In the good old days, March Madness was just for basketball. But at some point it became a modern dance smorgasbord too. And now museums are getting into the game as well. Sigh. Where’s a gal’s NoDoz when she really needs it?
As you all have probably heard, the Whitney Museum has dedicated the entire fourth floor of its Biennial to performance. The inimitable Sarah Michelson is kicking things off…and, well, naturally, her shows are already sold out. So. I suspect many of you already have your tickets to go see her (I am going tomorrow and next Wednesday, please come say hi if you see me…). If you didn’t get tickets but want to see what she’s about, I suggest checking out one of her open rehearsals.
But here’s something that isn’t sold out: the Swedish provocateur Mårten Spångberg, delivering an hourlong lecture/comedy thingamajiggy at MoMA PS1’s Sunday Sessions this Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. The choreographer, an international fixture, will be talking about his new book, Spangbergianism, which he cooked up at ImPulsTanz this summer [update: I gather I was incorrect about this – I somehow thought Mårten had created the book there as part of a workshop, but it seems from what he said at the Sunday Sessions that he was working on it before then. Apologies.]. I wasn’t there for the release itself, but was at a panel discussion earlier in the Viennese festival, which Mårten arrived at late and completely monopolized, dazzling half of the attendees and disgusting the rest.
Mårten isn’t in New York all that often. But now the Cyprus-born and New York-based choreographer Maria Hassabi has invited him to Sunday Sessions, to explain to the good people of New York how the world should be, Spångberg-style. You might think it’s absurd. It might delight you. Either way, I think you’ll be interested. Also, it’s a good opportunity to see just what the heck MoMA PS1 is up to with this weirdo geodesic dome dedicated to performance. Ahhh, institutional art world. You never cease to amaze…..
Mårten takes the stand at 3. You don’t need to make reservations, and admission is free with a museum ticket. Hope to see you there!
One more thing, stop thinking that non-judgmental is anything good. What does it make, it makes people from San Francisco say: “-You are so judgemental” [sic] and what can you say about that. Well, didn’t the shit from SF exactly become two things – judgmental and obsolete, i.e. impossible to argue with? Today, what we need is not openness, liberation, exchange and sharing what we need is positions, we need people, a lot of them, that dare to take a stand, that refuse negotiation but never stops discussing – or better never stop trying to convince. -Mårten Spångberg