Harlem (and Lincoln) on his mind

On Tuesday, February 17, innovative dance artist, director and activist Bill T. Jones continues his Breaking Ground series at Harlem Stage with a panel/community conversation about Harlem and Abraham Lincoln. Jones is working on a new piece, Fondly Do We Hope...Fervently Do We Pray, inspired by the life and legacy of Lincoln. The Harlem Stage event will include a reading of select documents from the era.

The evening begins at 7:30pm, and panelists include Barnet Schecter, historian and author of The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America; and Michele Mitchell, Associate Professor of History at New York University and author of Righteous Propagation: African Americans & the Politics of Racial Destiny After Reconstruction.

Admission is $15. For ticketing, directions and other information, visit the Harlem Stage Web site.

Harlem Stage Gatehouse
West 135th Street and Convent Avenue

When dizzy critics happen to good performers

It's good for critics to remember that we're humble humans...and ones who must mind our health. Last night, I got a vivid reminder at Club La MaMa when I tried to concentrate on a show that, I'm very sorry to tell you, was up for only one night.

I had no idea how exhausted I was until I realized that while I felt somewhat sleepy over the course of the two-hour show, I felt much more like falling over with dizziness. I've heard too many stories about people who got the flu this winter who started out by feeling dizzy. (And my wife suffered a severe case of vertigo this season.) I'd gotten my flu shot. In the summer of 2006, I was diagnosed with a mild, stable case of a lung disorder and must get the shot each year, although I've always gotten one anyway. But I'd heard that this year's shot doesn't cover every strain that's out there. The good news, today, is that I have not come down with the flu, and I feel somewhat better. I'm going to get more rest and try to make it to Bill T. Jones's Breaking Ground discussion at Harlem Stage tonight.

Now, as for last night's show....to Joseph Keckler (singer, writer and multimedia artist), who presented a monologue named Cat Lady, my apologies. Even through my difficulties, I could tell that you have mad talent, and I look forward to catching up with your work another time. To John Moran (composer) and Saori Tsukada (choreographer), who performed John Moran...and his neighbor Saori, you are both fierce--frighteningly so--just as savvy colleagues had promised. Despite my condition last night, I was impressed, amused and charmed by your visual and sonic ideas, your whimsical and razor-sharp synchronization of sound and mime, and I am prepared to become a huge fan. Would Nicky Paraiso, Club La MaMa's performance curator, have the three of you back, if I ask nice?

For more La MaMa events and information, click here.
Joseph Keckler on MySpace
John Moran and Saori Tsukada on MySpace

We need to talk!

And we will, thanks to a $100,000 award to the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company from the Rockefeller Foundation's New York City Cultural Innovation Fund for Dialogue Series. The recent award will help underwrite the company’s newly established Breaking Ground with Bill T. Jones – A Community Dialogue Series, at Harlem Stage Gatehouse. The annual series of four public talks with invited guests, moderated by Bill T. Jones, engages community members in discussions on issues of cultural identity, diversity, ethnicity, public policy and Harlem’s changing international significance.

The first dialogue, “Harlem, Cultural Capital?” took place in October with State Senator Bill Perkins, Kamilah Forbes (actor/director/producer), Dr. Michael Lomax (President and CEO, United Negro College Fund) and Kevin Powell (writer/activist). The second dialogue, “Harlem–The Scene,” is scheduled for February 26 at 7:30pm.

For information and tickets, call Harlem Stage Box Office at 212-281-9240 or click here.

Breaking Ground with Bill T. Jones

Breaking Ground with Bill T. Jones, a new four-part series of community dialogues co-presented by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, will be launched at Harlem Stage at the Gatehouse on October 9 (7:30pm). Participants in this first dialogue--“Harlem, Cultural Capital?”--include actor, director, producer Kamilah Forbes, United Negro College Fund President and CEO Dr. Michael Lomax, and writer and activist Kevin Powell.

The series will explore issues of cultural identity, diversity, ethnicity, public policy and Harlem’s changing international significance.

Harlem Stage at the Gatehouse is located at 150 Convent Avenue (at West 135th Street). For ticketing, directions and additional information, click here or call 212-281-9240.