InfiniteBody Honor Roll 2019

Eva Yaa Asantewaa

InfiniteBody Honor Roll 2019

Top: Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith in Queen & Slim
(Photo: Universal Pictures)
Bottom: Germaine Acogny in SOMEWHERE AT THE BEGINNING
(photo: Thomas Dorn)

Yes, it premiered on HBO in 2018 but, for me, My Brilliant Friend straddled those transitional days between the last gasps of December and New Year's Day when I breathlessly reached the finale of Season 1. Oh, how I love this brilliant series--as eager for Season 2 as "Lenú" is for "Lila."

Left, Gaia Gerace (as Rafaella "Lila" Cerullo)
with Margherita Mazzucco (Elena Greco),
who play the teenage leads in HBO's My Brilliant Friend
(photo courtesy of HBO)

Soon into the new year came Jane Gabriel's annual Pepatián Bronx Showcase and Conversation, this time with curation by artists Beatrice Capote and Maleek Washington. Gabriels has been producing this now for nine years. This was my second year attending, and I was even more impressed than last year. So, when the 10th anniversary comes around, you're finally going, right? Noted highlights of 2019 included works by Kayla Farrish (Decent Structures Arts), Matthew Perez and Cain A. Coleman (ColemanCollective) and Anya Clarke and Mitsuko Verdery (MICHIYAYA Dance).

I've got to acknowledge it even though I curated it: Ame-Ricana by Italy Bianca Welton at Gibney, January 10. Sorry, folx. The woman deserves the praise.

Okay, now onto the regular listings....

This Bridge Called My Ass by Miguel Gutierrez at The Chocolate Factory, January 9-19

Battle! Hip-Hop in Armor by It's Showtime NYC! at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 11 and other dates

Soprano Julia Bullock
(photo: Kevin Yatarola)

Perle Noire: Meditations for Joséphine by Julia Bullock at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 17-18

Bronxed at Food for Thought at Danspace Project, featuring works by Arthur Aviles, Alethea Pace, Matthew Perez/ColemanCollective and Richard Rivera/PHYSUAL, January 25

Amanda Seales
(photo: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/Getty Images)

Amanda Seales: I Be Knowin' (HBO), released January 26


Hair & Other Stories by Chanon Judson and Samantha Speis in collaboration with Urban Bush Women, January 31-February 9

Maleek Washington and Timothy Edwards
in Camille A. Brown's ink
(photo: Christopher Duggan)

ink by Camille A. Brown & Dancers at The Joyce Theater, February 5

Rambler, Worlds Worlds A Part by Kathy Westwater at New York Live Arts, February 14-16

Adaku's Revolt by Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born at Abrons Arts Center, March 14-24

United Skates (film), directed by Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler, released November 20, 2018

El Viaje by Edwaard Liang for Ballet Hispánico at The Joyce Theater, March 26-31

Entre Tú Y Yo by Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca at Connelly Theater, March 8-31

Sila Djiguba: The Crossroad by Les Ballet Afrik, Gibney, April 4-6

Fuck/Love: The Poetics of Adorationby Kelly Bartnik
(photo: Maria Baranova-Suzuki)

Fuck/Love: The Poetics of Adoration by Kelly Bartnik, Gibney, April 11-13

A Shared Evening of New Work by Tendayi Kuumba and Samita Sinha at Danspace Project, April 25 and April 27

Messages from Umi (work-in-progress) by Long Arms at Harlem Stage, May 2-4

EMERGE with works by Bobbi Jene Smith, Chanel DaSilva and Micaela Taylor for Gibney Dance Company at Gibney, May 2-4

Distance is Malleable, the 2018-2019 Soshitsu Sen XV Distinguished Lecture by Eiko Otake, Miller Theatre, Columbia University, May 10

Radioactive Practice (work-in-progress showing) by Abby Z and the New Utility, New York Live Arts, May 17

Surveys the Prairie of Your Room by Witness Relocation/Dan Safer at La MaMa, May 18-19

Wanda Sykes: Not Normal by Wanda Sykes, released on Netflix, May 21

Performance by Linda LaBeija in La MaMa's Squirts: Generations of Queer Performance at La MaMa, May 31-June 2

The Dances Are For Us by Hadar Ahuvia at Danspace Project, May 30-June 1

Ava DuVernay's When They See Us
(photo: Netflix)

When They See Us, directed by Ava DuVernay, released on Netflix on May 31

Pose, created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals, launched on FX June 3, 2018; ongoing on FX and Netflix

Significant Others: Dances for Family, Friends & Lovers by Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion at Gibney, June 13-15

Dead to Me, created by Liz Feldman, on Netflix, launched on May 3; ongoing

We're Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time by David Cale at The Public Theater, June 13-July 14

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, released to theaters June 21

Marc Maron: Too Real by Marc Maron (Netflix, 2017)

They Ready: Tracey Ashley, presented by Tiffany Haddish, on Netflix, launched August

Black Rock Coalition: The History of Our Future, MetLiveArts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 7

The Amazing Adventures of Grace May B. Brown by Souloworks/Andrea E. Woods & Dancers, Gibney, September 12-14

Unbelievable (miniseries), created by Susannah Grant, Ayalet Waldman and Michael Chabon, Netflix, released September 13, 2019

Ayodele Casel
(photo: Michael Higgins)

Ayodele Casel + Arturo O'Farrill at The Joyce Theater, September 24-29

SOMEWHERE AT THE BEGINNING by Germaine Acogny and Mikäel Serre, La MaMa Ellen Stewart Theatre, September 26-28

(re)Source by Maria Bauman-Morales/MBDance at BAAD!, September 25-28

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf
at The Public Theater
(photo: Joan Marcus)

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf (choreography by Camille A. Brown) at The Public Theater, opened October 8.

Maya Beiser in THE DAY at The Joyce, October 22-27

Other Animal by Sam Kim at Danspace Project, October 31-November 2

5 St. Fifperhanway Place by Stefanie Batten Bland, performed by Gibney Dance Company at Gibney, November 14-16

Forming Out by Peter Chu, performed by Gibney Dance Company at Gibney, November 14-16

Colin Dunne in Concert
(photo: Whitney Browne)

Concert by Colin Dunne at Baryshnikov Arts Center, November 14-16

Queen & Slim, directed by Melina Matsoukas, written by Lena Waithe (Universal Pictures), released November 27

And Still You Must Swing by Dormeshia at The Joyce Theater, December 3-8

Kaalo Jol by Samita Sinha at Gibney, December 5-7

topologies by Jennifer Harrison Newman at Gibney, December 12-14

GETTING CLOSER TO CORAL by Alexander Diaz at Gibney, December 12-14

FRESH TRACKS: Anh Vo, Annie Heath, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Kayla Hamilton, Stuart B Meyers at New York Live Arts, December 13-14

Deep Out Agents by Hyung Seok Jeon at Gibney, December 19-21

We Wield by Lauren Atwell at Gibney, December 19-21

City of Rain (Camille A. Brown) and Busk (Aszure Barton) performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York City Center, December 20

The Great Hall Commission: Kent Monkman: mistikôsiwak: Wooden Boat People at Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 19-April 9, 2020

Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, released December 25

The Nutcracker Suite by Dorrance Dance at The Joyce, December 17-January 5

The Last Black Man in San Francisco, directed by Joe Talbot, released June 7

Okay, that's my honor roll for 2019! 
What's on yours?

--Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody

******

DISCLAIMER: In addition to my work on InfiniteBody, I serve as Senior Curatorial Director of Gibney. The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views, strategies or opinions of Gibney.

******

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InfiniteBody Honor Roll 2018

Eva Yaa Asantewaa
InfiniteBody Honor Roll 2018

Michael B. Jordan (left) and Chadwick Boseman
face off as rivals for power in The Black Panther.
(courtesy of Marvel Studios)

Two marvelous stars--
Alex Borstein (left) and Rachel Brosnahan--
of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
(courtesy of Amazon Studios)

Alice Sheppard (above as "Andromeda")
and Laurel Lawson ("Venus")
duet in DESCENT.
(photo: Rain Embuscado)

Acclaimed hip hop choreographer Rennie Harris
accepted the challenge of crafting a two-act dance, Lazarus,
for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in record time

in celebration of the beloved troupe's 60th Anniversary.
(photo: Paul Kolnik)

The year 2018 started off with me nursing the flare-up of an old back injury, avoiding subfreezing climes and a "bomb cyclone" and going stir-crazy while catching up to these excellent streams:

@The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon Prime (premiered 2017)

@One Mississippi, Amazon Prime (premiered 2015)

@Six Feet Under, Amazon Prime (premiered 2001)

@Scandal, Netflix (premiered 2012)

I was grateful to finally heal and make it out to my first live show of the year: @Panorama by Enrico Casagrande and Daniela Nicolò with actors of the Great Jones Repertory Company at La MaMa, December 29, 2017-January 21, 2018

@Caleb Teicher & Company at American Dance Platform, The Joyce Theater, January 9 and 14

@Mugen Noh Othello, directed by Satoshi Miyagi, for The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival at Japan Society, January 11-14

@8th Annual Bronx Artists Now: Showcase & Conversation, produced by Jane Gabriels for Pepatián, January 12

Thomas F. DeFrantz
(photo: SLIPPAGE/Shonda Corbett)

@White Privilege, a lecture performance by Thomas F. Defrantz/Slippage with Sonicscape by Quran Karriem, American Realness festival, Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, January 15

@We Wait In The Darkness by Rosy Simas, American Realness Festival, Abrons Arts Center, January 13-15

@THIS by Adrienne Truscott, American Realness Festival, Abrons Arts Center, January 14-16

@Unexploded Ordnances (UXO) by Split Britches, The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival at La Mama, January 4-21

@The Post (film), directed by Steven Spielberg (20th Century Fox/Dreamworks), released 2017

Left: Choreographer David Thomson with Paul Hamilton
in he his own mythical beast(photo: Maria Baranova)

@he his own mythical beast by David Thomson at Performance Space New York, January 31-February 4

@Reflecting Rhythms: Kazunori Kumagai and Kaoru Watanabe at Asia Society, February 2

@Come Ye finale by Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE at The Joyce Theater, February 6-11

@"Everything you have is yours?" by Hadar Ahuvia at 14th Street Y, February 8-10

@The Black Panther (film), directed by Ryan Coogler (Marvel Studios), released February 16, 2018

@In a Rhythm by Bebe Miller Company in The Making Room: Bebe Miller Company & Susan Rethorst at New York Live Arts, February 21-24

@Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 28 through May 28

@Rosalie by Marion Spencer at Work Up 4.1, Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, March 2-3

@Okay, I'm Gunna Start Now by Evelyn Lillian Sánchez Narvaez at Work Up 4.1, Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, March 2-3

@Eurythmics in the Southern Burn by Jonathan González in The Dossier Charrette: A Series of Working Dance Essays, part of Dancing Platform Praying Grounds: Blackness, Churches and Downtown Dance (Platform 2018) at Danspace Project, March 8-10

@leaning by Angie Pittman in The Dossier Charrette: A Series of Working Dance Essays, part of Dancing Platform Praying Grounds: Blackness, Churches and Downtown Dance (Platform 2018) at Danspace Project, March 8-10

@Oba Queen King Baba--Excerpt One by Ni'Ja Whitson in A Shared Evening: Keely Garfield Dance, Same As Sister and Ni'Ja Whitson, part of Dancing Platform Praying Grounds: Blackness, Churches and Downtown Dance (Platform 2018) at Danspace Project, March 15-17

@The Exciting Event... by Same As Sister, part of Dancing Platform Praying Grounds: Blackness, Churches and Downtown Dance (Platform 2018) at Danspace Project, March 15-17

@DESCENT by Alice Sheppard, New York Live Arts, March 22-24

@...they stood shaking while others began to shout by Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group, part of Dancing Platform Praying Grounds: Blackness, Churches and Downtown Dance (Platform 2018) at Danspace Project, March 22-24

Dance artist Gesel Mason
(photo: Enoch Chan)

@No Boundaries/Dancing The Visions of Contemporary Black Choreographers by Gesel Mason Performance Projects at The Billie Holiday Theatre, April 6-7

@We live this (film), directed by James Burns (2016), at Moving Body-Moving Image: A Dance on Screen Festival, Barnard College, April 7

@Six Solos (film), directed by Simon Fildes with choreography by Sang Jijia (2016), at Moving Body-Moving Image: A Dance on Screen Festival, Barnard College, April 7

@Shamar Wayne Watt in The Dark Swan's Last Breath of Life by Nora Chipaumire at The Rubin Museum of Art, April 18

@(re)Source, an investigation-in-process (showing) by Maria Bauman, MBDance, at BAX, April 27-28

@Indumba by Fana Tshabalala, performed by Deeply Rooted Dance Theater at BAM Fisher, April 28 and 29

Kyle Abraham solos in INDY at The Joyce Theater
(photo: Steven Schreiber)

@A.I.M. (Kyle Abraham) season at The Joyce Theater, May 1-6

@Sen Koro la (work-in-progress) by Lacina Coulibaly at e-moves at Harlem Stage, May 2-5

@Living Our Legacies, featuring Maria Bauman and work by J. Bouey with Wendell Gray II, Shelby "Shellz" Fenton, Alethea Pace and Jason Samuels Smith, curated by Rashida Bumbray, at Dancing While Black 5th Anniversary, at BAAD!, May 4

@Dear White People (Season 2), Netflix, streaming from May 4

@The Story of Tap: 20th Anniversary, hosted by Hank Smith, with Derick Grant, Jason Samuels Smith and Ayako Shirasaki at Dixon Place, May 16

@Untitled (NYC 2018) (showing) by Keith Hennessy at Movement Research at Judson Memorial Church, May 21

@Raising the Bar at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, May 25

@to ascend past numbness and witness birth. showing of a "process-memoir" by Johnnie Cruise Mercer at Jack Crystal Theater, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, May 31-June 1

@Rennie Harris: Funkedified at The New Victory Theater, May 31-June 10

@Four Questions (featuring Regie Cabico, Gary Champi, Aviva Jaye, Ni'Ja Whitson and Shannon Matesky), curated by Shannon Matesky for La MaMa's Squirts at La MaMa Downstairs, June 10

Rachel Bloom as Rebecca,
titular lead character in Netflix's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

@Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Netflix (premiered 2015)

@THEM by Chris Cochrane, Dennis Cooper and Ishmael Houston-Jones at Performance Space New York, June 21-28

@garment (Director's Choice) by Sidra Bell at New York Live Arts, June 28-30, July 1

@Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury at Soho Rep, June 2-July 22

@Tap City's Rhythm in Motion at Symphony Space, July 11

@50 Years of Dance Theatre of Harlem: Experiencing History on Pointe and in Color panel at New York Public Library of the Performing Arts, August 4

@Hot to Trot (film), directed by Gail Freedman (Hot to Trot Productions, LLC; distributed by First Run Films), August 24

@Homeland, The CURRENT SESSIONS at wild project, August 18-19

Top: Members of Move(NYC) Young Professionals
(photo: Matthew Karas)
Below: Move(NYC) executive team
left to right: Niya Nicholson, Nigel Campbell and Chanel DaSilva
(photo: Lelund Thompson)

@Move(NYC) Young Professionals Program Summer Finale Showcase, August 25-26

@Magdalena by Gabri Christa at Theaterlab, September 12-22

@Pino-Latino: The Intersection of the Latino and Asian Cultures, featuring Ballet Hispanico in works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Bennyroyce Royon at Fridays@Noon at 92Y Harkness Dance Center, September 14

@Elena Rose Light and Evelyn Lillian Sánchez Narvaez in By Association: Elena Rose Light, Pallavi Sen, Bully Fae Collins at Abrons Arts Center, September 20-22

@A Memorial and Celebration of the Life of Sam Miller (1952-2018) at Danspace Project, September 15

@What Remains by Claudia Rankine and Will Rawls at Danspace Project, September 25, 27-29

@Ten by Deborah Hay in Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done at Museum of Modern Art, October 4-6

@Y by RoseAnne Spradlin at New York Live Arts, September 27-29, October 4-6

@another piece apart by Jennifer Nugent & Paul Matteson at New York Live Arts, October 10-13

@Emily Coates & Josiah McElheny/Emmanuéle Phuon/A Shared Evening of New Work at Danspace Project, November 8-10

Musician, vocalist and actor Rhiannon Giddens
(photo: David McClister)

@Sisters Present (Rhiannon Giddens Residency) at Symphony Space, November 17

@DoublePlus: Kayla Hamilton + Jerron Herman at Gibney, November 29-December 1

@Skeleton Architecture: An Evening of Performance at Danspace Project, December 8

@Lock 'em Up by DANCENOISE at New York Live Arts, December 12-15

@BBB by Fana Fraser, DoublePlus at Gibney, December 13-15

@Lazarus by Rennie Harris for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Center, November 28-December 30

@Soles of Duende at Dixon Place, December 7-21

@A Star is Born, directed by Bradley Cooper (Warner Bros.), released October 5, 2018

@Roma, directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Participant Media and Esperanto Medio; Netflix), released November 21, 2018

#StillTheBoss.
And those of us without the $$$ for Broadway got to see why.

Thank you, Netflix!

@Springsteen on Broadway, directed by Thom Zimny (Netflix), released December 15, 2018

@If Beale Street Could Talk, directed by Barry Jenkins (Annapurna Pictures), released December 25, 2018

Okay, that's my honor roll for 2018! 
What's on yours?

--Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody

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InfiniteBody Honor Roll 2017

Eva Yaa Asantewaa
InfiniteBody Honor Roll 2017

@APAP presentations of Pavel Zuštiak's Bastard (The Painted Bird: Part 1) and Custodians of Beauty--the latter, part of the PS 122's COIL festival--by Pavel Zuštiak/Palissimo at La MaMa, January 4-8

@APAP presentation of Dana Michel's Mercurial George, American Realness festival at Abrons Arts Center, January 5-10

@Artists Stand with Standing Rock, presented by ACRE PISAB at Downtown Art, January 21

@The Tempest by Donmar Warehouse at St. Ann's Warehouse, January 13-February 19

@Alive & Kicking (film), directed by Susan Glatzer (Magnolia Pictures), Dance on Camera Festival, February 3-7

@Last Work by Ohad Naharin, Batsheva Dance Company at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, February 1-4

@to make ready again by Marguerite Hemmings at JACK, February 2-3

@I Am Not Your Negro (film), directed by Raoul Peck, released February 3

@What Remains (work-in-progress showing) by Will Rawls at BRIC, February 10-11

@Works & Process Rotunda Project: Michelle Dorrance with Nicholas Van Young at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, February 16

@This Ain’t A Eulogy: A Ritual for Re-Membering (film), directed by Taja Lindley, premiered February 16

@National Museum of African American History & Culture, visited February 24

@Loving (film; released 2016), directed by Jeff Nichols

Daniel Kuluuya and Allison Williams
in Jordan Peele's Get Out

@Get Out (film), directed by Jordan Peele, release date February 24

@Our Configurations, featuring works by AXIS Dance Company, Marc Brew, Kinetic Light and Marissa Perel, at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, March 4

Eiko Otake in residence at Cathedral of St. John the Divine
(photo: William Johnston)

@Remembering Fukushima: Art and Conversations in the Cathedral, conceived and directed by Eiko Otake and presented in partnership with the Asia Society and Danspace Project, March 11

Aynsley Vandenbroucke performs And
(photo: Ian Douglas)

@And by Aynsley Vandenbroucke at Abrons Arts Center, March 30-April 2

@Homecoming Queens, featuring work by The Dauphine of Bushwick, Haus of Umpteen Corpses, Kalandra Bankhead, K.James, lady bedbug, Ragamuffin and Vic Sin at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, April 5

@Good Mud by Lily Gold at Danspace Project, April 6-8

@Album, a work-in-progress showing by Mariana Valencia at BAX, April 7-8

@Bertha, a work-in-progress showing by Tara Aisha Willis, featuring sound design by Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste at Danspace Project, April 8

@Liveyard, a work-in-progress showing by Candace Thompson at Danspace Project, April 8

@an exercise in getting well soon, a work-in-progress showing by NIC Kay at Movement Research at the Judson Church, April 10

@Unwanted, a work-in-progress showing by Dorothée Munyanez with Holland Andrews at Baryshnikov Arts Center, April 13

@It's All True/Grandfather, a work-in-progress showing by Muna Tseng at Baryshnikov Arts Center, April 13

@Abandoned playground by Abby Z and the New Utility at Abrons Arts Center, April 13-15

@gl(host):lostatsea by Nia Love in "studies in living otherwise" at Theater for the New City, April 14-16

Renée Fleming and Elina Garanča
in Der Rosenkavalier
(photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Opera)

@Renée Fleming and Elina Garanča in Der Rosenkavalier, The Metropolitan Opera, April 17

@Poor People's TV Room by Okwui Okpokwasili at New York Live Arts, April 19-22, 26-29

@Nearly Sighted by Kayla Hamilton at BAAD!, April 21-22

@Irving Penn Centennial at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 24-July 30

@Arlington by Enda Walsh at St. Ann's Warehouse, May 3-28

@The Ghost Festival by Koma Otake at Danspace Project, May 11-13

@Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen set design for Keen [No. 2] by Ivy Baldwin, Ivy Baldwin Dance at Abrons Arts Center, June 1-11

@SlowDancing/TrioA by David Michalek in collaboration with Yvonne Rainer at Danspace Project, June 23-July 1

@No Maps on My Taps (film, 1978) and About Tap (film, 1984) by George T. Nierenberg, first theatrical release at Quad Cinema, July 7-13

@Dearest Home by Kyle Abraham (Abraham.In.Motion) at The Kitchen as part of Lumberyand in The City festival, June 28-July 2

Will Rawls and Ishmael Houston-Jones
chief curators of the 2017 Danspace Project Platform, Lost and Found
(photo courtesy New York Dance and Performance Awards: The Bessies)

For this and everything you do, gentlemen, thanks and kudos!

Okwui Okpokwasili
in Andrew Rossi's documentary Bronx Gothic

@Bronx Gothic (film) directed by Andrew Rossi at Film Forum, released July 12

@GHOST LIGHT by Third Rail Projects at the Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, June 19 through August 6

@To T, or Not to T by D'Lo at the Hot! Festival, Dixon Place, July 7-22

@Citizen Reno at Hot! Festival, Dixon Place, July 6

@Shelby Shellz Suzie Q Felton in HERE ON OUT at Secret Project Robot, July 26

Left to right: Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith,
Tiffany Haddish and Regina Hall in Girls Trip

Thanks, sistergirls, for the bellylaughs!

@Girls Trip (film) directed by Malcolm D. Lee, released July 21

@Tiffany Haddish in Girls Trip, released July 21

@Japanese Bamboo Art: The Abbey Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, opened June 13

@Get Well Soon! by NIC Kay at the CURRENT SESSIONS: Volume VII: On Resistance at Wild Project, August 19

@Maria Bauman open studio for dying and dying and dying at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, August 24

@Dancing in the Hold: An Emergency Response to Charlottesville, convened by Mayfield Brooks for Movement Research at Abrons Arts Center, August 30

@Ten Huts by Jill Sigman, Wesleyan University Press, published in September

@Radical Bodies: Anna Halprin, Simone Forti, and Yvonne Rainer in California and New York, 1955-1972 exhibition curated by Wendy Perron, New York Public Library, Library of the Performing Arts, June 27-September 16

@Terrifying Times Call for Terrifying Jewelry by Laurie Berg at Dixon Place, September 6

@Batanaba [new work] by Faustin Linyekula, danced with Moya Michael at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, FIAF's Crossing the Line festival, September 9-10

@CAST by Yanira Castro/a canary torsi (opening night performed by devynn emory, Luke Miller, Sai Somboon and Darrin Wright) at The Chocolate Factory, September 13-23

@#PUNK by Nora Chipaumire at FIAF's Crossing the Line festival, September 14-15

@The Peculiar Patriot by Liza Jessie Peterson at National Black Theatre, September 13-October 1

@Asami Morita (lighting design) and Diego Montoya (decor design) for choreographers Elena Rose Light, Jess Pretty, and Miriam Gabriel & Antonio Villanueva in Invocation Proclamation Manifesto at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, September 21-23

@Unwanted by Dorothée Munyaneza with Holland Andrews at Baryshnikov Arts Center, September 21-22

@My Lai, performed by Kronos Quartet, Rinde Eckert and by Vân-Ánh Võ; music by Jonathan Berger; libretto by Harriet Scott Chessman at BAM Harvey, September 27-30

@A Letter to My Nephew by Bill T. Jones, Janet Wong, members of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and entire creative team at BAM Harvey, October 3-7

@Declassified Memory Fragment by Olivier Tarpaga, Baker & Tarpaga Dance Project at Harlem Stage, October 4

@Kazu Kumagai: HEAR/HERE at 92Y, October 13-14

@how to survive a plague by Brother(hood) Dance! at Danspace Project, October 19-21

@Virago-Man Dem by Cynthia Oliver at BAM Fisher, October 25-28

The sublime Leah Morrison (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
performs at the memorial service for Brown at Danspace Project.
(photo: Ian Douglas)

@Bird/Woman/Flower/Dare Devil: Trisha Brown, A Community Memorial, organized by Iréne Hultman and friends, Danspace Project, October 28

@Air This Pain and Alter It: What Can Poetry Do? at The Graduate Center, CUNY, with readings by Eduardo C. Corral, Nick Flynn, Kimiko Hahn, Bob Hicok, Jane Hirshfield, Tyehimba Jess, Gregory Pardlo and Jacqueline Woodson, November 2

Marjani Forté-Saunders in Memoirs of a... Unicorn
(photo: Maria Baranova)

@Memoirs of a... Unicorn by Marjani Forté-Saunders at The Collapsable Hole, presented by New York Live Arts, November 15-19

Disney Pixar's Coco

@Coco (film), directed by Lee Unkrich, co-directed by Adrian Molina, released November 22

@Skeleton Architecture opening Movement Research Fall Festival 2017: invisible material at Judson Church, November 27

@Haruki Murakami's Sleep by Ripe Time at BAM Fisher, part of BAM Next Wave 2017, November 29-December 2

@Race Card by Karma Mayet at JACK, December 1-16

Yinka Esi Graves
(photo: Camilla Greenwall)

@Yinka Esi Graves + Shamar Wayne Watt curated by Nora Chipaumire for DoublePlus shared evening at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, November 30-December 2

@Showtime NYC at George Emilio Sanchez's Bang Bang Gun Amok at Abrons Arts Center, December 8-9

@Thomas Dunn, lighting design for Darkness Odyssey Part 2: I or Hallucination by Kota Yamazaki at Baryshnikov Arts Center, December 13-15

@The Golden Section by Twyla Tharp and Shelter by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York City Center, November 29-December 31

@Best books I caught up with this year: Homecoming by Yaa Gyasi; Hunger by Roxane Gay; Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi; Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo; Binti and Kabu-Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor; Shrill by Lindy West

Season Three cannot drop fast enough for me!

@Best Netflix or Amazon movies and tv I caught up with this year: Anthropoid, How to Get Away With Murder (Season 3), Master of None (Season 2); Stranger Things 2, Mudbound, She's Gotta Have It, The Crown, Schitt's Creek

Okay, that's my honor roll for the year! 
What's on yours?

(photo: D. Feller)

--Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody

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My year in the arts: 2016

Eva Yaa Asantewaa's List:

Most Memorable 

Arts and Cultural Experiences of 2016

Performers who ruled my 2016 include
Alan Cumming in Max and Alan
(photo: Stephanie Berger)
and, below,
Staceyann Chin in Meshell Ndegeocello's
Can I Get A Witness? The Gospel of James Baldwin
(photo: Marc Millman)

And not to be outdone,
Janelle Monáe, Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer
in Hidden Figures

As every year, YMMV, but this is simply a list of what I enjoyed most in 2016. Here we go!!

@Making a Murderer, filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos (a Netflix Original documentary), released via streaming December 18, 2015, watched late December through January 1, 2016

@Antigona, Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca at West Park Presbyterian Church, December 11, 2015 through January 23, 2016

@Sticky Majesty, Donna Uchizono and the Professionals at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, January 6-9, 13-16

@DISCOTROPIC, niv acosta at Westbeth Artists Community, January 6-10

@A Ride on The Irish Cream, Erin Markey at American Realness 2016, Abrons Arts Center, January 13-17. Performances by Erin Markey and Becca Blackwell

@Oktobre, Company Oktobre, Circus Now: International Contemporary Circus Exposure 2016 at NYU Skirball Performing Arts Center, January 14-16

@Star Crap Method, Larissa Velez-Jackson at American Realness 2016 at Abrons Arts Center, January 9-10, 13-15, 17. With performances by Velez-Jackson, Tyler Ashley and Talya Epstein; lighting by Kathy Kaufmann

@members of Vim Vigor Dance Company (Jason Cianciulli, Martin Durov, Laja Field, Lavinia Vago and Emma Whiteley) in Separati by artistic director/choeographer Shannon Gillen at Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center, January 28-30

@NOW. by Pat Catterson and Paul Galando, NYU Tisch Dance and New Media, January 30-31

@Dado Masilo's Swan Lake by Dado Masilo at The Joyce Theater, February 2-7

@work-in-progress showing of Afro/Solo/Man by Brother(hood) Dance! (Orlando Hunter, Jr and Ricarrdo Valentine) at DraftWork, Danspace Project, February 6

@Lear, by Valda Setterfield and John Scott (John Scott Dance) at New York Live Arts, February 17-20

@Ed Harris and Taissa Farmiga in Buried Child by Sam Shepard, production by The New Group at The Pershing Square Signature Center

@Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 15-May 15

@Mei Yamanaka and Erick Montes-Chavero in Speakeasy by Malcolm Low, Malcolm Low/Formal Structure at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, February 24-27

@Performances by Split Britches, Five Lesbian Brothers, Holly Hughes and Eileen Myles at Memories of The Revolution: Celebrating the first ten years of the WOW Café at Dixon Place, February 28-29

@Eiko Otake's A Body in Places platform at Danspace Project, curated by Judy Hussie-Taylor and Lydia Bell, February 17-March 23

@Adult Documentary by Juliana F. May, performances by Lindsay Clark, Talya Epstein, Rennie McDougall, Kayvon Pourazar and Connor Voss, at The Chocolate Factory, March 1-12

@Performances by Philippe Beau and Yann Frisch in Cabaret de Magie Nouvelle at Tilt Kids Festival at FIAF Florence Gould Hall, March 4-5

@Nasreen Mohamedi at The Met Breuer, March 18-June 5

@Are we a Fossil, and Of Facings by Molly Poerstel at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, March 9-12

@Photographs of Eiko by William Johnston at Conversation Without Walls: Bearing Witness, part of Eiko Otake's A Body in Places platform at Danspace Project, March 11

@There Might Be Others by Rebecca Lazier and Dan Trueman (with Mobius Percussion, Sō Percussion and Mantra Percussion) at New York Live Arts, March 16-19

Alexeya Eyma-Manderson (left) with Nigel Campbell
in a duet from Gina Gibney's Time Remaining (2003)
(photo: Scott Shaw)

@Duet by Gina Gibney; performances by Natsuki Arai, Amy Miller, Brandon Welch, Nigel Campbell, Alexeya Eyma-Manderson, Devin Oshiro, at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, March 23-26

@Relation: A Performance Residency by Vijay Iyer; March 24 performance by Thums Up: Heems (Himanshu Suri), Rafiq Bhatia, Vijay Iyer and Kassa Overall, at The Met Breuer, March 1-March 31

@FRED HOLLAND: SSAPMOC at Tilton Gallery, February 25-April 9

@2056 BC by Adham Hafez Company and HaRaKa platform at New York Live Arts, performances by Mona Gamil, Alaa Abdellateef, Salma Abdel Salam and Charlene Ibrahim, March 30-April 2

@to warring states, a useless tool by Enrico D. Wey, Danspace Project, March 31-April 2

@Going The Miles... by Jason Samuels Smith, performing with Derick K. Grant, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Igmar Thomas and Alex Hernandez at E-Moves, Harlem Stage Gatehouse, April 7-9

@Dancers Chyrstyn Fentroy and Anthony Javier Savoy of Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City Center, April 6-9

@Filibuster by Alicia Grullón, BRIC Arts, April 13

@Pergamon and The Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 18-July 17

@Another Spell by Vicky Shick and Dancers, Danspace Project, April 14-16

@Rasa in the Round by Malini Srinivasan at Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, April 15

@Antimony (51) by Ben Munisteri at BAM Fisher, April 21-23

@Erin Markey and Kristen C. Sieh performing in Ghost Rings by Tina Satter, New York Live Arts, April 22-24

@Étroits son les Vaisseaux by Kimberly Bartosik/daela, danced by Joanna Kotze and Lance Gries at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, April 27-30

@Sleeping Beauty & The Beast by Katy Pyle with Jules Skloot and Ballez at La MaMa, April 29-May 8

@DanceAfrica 2016: Senegal: Doors of Ancient Futures at BAM Gilman Opera House, May 27-30

@the feath3r theory presents: Andy Warhol's TROPICO or Zeitgeist - the fall of man, the age of desire, Adam and Steve in the Rite of Spring, Lana Del Rey's 'It's Always Everything' staring Allen Ginsberg as William Shakespeare or the greatest story (of survival) ever told. by Raja Feather Kelly and The Feath3r Theory at Danspace Project, June 2-4

Scene from To Begin The World Over Again
by Edisa Weeks and Joseph C. Phillips Jr.
(photo: Julie Lemberger)

@To Begin The World Over Again by Edisa Weeks and Joseph C. Phillips Jr. at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, June 30-July 2

@Patti Smith and Band and Mariachi Flor de Toloache at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, July 20

@Takarazuka Encore in Takarazuka CHICAGO by Takarazuka Revue at Lincoln Center Festival 2016, July 20-24

@Richard III (a one-woman show) by Brite Theater, starring Emily Carding at FringeNYC, August 15-20

@Ben Hagari (Potter's Will, film) and Jessica Pretty (the third., choreography and performance) in Volume VI, Issue II: Movement Currency, curated by the CURRENT SESSIONS at wild project, August 19-21

@Procession at Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matter at New Museum, September 1

@Michael Richards: Winged, presented by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Arts Center at Governors Island, May 28-September 25

@Weed Heart by jill sigman/thinkdance at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, September 7-10 (plus Sigman's Community Action artist residency)

nora chipaumire's portrait of myself as my father
(photo: Gennadi Novash)

@portrait of myself as my father by nora chipaumire at BAM Next Wave 2016, BAM Fisher (Fishman Space), September 14-17

@HATCHED by Mamela Nyamza, presented by NY Queer International Arts Festival and 651 Arts at Abrons Arts Center, September 20

@Remains by John Jasperse at BAM Next Wave 2016, BAM Harvey, September 21-24

@X by RoseAnne Spradlin at NY Quadrille, The Joyce Theater, September 29-October 2

@Words and Images: Trebien Pollard, A Future Vision with works by Orlando Zane Hunter, Jr. and Ricarrdo Valentine; Aimee Rials; Johnnie Cruise Mercer; and Trebien Pollard at 92nd Street Y, September 30

@13th by Ava DuVernay, Netflix, released October 7

@Agnes Martin at The Guggenheim Museum, October 7-January 11, 2017

Visual artist Kerry James Marshall
at Met Breuer press conference
(photo: Eva Yaa Asantewaa)

@Kerry James Marshall: Mastry, The Met Breuer, October 25-January 29, 2017

@Max Beckmann at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 19 -February 20, 2017

@Lost and Found platform, curated by Ishmael Houston-Jones and Will Rawls at Danspace Project, October 6-November 19

@Eclipse: Visions of the Crescent and the Cross by Abdel R. Salaam, Forces of Nature, Aaron Davis Hall, October 27-29

@Speak with Your Feet: Tap Dancer Kazu Kumagi and Guests Soliloquize, including Gabe Winn, Sabrina Clery, Masa Shimizu and Alex Blake at 92Y, October 28

@Notes from The Field by Anna Deveare Smith at Second Stage Theatre/Tony Kiser Theatre, October 15-December 11

@Moonlight by Barry Jenkins, with cinematography by James Laxton and performances by Mahershala Ali, Trevante Rhodes and André Holland, released October 21

@Marksman by Kate Weare Company at The Joyce Theater, November 9-13

@Shutters Shut by Nederlands Dans Theater at The Met Breuer, November 12

@Thank You for Coming: Play by Faye Driscoll with performances by Sean Donovan, Alicia Ohs, Paul Singh, Laurel Snyder, Brandon Washington and Faye Driscoll at BAM Fisher, November 16-19

@Francis Picabia: Our Heads Are Round so Our Thoughts Can Change Direction at Museum of Modern Art, through March 17, 2017

@Sweet Charity, starring Sutton Foster, at The New Group at The Pershing Square Signature Theater

@Eiko Otake residency in The Christa Project at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, October 2016-March 11, 2017

@William Johnston photographs of Eiko Otake, Fukushima: A Body in Places, in The Christa Project at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, October 2016-March 12, 2017

Lucinda Childs Dance Company at The Joyce Theater

@Lucinda Childs Dance Company at The Joyce Theater, November 29-December 11

@Meet Ella, choreographed and performed by Caleb Teicher and Nathan Bugh at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, December 1-3

@Shades by Jennifer Archibald at Barnard/Columbia Dances at New York Live Arts, December 1-3

@Can I Get A Witness? The Gospel of James Baldwin by Meshell Ndegeocello at Harlem Stage Gatehouse, December 7-11

@Max and Alan by Alan Cumming at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 10

@CITIZEN by Reggie Wilson, Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group at BAM Harvey, December 14-17

Patricia Peaches Jones
in Plight Release & the Diasporic Body: Jesus & Egunby Lela Aisha Jones
(photo: Scott Shaw)

@Plight Release & the Diasporic Body: Jesus & Egun by Lela Aisha Jones at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, December 15-17

@L'Amour de Loin by Kaija Saariaho at The Metropolitan Opera, December 1-29

@Fences, directed by Denzel Washington from the play by August Wilson, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, released in December

@Hidden Figures, directed by Theodore Melfi based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe and Kevin Costner

@Terrific books I caught up with this year: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald,  The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander, Stories of Your Life and Others (also published as Arrival) by Ted Chiang

@Terrific movies and tv I caught up with on Netflix or Amazon this year: Meet the Patels, Learning to Drive, Room, The Martian, Spotlight, Creed, Everest, Meru, The Wildest Dream, The Big Short, Grace and Frankie (Season 2), Argentina, The Salt of The Earth, Transparent

@And a special thank you to the extraordinarily generous Judy Hussie-Taylor, Lydia Bell, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Will Rawls, Kathy Kaufmann and all the Danspace Project staff as well as to Angie Pittman, Charmaine Warren, Davalois Fearon, Edisa Weeks, Grace Osborne, Jasmine Hearn, Kayla Hamilton, Leslie Parker, Marguerite Hemmings, Marjani Forté-Saunders, Maria Bauman, Marýa Wethers, Melanie Greene, Nia Love, Ni'Ja Whitson, Paloma McGregor, Rakiya Orange, Samantha Speis, Sydnie L. Mosley, Sidra Bell and Tara Aisha Willis, performers in the skeleton architecture, or the future of our worlds, Lost and Found platform, October 22

Okay, that's my list! What's on yours?

(photo: D. Feller)

--Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody

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