Category — Critic’s Corner

Love, betrothal, and childbirth were extremely important in renaissance Italy. For men, the taking of a wife was most often an affair predetermined by familial obligation or societal convenience. For woman, marriage was a coming of age (at a very young age,) and one’s inauguration as a caretaker and child bearer. This ritualistic matrimony, often void of sexual attraction, was inculcated by the Catholic Church and considered to be the most important event in a woman’s life. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibit Art and Love in Renaissance Italy is a paradox in a sense; the historic marriage of man and woman, loveless and obligatory in nature, was the topic of some of the most handsome works of art in history. [Read more →]

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              On a bitter cold evening my class met at BAM in Downtown Brooklyn to watch the final show of the semester, a dance performance called “Urban Bush Women”.  When I entered the building I felt a sense of awe at the beauty of the structure. BAM is a glimpse into the old Brooklyn, a place rich with culture.

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To my surprise the play Irena’s Vow was not a one woman show, where the actress would act all the characters in the play from the twelve Jews to the Nazi major, as predicted by my professor. The play, however, opened with Ms. Feldshuh, in a narrative voice, portraying Irena Gut and nine supporting cast members acting different characters in the play. Periodically, during the play Ms. Feldshuh would act as some of the characters, usually by with foot stumping, coughing, or changing in tone. [Read more →]

A war veteran smiled about her patriotism while paralyzed from losing her limbs, another war veteran traumatized by the killing of innocence, and another left in agony from losing his older brother during the war. I was among the many who watched the play In Conflict and was deeply touched by the ruthlessness of war. Opened at the Barrow street theatre, In conflict, was a series of interviews of war veterans expressing their views on war and their adjustments after exiting the war. Adapted from the book by Yvonne Latty, In conflict captured its audience with ambivalent feeling of bitterness and appreciation for soldiers whose life were in turmoil after the war. [Read more →]

Struggling to concentrate on the tedious, lengthy aria, I lost my focus. Brightness of the stage diminished; soon I won’t be able to see the stage anymore as I began to close my eyes only to hear the soprano vibrating in my ear. This is not what I expected of Dr. Atomic, which opened at the Metropolitan Opera on Oct. 06, 2008. Directed by Penny Woolcock, Dr. Atomic failed to capture its young audiences as well as the majority of wealthy people who left the opera during the intermission. Even the last fifteen minutes of anticipation ended in a single flash of light that has no resemblance to the devastation of the atomic bomb. [Read more →]

An eccentric yet animated documentary, Waltz with Bashir took the audience into a surreal world of fear, confusion, and internal struggle. Directed by Ari Folman, Waltz with Bashir won six Israeli Academy Awards for its innovative style of reinventing a piece of Israeli history that claimed more than 3,000 defenseless Palestinian refugees. Waltz with Bashir took me off-guard, and soon during the film, I found myself paralyzed with the bizarreness of the massacre and the insanity of war itself.

“It could only be done by animation,” the director answered in a frank manner during the talk. If the film were a live interview of seven men, it wouldn’t have been possible. The animation format integrated the dream sequence of the vicious dogs and the emergence of men from the water with the overall theme of guilt and helplessness for the veterans from the 1982 Lebanon war. Veterans, similar to Ari Folman, found themselves unable to cope with the psychological distress, for they knew nothing about what had happened to them during the war. As memories were told from one to another, one usually found memories evolve overtime. In the end, the memories might not be what had exactly happened but what one wanted the memories to be. [Read more →]

This bronze and gold figure from around 1300 B.C., came from a shipwreck.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is the sole spot for Beyond Babylon exhibition. Some 300 artifacts from royal palaces, temples, tombs, and even shipwrecks were recovered and brought out for us to see. These objects provide insight into the movements of people, artworks and luxury goods across the ancient Near East and Mediterranean during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (2000-1200 B.C.). At the MET, these adventures begin in Babylon, the melting pot city made powerful by Hammurabi in the second millennium B.C. Because many of these works have either only recently been excavated or have never been shown abroad, “Beyond Babylon” is a remarkable opportunity for the public to experience the rich artistic and cultural traditions of this period. [Read more →]

This exhibition was like walking into a time machine. It was an amazing display of various pieces as varied as any collection could be. The pieces ranged from golden daggers to vessels found from the ancient wreckage of a sunken ship. It is not often that you get to be surrounded by pieces that are from the 18th Century B.C. Each and every piece was so unique and unlike anything that I had ever seen. The pieces came from the ancient Assyrians, Mesopotamians and other cultures that no longer exists, except through their relics. [Read more →]

The Urban Bush Women dance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music was a unique and interesting interpretation of a traditional dance performance. The show combined traditional African dance with modern technique and contemporary themes. The themes however, were not portrayed that clearly and while the dance was superb and quite intricate and impressive the story line was not. [Read more →]

For years the Brooklyn Academy of Music has hosted some of the most brilliant and inspiring productions on stage, as well as musical and cinematic performances. Dozens of composers, musicians, and directors have set foot in this marvelous building to provide culturally enriching experiences for over 500,000 visitors annually. In a limited engagement this fall, the Urban Bush Women came to BAM to tell their story of the African Diaspora through dance. Germaine Acogny and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar put together a wonderful mixed cast of native Senegalese and African American dancers and set the stage alive with heart-throbbing music and lighting to create a joyful, cultural experience. [Read more →]