STAGE FRIGHTS
Surreal dance explores human darkness
Dry hot American summer
By Jessica Parks It’s the hottest film of the year!
A new climate documentary
brings viewers on a cinematic
tour of the five boroughs as it
explores how New York City
residents feel about a future
impacted by climate change. “The
Hottest August,” debuting at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music on
Nov. 15, aims to show that global
warming will affect people right
here in Kings County, said its
director.
“It’s not something happening
in some nature far away,” said
Brett Story. “It is in a social space
of people dealing with the daily
grind — with homes, jobs, kids
and transit.”
To create her film, Story spent
the summer of 2017 asking dozens
of New Yorkers “How do you feel
about your future?” — finding
them in locations that include
Brighton Beach, Staten Island,
Untamed hearts: The dance performance “The Great Tamer” uses evocative imagery
to tell a story without words. Julian Mommert
and the Rockaways. The movie
displays the worries that haunt
people about rising ocean levels,
she said.
“It really focuses on the
social question of how people are
handling the unrelenting news of
climate catastrophe,” Story said.
Her film’s focus on everyday
places makes it different from other
climate-related documentaries,
which typically revolve around a
single catastrophic event, Story
said. Instead, she suggests that the
climate crisis is happening where
people live.
A three-day series titled “In
the Climate: Brett Story Selects,”
will showcase other climatedriven
COURIER L 52 IFE, NOVEMBER 8-14, 2019
documentaries, chosen by
Story, from Nov. 12–14, before
the week-long screening of “The
Hottest August.” Story said that
she selected films that also push
the envelope for the genre.
“I was looking for films that
expanded what we think counts
as a climate change film, that ask
questions about colonialism and
capitalism,” Story said. “They
expand our idea of what the climate
crisis is all about.”
“The Hottest August” at BAM
Rose Cinema 30 Lafayette Ave.
between Ashland Place and St.
Felix Street in Fort Greene, (718)
636–4100, www.bam.org. Nov.
15–21 at various times. $16.
By Kevin Duggan They’re dancers in the dark.
A bizarrely beautiful
new dance performance will
showcase humanity’s dark side, but
serves it up with a sense of humor.
“The Great Tamer,” showing at
the Brooklyn Academy of Music
on Nov. 14–17 as part of the Next
Wave Festival, demonstrates
mankind’s sinister tendencies,
with an otherworldly show
featuring 10 performers moving
and writhing across a malleable
stage, accompanied by well-known
music and images, according to its
creator and director.
“It’s a kind of poetry that doesn’t
take itself seriously,” said Dimitris
Papaioannou. “It sometimes deals
with dark issues, but hopefully in
a light way.”
In the roughly 100-minute show,
the performers create temporary
interpretations of well-known
artworks, myths, and archetypes
from across the Western world,
imitating Michelangelo’s “David,”
Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus,”
or the story of Narcissus looking
at his reflection — all used to tell
a story without words, said the
Greek artist.
“When you go to archetypes
you go to Greek myths, they’re
kind of a common global language
— at least in the Western world,”
Papaioannou said. “They are
familiar themes in an unfamiliar
atmosphere.”
The bizarre assembly of images
will include — among other things
— dancers performing in the nude,
others pulling fake intestines out of
each other, and an appearance by
an astronaut.
The stage itself will come to
life, with the floorboards tilting,
trapdoors opening, and the whole
stage threatening to devour the
people standing on it, which
creates an uneasy feeling among
the audience, said the director.
“At certain points you don’t
know if the stage could swallow
you,” Papaioannou said. “The
interaction of elements, light, stage,
and bodies, all those elements are
equally important.”
The artist decided to explore
human darkness in the wake of
a tragic 2015 suicide by a Greek
student who had been bullied by
classmates. The show is not about
that incident, said Papaioannou,
but the emotions he felt as a result
of that story kept coming up when
he created the show.
“You will see a lot of destruction
and people devouring other people,
but it’s more like a meditation
about those things,” he said. “The
element of hostility and bullying
and this kind of cannibalism and
all these issues about wanting
grace, searching grace, all these
things that humans do.”
“The Great Tamer” at Brooklyn
Academy of Music Howard Gilman
Opera House 30 Lafayette Ave.
at Ashland Place in Fort Greene,
(718) 636–4100, www.bam.org.
Nov. 14–16 at 7:30 pm, Nov. 17 at
3 pm. $25.
Story tellers: Director Brett Story
quizzed Brighton Beach residents about
climate change for her documentary
“The Hottest August,” screening at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music starting on
Nov. 15.
Pour little rich boy: Peter Yi, right, will pour cider from the giant barrels
at Brooklyn Cider House during the “Meet the Makers” feast on Nov. 10.
Michael Tulipan
The in-cider
Celebrate fruity booze!
HBy Bill Roundy ow do you like these
apples?
A celebration of
cider will wash over Brooklyn
this week, with tastings and
special events happening all
over the borough. Cider Week
New York City, running Nov. 9–
will bring almost 30 alcoholic
apple juice producers from New
York state to the County of
Kings, along with a few cideries
from across the globe.
Here are some of the week’s
best events, pouring here in
Brooklyn:
CiderFeast NYC
Sample ciders and get your
fill of cured meats, cheeses,
and apple pies at this allinclusive
party, which kicks
off Brooklyn’s cider events.
There will be 15 brands of cider
offering samples, including
two Spanish and two French
varieties, and British cider
expert James Rich will sign his
book “Apples: Recipes from the
Orchard.” Add in music from
the Dusty Wright Band, and
you’ve got a full afternoon!
CiderFeast NYC at Biba
(110 Kent Ave. at N. Eighth
Street in Williamsburg, www.
ciderweeknyc.com). Nov. 9; 1–4
pm. $55.
Meet the Makers
Head to a giant beer hall to
meet reps from Lindner’s Cider,
Aval Cider, and Aspall Cyder,
who will talk about what makes
their varieties special and offer
small samples — but if you want
more, you will have to buy it!
Meet the Makers at Radegast
Hall and Biergarten 113
N 3rd St. at Berry Street in
Williamsburg, (718) 963–3973,
radegasthall.com. Nov. 10; 1–4
pm. Free.
Meet the Makers II
Pair your ciders with food
at this evening feast: a fivecourse
meal, each paired with
a different cider made in New
York state! Representatives
from Metal House Cider,
New York Cider Company,
Westwind Orchard, Slyboro,
and host Peter Yi, of Brooklyn
Cider House, will introduce
their brews before you throw
them down.
Meet the Makers at
Brooklyn Cider House 1100
Flushing Ave. between Irving
and Knickerbocker avenues
in Bushwick, (347) 295–0308,
www.brooklynciderhouse.com.
Nov. 10 at 6 pm. $85.
Cider-lympics!
Go for the Gold-en apple!
This fun party at taco spot
Chilo’s will offer each visitor
two tacos, unlimited ciders
from Eden and East Hollow, and
a chance for glory in a fruity,
boozy sports competitiona,
with games that include a long
pour contest, and “Nerf William
Tell.”
Cider-lympics at Chilo’s 323
Franklin Ave. at Clifton Place in
Bedford-Stuyvesant, (718) 676–
5245 www.chilosbk.com., Nov.
11; 5–11 pm. $25.
Bushwick Cider Fest
Close out Cider Week with
a return to Brooklyn Cider
House! This tasting festival will
feature more 20 cideries, each
offering two or three varieties
of their delicious apple drinks.
You can buy food from the
kitchen or from several food
vendors who will set up in front
of the barrels, and there will be
live music all day!
Bushwick Hard Cider Festival
at Brooklyn Cider House 1100
Flushing Ave. between Irving
and Knickerbocker avenues
in Bushwick, (347) 295–0308,
www.brooklynciderhouse.com.
Nov. 17; 11 am–1:30 pm and
2–4:30 pm. $12.
/www.bam.org
/www.bam.org
/www.ciderweeknyc.com
/www.ciderweeknyc.com
/www.brooklynciderhouse.com
/www.chilosbk.com
/www.brooklynciderhouse.com
/www.bam.org
/www.bam.org
/ciderweeknyc.com
/radegasthall.com
/www.brooklynciderhouse.com
/www.brooklynciderhouse.com
/www.chilosbk.com