Photo by Summer Yen
HUANG YI & KUKA
Although cell phones and flat screen TVs are old news, the long-promised sentient androids of science fiction have yet to make an appearance. But we do have robots toiling away on assembly lines, whose precision and fluidity rarely falters or wanes. Might they, with proper motivation, aspire to use those qualities for artistic expression rather than mindless servitude? Taiwanese dancer, choreographer and inventor Huang Yi, who grew up watching his parents teach tango, spent much of his childhood longing for a robot companion. In this graceful blend of modern dance, visual art and automation technology, Huang plays Geppetto to a German-made KUKA industrial robot — endowing it with lifelike expressive abilities and asking his audience to consider the implications of collaboration between humans and robots. Developed over a three-month period, it’s the first residency from QA Ring — an international consortium focused on creating and touring digital performance art. See Huang’s website (huangyi.tw) for video clips from Phase I of this project, as well as other works that utilize the music of Bach (whose Partita for solo violin, along with original material by Ryoichi Kurokawa, comprise the “Kuka” soundtrack).
Through Feb. 17. Thurs./Fri. and Mon./Tues. at 8 p.m. Sat./Sun. at 3 p.m. & 8 p.m. At 3LD Art and Technology Center (80 Greenwich St. at Rector St.). For tickets ($30), call 866-811-4111 or visit 3ldnyc.org.
HIGHLIGHTS IN JAZZ 42nd ANNIVERSARY GALA
Produced by the indefatigable Jack Kleinsinger with a mandate to nurture new talent and honor living legends, New York’s longest-running jazz concert series will launch its 43rd season on Feb. 19, with an anniversary gala featuring the swinging jazz and blues of Catherine Russell and her group. This is the acclaimed vocalist’s “Highlights” debut. An all-star quartet of returning veterans (clarinetist/saxophonist Dan Levinson and singer/trumpeter Bria Skonberg with pianist Gordon Webster and bassist/vocalist Nicki Parrott) will play a repertoire of jazz classics. The series continues on March 19, with a Battle of the Saxes. Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon is saluted on May 7, with the guest of honor in attendance — and in performance. June 11’s “Jazz, Past & Present” theme wraps things up, featuring the Highlights In Jazz New Stars (Steven Frieder, tenor saxophone; Benny Benack, trumpet; Dylan Meek, piano; Devin Starks, bass; Kosta Galanopoulos, drums).
All shows start at 8 p.m. at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (199 Chambers St. btw. Greenwich & West Sts.). Tickets are $160 for all four concerts, $45 each ($40 for students with valid ID). To order, visit tribecapac.org or call 212-220-1460. Also visit highlightsinjazz.org.
BEFORE THE GARDEN: AN EXHIBIT OF PHOTOGRAPHS BY DARLEEN RUBIN
Will our city ever swing quite the way it did in the 1970s? Hard to believe unless you lived through it, but there was a time when the walls came down, a green space went up and The New York Dolls headlined a Save Our Libraries rally. Darleen Rubin was there, and captured it all with her trusty camera and her knack for communicating the essence of an era. Having previously exhibited on topics including the waterfront and Rollerena, “Before The Garden” finds Rubin back at Jefferson Market Library with images that chart the slow dismantling of its infamous next door neighbor: the “House of D” women’s detention facility. Closed in 1971, the shuttered eyesore became a garden three years later. The photos in this exhibit include documentation of that legendary library rally, with the Dolls at their glorious glam rock apex.
Free. Through Feb. 25. At Jefferson Market Library (425 Sixth Ave., at 10th St.). Mon./Wed 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tues./Thurs. 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Fri./Sat. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. For more info, visit nypl.org/events/exhibitions.
