A tribute to beloved Soho poet Dalachinsky
BY BONNY FINBERG
Steve Dalachinsky was a consummate kvetcher,
often unsure of how the world perceived him.
A self-proclaimed “gormand,” he inevitably coveted
whatever was on your plate rather than what
was on his own.
On a walk together in Paris, he was sure I got
the better pick from a box of tossed records on the
street, even though, knowing his proclivities, I let
him go through it fully before picking through the
remains. Ironically, he was beloved internationally,
a recipient of awards and critical acclaim.
He was a generous friend and published writers
he felt were underappreciated, through Sisyphus
Press, lovingly handmade chapbooks produced
with his wife, poet and painter Yuko Otomo. He
embraced young, aspiring poets and musicians,
perhaps fi nding a spark that reminded him of his
early encounters with older musicians and poets.
At 15, walking past the Five Spot on St. Mark’s
Place, sounds spilled onto the street. Underage, he
snuck inside and saw Cecil Taylor playing the piano.
This began a decades-long friendship.
“The music went right inside me,” he said, “and
my addiction to free jazz began.”
Steve, who was 72, lived in Soho. He died early
Monday morning, Sept. 15, from a stroke after
reading his poetry with a jazz trumpeter in Long Island.
He’d gone to a Sun Ra Arkestra concert with
Yuko earlier in the day.
Still able to speak as he was wheeled into the
emergency room, he joked, “Maybe I overdosed on
Sun Ra.”
Yuko replied, smiling, “I told you so.”
A shared joke, followed by a little teasing, their
Photo by Bonny Finberg
Steve Dalachinsky in Prague in 2011.
last verbal exchange.
Aside from his wife of 40 years, he leaves behind
his sister, Judy Orcinolo, and her son, Shaun.
Matt Shipp, longtime friend and collaborator,
describes their relationship as a “perfect intersection,”
sharing a love for the same musical and literary
icons, describing their conversations “almost
as natural as breathing.” Their conversations and
Steve’s poems in response to Shipp’s playing were
published in 2006 as “Logos And Language: A
Post-Jazz Metaphorical Dialogue,” by Michel Dorbon
under his Paris-based RogueArt.
Steve’s collection “The Final Nite & Other Poems:
The Complete Notes From a Charles Gayle
Notebook 1987-2006,” from Ugly Duckling Press
(2006), won the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles
Literary Award.
He is also the recipient of the French Minister
of Culture Award, as a Chevalier of the Ordre des
Arts et des Lettres. Steve received an Acker Award,
given in recognition of signifi cant contribution and
achievement in the Lower East Side arts community.
Steven Donald Dalachinsky was born in Brooklyn
on Sept. 29, 1946, to Sylvia and Louis Dalachinsky,
a house painter. As a young teen he was
sent to a psychiatric hospital for behavior that
would now be diagnosed as ADHD. There he met
another patient, who, hearing Steve wrote poetry,
gave him copies of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “Coney
Island of the Mind” and Allen Ginsburg’s “Howl.”
From this point his focus took a sharp turn and he
devoured the Beats, absorbing a broad range of infl
uences beyond.
In addition to his widely published poetry and
critical writing on jazz, Dalachinsky was an accomplished
collagist. His images refl ect his love of surrealism,
executed with seamless precision, textural
complexity and absurdist humor.
As Dorbon said, “He was hungry for everything
— food, life — food for sure, all that he catches, all
that he grabbed, he wanted to restitute to others.
He could read his work with any musician.”
Steve Dalachinsky took in everything and released
a fl ood of consciousness forged into poetry
in all he produced.
Read more at thevillager.com
One more summer dance with seniors in Wash. Sq.
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Dancers spanning all different generations
threw an incredible performance before a
crowd of hundreds at Washington Square
Park’s Garibaldi Plaza on Sept. 14.
Naomi Goldberg Haas’ Dances for a Variable
Population (DVP) delighted the Greenwich Village
crowd with their program “Revival 3, It’s About
Time,” at the same spot where she held dance classes
every Tuesday morning during the summer.
The dancers, mostly seniors, leaped, sashayed,
and swung their hips with engaging choreography
to nine different numbers in genres including pop
music, funk and Latino. Whistles and cheers, especially
to James Brown’s “Get Up Offa That Thing!,”
emanated from the audience.
The dancers, aside from guest artists who participated,
are all students in the classes of Naomi
Goldberg Haas.
Founded in 2005, DVP promotes strong and creative
movement among adults of all ages and abilities.
The organization holds “Movement Speaks
and Dances for Seniors,” which provides free community
based programs for low-income, minority,
Photo by Tequila Minsky
Seniors rocked out at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village
and underserved older adults in four boroughs of
New York City.
As of Wednesday, Sept. 25, the 90-minute classes
moved indoors to the Parks Department gym at the
Dapolito Recreation Center, Clarkson Street and
7th Avenue South. The class is free with Parks Department
Center membership, $25 for non-member
seniors. It’s the only class among the 17 DVP sites
in Greenwich Village.
Haas has worked in concert dance, theatre, opera
and fi lm. Recently, she was awarded a prestigious
DANCE USA 2019-20 Fellowship for Artists
addressing Social Change.
The performance at Washington Square Park
was made possible with support from city and state
agencies and the National Endowment of the Arts.
22 September 26, 2019 TVG Schneps Media
/thevillager.com