Film For a brief three years, the seminal glam-punk band, The New York Dolls, made quite an impression on the Downtown music scene. The Sex Pistols, Ramones, and the Clash all cite the short-lived band as one of their major influences, but when they broke up in 1975, they dwindled into obscurity. Morrissey—former president of the New York Dolls fan club—helped bring together the remaining members for a reunion show in London last year, and in the process, he helped resuscitate founder Arthur “Killer” Kane’s career. “New York Doll” is the story of Kane’s rebirth. Opens Friday, October 28 at the Angelika Film Center, 18 W. Houston Street, between Mercer and Laguardia Pl. (212-995-2000; angelikafilmcenter.com).
Dance This week at Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, two dancers draw on one place—Southeast Asia—to create a program that explores the personas and issues specific to that region and the world. Joyce Lim, who spent the past five years traveling through countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, incorporates video in her performance, “Splitting the Night Sky,” that hint at the aesthetics of the region. Philippino Paz Tanjauquio (left), who fuses ballet, modern dance, and improvisation into her signature style, expresses the contradictions and effects of technology and globalization through her movements and film in the three-part “Thunder 1.2.3.” Tickets $15. Friday, October 28 through Sunday, October 30, 8:30 PM. Danspace Project at St. Mark’s, 131 East 10th Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave. (212-674-8194; danspaceproject.org).
Art When E.B. White published his college English professor’s textbook in 1959, he probably never imagined that the slim volume on composition and grammar would ultimately generate art-world buzz. But thanks to illustrator and fabric designer Maira Kalman, “The Elements of Style” has become very stylish indeed. Kalman recently released an illustrated version of the writing manual and also commissioned an opera inspired by the book, which premiered at the New York Public Library on October 19. Now, the artist is exhibiting her embroidered works at the Julie Saul Gallery in Chelsea. Like the book, her fabric panels “make every word tell” through her combination of images and text. Friday, October 28 through December 10. Jule Saul Gallery, 535 West 22 Street, between 10th and 11th Ave. (212-627-2410; saulgallery.com).
Event The theme of this year’s annual Village Halloween Parade is “Phoenix Re-Rising,” a hopeful counterpoint to the devastation Katrina wreaked on the residents of New Orleans. Like the Phoenix Puppet that rose out of ashes in the first Halloween Parade following 9/11, the puppet will be resurrected, only this time it will rise out of the Gulf’s waters instead, and be carried by New Orleans evacuees living in New York City. A benefit following the parade at Satalla on 37 W. 26th Street will donate its proceeds to the Jazz Foundation of America. Parade begins at 7 PM, Monday, October 31 on 6th Avenue at Spring Street. For more information, visit www.halloween-nyc.com.
Theater Ophelia, Romeo, Juliet, and many more characters felled in Shakespeare’s plays rise from their literary graves to take part in “Shakespeare’s Haunted Pier,” a post-modern performance intended to make you snicker and scream simultaneously. Set on Pier 25 on the West Side Highway, visitors will proceed through the Hall of Fairies from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” see Julius Caesar’s wounds, stick their toes into Ophelia’s Riverbed of Death, traverse a Shakespearean Chamber of Darkness and eat at Titus Andronicus’s table. Squeamish audience members (read: youngsters) can stay in a designated section, far from the scariest elements of the show. Tickets $5 (cash only). Saturday, October 29 & Sunday, October 30 from 2:00–6:00 PM & Monday, October 31 from 4:00–8:00 PM at Pier 25, West Side Highway at North Moore St. (212-391-8151; chashama.org).
