There we were – in the middle of the Hudson Yards Development, somewhat elevated along The High Line in the “212” (and the 646, 332, 917) walking on our way to see what was advertised as a “radical reimagining” of William Forsythe’s central duet in his signature composition, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, which he created for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1987. This time he would set the choreography to rapper Azealia Banks’ ode to violence and vulgarity “212” for A Prelude to The Shed, a series of performances at a temporary location at 10th Ave and 31st Street during May. Prelude is designed to entice the highbrow, lowbrow, unibrow, no-brow, hip, and hip-hop crowd to the area where The Shed is under construction. When finished in 2019, The Shed will host contemporary multi-art performances, be the home to new art galleries, and function as a high-end shopping mall with restaurants.
But it has gotten off to a less than impressive start. Forsythe’s contribution was his same angst & yank stuff in a duet danced by two men, the tall Josh Johnson and the short Roderick George whose frame comes packed with balletic virtuosity. So if the 1980s thrill of In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated was in witnessing Sylvie Guillem wield her mile-long limbs like swords, would the adapted choreography’s now-dated charm translate to George’s flexible but clearly not long legs? Not really. If the “radical reimagining” was supposed to be simply a change in gender, physique type, and music – well then, boo to Forsythe and boo to Alex Poots, The Shed’s director, for thinking that this was something special. And the fact that it was preceded by an hour of Tino Sehgal’s presentation of people chanting in the dark did not advance New York’s reputation for cutting edge art.
This is New York. Please pay attention to content.
On the other hand, the first day of the Prelude to The Shed did include some engaging academic stuff. There were a bunch of architecture professionals milling around with carts of drawings and pictures which they used to explain the concept of The Shed and the influence that British architect Cedric Price had on the project. Price, who died in 2003, was a proponent of non-permanence in architecture. On view at the Prelude is a model of Price’s Fun Palace which he designed with theater director Joan Littlewood. It was very interesting to hear about Price’s plans for Manhattan which he submitted to a city planning competition — and lost. On the lot across the street from the location of the Prelude performances, he had proposed a building with a huge hole in the middle of it through which the air stream that flows down the Hudson River would be partially diverted through this building and into Midtown. A very cool idea, and there is still time to realize it in the Hudson Yards Development.
Visitors were handed a book by Dorothea von Hantelmann entitled What is the new ritual space for the 21st century? The author delves into the importance of ritual gatherings in society and how ritual modalities and their places of gatherings have evolved over time. Very fascinating stuff. Von Hantelmann will participate in the Prelude's series of evening conversations on new institutional models.
Our enthusiasm for The Shed, which officially opens in 2019, has not been dampened by The Prelude, which by the way, was free. But, like we said, this is New York where one has to do better, especially when it comes to performing arts.
While tickets are available through The Shed's website, the Prelude seems to be a completely open event where people can just walk in off the 10th Avenue sidewalk throughout the day to check on the happenings.
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