Staff Picks No. 82
Temporary Occupant : Rachel Gita Karp, Mexily Couzin, Kate Eberstadt, Frank Oliva, Jacob Russell, Salvador Zamora
Judson Church
Monday, February 17th 2025
Everything in politics sort of feels shit right now. There's very little space for hope, and I think that's felt fairly universally. This show is an opportunity to take a moment, a bit of space, to feel better about politics, and to allow for more tenderness to enter the conversation.
Staffer: kanishk pandey
Ghost Porn : Brendan Drake, Matthew Bovee, Ollie Iturrieta, Nikkie Samreth, Marcus Serjeant, and Nattie Trogdon
Kestrels
February 5th-15th 2025
I know all of the other Staff are looking forward to this, too. BUT, I have to make it a personal Pick because I will not get to be there in person and it makes me so deeply sad. Brendan Drake has been a favorite of mine since Community Exercises for Sanctuary Spaces. That show changed my relationship to dance in a way that has changed me as an artist. No big deal. And when they went to California for school during the pandemic, I was like - "That's ok. They will be back. And I will be here." While they were still there, I got very drunk watching video of their final project and sent them notes as I watched. It was so exciting. Even on my tiny laptop. It moved me. Then, I saw them do a section of Ghost Porn as part of a Movement Research night at Judson. I sat between good friends and behind a parent with two children. Very weird way to watch this piece. Then they did a section at ?!:New Works last year and the piece kept evolving - out of necessity, out of a "could I do this here" kinda vibe, out of opportunity to try something... it was so fun to work with them. You gotta go to this. For me. For yourself.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Madison Greenstone : Flashing Up : Madison Greenstone
Blank Forms
Thursday, January 30th 2025
Over the past year or so I have become a huge indirect fan of Brooklyn-based clarinetist Madison Greenstone. Their work was not really on my radar, but then like one out of every three concerts I’ve attended in the last 18 months, Greenstone was in the ensemble! They’re a brilliant player, performing with the best folks around town, both interpreting others’ music and improvising with deep thoughtfulness. This week we are treated to a (relatively rare) solo performance of Greenstone playing their own compositions, debuting a new piece called Flashing Up. Come through!
Staffer: Joshua Dumas
The mental architecture of magic by Jeanette Andrews : Jeanette Andrews
Pageant
Thursday, February 6th 2025
I'm staff-picking this performance because I'm not sure if I can make it and I need someone to go and tell me what happens!! Jeanette Andrews has been working in high art spaces for years, turning archival research on close-up magic into fancy performance art pieces. There's a serious tone to Andrews' online presence that separates her from your run-of-the-mill magician–this performance is billed as a performance-lecture. Will you leave filled with child-like wonder or somber reflections on human cognition? Or will the entire evening be something miraculous hidden inside something seemingly ordinary...sort of like a rabbit hidden in a hat?
PAGEANT is located up two flights of stairs with no elevator
Staffer: Noa Rui-Piin Weiss