2013 Arts in the City

Street Vendors of NYC

What comes to mind when asked, create a list of what is iconic in New York City? Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall, Wall Street, Lincoln Center, the Apollo Theater the Statue of Liberty, and the list can go on. However, in how many of these lists will we read “street vendors”? Now, more than ever, a community of street vendors is becoming prominent in one of the world’s greatest melting pots. Though a little bit cliche, most immigrants migrate to the USA in the hopes of a new beginning- the opportunity for a different and less oppressive future. NYC, in particular, presents its 2 million residents a chance. Whether one ends up in an office, or a gallery, or a cafe shop– New Yorkers are united, whether they like it or not, by this hope. For some it means providing for their new family, for others it may be living out their dream as a musician. Street vendors, like the city they work in, are a reflection of this vision. They may not feel like they belong to a community and feel more isolated in their competitive field rather than connected, organizations such as the Street Vendor Project, are working to make sure these vendors have a community to go to. As we all hustle and bustle in one of the most diverse and fast-paced cities in the world, we should all remember that despite our individual needs and dreams, we are all fighting for but sharing this one hope.

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Order of the Playbill

Whoever decided the order for the playbill and placed the Martha Graham Company’s performance of “The Rite of Spring” immediately after the Russian Ballet’s performance was a genius. Traditional ballet is full of pointed toes, grace, and elegance. However, in “The Rite of Spring”, there was stomping, no pointed toes whatsoever, and the concept was full of savagery and sacrifice and the music sounded like a battle cry at times. The order of the performance could not have been any better planned. It helps the audience realize that “The Rite of Spring” is not to be taken lightly and to understand how controversial it was when it first was performed. Today, all forms of expression are accepted and to not accept would award one with the title of being “Conservative.” Of course, the combination of music and choreography were the main components to setting this performance aside from all other, but the order of the “Fall for Dance Festival” helped it unique character become more emphasized.

“We Turn Minorities into Majorities”

Transitions inc. “We turn Minorities into Majorities”
Daniel Tisdale

At my first “look”, I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. Boxes of “Dark and Lovely” stood perched in a way that one would see boxes of cereal stacked in a shopping market. In India, there is a similar product called “Fair and Lovely” that actually does make one’s skin fairer which, to Indian people makes you lovelier. They have crèmes of this product for both men and women and both genders have been known to stock up on “Fair and Lovely” bottles. I thought during my first look that perhaps this art piece celebrates darker skin color. Instead of associating “fair” with “lovely”, it was associating “dark” with being beautiful. However, it was only in the look again and after the guide explained a few things that I realized that this was more than just an art piece, it was a performance. A performance that satirizes how society thinks social mobility is directly linked to fair/white skin color and that any darker shade fixates a person to an inferior class. Daniel Tisdale, acting as Tracy Goodman a sales associate, stood on the sidewalks trying to sell beauty products that claimed to make one fairer subtly advocating that only being white would allow one to live a better life. There were even before and after photographs of “clients” who used the products. A particular quote from a Native American struck me and it said something like “I used to live to live on a reservation, but thanks to Transitions inc., I now live in a condo!” While some people responded in outrage, the fact still remains that a good number of people actually considered the products. The array of responses received during the performance is a reflection of how society feels about what is necessary to social mobility.

Lights: the Wonder of Projections

White light, red lights, and tons of projections. This production of Midsummer Night’s Dream basically used only the lights mentioned above. However, what made it magical was how they used such lighting. When the play began, the magical, mystical, but eerie setting of the fairy realm was depicted with a soft red hue created in the background. It was the start of the play and Puck was simply waiting by the bed for the house to quiet down. The soft red that shined in the background signaled that the creature on the stage, though innocent and good also had a darker and trickster side to him- that he belonged to a group of creatures that could do both good and harm. Of course many of these emotions were developed throughout the play, but at the start of the play, the eerie aspect of the fairy world was evident.
Puck and Titania wore pale but creamy costumes, I believe, purposely for the projector’s full effect to become present. The projections- whether of flowers, grass, bamboo rods, or bats- filled the entire back wall and added to the scenery, ultimately becoming a prop in itself. The scene in which Titania is in her hammock against the back wall of the stage and reels in Bottom- who by that time was transformed to have an asses’ head- using white sheets, used a projector to display a huge flower on Titania. The mouth of the flower pointed at the audience, the purple and yellow petals, the constant moving of the projected flower as if it were sucking in Bottom– were all so beautifully intertwined to make- what could have been a very sexual and R-rated scene- into a more moderate one that still gave justice to the passionate and thus horrid love of Titania’s for Bottom with his asses’ head. I never thought a projector would be used so extensively in a play, but it was what made this performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream so memorable.

Choreography: The Use of Diagonals and Corners

The use of corners was extraordinary and so brilliant. I noticed that there was never moment in which two performers would stand side by side with each other unless they were in constant movement throughout the course of their dialogue. Performers were always placed at an angle of each other and left the scene using the corners of the stage. I loved how the timeless balcony scene became Juliet simply sitting on a row of chairs at no high elevation whatsoever while Romeo looked “up” at her from the opposite corner of the stage. There was no need for grand props or special effects, rather the mere wit of a choreographer was enough to bring a balcony scene to life with a few chairs and a square shaped stage.
The use of diagonals- especially during the costume party at the Capulet’s and during the fight that ends with Mercutio’s death was so clever. The costume party scene used the diagonal to it maximum potential: changing the direction of the diagonal, freezing some characters while allowing others to talk, placing Capulets, Montagues, and the Prince all back to back, — all of these techniques truly did justice to this scene. It was easy to focus on the character that would be talking and made it so that the audience could see everyone in full action. The choreographer of this particular interpretation of Romeo and Juliet made sure to tell the audience right at the beginning how performers would be stationed and used around the stage. He/She immediately shows us the differences between characters that are in the scene, or are watching a scene unfold, or are about to enter in on the scene quite soon. Act I begins with all of its characters facing backwards in a horizontal line and only the characters in Scene 1 actually in the lighted up section of the stage.

Music Transcends all Barriers

Though my focus was on choreography, I could not pull myself away from the emotion that radiated through the singers’ tone and simply the way they delivered their lines. Regarding choreography, there would be moments in the play where very little movement was needed and then other scenes where all of a sudden a parade of characters would come onto the stage and the audience must reluctantly give up trying to follow each and every character’s actions.The scene that blew my mind is when the widow, the three orphan daughters, a hairdresser, a group of tradespeople, a man of letters, a flautist and a tenor parade into the living room and all go upon their own activities with the tenor drawing in the most attention with his melody or aria. The choreographer of this scene takes a huge risk and had to have planned out what they wanted most out of this scene. Did he/she want to create a busy scene – so busy that one should not be able to follow each character’s activities in detail? Or did he/she want a busy scene and in the midst of it all want the audience to notice that one character—in this case the tenor- and by doing so placing a greater emphasis on the beauty in the tenor’s aria? Such planning is what makes a great choreographer admirable and one of the greatest assets to making a performance a great performance.
What I wanted to address quickly was how the singers could bring out my feelings of sadness, anger, and disappointment even though the entire opera was in German. Sure there were subtitles, but whether I looked at them or not, I could still feel my eyebrows being pulled together and the corners of my mouth turning down as the Marchellin was realizing that Octavian would end up leaving her and that it was best if she let him go. It is amazing how music can transcend all barriers- in particular language and visual since we could not see the actors facial expressions at all. My heartache was probably the high light of my experience at the opera.

Hotel Chelsea

Hotel Chelsea or the Chelsea was one of the first apartment cooperatives in New York City and later become the hotel it is historically noted for today. It is not the architecture or history of creating the Chelsea that makes the hotel so famous. Rather, it is the events and people within the building that makes the hotel so historic and forever a landmark of New York City. It is noted for the numerous writers, designers, musicians, actors and actresses, and artists who have lived there and enriched its walls and history.

Located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in Chelsea, Manhattan, the brick building has seen much bankruptcy and a multitude of managers and owners. However, this hasn’t stopped the hotel from becoming a hotspot for inspiration, photoshoots, a safe haven for the survivors of the Titanic, the birth of timeless writing pieces, and a home for many visual artists.

To name a few artists: Arthur C. Clarke wrote “2001: A Space Odyssey” during his stay at the Chelsea. Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso found the Chelsea the place where philosophy and art could be exchanged. Author of The Lost Weekend, Charles R. Jackson committed suicide in his hotel room in 1968 and while staying at the Chelsea writer Dylan Thomas died of pneumonia. Musicians such as Iggy Pop, Jimi Hendrix, Sid Vicious, Little Annie and Madonna have lived in the Chelsea as well. Madonna, Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless and many other musicians have conducted photoshoots in the Chelsea’s historic and high-ceiling rooms while other bands such as La Roux have shot music videos at the Chelsea. Even the walls of the Chelsea are decorated and reflect the artists that have walked its long corridors. Artists such as Larry Rivers, Frida Kahlo, Ho Cheng, and others have their art hung on the walls. The Chelsea is also famously associated with Warhols superstars, a group of personalities created and promoted by Andy Warhol that would gain Warhol publicity and in return get a few minutes of fame through Warhol’s films and artwork. His film, Chelsea Girls, was based at Hotel Chelsea and many of the Chelsea residents got their 15 minutes of fame through Warhol’s film and artwork. Hotel Chelsea, though not open to any new permanent residents, remains one of the anchors to New York City’s past and current diverse and rich culture—the culture that makes it one of the greatest and artistically driven cities out there in the world.

Art is ethereal

Though not a painting or drawing of any sort, the reflective mirror-like sheets surrounded by chocolate brown foil-like sheets on the side of this building seemed to fit what I call “ethereal”. It may not be heavenly, but it casts a delicate feel. It is as if I were to touch it or cast a powerful fan next to it, the sheets would simply fly away. This reflective piece of art is placed perpendicular to the Highline right below which is full of plants and all sort of vegetation. It is as if the park, while celebrating the out-of-the-ordinary and abstract, reminds us of the earthly and material world.