Bonsoir,
Happy fall and love to all New Yorkers dealing with three months of rain in three hours on Friday. September came and went insanely fast amidst podcast launchapalooza (still unfolding), weddings and funerals outside of town and overseas.
I am writing to you from the airport terminal in Paris, where I just was to attend my uncle’s funeral and see friends and family (and perform a dance solo for the first time in years- more on that later) which happened to be during fashion week and my experiences of fashion week from the fringes were so absurd that I have to share.
A thing I often forget is that churches in Paris are tourist destinations and my uncle’s funeral happened to be at the Madeleine (where my two uncles and father were choir boys growing up- yes I am Jewish on my mother’s side). As the ceremony unfolded I turned around only to realize that tourists were filming it (it’s okay to laugh I did too).
Later that afternoon my dad, brother and I went to see an exhibit and my brother still had on his suit from the funeral earlier for an event that evening. The exhibit happened to be by the Palais de Tokyo/ the heart of Fashion Week. As we walked out, with my dad and I in more casual clothing framing my brother, I heard some camera snaps from afar. I am 99% sure a photo was taken of my brother and us as his wranglers not realizing the suit was for another occasion.
Two days later, after a very late dinner with friends, I decided to take the bus versus the subway which was idiotic because of traffic during fashion week. At one point our bus came to a halt as we heard dozens of women screaming in the streets. My fellow bus passengers and I glued our faces to the bus window to figure out what was going on as what seemed to be a KPOP band came out of a fashion week after party and a woman passed out in front of the bus from the sighting of said band and I- once again- regretted my choice of not going underground instead.
Speaking of underground, here are the shows, podcasts and films that I hunkered down for this month- I hope you can find some comfort in them too.
MOVIES
If you want to cry of laughter and maybe happen to have a background in the arts: I beg you to see Theater Camp. It really wasn’t on my radar until my coworker Claire had us go see it so I pulled Sarah in with me and I haven’t seen Sarah laugh so hard at anything before. The movie is exactly what you think it is, a film about the absurdities of the people and practices at Theater Camp but what makes the movie so tight is the chemistry between Molly Gordon (boring girlfriend in The Bear!) and Ben Platt who actually went to theater camp together in real life. It’s, no joke or exaggeration, this generation’s Wet Hot American Summer meets Waiting for Guffman.
Theater Camp
If you like a film that doesn’t say much at all with beautiful cinematography: I’ll be honest I was disappointed by Fremont because the trailer was so good, the premise unusual and visuals stunning (and Jeremy Allen White!) but it falls a bit flat for me. This black and white film tells the story of an Afghan refugee, Donya, who works in a fortune cookie factory in Fremont, California, and struggles to sleep and find love. Donya is sort of a “Daria” like character who seems to be the only normal and anchored person in her life, surrounded by strange Americans who portray the antithesis of the American dream. It’s too bad that it doesn’t really take you anywhere because I loved the tone and idea behind it.
Fremont
If you want a psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes until the very end: I recommend Madeleine Collins, featuring Virginie Efira who seems to be in every single film that comes out of France these days. The film follows her character Madeleine as she straddles living two lives as a mother in two families in Switzerland and France- I won’t reveal much more as to not spoil the plot but some elements are really unexpected.
If you want an action packed girls trip that might not be safe to watch on a plane (even though I did): Watch Joy Ride! On my list since it came out in August, this movie follows four friends in China (three traveling, one residing) on a mission to help one find her birth mother. It’s a super ballsy and chaotic ode to female friendship and I slightly regret exposing my plane neighbor to a 3 or so minute long montage of sex-capades the friends were individually experiencing involving a basketball, eiffel tower and more.
Joy Ride
I am also slightly embarrassed to say that I watched But I am a Cheerleader for the first time after years of people telling me I should and they were right, it’s life changing and a new favorite. It’s just perfect in every way and so inspiring theatrically.
TV
If you like a doc about a failed business/juicy gossip: I never played HQ trivia- obviously knew about it but completely forgot the unfolding of the company and it’s pretty tragic. I came out of watching this still feeling like it was a good idea- but the outcome was awful. A captivating tale against bad bosses.
The best TV concept I’ve seen in years that I am incredibly late on: Shame on me for never watching How to with John Wilson- it’s just unparalleled and maybe the one thing you should watch out of all this if you haven’t yet that will make you fall in love with New York all over again. John has collected years of unbelievable footage of mundane New York and edited it in episodes as “how to” videos (like “how to make friends”). Nathan Fielder is his executive producer and they completely belong in the same family with John being maybe kinder, a more gentle soul. We devoured the three seasons (they’re very short) and though you can really pick up wherever I do feel like season 1 and 2 are still the best.
The bachelor we’ve all been waiting for: I’ve been waiting for this show to come out since the casting notice for seniors on the bachelor went out years ago but the Golden Bachelor is the correct bachelor- no one should be on the bachelor until they hit 60 years old.
Visual Art
New York
Camille de Galbert at The Invisible Dog (Free): Camille is an artist of every medium, a previous dancer, turned filmmaker and now sculptor and she spent most of covid developing a practice making work out of wax that holds so much movement within.
Camille de Galbert
Mellány Sanchez’s Objects of Permanence at Abrons Art Center (Free) was also an amazing look at the rich histories of the Puerto Rican community in the garment district- specifically organized during New York Fashion Week (shout out to my girl Ali for programming this!). I went to the show on an extremely hot day and was moved by how much the staff offered to help answer any questions I had and realizing a lot of the photos were taken by my American great-grandfather’s ribbon shop that he lost during the great depression on Orchard Street (as the son of Russian immigrants).
From Mellány Sanchez’s Objects of Permanence
Christian Walker’s Dreaming of Home at the Leslie Lohman Museum (Free) is a beautiful show that gathers 20 or so LGBTQIA+ artists looking at queer and trans domesticated life through intergenerational perspectives. It’s a quick one (just one room) but the works really range from being informed from trauma (Catherine Opie) to humorous photography looking at gender roles (Amos Mac) to house party pictures (Rene Matić).
Maria Magdalena Campos’ exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum is a really dense survey of her work (including performance, sculpture and paintings) that look at her family’s history of survival. From the oceanic voyage from Africa during the slave trade in the 18th century, to its aftermath in Cuba on the sugar plantations, to the present day in the United States. I had sadly never heard of her prior and felt like I was able to get so much of her work and life from this show. Her performance videos surrounding these topics were particularly powerful.
Maria Magdalena Campos
In Paris
The most gorgeous painting exhibition I have seen is the Nicolas de Staël retrospective in Paris. Within one year of his life he produced 270 pieces that are each so thoughtfully done in every way, each gesture, color palette. They’re so simple and yet emotionally charged. I had lunch with my friend Louise the next day, who happens to be his granddaughter and she laughed talking about a negative review: “my grandfather’s dead, it’s a retrospective, how is he supposed to improve?”
Another not to miss is the Ron Mueck exhibit at the Fondation Cartier (which is worth going to because it is in itself the most gorgeous and understated museum surrounded by gardens featuring Agnes Varda’s little wooden cabana). I have a weird fascination with the hyperrealism movement in sculpture and Mueck is basically one of its patron saints. It seems like such an ancient premise in art but I can’t help but be in awe of every little nail, wrinkle and toe and still don’t quite understand the magnitude of the process of making these pieces that are each so massive and yet so precise and unique.
Performances
I was really surprised to see the very queer and Black album release dance performance, Heart of Brick, that Serpenfeet staged at The Joyce Theater of all places. Referred to as an “RnB” Opera, the show premiered at Kampnagel in Germany and has been on a world tour since. Serpenfeet made the rigid theater space incredibly cozy from the beginning, welcoming us in his silk pajamas and blanket with a glass of rosé in hand to raise a toast. Silky ballads and luxuriating queer and contemporary movement unfolded throughout (choreography by the one and only Raja Feather Kelly) but as such an ambitious project often does, fell a bit flat at the end. Regardless, I was so happy I caught it because I can’t say I’ve seen anything like it before- and everyone I’ve talked to felt the same. It’s such a rare feeling and made me excited for more. And the dancers. My god.
While I was at home I was also incredibly excited to catch Marion (Motin)’s first ballet at the Opera- Marion was one of my favorite hip hop instructors and choreographers back in the day and she was paired in a program with pieces by Xie Xin and Crystal Pite. The whole program was really strong, Marion starting us with an abstract world between life and death surrounding a phone cabin and surrounded by cigarette smoke and colored leather outfits. It was like watching a scene from Drive. Xie Xin took us to the mountains with a dance surrounded by smoke through which dancers appeared and disappeared in sheer loose clothing, shapeless and melding into one another. But Crystal Pite’s work was maybe one of the best dances I’ve seen in a while. Featuring no less than maybe 50 dancers, all topless with slick back hair and baggy pants, they melded in and out of giant group formations of an incredible force and precision in chiaroscuro lighting. It was hypnotic and generated 4 stand up ovations.
Crystal Pite
Timing is very strange sometimes. My friend Olivia back home started these artist dinners in Paris and randomly wrote to me 3 weeks ago to perform at one, not knowing I would be in town, to invite me to present a dance at one. I don’t live there anymore, had not made or performed a real dance in years- but since I was there after all that week (and day) for my uncle’s funeral, I figured- Yolo. I decided to try something new and perform a solo to an audio art piece that really resonated with me about the body as an intimate partner through life and it was really special to be in my body in this way and to perform with no pressure- no pressure to do it again or to impress anyone. The evening in itself was already really special, my best friend from home Amélie was there and we got to walk around the garden grounds and meet other performers there and see their work, and performing last after having chips and drinks- something I may not typically do- felt great but I found myself at the end facing both audience members and the organizer crying. I didn’t intend on the piece to be emotional but I was moved that it could move people.
Podcasts
The podcasts that really resonated with me this month are all slightly heavy, please take care as you listen.
I Need To Ask You Something is a new show we worked on at Lemonada that has paired young adults with a therapist to ask their parents the questions that have stood in the middle of their relationships. The first episode in particular is really amazing, some audience members have claimed that listening to the show has helped heal their inner child lol. But seriously, everyone at Lemonada wishes they had Dr Monica Band as their therapist because she is incredibly caring and thoughtful in the process.
This American Life’s episode The Call looks at how four people’s lives cross paths through “Never Use Alone”, an incredible hotline that allows drug users to be on the line with someone to ensure that they get the help they need if they overdose- the goal being to save a life. What’s incredibly moving in this story is that there is no power dynamic between the users and the people saving them, as everyone has had an experience with recovery and is at a different stage of this journey.
Finn and The Bell by Rumble Strip Vermont is about how a community came together following a teenager’s suicide, and allowed in this way for everyone to heal together and embrace a very disturbing truth that honored Finn more earnestly.
This is Uncomfortable’s “The Price of Eggs” followed by “The Price of Secrets” episode is an incredible look at a college student’s experience with making money on the side via surrogacy and her complicated relationship born out of shared trauma. Buckle up for a wild ride.
To end on a palate cleanser and softer note, I will leave you with dancer/choreographer/performer of all trades Miguel Gutierrez’ new album sueño and a photo of my son Carl being a gentleman as always.