Mentorship is key: dance artists Rosenblit and Patek win new award

New Award Recognizes Two Young Choreographers
by Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, April 30, 2014

Danspace Project to honor the late arts advocate Elizabeth H. Berger

Elizabeth Berger (1960-2013)

Danspace Project's Board of Directors 

invites you to

Elizabeth H. Berger Tribute

Monday, March 10, 7-8pm

Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church

131 East 10th Street at Second Avenue, Manhattan

Please join us at Danspace Project on March 10 at 7pm as we recognize the life of Elizabeth H. Berger (1960-2013) and her dedication to and love of the arts community. The tribute will celebrate her profound impact on the arts in New York City as a board member, advisor and lobbyist for numerous arts organizations, including more than a decade of service as a Danspace Project Board Member from 1990-2002, serving as Board President for eight of those years.

To honor Liz, the Danspace Project Board of Directors is establishing the Elizabeth H. Berger Fund, which will support choreographers and dancers as they create new work. We encourage you to remember Liz by contributing to this new fund.

The evening will feature tributes by family and friends and short performances by Ishmael Houston-Jones, John Kelly, and a screening of THREE (1998) directed by Isaac Julien with choreography by Ralph Lemon and Bebe Miller. A reception will follow.

To RSVP (if you have not already) and request more information, please contact Peggy Cheng at peggy@danspaceproject.org or 212-674-3838.

Queer/Art/Mentorship in New York City

Filmmaker Ira Sachs announces Queer/Art/Mentorship (QAM), a program dedicated to pairing and supporting mentorship between queer working artists in New York City. Sarah Schulman, Pamela Sneed, John Kelly, Barbara Hammer, Justin Vivian Bond, Hilton Als, Jennie Livingston and Jonathan David Katz are among the many distinguished mentors participating in this unique program.

For information, visit the QAM site here, and also see this Scavenger article.

John Kelly's last turn as Schiele

The Art of John Kelly: Embodying Egon Schiele

by Deborah Feller, DeborahFeller.com, January 3, 2011

John Kelly: The Mirror Stages

Art in America contributing editor Carol Diehl reviews John Kelly's show of visual art at Alexander Gray--The Mirror Stages: Self-Portraits 1979-2009.

Art in America, November 2009

John Kelly + Joni Mitchell = !

John Kelly has opened Paved Paradise Redux: The Art of Joni Mitchell--the revival of his stunning cabaret-style impression of the great singer/songwriter--for a limited run at Abrons Arts Center, now through June 27. Take it from this fervent Joni fan, If you've already seen Kelly do his Joni, go back; it will do your heart good. If you've never seen it, now's the time. This is one brilliant artist crossed with another, brilliance squared, and we cannot have too much of that today.

From the romantic, gawky, kinda strange girl in a white tablecloth lace dress singing her increasingly sophisticated art songs to the dramatic, weary, chain-smoking, blue Joni of Act Two, Kelly gets voice, posture, sensitivity, goofiness and even the occasional toothy flash absolutely right. Nice song selection, too, among which "Woodstock"--winkingly re-purposed as "Wigstock"--and other numbers like "A Case of You" and "Down to You" are virtuoso performances, and not just for Kelly's able scaling of steep notes. When Kelly really feels a song, you hear deep into it, and these are songs worth hearing and savoring.

Tickets

On August 6, The River to River Festival presents Kelly's Songs for A Shiny Hot Night: The Joni Mitchell Songbook at Castle Clinton, 7pm. For further details, click here.