On Sept. 21, poet/performance artist Davida Singer reads at Bluestockings.
DAVIDA SINGER READS FROM “PORT OF CALL”
Performance artist Davida Singer’s latest collection of poetry has earned raves from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Schultz. Positively swooning over “Port of Call,” he declared it “both autobiographical and historic, all movingly bearing witness to her time and ours.” See what all the fuss is about, when Singer (a former contributor to The Villager and its sister publication Gay City News) reads from “Port” with musical assistance from jazz/klezmer artists Frank London (trumpet) and Daniel Kelly (keyboard).
Drawing comparisons to Walt Whitman (for her ability to imbue personal observations with cosmic implications), Singer’s “Port of Call” meditates on matters of space and time, by charting “a woman’s metaphysical journey moving through eight transformational destinations — New York, East End of Long Island, Vermont, Millennium, Dementia, and beyond.” Past and present lovers, the mental decline of an aging parent and fragility as depicted by both global warming and a fractured pelvis all become metaphors for “a world of heightened disconnection,” where hope for the future is a dicey proposition. Got questions about any of that? Singer will take them all, we’re assured, after the reading!
Free (donations accepted). Fri., Sept. 21, 7-9pm, at Bluestockings Bookstore (172 Allen St., btw. Stanton & Rivington Sts.). For info, visit bluestockings.com and davidasinger.com.
TENEMENT TALKS
Nighttime temperatures recently hit the 50s, so it’s officially time to put away those fluffy summer beach reads and turn your attention to more cerebral page turners. But serious doesn’t have to mean somber. When it comes to making the intellectual downright interesting, nobody does it better than the Lower East Side Tenement Museum’s “Tenement Talks” series. Their discussions, readings and historical lectures (almost always inspired by the written page) will nourish your heart, mind and soul as the leaves go through the motions of their annual downward spiral.
On Tues., Sep. 18, at 6:30pm, go behind the scenes (or at least the pages) of Aife Murray’s new book “Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language.” In conversation with Kathleen Hill, the author will provide a well-researched rebuttal to the notion of Dickinson as isolated genius — by revealing how the poet’s work was influenced and inspired by her longtime servant Margaret Maher.
On Sept. 20, Tenement Talks examines urban Jewish immigrant society.
On Thurs., Sept. 20, Hasia Diner introduces Tenement Museum VP Annie Polland and Daniel Soyer for a talk on “Emerging Metropolis” — the second volume in their “City of Promises” series. This one tells the story of urban Jewish immigrant society. Actors will join the authors, literally giving voice to the book’s primary sources.
On Tues., Oct. 9, a panel of ProPublica.org deep thinkers will discuss how disclosure, spending and political activity impact the efforts of social nonprofits involved in Campaign 2012. On Thurs., Oct. 11, author Eric Jay Dolin discusses his book “When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail,” which charts the convergence of pirates, the silk trade, missionary work and the British-Chinese Opium War of the 1840s. On Thurs., Oct. 18, Tenement Museum President Morris Vogel hosts historian Alice Kessler-Harris for a conversation about art, politics and culture (based on observations from the Kessler-Harris tome “A Difficult Woman: The Challenging Life and Times of Lillian Hellman”).
All Tenement Talks take place at 6:30pm, at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum’s Museum Shop (103 Orchard St., SW corner of Delancey). Admission is free, and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis (to reserve a seat, call 212-431-0233, x259 and purchase a copy of the featured book). For more info, visit tenement.org. Visit the blog, at tenement.org/blog. For Twitter: twitter.com/tenementmuseum.
SIXTH ANNUAL WESTBETH MUSIC FESTIVAL
Finding enough talent to fill a three-day festival isn’t a very tall order, when the deep well you’re drawing from happens to be at an undisclosed location within the Westbeth Artists Housing Complex (the world’s largest artist community, with 1,000 artists in residence). Installment #6 of the annual Westbeth Music Festival honors the late Gil Evans, a longtime resident of Westbeth. On the bill: a mix of musicians from a wide range of disciplines — including drummer Nasheet Waits (son of the late, great Freddie Waits), vocalist Eve Zanni and her quintet and classical selections from David del Tredici, Richard Hundley, Beth Griffith, and Jeffrey Middleton. In the new Martha Graham Dance Studio, Beth Griffith sings an hour-long piece by Morton Feldman and “Experiences No. 2” (for unaccompanied voice), by John Cage. The audience is encouraged (and, in fact, expected) to get up and dance to the rhythm and blues of Bobby Harden and his New York City Soul Band. As always, all events are free and children are welcome.
Fri., Sept. 21 through Sun., Sept. 23. At the Westbeth Brecht Forum, Courtyard and Community Room (155 Bank St., btw. West & Washington Sts.). For info, visit westbeth.org.
Hanne Tierney, on the set of “Strange Tales.”
STRANGE TALES OF LIAOZHAI
HERE launches its 20th Anniversary season in typically ambitious style, with a production from their Dream Puppetry Program (which gets its mojo from artistic director Basil Twist). Created and performed by master puppeteer Hanne Tierney — in collaboration with composer/musician Jane Wang and projection artist Hannah Wasileski — “Strange Tales of Liaozhai” fills the stage with an elaborately constructed counterweight system containing over 100 strings, which Tierney manipulates in full view of the audience. Adapted from 18th century supernatural Chinese folk tales, “Liaozhai” unspools with the help of lanterns, bamboo poles, magic pigeons depicted through hand-drawn projections and music from toy pianos and self-constructed instruments.
Through Sept. 22, Tues.-Sun. at 8:30pm and Sun. at 4pm. At HERE (145 Sixth Ave., one block below Spring St.). For tickets ($10 in advance, $20 day of show), call 212-352-3101 or visit here.org.
