The Arts in New York City

Herb and Dorothy Review

I entered the Macaulay Screening Room on October 20th somewhat skeptical about watching a documentary following the lives of two curators. However, I walked out of the room inspired. The portrayal of the sheer talent and determination of Herb and Dorothy was enough to cause anyone in the audience to feel as thought they could achieve anything if they just tried hard enough. The fact that the film had such a strong effect is due to the main characters themselves, Herb and Dorothy, and to the director of the film, Megumi Sesaki.

Herb and Dorothy Vogel are two people who started out with nothing but drive and appreciation for art. They learned about art as they went along, and through their kindness and sincerity, they were able to make connections throughout the whole art world and obtain a huge number of expensive pieces without spending much money. The friendships they made were strong, and helped bring them to fame, as well as some of their clients. They could have gained an enormous profit, but because they love what they did so much, they donated all of their work to galleries, so that other people could appreciate art as much as they did without having to pay. Their message truly came across, and meeting them in person really cemented the idea that if you do what you love, and are determined enough, you can accomplish anything.

Sesaki herself is an inspiration, as she began directing this film with very little money or knowledge of art. She worked hard to learn everything she needed to know, held many fundraisers, and made sure to connect herself to all the right people to get this movie made. All along the way, Sesaki’s love for the movie, and for art in general, grew. One can see the amount of effort necessary to create this documentary, through both having to obtain old footage and photographs and getting in touch with some of the Vogel’s old friends, and actually recreating scenes settings that were not available otherwise.

I am so pleased that I had a chance to attend this Meet the Artist event because not only did I learn a lot about modern art and curating, I also came away with a new appreciation for curators and for directors, and with a new outlook on life.

Upon arriving at the MoMA, I was eager to see the punk rock exhibit because it was a period I had interest in, but no knowledge about. I was quite surprised when I found the entire exhibit to be contained within two small rooms that acted almost as a corridor between larger exhibits. Expecting to be immersed in the atmosphere of punk, I was disappointed to see a sterile white environment with the artifacts arranged neat and prim. I doubt artists of the punk rock movement would present their art in such a way. I believe a grungy set up with dim lights would have been more apt to capture the feeling of punk, akin to a garage.

What the exhibit itself did touch upon included many of the central artists to the movement, with audio and video available. However, the audio was presented through headphones, whereas a live performance or music played over speakers (albeit lowly as to avoid disturbing other exhibits) would have been preferable.

Our class activity, however, was very enjoyable. The mapping of different clubs and performance spaces was very informative and gave me insight as to where the movement was concentrated.

This was perhaps one of the most informative classes we’ve had. At first I thought it was a rather weird assignment to write down places where punk rock artists performed, or were born. I didn’t think that any of those places still existed. This assignment proved to be very interesting and informative. We had to go around the room and really pay attention to the newspaper clippings, photographs, and audio files in order to find the places. After we wrote down the places, we went down to the education center and researched where all the places were. We created a key for the colored pins, where one color represented where the artists performed, another color represented the artist’s birthplace. It became slightly challenging when we ran out of certain color pins. Through researching where the places were, we learned more about those places and the artists. We discovered the pattern of where punk rock was performed. I actually really enjoyed this visit to the museum and learned a lot from it, especially since I knew nothing about punk rock before this

The Del Barrio Lecture was pretty interesting. It was awesome that we got to go into a studio and actually dance (somewhat) for a little bit. Before I came to the dance studio I was expecting that we would spend if not all, then at least a majority of our class time, dancing. The actual dancing part was really fun. I wish we could’ve done more of that. I was a little disappointed when Ramon Del Barrio spent most of the time telling us about his life. I wished he would’ve taught us some dance moves or got us to dance a little more. His lifestyle and accomplishments are very admirable, however. Even though he has not finished college, he is still successful and enjoys what he does. He seemed very comfortable with himself, and comfortable talking to us. He got us to dance, even though most of us were clearly out of our comforr zone. I found it very interesting that he has worked with Michael Jackson and other celebrities. Listening to him was pretty intersting. He has a very clear understanding of who he is and what makes him happy. To me it seemed that he viewed everything through dance. Even though I understand his view on life, I myself will not start to see everything from a dance perspective. Through this meeting I gained a slightly different perspective on life. I started seeing that every day things, such as walking, can be interpreted as dance too.

I really didn’t like the first part of the festival. The very first performance, Le Spectre de la rose, was very unclear, at least for me, as to what it was representing. Even after reading the description of what it was supposed to be about, I still could not understand how exactly that idea was represented through the dance. The next performance, Snow, wasn’t much better. It started off pretty interesting, I liked the turns and spins at first, but it was all the same throughout the performance.  The other thing I didn’t like about this performance was that I could see that the snow was of some significance to the dancer, but it was unclear as to why the snow was important, or really what feeling it evoked.  I loved the next two performances. The Dying Swan appealed to me at first because a Russian ballerina was performing. She had beautiful technique and accurately represented a dying swan. As I was watching her, I could invision an actual swan dying. This made the performance really enjoyable.  I liked the Alvin Ailey, Revelations,  performance too. It was upbeat and I really liked how they performed all their moves in unison. They also made complex dance moves look really easy. I would definitely go to another Alvin Ailey performance, or a performance by Diana Vishneva (Russian Ballerina from The Dying Swan). I would be reluctant to watch the Austrian Ballet (Le Spectre de la rose)  and I will definitely not go to another performance by Sang Jijia (Snow)

Meeting Ramon Del Barrio was an honor and a wonderful experience. As an artist, he was very comfortable yet aware of himself and his movements. This translated into his personality and demeanor, which is very admirable in a group of clearly uncomfortable and awkward college kids. He tried to be as uninhibited as possible, which I greatly appreciated. A free lesson with a West Side Story choreographer was just another perk. Just some simple stretches and movements got the blood flowing and the energy rising. While some of the students looked annoyed and unhappy about dancing in front of the class, it was still a good (and definitely necessary) experience because we got the chance to goof around and just enjoy moving around instead of sitting at a desk writing notes. It was a very refreshing experience.

Talking to him was wonderful because he had very developed ideas about dance (despite believing deeply in free form and spontaneity in dance). It was interesting to hear his ideas on openness in form, which translates to mind. I have actually tried to take on his philosophies, starting with doing my work while sitting up straight and being ‘open’ instead of slouching and being ‘closed’. It does actually work, especially for writer’s block. I have also tried his notions on dancing when by yourself. This works even better than sitting up straight to loosen up or just to unwind. I know that whenever I need a little boost or just want to move, I put my iTunes on shuffle and dance in my room.

He also seemed truly sincere about his love for dance. He only mentioned to us that it wasn’t about the money once and didn’t bring it up again. It was admirable because one’s career should never be solely about the money and Del Barrio emulates this. His passion for dance and laid back attitude contribute greatly to his success in the dance world, and he really is a success story. Touring with and choreographing for West Side Story, performing and essentially personifying a new character in Guys and Dolls, and being a part of Sisterella, a work by the late Michael Jackson are just a few of his credits. It was a privelege to be in the presence of Ramon Del Barrio: choreographer, dancer and part-time philosopher.