ARTS INTERNATIONALPOSITIVE OUTLOOK
Joy
curiosity
Gratitude
Embrace every moment, happy and challenging
Find beauty in small things
Smile, laughter
Time spend wondering
Add richness to the day
Let go of the worries of the past
Focus on the present
PERSUE YOUR PASSION
New experiences
CELEBRATE SMALL ACHIEVEMENTS
Live with mindfulness
Positivity
LOVE
WHAT TO EAT???????
EAT EVERY THING
TOO MUCH CONFUSION ABOUT WHAT TO EAT?
GO AHEAD AND EAT EVERYTHING FROM NOW ON...
PROBLEM SOLVED...
EAT:
CARROTS, PUMPKINSEEDS, SPINACH, ALMONDS, MUSHROOMS,YOGURT, ASPARAGUD,
BROCOLI, AVOCADO, LENTILS, ORANGES, STRAWBERRIES, KIWI, BERRIES, GUAVA,
KALE, TOFU, CHEESE, CHICKPEAS, DARK CHOCOLATE, BANANAS, SWEET POTATO,
BEETS, DRIED APRICOTS, BRAZIL NUTS, SUN FLOWER SEEDS, CHIA SEEDS, FLAX SEEDS,
KIMCHI, MISO, KEFIR, CINNAMON, GARLIC, CLOVES, TUMERIC, HONEY, FISH, MEAT,
CHIKEN, FIGS, MANGOES, OKRA, CAWLIFLOWER, EGG PLANT, SMOKE SALMON, TUNA,
SARDINES, OATS, BROWN RICE, WALNUTS, PISTACHIO, TURNIPS, DATES, EGGS, STRING
BEANS, PEPPERS, CARDAMON, MUSSLES, OYSTERS, APPLES, PEAR, GRAPES, MELONS,
RAISINS, NUTMEG, CUMIN, ONIONS, GINGER, BASIL MINT, DARK CHOCOLATE AND
CHOCOLATES AGAIN AND AGAIN...MILK...WATER...LEMON...
ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?
ARE YOU SATISFIED?
NOW GET UP AND HAVE BREAKFAST...
WHAT?
HAVE BREAKFAST...
WITH WHAT?
WHAT?
WHICH FOOD?
I JUST YOU A GREAT BIG LIST...
BUT THERE IS NOTHING IN THE HOUSE TO EAT.
WHAT TO EAT?
OUT OF ALL THAT CHOICES, YOU STILL HAVE NOTHING TO EAT?
NO
WHY?
THERE IS NOTHING HERE...I HAVE TO GO SHOPPING
SO, GET UP AND GO SHOPPING
BUT I HAVEN'T HAD BREAKFAST YET AND THERE US NTHING TO EAT...
AND WHO THE HELL IS GOING TO CARRY ALL THAT FOOD USTAIRS?
THERE ARE 76 STAIRS TO CLIMB AND TO GET EVERYTHING FROM THAT KIST I WILL
HAVE TO GO TO TEN DIFFERENT STIRES, SPICE STORE, FRUIT STANDS, VEGETABLE
PLACES, FISH MARKET, MEAT BUTCHERS, STIRES WHERE THEY SELL NUTS, CHOCOLATE
PLACES, ORGANIC STORES,..AND MANY MANY OTHER PLACES ON EMPTY STOMACH...
CAN'T DO ALL THAT. NEED A FEW SERVANTS...
ALL ALONE BY MYSELF HERE ON 5TH FLOOR AND YOU HAVE GIVEN ME A LONG, LONG
LIST OF FOODS I CAN EAT AND MUST EAT...ARE YOU IN YOUR RIGHT MIND?
I LIVE IN AMERICA, MINEY IS SCARCE, HEALTH FODS ARE EXPENSIVE, NO ONE PAYS
THEY CALL YOU AN ARTUST...HOW NICE...THEY CHOSE A GREAT WORD FOR US,
"ARTIST." AND AFTER THAT NO RESPONSIBILITIES LEFT ON THEIR PART, NO
OBLIGATION. YOU CAN'T COMPLAIN...YOU ARE AN ARTIST.
SHUT THE FUCK UP...WHO TOLD YOU TO BE AN ARTIST.
YOU DID...YES, YOU DID. YOU SAID WE ARE LIBERALS, WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH
YES, WE HAVE IT BUT IF YOU USE IT TOO MUCH, YOU WILL BE HUNGRY, YOU WILL HAVE
NO FOOD N THE HOUSE, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO AFFORD ANY HEALTHY FOOD IN THE
GOD ORGANC STORES OIR AT THE FARMERS ARKET...YOU AND ONLY YOU ARE
RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR DESICIONS. EVEN IF WE CALLED YOU AN ARTIST, YOU
SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOD THE REAL MEANING OF THE WORD.
ARTIST MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT BE PROFESSIONAL IF YOU ASK FOR PAYMENT
FOR YOUR WORK. DO YOU WANT TO BE A ORFESSIONAL ARTIST OR AN AMATURE?
I WANT TO BE AN AMATURE, PAY ME, SO I CAN GO OUT ANFD BUY FOOD FIR MY
BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER.
SHAME ON YOU, SHAME ON YOU. WE GAVE YOU A CHANCE TO BE A PROFESSIONAL
ARTIST AND YOU WANT TO BE AN AMATURE.'SHAME ON YOU...
YOU NEVER DESRVED GREAT FOOD ANYWAY...GO TO A FOOD KITCHEN AND GET
DIABETES...INSTEAD OF US PAYING YOU OUR GOLDEN DOLLARS...
SHAME N YOU. WE CALLED YOU AN ARTIST AND YOU REFUSED TO BE ONE.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY THIUSANDS OF EOPLE IN NY WANT TO BE CALLED, "AN
ARST?"
GET OUT OF OUR GLORIOUS CITY OR AGREE TO STARVE...
THE LIST ABOVE IS NOT FOR YOU.
NOW HOW ABOUT THAT
NOW, YOU ARE NEITHER AN ARTIST NOR YOU HAVE A LIST OF HEATHY FOODS YOU
COULDN'T BUY ANY WAY.IWE LOVE OUR SYSTEM, IT WORKS...IT ALWAYS DID.
THAT IS THE REASON NO ONE CAN BEAT OUR SYSTEM...WE HAVE THE FOOD AND WE
HAVE THE REAL ARTIST IN OUR COUNTRY...
YOU ARE NOT FROM HERE, ARE YOU?
I THOUGHT SO.
LET ME GIVE YOU A PIECE OF ADVICE.
BEFORE YOU GET ON THAT PLAN TO COME HERE, IT'S ESSENTIAL TO LEARN AND
UNDERSTAND HOW EVERYTHING WORKS HERE AND ART US NOT EXCLUDED FROM THE
SYSTEM AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA OF IT PLEASE DON'T BOAR THAT PLAN.
CANCEL YOUR FLIGHT...STAY IN YOUR THIRD WORLD COUNTRY AND EAT LENTILS.
LENTILS ARE HEALTHY EVEN WE ARE EATING THEM BECAUSE IT'S IN THE IIST.
LENTILS WERE THE ONLY CHEAP FOOD YOU HAD BACK HOME TILL WE STOLE YOUR
LENTILS ALSO. WE DO RESEARCH ABOUT EVERYTHING AND WHEN WE FIND OUT THSE
THINGS ARE GOOD FOR US, WE TAKE THEM. WE JUST TAKE THEM. GOT IT...
GOT IT? SHE DIDN'T GET IT...TOO DUMB...AN IMMIGRANT FROM THE THIRD WRLD
COUNTRY WANT TO BE AN ARTIST WHO CAN EAT ORGANIC FOOD...
WHAT A LAUGH! WHAT A LAUGH! IT'S NOT A COMEDY, OUR COUNTRY. WE ARE SERIOUS
EVEN TRAGIC. WE ARE INTO WARS...WARS, WE ARE SO FOND OF WARS.'WARS ARE
NECESSARY TO LIVE. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET THE OIL AND THE LAND AND THE
POWER AND THE DELICIOUS AND FRESH FOOD FOR OUR ENERGY TO FIGHT MORE
WARS.
HOW? TELL ME HOW?
MORE TO DEAL WITH HEALTH
YOU LACK MINERALS, VITAMINS, ESSENTIAL NUTRITION
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, DAMN IT...
FIGURE OUT WHAT FOOD HAS THE PROPER VITAMINS AND MINERAS IN IT.
OK, FOR HEAVEN SAKE, ONE MORE TIME DEAL WITH THE OMNIPRESENT TRIAL
HOW TO EAT RIGHT...
VIT A: CARROTS, PUMPKIN SEEDS, SPINACH, MANGOES
VIT B 12: ALMONDS, MUSHROOMS, YOGURT, SPINACH
B9: ASPARAGUS, BROCOLI, LENTILS, AVOCADO
VIT C: ORANGES, STRAWBERRIES, LEMOM, KIWI, GUAVA
CALCIUM: KALE, BROCOLI, ALMONDS, TOFU,
CHEES
IRON: LENTILS, SPINACH, CHIKPEAS, DARK CHOCOLATES.
RAMADAN COME AND GONE
1: Have to have a definite plan for the last 15
days of Ramadan.
2: Stock up milk, yougurt, fruit, olive oil
eggs and bread downstairs.
3: Begin the fast downstairs and pray
4: by 10pm go to bed. 4am up for fasting
5: rest and try to get some sleep
wake up by 8-9am
6: Bring computer to lafyette after PT
three days a week...
7: Read, write, draw for the rest o the week
8: do the bed. Put away quilt, laundry, give away lots
of clothes
9: Look at and trow things away...
dressing table, 2nd dressing table...
why the hell you have two dressing tables?
You never dress up sitting at those dressing tables looking at
yourself in the mirror and admiring yourself in the mirror
wearing a silk gown...
10: If you don't do these things during the month of Ramadan
when everything has to be clean, clean and clean...you will regret it
so much that you won't forgive yourself for a long, long time...
11: I AM REGRETING. I AM REGRETING SO MUCH, SO MUCH.
I AM NEVER GOING TO FORGIVE MYSELF...SO MUCH REGRET...
ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF REGRET...CAN'T SLEEP, CAN'T GET UP...
SIX REALMS OF HISTORY
The realm of knowledge
Realm of wealth
Realm of morality
Realm of faith
Realm of politics
Realm of beauty
AND ACTIVITY IN THE LAST REALM OF BEAUTY IS ART. Leo Tolstoy
-----------------------
"Beauty produces pleasure in us"
"Beauty is tge foundation of love" Tolstoy
----------------
'You put far too many demands on yourself." BS
" Have to change my whole life thus my existence."
"You put far too many demands on your self." BS
"When all matters will be settled?" (Heedlessness and disbelief)
"The day of regret."
"Be Stead fast."
"To him belong whatever is before us and
whatever is behind us and whatever is in between,"
"BE AND IT IS."
"Peace be upon me the day I was born,
The day I die, and the day I will be raised back to life."
"THE AIM OF ART."
"The aim of art is pleasure
My art has become a source of torture,
a torment, a source of depression.
LET IT GO
DO NOTHING
THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED ART
So, there will be nothing to torture or depress you." BS
PERMANENT TRMENT
ALMARI
KUPRAY
KITABAIN
FURNITURE
APARTMENT
KI HALAT APT KI?
FAZOOL THINGS
DEEL KARO OR THRIW AWAY
THIS NONSENSE HAS LASTED ALL YOUR MISERABLE LIFE...BS
HEALTH CONTINUES
HAIR GROWTH
Ginger water
Almonds
Lemon Juice
Massage hair with all
----------
Ginger
Cinamon
Rosemary
Bay leaves
Massage with all
---------------
Aloevera
Coconut Oil
Egg
Honey
Ginger
Cinnamon
Rosemerry
-------------------
FOOD FOR HEALTH
Green tea
Banana
Apples for constipation
Cloves
Honey
Salmon for dry hair
Oranges
Kiwi for insomnia
Dates
Yogurt
Cucumber
Peppers for hair
---------------------
FOR MEMORY
Blueberries
-------------------
KNOWLEDGE
Alacrity...quick
Obfuscate...Confusing others
Pernicious...dangerou
Quixotic...Imagning...khiali
Recalcitrant...surkush
Sycophant...chaplos, Khushamand
Taciturn...don't talk much
Ubiquitous...Pa...Her jagha mojood
Vacillate...not sure
Winsome...beautiful
Xenophobia...hate foreigners
Yearn...Turptna
Zealous...purjosh
HEALTH
IRON
ZINC
VIT B12
VIT E
VIT C
------------
WHAT TO EAT?
VIT A: CARROTS, PUMPKINS, SPINACH, MANGO
B2: ALMONDS, MUSHROOMS, YOGURT, SPINACH
B9: ASPARAGUS, STRAWBERRIES, BROCCOLI, AVOCADO, LENTILS
VIT C: ORANGES, STRAWBERRIES KIVI
ZINC: SELENIUM, BRAZIL NUTS, SUNFLOWERSEEDS, CHIA SEEDS
OMEGA 3: CHIA, FLAX, WALNUTS
PROBIOTICS: KIMCHI, YOUGURT, KEFIR, MISO
-----------------------
CALCIUM: KALE, BROCCOLI, ALMONDS,TOFU, CHEESE
IRON: LENTILS, SPINACH, CHICKPEAS, DARK CHOCOLATE
MAGNASIUM: DARK CHOCOLATE, AVOCADO, BANANA
POTASSIUM: SWEET POTATO, BEETS, DRIED APRICOT
B3: MEAT, FISH, EGGS,MILK, LENTILS, RICE, PEANUTS
-----------------------
HAIR GROWTH: CHIA SEEDS, PUMPKIN SEEDS, SUNFLOWER, SESME SEEDS, FENNGREEK
GINGER, CINAMUM, ROSEMARY, BAY LEAVES, GINGER WATER, ALMONDS,LEMON JUICE
MASSAGE HAIR WITH ALL WITH ALL THE JUICES MENTIONED ABOVE.
MEMORY: BLUE BERRIES, CUCUMBER, ALOVERA, COCONUT OIL, EGG AND HONEY
WHAT TO EAT?
FISH, MEAT, EGGS, ALL KINDS OIF SEEDS, LENTILS, CHICK PEAS, YOGURT, SPINACH,
BROCOLLI, KALE, SWEET POTATO, EGGS, BANNAS, APPLES, STRAWBERRIES, BLUE
BERRIES, GREEN TEA, ALMONDS, GINGER, GARLIC, CINAMON, LEMON, MILK, DARK
CHOCOATES, BEETS, DRIED APRICOTS, CARROTS, MUSHROOMS, ASPARAGUS, KIVI,
BROCOLI, AVACODOS, YOGURT, BRAZIL NUTS, WALNUTS, HONEY, CLOVES, DATES, FIGS,
PEPPERS, CUCUMBERS, CLOVES, DATES.
------------------------
SUCCESS
UNITY
CAPACITY
DETERMINATION
DIARY OF A THOUGHT AT THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
DIARY OF A THOUGHT
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED
BY
KEVIN MITCHELL MARTIN
DIARY Of A THOUGHT (Now Closed) was one of the best play i have seen
in a long time. It was a play of language as all the plays should be. It was a garland of words,
words, words. Sad words, funny words, melodious words, sorrowful words, nasty words, kind
words, remorseful words, heart breaking words, words which bring your heart out of your chest
and needs to be uttered. All these golden words, colorful words were made into a garland of colorful
words gathered together.
Some thorns had to be there to prick your fingers to remind you the presence of pain in beauty.
Without that sensation of pain and discomfort the delicacy of comforting words can not be felt.
The playwright himself played the English teacher. His a high class call girl (If there is one)
A house wife chained to her kitchen, an immigrant poet dressed like a queen in bright Rajastan
colors like a painting who wrote poems of sorrow only lamenting about the golden days of Raj
by the Moghul Muslim leaders many centuries ago. Her nostalgia was the best poem in the play.
She lived in the past of her history, the history which was of beauty, of power, of gold, of flowers, of
architect, of candles, of light, of a family, of gardens, of mud paths on which she walked miles and miles
thinking of moonsoon and mangoes. Her outfit was of sparkling colors, magenta, gold, safran colors
shawals, silver and gold jewels like patterns, her voice was a slow, deep, heart wrenching moan.
Her poems were never published. No one knew who she was. Her English teacher Sam (Martin) was
the only person along with her call girl class fellow and the house wife who had no idea what poetry
can be all about ever heard her poems. Yes, there was another student, a soldier, who had just returned
from Iraq and suffered from permanent nightmares and insomnia thought perhaps by taking a poetry
and acting class all his trauma of death will transform into beauty. But alas! that never happened though
the English teacher tried his best to humor him with some flowery word which the English language
makes some roar with laughter. Sadly he left all his joy of life behind next to the un-buried bodies of
Iraqi innocent civilians on the roadside to be eaten by vultures.
The most hilarious was the call girl. Since she was high class she always flew to Qatar, Emirates and
the other Gulf states and made tons of money and got some gold bricks from the filthy rich leaders
who had their wives locked up in the kitchens like the other house wife in this glorious play.
The call girl was afraid that she will soon have some dangerous disease, so she left and tried to be a poet
in NYC. The poor American house wife to consol herself started to read some books to ease her anguish
and liked what she read. By mistake she chose the poetry of T.S. Elliot which was quite difficult for her
unskilled mind and to understand that book she joined this highly priced acting/poetry class.
The English Professor, the teacher was British, so very high class with his high class accent was
expensive, so she one day stole some money from her husband's wallet and paid for the classes and
when the husband found out he beat her and kept beating and black and blue and threw her out of the
house and that's when she found this brilliant English professor.
I tell you I have never seen any play with such hilarity and such high class humor and language.
Audience were roaring throughout with laughter and never wanted this show to end.
By the way the call girl came to the class almost naked everyday.
She never forgot her glorious days of naked sex in the Middle East.
Brilliant play. Great language, fantastic garland of amazing words, words, words.
Brilliantly directed by Mr. Martin. Most beautiful costumes and a simple set of a room
with couple of chairs. Sometime a person of imagination and of talent can do a glorious
show with very little but with a lot of fascination, imagination and creativity of the mind and the spirit.
I can never forget this play, the actors and especially the English professor and his never ending list
of gloriously sparkling words.
Reviewed
by
BINA SHARIF
ATCA
Editor/Publisher:artsinternational.blogspot.com
email:binashariff@gmail.com
Mobile: 212-260-6207
FRICKS
PRESENT
POMP!
Written and Directed
by
Courtney Campbell
Set and costume design: Devon Horn
Sound: Emma Magnus
Lights: Taro Baugham
Sound Engineer: Max Robinson
Couldn't find the Slipper room on my way to this show, Pomp.
We walked back and forth on Orchid street looking for the magical, "SLIPPER ROOM"
And with all the slush and snow almost came back. Then we saw two other ladies looking for the same
place and we reached the slipper room. On opening the door and seeing the long flight of stairs almost
turned back but something was telling me, "Sweetheart, don't lose heart and go up."
I decided to listen to that inner voice and went up huffing and puffing.
Once I saw the intimate room, red curtain and the excitement at the bar I was happy for not giving up
and once the curtain went up, oh! what a show they put up. I was so excited and thrilled to see
Wolfie (Amazingly talented, Emma Magnus) wearing a grand costume and Stanzi (Madison Iosia)
equally marvelous in a beautiful costume, I was so excited from the beginning to the very end and trust
me,
They didn't disappoint me.
It made me think of the old Lower East Side and the shows they used to do. Those fun things have been
replaced by commerce but while I was watching Pomp, I knew there is still hope for new talent,
Imagination and brilliant sense of humor which sustain great shows.
Emma Magnus and Madison Iosia are hugely talented. They had enregy, great sense of humor, style
and novelty. It was such a pleasure to see actors like that. So free and commanding the stage every
second and wonderful Dash Perry (Debt Giovanni) coming in and scaring the hell out of Wolfie.
(I was whispering to my partner, "Here comes the debt collector to give Wolfie a heart attack."
Poor Wolfie, Loaded with talent and debt...a bad combination but Emma Magnus dealt with it
in such a fun way.
Everything about Pomp was brilliant, the lights, the sound, the set, the costumes and the writing and
direction by Courtney Campbell.
I haven't had such fun at any show for such a long time.
These actors should be any playwright's dream come true.
Thank god the staircase didn't influence me enough. One must never give up.
There is bliss after the long flight of stairs.
REVIEWED
BY
BINA SHARIF
ATCA MEMBER
Editor/Publisher: artsinternational.blogspot.com
Email: binashariff@gmail.com
Mobile:212-260-6207
EVERYTHING IS ...
A scolar, philospher said,
Trust no body
Believe nothing
Share nothing
Silence is golden
Be silent
And live, and live fully
Forget about anything you hear, anything, you are told, it's gossip ...
Gossip and fake nonsense
Mostly fake
Fake news
Fake success,
Fake stories
Fake friends
Fake strangers
Fake families
Even fake enemies
Nothing you see,
Nothing you hear,
Nothing you are told...
Nothing is real...
Just forget about everything, very nonsense
And stop wasting your energy and time...
You hear?
And this is the last time I am telling you...
Really, you have wasted your life on this bull shit
And it is bull ahit
STOP IT
STOP IT
STOP IT
FROM THIS MINUTE ON...STOP THIS NONSENSE ABOUT ETHICS, DIGNITY
INTEGRITY. JUST STOP IT...
Remember what AURELIUS said and take care of only that.
AURELIUS SAID,
" LIFE IS MADE OF THREE THINGS
BODY
BREATH
INTELLIGENCE
From this day on you are going to concentrate only on those three things.
Body, Breath, Intelligence.
Promise?
Promise...
You broke all your promises before
Please commit to your new promise.
Otherwise your gods will be upset with you
and you don't want that.
Do you?
Oh!no. No, you don't want that.
What are you without your daimon, your god
Your daimon lives inside of you
You breath because of him
Your body is healthy because of him
nd you are not a moron
You have intelligence
And who gave you intelligence? and all other things?
Your god inside of you
And that is the only deity you don't pay attention to?
May god forgive you.
You talk about corruption, fake people, fake success, important hustlers,
all day long, day after day...
You have such energy? such stamina? so much time on your hands to waste
And all you have forgotten is your god who lives inside of you...
Who gave you breath, a healthy body and intelligence, the power to distinguish
between good and bad, between right and wrong, between peace and turmoil
between reality and fake unreal gossip...
ALL DAY YOU LISTEN TO FAKE NONSENSE...
ACTUALLY, YOU LIVE IT...
STOP, STOP, PLEASE STOP.
JUST DO YOUR WORK
THE THINGS YOU LIKE TO DO
THE THINGS YOU LOVE TO DO.
PEOPLE, YOU WANT TO TALK TO
PEOPLE YOU WANT TO SEE
PEOPLE YOU WANT TO HELP
PEOPLE YOU WANT TO LOVE...
LIVE A CLEAN LIFE
BE PROUD
BE THANKFUL...
MAMI, CONCEIVED AND DIRECTED BY MARIO BANUSHI AT NYU Skirball
REVIEWED BY
BINA SHARIF
Mami is a visually stunning and incredibly poetic surrealistic poem about the mother-child
relationship. It hardly has any dialogue and it's a slow moving and majestic tableau of memory,
and grief.
According to the program,"Mami" (mother) and "mam" (Food) reflects the neglect and the attention
towards survival and tender care. This visual poem of a play explore-life's cycle and history
through slow movement, dance and a stream of consciousness.
The surreal images being created out of very little, a little house upstage, dimly lit, darkness surrounding
wast grounds, a lonely pregnant woman coming out of that little house, carrying a bag, walking slowly
eventually disappearing in the darkness, then an old woman starving and in the need of assistance and
many more beautifully haunting images of young men and women intertwined naked in search of
intimacy and love wander away into the wilderness. It's a very rare image of a poem in any theater.
There are dim lights and haunting silences and rhythmic slow and melodious movements which are
to be remembered for very long time.
The fascinating silence in this intimate and tender play is much more important then any words
to tell such a deeply human story.
Mami is the highlight of under the radar festival.
BINA SHARIF
ATCA MEMBER
Editor/Publisher: artsinternational.blogspot.com
Email: binashariff@gmail.com
Mobile: 212-260-6207
DARK MATTER BY CHERISH MENZO AT PS 122; UNDER THE RADR
REVIEWED BY
BINA SHARIF
The incredibly talented team, creating this unique performance/dance play is based in
Amsterdam/Brussels.
Cherish Menzo alongside her stage dance partner, Camilo Mejia Cortes explores
through the amazing dance movements which are, intense, challenging, aggressive,
frightening and tender at the same time.
These mesmerizing movements explore the reality of the body and it's public perception
as well as it's (afro) futuristic body.
The set has strips of white fabric smudged with black paint which hangs upstage behind
the dancers and is lit in blue color creating the effect of water dancing in the pool.
Their dance and the movements are at times intense and frightening turning abruptly
into intimacy, tenderness and love.
The dancer's silver teeth gleam and creates an out of body experience.
At one point the dancers pour buckets of black paint on the floor and then roll around
almost naked all over the paint creating haunting images of terror and bodily strength.
They twist and turn, run around sometime very close to the audience wearing black boots
with high heels and incredible strength and confidence.
I have never seen such ferocious dance of intimacy, tension and fear.
It could have been called, "Dance of near death." It certainly keep the audience in awe
and amazement at the same moment.
Brilliant play.
A Tribute To Big Mama Thornton at Joe's Pub
REVIEWED BY
A Tribute To Big. Mama is Conceived and Performed by the Poet/Performer/Singer/Visual Artist
Pamela Sneed.
Set list
They call me big Mama
Hound dog
Little red rooster
Summer time
Go down Mosses
BAND
David Barnes: harmonica
Viva De Concini: Guitarist and musical director
Mara Rosenbloom: Piano
It is an enormously moving Cabaret (Queer-Focused) about the Black blues-legend Big Mama Thornton.
The story is being told through music, spoken word and monologue which explain the history of the
birth of blues. That music was often stolen by the white singers/performers such as Janis Joplin and
Elvis Presley and many more.
Pamela Sneed's dynamic performance and rhythmic singing and the revelation
of the historical facts about racism towards black artists set the record straight. Most of them never
made money and died broke.
We learn the personal history of Big Mama Thornton and of her early life, how she started to sing.
Big Mama learned to sing from her mother who was a gospel singer and her father who was a preacher
in the church. She sang in small venues as the opening act for Big stars and eventually won a prize and
became the feature performer.
After singing a few melodious songs, Pamela breaks the fourth wall, take her hat off and tell us about
her own history.
She came to New York from Boston to study and reclaim her roots and Identity as well as Big
Mama's struggle through the times and reclaimed Big Mama and herself as proud lesbian who were
bold and thrilled to reclaim the origin of being queer black singers who gave birth to the blues long
before it was considered the part of a politically correct list.
The most brilliant performance by Pamela Sneed with great humor, honesty and energy excited the
whole house. Audience were with her all the way rocking and roaring.
Wonderful band and songs to die. I loved the songs, all of them but can't seem to get, Hound Dog
out of my mind.
REVIEWED BY
BINA SHARIF
ATCA MEMBER
Editor/Publisher: artsinternational.blogspot.com
Email: binashariff@gmail.com
Mobile: 212-260-6207
ALL THAT FALL
BY
SAMUEL BECKETT
REVIEWED BY
BINA SHARIF
ALL THAT FALL is a one act Radio play written in 1957.
It's produced by the experimental company, MABOU MINES at PS122.
Directed by: JoAnne Akalaitis and lit by Jennifer Tipton
Though Radio Plays are always an auditory experiences, here the director decided to stage it
with an enormous set design.
The photo graphs of the actors are shown in the beginning and then quickly removed.
The enormous and complicated set represents a rugged Irish town is by scenic designer
Thomas Dunn.
The houses in this town are tiny, like doll houses, beautifully lit. There is also a junk yard full
of broken bicycle, dirt filled tires which has been collapsed somewhere near a railway track.
One can see a beautiful blue river running through the town from the huge windows where the light
shows the time of dawn and the dusk and the changing mood of the play.
One of the town dweller, Maddy Rooney (Voiced by Randy Danson) goes to meet her elderly blind
husband (Tony Torn) at the railway station and on her way she encounter other people from the town
in an old automobile making crazy sounds. They offer her a ride.
The train has been delayed for some unknown reason but her husband Dan had not informed her of the
delay and on the way back, the dark road and the expected thunder adds to their miserable conversation
during their trip back. They discuss loudly in a ferocious manner the idea of God-who-is the creator
of all that fall and end up in hysterics.
I throughly enjoyed the design, couldn't keep my eyes off the cute little houses lit like diamonds and the
beautiful river flowing outside the windows and the haunting shadows created by light which kept
distracting me from the words. I tried very hard to concentrate but my mind kept wandering around.
Some words got lost though visually All That Fall is a marvel.
REVIEWED BY
BINA SHARIF
ATCA MEMBER
Editor/Publisher:artsinternational.blogspot.com
Email: binashariff@gmail.com
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