Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Nurturing artists past, present, and future: Reflecting upon the enduring legacy and ongoing impact of HERE

• By drediman
• September 17, 2024
• No Comments

Over the course of the past week or so, I attended a number of performances that had me reflecting upon the enduring legacy and ongoing artistic impact of HERE, that small but vital incubator of adventurous out-of-the-box performances. Located in an intimate, resourcefully-utilized venue in Soho, the company has over the years cultivated many of today’s major artists across performance genres through its various developmental programs. This season, HERE enters a new chapter of presenting forward-thinking work under the collective artistic directorship of Jesse Cameron Alick, Annalisa Dias, Lanxing Fu, and Lauren Miller, who have take over the reigns from pioneering founding artistic director Kristin Marting.

MƆɹNIŊ [MORNING//MOURNING]
Death of Classical at the Catacombs of Green-Wood Cemetery
Closed

Last week at the Catacombs of the stunning Green-Wood Cemetery, I had the great opportunity to revisit Gelsey Bell’s mɔɹnɪŋ [morning//mourning] (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), a contemporary opera that, in short, chronicles the fate of the planet after humans have come and gone. When I first encountered the piece in early 2023 at HERE as part of Prototype — an acclaimed festival of new opera and music theater co-curated and co-produced by HERE and Beth Morrison Projects — I was thoroughly spellbound by its whimsy, wisdom, and breathtakingly extreme panoramic vision. For this brief encore engagement, the piece has been slightly truncated and smartly restaged to simplify some of the ritualistic aspects of the Prototype production and put the focus squarely on Gelsey’s organic and otherworldly musical composition, which is altogether evocative of a fantastically imagined future. Hearing the work anew sans amplification — especially with the impeccable acoustics of Green-Wood Cemetery’s atmospheric Catacombs — was a revelatory experience. Exquisitely performed by a multi-tasking ensemble of five (including Bell herself), the ceaselessly fascinating score — which features inventive, unique instrumentation — and the restaged production stunned both myself and the audience around me. Both intimate and expansive, the entirely singular mɔɹnɪŋ [morning//mourning] is nothing short of visionary.

DOGUGAESHI
Japan Society
Through September 19

Then I found myself at Japan Society to take in Dogugaeshi (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) by Basil Twist, an artist who has redefined puppet theater. Although not technically developed by HERE — the hourlong piece was originally presented by Japan Society some twenty years ago for the 150th anniversary of the first U.S./Japan Treaty (which marked the end of Japan’s policy of national isolation) — I’m doubtful that the piece would have been commissioned without HERE’s Dream Music Puppetry Program, which was founded by Twist and launched with the mounting of the master puppeteer’s seminal production of Symphonie Fantastique. I had seen Dogugaeshi more than a decade ago in Washington, DC, and have fond memories of falling for its distinct artistry — a graceful, at times playful progression of stage pictures that engages with one’s sense of depth. I’m happy to report that I’m still bewitched by it. Like Symphonie Fantastique, Twist here opts for a more abstract form of puppetry (although there is a charming dragon creation that occasionally printers the picture), utilizing a nearly forgotten stage mechanism of traditional Japanese puppet theater (the whole thing is operated by five puppeteers, including Twist himself for the current run). Working in tandem with the live music-making by the lovely Yumiko Tanaka — who has been with the show from the very beginning — Twist has conjured an elegant dance of constant set changes that’s as hypnotic as it is delightful.

A MEAL
HERE
Through September 29

All of this leads us to the present, during which time you’ll be able to catch Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya’s A Meal (RECOMMENDED), the inaugural HERE presentation under the institution’s new artistic directors. The piece was in part developed by the HERE Artist Residency Program and has since emerged as a massive immersive multi-disciplinary and multi-sensory experience that utilizes every inch of the venue’s two levels. During this extravagant but deeply personal three-hour excursion, you’ll be guided through a progression of rooms that integrate elements of art installation, theater, dance, live music, film, ritual, and of course the culinary arts (audiences can choose between very healthy vegetarian, seafood, and meat options, served as both part of casual street food and communal sit-down dining experiences) — all under the nurturing gaze of Garnica and Moriya. Throughout, the piece implores participants to critically and thoughtfully contemplate on the act of eating, particularly in relation to sustainability, our own unique histories, and our general place in the world. Although some stretches of A Meal work more effectively than others — there are a few lulls — I was by and large captivated by the meditative, at times butoh-like aesthetic of the endeavor. Throughout, every detail has been lovingly handcrafted, from the gorgeous, artful costumes to the bespoke dinnerware — all of which present a beguiling vision of merged cultures.