The world, as one mustachioed idiot asshole once said, is flat and
getting flatter. This week Thomas Friedman’s idiocy doesn’t seem wrong
exactly. In more than a few events, technology has allowed for
increased competition (YouTube Orchestra) and greater cooperation. But
old-school prizefighting is still alive too. From boxing to ballet,
this week is competitive as hell. Fighting’s bad, sure, but there’s not
much that beats it for the thrill of watching.
YouTube Symphony Orchestra
April 15, Carnegie Hall, 154 W. 57th St. (at 7th Ave.), 212-247-7800; 7:30, $25
One usually doesn’t go to the symphony welling with bonhomie for the musicians. But symphonies at Carnegie Hall are rarely chosen via auditions posted on YouTube.View the audition tapes of the members of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra at youtube.com/symphony.They’re adorable.Tonight, the global symphony orchestra plays Bach, Mozart, Brahms and Tan Dun’s Internet Symphony No. 1.
Bottom Line: Not just techy and cute, the talent is world class and very much worthy of a Carnegie appearance.
Golden Gloves Boxing Finals
April 16-17, Madison Square Garden, 4 Penn Plz. (at W. 32nd St.), 212-563-8160; 7:30, $30
The
Golden Gloves is boxing’s version of the Navy SEALS. Pretty much anyone
can join, but if you make it through, you carry that badge of pride and
a fraternité with your fellow combatants for the rest of your
life.Tonight, after months of disqualifying rounds, the best of the NY
metro area square off in MSG’s legendary ring.
Bottom Line: A chance to see the world champions of the next decade before they turn pro and demand three-figure tickets for nosebleed seats.
Youth American Grand Prix Competition
April 17-22, Skirball Center and City Center, 566 LaGuardia Pl. (betw. W. 3rd & W. 4th Sts.), 212-581-1212; 7, $25
Ballet
has always straddled the divide between sport and dance. Remember
Gregory Hines and Baryshnikov’s pirouette pissing contest in White Nights? This
tournamentstyle audition—in which 5,000 hopeful danseurs and ballerinas
(ages 9 to 19) pirouette and fouette their way to a dance scholarship
and enormous career cachet—proves the sporting side is completely
authentic.
Bottom Line: A night at the ballet with all the riveting anxiety of a pageant.
World's Fair in 3D
April 18, The Gershwin Hotel, 7 E. 27th St. (betw. 5th and Madison Aves.), 212-545-8000; 7:30, $10
That
I had to Google “World’s Fair” to see if it still takes place
underscores the depth to which the once-great institution has fallen.
(It does still take place. Next stop, Shanghai.) But Robert Munn and
Sara Cook won’t allow the fair to go quietly.The two artists are
projecting over 400 views of World’s Fairs in 3D from the one held in
New York in 1939 through Montreal in 1967.There will also be waffles
from the ‘64 World’s Fair.Well, one assumes, at least waffles made
using a historically accurate recipe.
Bottom Line: The World’s Fair, like 3D, may be making a comeback. Get your history—and waffles—here.
Irving Sandler: Abstract Expressionism and the American Experience: a Reevaluation
April 16, SVA Theater, 333 W. 23rd St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 212-592-2980; 6:30, FREE
It makes good sense for artists to befriend critics and vice versa. Rarely has this amitie been
more fruitful than in the case of Irving Sandler and the coven of
Abstract Expressionist artists that includes, among others, Jackson
Pollock and Willem de Kooning.Though Pollock is long gone, his voice
lives on in the anecdotes and writings of Irving Sandler, his friend at
the time and now one of the century’s most important critics.Tonight he
gives a rare talk to future artists at SVA in which he not only defends
the somewhat sullied reputation of mid-century American painters but
reminisces about boozy nights among them.
Bottom Line: You were born too late to eavesdrop on de Kooning’s dirty jokes and Pollock’s drunken rants, but now you can hear them second hand.
