Culture Picks: April 28

In addition to the events listed below, there are many outstanding events taking place right here on the Purchase College campus this month, including dance, film, music, visual arts, and theatre. Check them out!

Black Violin presents
The Devil Went Down to Georgia
On-demand
PAC audience favorites Kev Marcus and Wil B. of Black Violin have kept busy during the pandemic. Hope we get to see them again in person sometime soon, but until then…
Watch and listen to Black Violin “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” on YouTube

Renée Fleming presents
The Healing Breath Initiative
On-demand
Created in partnership with Google Arts & Culture and the Kennedy Center, the program is in response to the breathing challenges people face after contracting COVID-19. But we could all use some breathwork for better health and well-being—and sing along with the stars!
Visit the Healing Breath Initiative website

Baryshnikov Arts Center presents
Omar Román De Jesús: Cielo Elena (World Premiere) and Los Perros del Barrio Colosal
On-demand until May 9 at 5pm
Omar Román De Jesús’s new dance film Cielo Elena turns an absurdist lens on moments of a family’s life while examining the global forces that impact their everyday decisions. Ten short scenes reveal the strange happenings of their surreal environment, where threads of memory ricochet and recombine to tell a hyperbolic life story: a dream diary flung open. The new work is paired with De Jesús’s 12-minute film Los Perros del Barrio Colosal. A wild romp through the challenges of creative decision-making, the characters ask us to consider the far side of the moments when our ideas threaten, with disjointed urgency, to swallow us whole.
Please Note: This presentation contains nudity.
Experience Omar Román De Jesús’ work on Baryshnikov Arts Center Digital

The Library of Congress presents
The Poet Laureate Closing Event
Thursday, April 28, 7-8pm in the Coolidge Auditorium
Tickets are free and available here. The event will also be live-streamed on the Library’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
The Library of Congress will celebrate Joy Harjo, the first Native American U.S. poet laureate, as her three terms in the position come to a conclusion. “For a remarkable three terms as U.S. poet laureate, Joy Harjo has tirelessly promoted Native poets and poetry,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “To her, poems are ‘carriers of dreams, knowledge, and wisdom,’ and she has been an insightful voice during the difficulties of a pandemic.”
The Poet Laureate Closing Event will feature Harjo (an enrolled member of the Mvskoke Nation) reading and discussing her favorite “ancestor poems.” The evening will begin with a performance by singer-songwriter Jennifer Kreisberg (Tuscarora, North Carolina) and will include a reading by poet Portlyn Houghton-Harjo (Mvskoke, Seminole). Harjo will end with a performance of her poem “Remember.”
Learn more about The Poet Laureate Closing Event

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents
New Milestones: Visions and Illuminations
Live stream on Thursday, April 28, 7:30pm
Then on-demand for one week.
This season’s New Milestones series concludes with a program of music for string quartet performed by the Calidore String Quartet, with lighting design by Joshua Benghiat.
Sofia Gubaidulina | Quartet No. 4 for Strings with Tape (1993)
Anna Clyne | Breathing Statues for String Quartet (2019) (CMS Co-Commission)
Joan Tower | White Water for String Quartet (2011)
Jörg Widmann | Jagdquartett for Strings (2003)
Watch and listen to New Milestones on the CMS website

Paul Taylor Dance Company presents
A Digital Community Day
Sunday, May 1, at 6pm
You are invited to join Artistic Director Michael Novak as he leads a discussion with Michelle Manzanales, Director of Ballet Hispánico’s School of Dance and Taylor Company Commissions choreographer, about her approach to dance making, the unique challenge of choreographing during a global pandemic, and her experience in the studio with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. The Taylor Company will premiere her newest work at the Joyce Theater on June 14.
Register to watch and learn more about Michelle Manzanales’ creative process

The Library of Congress presents
Homegrown: Herb Ohta Jr.
Live stream Wednesday, May 4, 12-1pm
Available on-demand afterward in the Library’s Event Videos collection.
International recording artist Herb Ohta, Jr., is one of today’s most prolific `ukulele masters. Influenced by Jazz, R&B, Latin and Brazilian music, as well as traditional Hawaiian sounds, he puts his stamp on Hawaiian music by pushing the limits of tone and technique on this beautiful instrument. The son of `ukulele legend “Ohta-san,” he started playing at the age of three and began teaching at the age of nine. He now shares the music of Hawai‘i and the beauty of the `ukulele with people around the world, performing concerts and conducting instructional workshops.
Learn more about “Homegrown”

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Culture Picks is a weekly feature celebrating the performing arts. The arts are back and there is so much to take in, both live and virtual. Cultural connoisseur and PAC staff member Coni Guhl is here to help you sort through it all. Each week we will post her curated selection of events featuring the artists you know and love from The PAC Center Series, work being done by Purchase alums, plus a sampling of arts experiences you just can’t miss. Enjoy!

All times are EDT unless otherwise noted.