Jay Lynch, 72

Jay Lynch, Underground Comics Creator, Dies at 72
by Richard Sandomir, The New York Times, March 12, 2017

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In memoriam: The tragedy of Fukushima

Eiko Otake introduces her commemorative program,
Remembering Fukushima: Art and Conversations in the Cathedral,
at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine
all photos ©2017, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

During yesterday's anniversary remembrance of Japan's 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster--a deeply moving event organized at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine by artist-in-residence Eiko Otake--Katja Kolcio, choreographer and Wesleyan professor, spoke of the political upheaval wrought in the wake of Ukraine's 1986 crisis at Chernobyl. Photographer William Johnston, Otake's longtime collaborator, noted the growing environmental activism in Japan following the Fukushima crisis. And we were frequently reminded that, just about fifty miles north of here, in Buchanan, New York, the Indian Point nuclear power plant poses a similar threat. A few months ago, state officials announced an agreement that, by 2021, would lead to the complete shutdown of Indian Point--long touted as "Safe. Secure. Vital." and "Right For New York" by its operating Entergy Corporation.

Massive visual documentation, provided by Johnson and others, alerts the world to the devastating, enduring consequences of nuclear accidents--whole towns emptied of people, toxic and uninhabitable except by irradiated animals and plant life. Otake's program drew together numerous educators, activists and visual, literary, music and movement artists to illustrate how creative communication can help us begin the process of grasping the massive scale of the tragedy and the details of lives destroyed or upended.

And Otake, the inimitable, danced her latest iteration of A Body in a Cathedral, cloaked this time in black, thrusting through holy space like a crow in flight, in alarm, disorientation, displacement, grief...and warning.

"This is what I do as an artist," said Otake.
"I hang around. Thanks to the Cathedral for allowing me to hang around."

Remembering Fukushima: Art and Conversations in the Cathedral was presented in partnership with Asia Society and Danspace Project.

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Women comics being BAAD!

Javon Egyptt presides over Women Laugh Back,
a comedy night at BAAD!
(photo: Charles Rice-Gonzalez)

You'll rarely find me in a comedy club. It's not that I don't like to laugh. I do. I love, love, love good comedy as well as humorous elements in any of the arts I enjoy. But with everything else I cover as a critic or attend as a fan, comedy clubs are just not something I make time for.

So, I don't have hard evidence on this, but I doubt your usual comedy club features straight, queer and trans women--particularly, women of color--all gracing the same evening. No, for that, you have to hop the #6 up to the Bronx and visit BAAD!

Left to right: Elizabeth "Macha" Marrero, Robbyne Kaamil,
Javon Egyptt, Lisa Harmon and Katrina Goodlett
(photo: Charles Rice-Gonzalez)

It's Women's History Month and, while we all pray Ben Carson has nothing to say about that, BAAD! has launched its annual BAAD!ASS Women Festival. Friday night's stand-up comedy show, Women Laugh Back--MC'ed by the ebullient Javon Egyptt and her many wigs and costumes--showcased the talents of Robbyne Kaamil, Lisa Harmon, Katrina Goodlett and award-winning performance artist and BAAD! favorite, Elizabeth "Macha" Marrero in a brisk-paced if sometimes uneven lineup.

Kaamil, above all others, won me over by the very act of scraping my last good nerve. She opened her set--unexpectedly, inexplicably--by belting and emoting her high-pitched way through "Tomorrow." Yes, that "Tomorrow." The one in which "the sun will come out." And then her irritating persona just took off, never letting us catch her catching a breath while, for instance, she pressed home the shaky argument that Annie was "a little bitch from Bed-Stuy," and check that hair if you have doubts. A curious preoccupation with Black women's first names ended in the bright idea that the National Weather Service should give Black women's names to weather threats. Do that, and you won't have all these fools thinking they'll just stay put and ride out the storm! I had to bow to Kaamil's way of putting herself--and it all--together, coherent and unrelenting. Later, in an aside about our toxic politics, she counseled, "Don't be quiet, because when you're quiet, nobody pays you no fucking mind." Kaamil will never have this problem. And if she ever did, she will never have it again. "If they don't do right, kick them the fuck out."

You GO, Kaamil!

BAAD!ASS Women Festival 2017 runs through April 8 with a variety of programs showcasing the creative work and activism of "fierce women and transwomen artists." For schedule and ticketing details, click here.

BAAD!

The Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance

2474 Westchester Avenue (Westchester Square), Bronx

(map/directions)

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Joni Sledge, 60

Joni Sledge, Who With Sisters Recorded ‘We Are Family’, Dies at 60
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, March 12, 2017

Joni Sledge, Singer in the ‘We Are Family’ Group Sister Sledge, Dies at 60
by Matthew Haag, The New York Times, March 12, 2017

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Kurt Moll, 78

Kurt Moll, German Basso Profundo, Dies at 78
by Michael Cooper, The New York Times, March 9, 2017

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Howard Hodgkin, 84

Howard Hodgkin, Whose Paintings Were Coded With Emotion, Dies at 84
by William Grimes, The New York Times, March 9, 2017

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Dave Valentin, 64

Dave Valentin, a Grammy Award-Winning Latin Jazz Flutist, Dies at 64
by Sam Roberts, The New York Times, March 8, 2017

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