stones' is a 'rocker's Nirvana'

'Sweat' is as timely and powerful as a freight train

Alvin Ailey Continues to Thrill

For all the news on New York City arts and culture, visit ZEALnyc Front Page.

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Concert - Starman: A Celebration of David Bowie

Just six days after his death, more than 20 bands and 100 performers came together to celebrate the life and music of David Bowie. The five-hour sell-out concert, held in the dimmed Gothic beauty of London's Union Chapel and streamed live around the world, had a rawness and energy that was unique.

Performers, many of whom had known or played with the musician, all played Bowie tracks. They included a the Magic Numbers, the Egg, The Feeling, members of the Sex Pistols and the Bad Seeds, Maggie Ronson (sister of Mick), David McAlmont, Clifford Slapper and Guy Pratt who has played with the likes of Pink Floyd and Madonna.

Suzanne Moore and David Baddiel spoke. Comedian John Robertson was the compare. There was mass karaoke, comedy, cabaret, reminiscences and eclectic interpretations of Bowie classics. Kooks was played on the electro harp, Where Are We Now on the saw and there was even a spine-tingling version of Lazarus, released just a week earlier was played.

Organised in record time the concert came together through the sheer force of will of small group of Bowie fans who wanted to give him a fitting send off. That it came together so well was little short of a miracle. As one of the performers commented at the end of the show: "It was almost as if someone was watching over us."

A short film of the event will be released on 10 January. Find out more at https://twitter.com/bowie_tribute.

Best new artist - Bee Bakare

From the first moment Bee Bakare began playing at a small Soho club the audience was utterly transfixed. Her richly textured vocals, catchy hooks and fizzing musicality immediately set this young acoustic soul pop singer-songwriter apart.

Her lyrics - warm, heart-felt and upbeat - take flight on an incredible voice reminiscent of young Tracy Chapman, Joan Armatrading or Lauryn Hill. But unlike those singers, Bee's big smile is never far away.

Equally comfortable playing alone or with her excellent five-piece band, Bee released an EP last summer and has recentlyreleased her first single, 'Waiting to Happen,' from her upcoming EP. It's unlikely Bee Bakare will be "waiting to happen" for long.

Find out more at http://www.beebakare.com/

Best Film - Wùlu

Dubbed the 'Scarface' of West Africa, this debut feature by French-Malinese filmmaker Daouda Coulibaly is no traditional gangster thriller. Set against the run-up to the 2012 Mali Civil War this subtle and complex thriller is held together by a remarkable central performance by actor, Ibrahim Koma. Koma plays an impoverished taxi driver who turns to a new career as a drug smuggler.

Fast-paced and the absorbing, the film sucks the viewer into the lives of its characters as well as the brutal realities of West Africa's cocaine trade: a trade that is intimately tied to corrupt politicians, the military and al-Qaeda operatives.

Selected to close this year's Film Africa film festival in London, this film deserves to follow in the footsteps of Timbuktu (2014), all the way to the Oscars.

Best Film Festival - FiSahara

Far from the red-carpeted opulence of Cannes and Sundance, the Sahara International Film Festival - known as FiSahara - took place in a sun-baked refugee camp deep in the Algerian desert. What it may have lacked in glittering VIP premieres and champagne-fuelled yacht parties, FiSahara made up for in spades with dune parties, camel races and multiplex-sized screenings beneath the stars.

Now in its 13th year, the FiSahara film festival - the remotest film festival in the world - attracted over 350 international actors, screenwriters and cinephiles, International guests stayed with the refugees, sharing their homes and their food and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with them on rugs to watch movies.

This year's programme included more than 50 films, all projected at night onto two large outdoor screens attached to the side of articulated lorries. Beyond the films, highlights included workshops, acrobats and concert in the dunes by an acclaimed Spanish band, Vetusta Morla.

To find more about the film festival and the film school or how to submit films or attend the next edition of FiSahara (April 2018), click here.

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People think they know Norman Rockwell, and they look for what they expect of him. But so often he presented an image that defied their expectations. He wouldn’t settle for the easy solution, the usual story line. That is why he loved to hear people’s stories of their lives, their struggles, the comic moments of relief and surprise in the midst of the drama. He searched for what was real in the illusionary world of illustration and sought a synthesis of those two disparate realities.

“Party’s Over” appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on December 29, 1945 — almost four months after the long, drawn-out WWII ended, leaving an enervated nation staring into an unknown future.

And with just the back of a lone waiter, Rockwell reveals so much. Instead of the predictable exhausted revelry of a group of partiers, my grandfather chooses the solitary image of one man with a small build, his shoulders somewhat collapsed in a dejected feeling about the task at hand — to clean up after the others have had their champagne, their dancing, their fill. He is separate from all the trimmings of celebration — the ribbons, hats, confetti, yet he is covered with the remnants of the night. Strangely, all the glasses and bottles of champagne and liquor are already gone, removed.

He appears to be in a state ballroom or banquet hall, the regal gold curtains present a rigid, formal atmosphere in contrast to the reminders of the party’s chaos, frivolity, and perhaps rule breaking. The waiter, in his catering attire, his two-button jacket with tails, is having none of it — he has a job to do and he will do it, albeit somewhat reluctantly, the tray languishes at his side with his own stark, grey shadow reflected in it. The mirrored effect of another banquet hall adjoining this one and the light of day beckoning on the other side play with the idea of a light at the end of a tunnel. The candle lamps on the table still burn brightly.

Rockwell changes his signature to suit the occasion and image, as he often did; his name runs at the bottom of the canvas — almost unnoticed — mimicking the confetti ribbons above.

Of all the myriad images Pop could have chosen at the close of that tumultuous year, 1945, why did he choose this one of dejection, lethargy and solitude — of facing an unknown future without much joy, just focused on the job that needed to be attended to?

That was much the state of America at that time. World War II had taken a great toll — physically, emotionally and psychically — on the American people and everyone around the world. What comes next? the country and the world unconsciously seemed to be asking. We were in uncharted territory without a map or a guide. Film Noir, that darkened period of edgy Hollywood and world cinema that arrived in the early 40’s and matured after the War, appeared on screen out of this feeling of uncertainty and the cruelty of an unknown fate — the femme fatale — that seemed beyond our control.

Except we are a nation that was built on a strong and lasting vision. A vision that was born out of great difficulty and carnage — we are still a young country in comparison to the rest of the world — but a powerful vision that remains within us inherently without our prompting. And that is the continuing vision that Norman Rockwell was often able to capture in his almost 60 years as an illustrator, as our nation began to grow up, stumble, fall back, and pick itself up again and again with renewed vision and vigor.

This is who we were and who we are and will always be. A nation that will aspire, achieve, overstep, make errors, rectify itself, and begin again stronger and hopefully wiser. That is our essence as a nation. And it is the essence of Pop’s vision of America and its continuing progress technologically, emotionally and spiritually.

We can’t have the peace on earth we are seeking right now. Yet we can begin to find that peace within ourselves, our lives, and the life around us. That is how we regrow and expand the original vision for this country and our world. Nothing can happen without that profound and powerful vision. And we need to hold fast to that always evolving dream, now more than ever.

Our faith is not tested in periods of prosperity and pockets of time spent in blissful serenity. Our faith is made real in times of crisis, unknowing and disquiet. Those are the moments that reveal who we truly are, not who we hope to be or wish we were.

May 2017 be the year that marks the beginning of the great healing for our nation and the world, a year when even the smallest wishes peek through to see the light of day. Sometimes true healing only comes after the greatest crisis point is reached. That is why people continue to be drawn to the affirmative message of Rockwell. We know it is possible. And till our last breath we will breathe and live that truth with determination and grit because that is who we know we are and are struggling to become.

Warmest wishes for a bright New Year, in spite of everything.

Abigail

P.S. I chose this Google image of the actual Post cover with a worn address card affixed. I love the destroyed Post signage and tattered edges. Yet the quality of the reproduction is surprisingly lucid and un-degraded.

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By Mercedes Vizcaino, ZEALnyc Contributing Writer, December 29, 2016

As the holiday season winds down, you're left with the proverbial question: 'What am I doing for New Year's?' Many people find themselves reflecting on the past year's events and decide to stay in, some want to party like it's 1999 and visit opulent clubs, while others may be looking to explore new adventures that would provide them with an epic, end-of-year glorious time. We have pulled together a list of happenings and events that will be occurring all over the city, which we're hoping will motivate you to celebrate - all at your own pace (and budget). You may enjoy a midnight race through Central Park, join jubilant themed cruises and rooftop parties with breathtaking views, attend concerts at St. John the Divine and Lincoln Center, or even find yourself jiving at a jazz club in lower Manhattan. There is sure to be something here that will satisfy every New Year's Eve dream you've ever had--so start planning NOW!

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Times Square

The quintessential New Year's Eve celebration is back at Times Square as millions of revelers will come out to see the famous Ball Drop. Musical headliners Gavin DeGraw and Rachel Platten will be performing their hit songs "I Don't Want To Be" and "Fight Song" for the live Commercial-Free Webcast and TV Pool Feed. Joining the singers for this stellar evening is platinum-selling producer, rapper and songwriter, Silentó and the inaugural New Year, New Voices selection Jojo Abot. The webcast and livestream will begin with the Ball Raising at 6pm EST; live musical performances, behind-the-scenes stories, and star-studded interviews as anticipation builds towards the midnight countdown of the famous Ball Drop. For more information, click here.

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Prospect Park; photo: Andrew Gardner

Fireworks at Prospect Park

Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and the Prospect Park Alliance have teamed up to celebrate Prospect Park's 150th Anniversary at Grand Army Plaza. Starting at 11pm, live entertainment will fill Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park and attendees will witness the grand fireworks display with views from the north end of the Park's East and West Drives. Now in its 37th year, the event is free to the public. For more information, click here.

Fashion Avenue News Magazine Free New Year's Party

Join Fashion Avenue News Magazine for their 6th annual one-of-a-kind New Year's event featuring two fashion shows, a live DJ and renowned independent fashion designers, models and artists. Here's your chance to dress up in your finest duds and party with industry insiders. Special guest, model, Avadora Mimouni will be in attendance. Event organizer and Editor-in-Chief of Fashion Avenue News Magazine, Sofia Davis, says: "We are the friendliest people in the fashion industry and it's a way for us to give back to those that cannot afford the big-ticket prices for New Year's Eve events." For more information and tickets, click here.

Photo courtesy of NYRR

NYRR Midnight Run in Central Park

Get your fitness resolution off to a great start with New York Road Runner's 38th Midnight Run event in Central Park. At the stroke of midnight on December 31st, fireworks and running devotees of all ages will set off the New Year with a bang! This is the first year the NYRR Midnight Run will be a scored race and award credit towards the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon. Runners and guests will partake in pre- and post-race dancing, snacks, and live music. Participants in the race will vie for a prize purse of $2,000. For more information and to register or volunteer, click here.

Phish at Madison Square Garden on New Year's Eve

If celebrating the New Year by listening to your favorite psychedelic-rock band amongst 20,000 strangers is your cup of tea, then look no further. Phish will be performing their bluegrass, rock and folk music-influenced hits for their fans to enjoy on New Year's Eve at Madison Square Garden. For tickets and concert info, click here.

New York Philharmonic's New Year's Eve Concert

Tony-award winning and Metropolitan Opera baritone Paulo Szot and multiple Grammy-award winner mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will join the New York Philharmonic orchestra with their rendition of classic Broadway musicals. Songs on the program include, "The Rain in Spain" from Lerner & Loew's My Fair Lady, "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from Rodger's and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music. The orchestra will perform Four Dance Episodes from Copland's Rodeo, J. Strauss II's On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Rodger's Carousel Waltz, and Loew's Embassy Waltz. For more information and tickets, click here.

The Metropolitan Opera's New Year's Eve Gala

Come see the premiere of Bartlett Sher's production of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera. Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo sing the title roles; Gianandrea Noseda conducts. The performance is followed by dinner, dancing and fireworks on the Mercedes T. Bass Grand Tier. Tickets start at $1,000. For more information for Gala tickets click here; for tickets to attend the performance only click here.

Parisian Follies; photo Mark Shelby Perry

Dances of Vice: Parisian Follies New Year's Eve Grande Spectacle

This extravagant review offers a blend of Parisian delights, from opera to vaudeville and can-can girls, all within the palatial walls of Brooklyn's famed the Grand Prospect Hall. As the clock strikes midnight, patrons will witness playful Rococo and Belle Époque entertainment with a dash of decadence from postwar Paris in tribute to the splendid history of infamous cabaret halls, including Folie Bergére, Moulin Rouge and Casino de Paris. Dress your best, eat French cuisine and brace yourself for a night of unbridled fun! Tickets start at $75. For more information, click here.

The Standard Hotel / Highline New Year's Eve Events

Does facing the New York Skyline in every direction you're standing appeal to you? If you answered yes, then that's one of the benefits of ringing in the New Year at the Standard Hotel for their black-tie affair. Spend December 31st at The Top of the Standard with Gladys Knight and count down the New Year with The Empress of Soul as she performs a special set for the evening. If you prefer to have your favorite house and disco songs spun on the ones and twos, then check out internationally acclaimed DJ, Danny Krivit at The Standard Hotel's Le Bain club. For more information and tickets, click here.

The McKittrick Masquerade: A New Year's Eve Bohemian Soirée

The McKittrick Hotel, home of the immersive theatre show Sleep No More, is a bohemian-inspired soirée complete with live pop-up theatrical performances, scenic installations and open bar all night long. On New Year's Eve, guests are required to arrive in costumes inspired by iconic films - all gold, black, white, or red for the McKittrick Masquerade. Tickets start at $225. For more information and tickets, click here.

Monarch Rooftop & Indoor Lounge

Perched 18 floors above Midtown Manhattan, this expansive 5,000 square foot of outdoor and indoor space with incredible views of the adjacent Empire State Building and city skyline will leave you in awe. There will be a DJ to spin tunes from 9pm - 4am, doors open at 8pm. For more information and tickets, click here.

New Year's Eve Cruises

If sailing around the New York harbor for New Year's sounds thrilling, then check out Cruise New Year's Eve sensational "New Year's Eve Fireworks Dance Cruise" Tickets start at $150. Boarding begins at 9:30pm and docks from the SkyPort Marina. For more information, click here.

If you're feeling nostalgic and want to relive the Roaring Twenties, then the Great Gatsby Cruise will fulfill your fantasies with open bar and Twenties-themed attire, setting sail from Pier 36. For more information and tickets, click here.

Nightclub / Cabaret

Watch Sandra Bernhard ring in the New (with shows all week leading up to the big night) at Joe's Pub in her new "Feel the Bernhard" show. The unapologetic comedienne is ready to take no prisoners and pulls no punches with her latest foray. For more info and tickets, click here.

If you're in the mood for comedy then check out Charles Busch's New Year's Eve Show at Feinstein's/54 Below at 7pm. The drag legend combines hilarious personal reminiscence, character sketches and superb storytelling through song. For more information and tickets, click here. Following Busch's magnetic performance is Annaleigh Ashford's New Year's Magic Show at 11pm. Tony Award-winner, Annaleigh Ashform will delight audiences with her eclectic mix of songs, stories, and impressive magic tricks. For more details and tickets, click here.

Charles Busch at Feinstein's / 54 Below

Singer/Songwriter Steve Tyrell is back with his resident holiday season at Café Carlyle performing his classic hits on New Year's Eve. For more info and tickets, click here.

Master organist Dr. Lonnie Smith will be at the Jazz Standard with a New Year's Eve performance showcasing his talents for blending ballads and climactic songs. For more information click here.

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Concert for Peace at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Founded by Leonard Bernstein in 1984, The Concert for Peace has become the Cathedral's most celebrated event. On its 32nd season, the concert will feature special guests Judy Collins, soprano Jamet Pittman performing "This Little Light of Mine" and Jason Robert Brown singing "To Build a Home" from the musical The Bridges of Madison County. The celebration culminates with the light of thousands of candles held aloft by audience members. There are a limited number of general admission tickets free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, tickets start at $40. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
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Mercedes Vizcaino, a Contributing Writer with ZEALnyc, writes about lifestyle and cultural events in and around New York City.

More features from ZEALnyc:

Holiday Wishes and New Year's Resolutions (and what we're looking forward to next year!)

NYC Offers a Multitude of Movie Theaters for Your Holiday Viewing Pleasure

Finding your inner Olaf at all the NYC area ice skating rinks

For all the news on New York City arts and culture, visit ZEALnyc Front Page.

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In the fiercely competitive art scene, the challenge for an artist to display their work and distinguish it from others gets increasingly difficult. So when that aim is eventually achieved, it is followed with a desire to produce and stand out even more. For one of the many artists, this journey began a few weeks ago.
Earlier this month, the C. John Gallery, located in London's renowned Mayfair, presented the first solo art exhibition of Antinea Boletsi, a talented artist and graduate of Hartford Art School at The University of Hartford, CT, USA , having obtained a Fine Arts Degree there in 2006.
As Katerina Kritikou, an Athens-based art historian, put it, 'Antinea's work focuses primarily on landscapes, still lifes and portraits. Her love of nature is clearly evident in her landscapes. Her work in general demonstrates the expressiveness and simplicity of her art. Antinea's art hides an oxymoron. Her artistic insight is contemporary. However, the style of her brushstrokes is classical and impressionistic. Her eye for detail is and remains exemplary.'

Katerina continues, 'Antinea's world is simple, ordinary. Her artistic view is contemporary and incisive, in constant search of the essential with a sense of nostalgia for the past. Her paintings follow the rules of figurative art. They showcase beauty, with the naivety and the intact talent of a child, but also with the sharp eye of a passionate observer.'
The opening of the exhibition itself was an extremely successful event with a great turnout of over 200 people of differing backgrounds.

For Antinea, having her work displayed at the established C. John Gallery was all the more rewarding. For over eighty-years, it has represented the most refined qualities of art in the living environment. Nowadays, it is world's leader in antique rugs and remains the only fine carpet gallery in the world to hold the Royal Warrant as supplier of carpets to Queen Elizabeth II. Additionally, C. John is also a member of the British Antique Dealers Association.

With an esteemed international client base and having recently collaborated with the boutique art advisory business Martix, C. John is successfully adapting to the ever-changing market by combining contemporary and antique art in a sophisticated environment.
For Antinea, her exhibition marks her first, official and long overdue step into the art world. There is no doubt in my mind that she has plenty to offer. Her many artistic qualities are reflected in her work and she is always striving to improve. I am fortunate to have had my own portrait done by her, so I am well placed to say that her creativity and painting skills are evident.
The exhibition will run until January 6th 2017. For all art lovers who happen to reside in London and for those visiting before then, I encourage you to go and see for yourself the work of this special, unique and aspiring artist.

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons Dmitriy Guryanov

Amid the snowy scene of Moscow in winter, the Bolshoi Theatre presented Verdi's epic opera Don Carlo.

Why see an Italian opera in Russia? Historical context and a love of classical music unite Russia and Italy culturally and provide a rich backdrop for opera. Approaching the historic Bolshoi theatre in the center of Moscow prepares you to be transported to another era. The bright lights of Theatre Square welcome you into another world as you cross the threshold into the opulent foyer of the 19th century theatre.

Alongside the Bolshoi ballet company with premieres such as Swan Lake in 1877, the opera company generally specializes in the classics of Russian opera such as Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Glinka's A Life for the Tsar, and Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride, as well as the operas of Tchaikovsky. However, operas by several other composers are also performed, especially works of Italian composers.

The Bolshoi theatre opera company maintains several Italian operas in their repertoire, including a recent premiere of Don Pasquale, along with favorites like La Bohème, and La Traviata. In the 2016 season they presented Verdi's Don Carlo in honor of the Giuseppe Verdi Bicentennial.

The enchanting music in the nearly 4 hour original score of Don Carlo is characteristic of Verdi, brooding and emotional, yet complex. So, it should come as no surprise that it would be popular in a cosmopolitan and culturally diverse city like Moscow. The opera is based on the life of Carlos, Prince of Asturias, and was originally composed to be sung in French as Don Carlos, then was later translated to Italian to become the work Don Carlo.

The opening scene in the mid-December production of Don Carlo featured a bleak, snowy landscape, mirroring the season. The top-notch cast was primarily composed of members from Russian-speaking countries. The lead roles, including the protagonist Don Carlo, were expertly interpreted. Of note was the role Princess Eboli, a particularly popular role with Dramatic Mezzo Sopranos. Ekaterina Gubanova brought to the production her international experience with interpreting the role, including a recent performance at Teatro alla Scala, infusing her performance with passion and the rich tone and control of her voice. The dazzling choral work and expertly choreographed dance scenes added depth to the performance.

Why choose the Bolshoi Theatre to see an opera? It is true that in modern times the Bolshoi theatre has been more closely associated with Ballet, but the theatre has more to offer. The current theatre was opened in 1825, and serves as a perfectly adapted platform to show off an opera that had its debut in Bologna, Italy (Italian version) in the same general timeframe in 1867.

Longstanding cultural ties between Russia and Italy are evidenced by several lovely buildings constructed in both Moscow and St. Petersburg by architects of Italian descent. One such project was the Theatre Square project in Moscow which includes the current Bolshoi Theatre. The project was overseen by Joseph Bové, who was born in St. Petersburg to the family of Vincenzo Giovanni Bova, a painter from Naples, who settled in Russia in 1782.

After being steeped in the 19th century within the Bolshoi theatre, emerging into the frosty night braces you for re-entry into the present as you take in the enchanting snow-covered scene of Moscow at night.

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