A change happened to New York City after labor day. It was palpable. Symphonies, dance companies, performance troupes, and other arts were beginning their seasons. Nightlife is picking up. It feels different.

I asked some long-time New Yorkers and this is normal. They say summer is for outside and for the rich to leave town. Labor day is the switch. After labor day, activities are in the city and going more inside as the weather turns colder. Not that its cold yet…it was 90 degrees a few days back. I’ve read that in a given week in New York City, at least 25 different dance performances fill theaters from Harlem to Brooklyn. So lets go!

With this shift, comes wonderful opportunities for me to see performances. As a producer, I crave them. Last night began the Fall for Dance festival at New York City Center. Every night is SOLD OUT! Every night. So I get to go in the cancellation line each night for the performances I want to see (every one of them). Its not too bad. I show up about 5:30pm, tickets are given out shortly after 6:30, I grab dinner nearby for the 8pm show.

Last night, the opening night of the festival had:

• “Arden Court” by the Paul Taylor Dance Company. The big rose projected on the scrim. Amazing ways their bodies moved in very exacting professional ways. I love this company.
• “Middle Duet” by the Kirov Ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia. They were founded in 1783 and produced legendary performers like Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Ballet isn’t my preferred dance form, but I can appreciate talent like this.
• “Varnam” by Shantala Shivalingappa. A classical South Indian dance form with music. Less athletic than some of the other dance forms I’ve seen but I could tell was done with extremely precise dance positions, postures, and hand positions.
• “Deuce Coupe” by Juilliard Dance and choreography by Twyla Tharp. Twyla loves the ensemble. Groups moving together as a unit yet each individual performer having their own rhythm and movement. I loved the choreography but I didn’t like the rapid transitions between songs. They were mostly mid-20th century songs like Little Deuce Coupe. It seemed more a collection of fun songs which didn’t really bind together. Seemed inconsistent with the choreography.

So that’s the opening night of the festival and one of many nights I’ll be attending. Sorry, no pics. They were hard core about not taking them.

Weeee. The doc gave me a short supply of Zyrtec until my preferred Allegra arrives in the mail. Zyrtec always makes me dazed and I feel like I’m floating. No heavy machinery for me. It works great for allergies, but I can’t take it regularly.

Much of today was rest and zoning out. As it got later in the afternoon, my head cleared and I decided to venture out for Low Life at the Howl! Festival. The festival is named in honor of the groundbreaking poem Howl! by Allen Ginsberg and produced every summer. It celebrates the East Village and Lower East Side’s role as a preeminent locus of culture.

I first saw Miz Metro, The Trashion Dancers, and Room 404 Media. Her voice reminded me of Gwen Stefani’s “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.”. 404 did visual media alongside the other two on stage. The dancers were doing very athletic movements and were obviously having a lot of fun.

The highlight for me was Low Life. Its a production at this year’s festival done by the Jackie Factory crew. They are most famous for the JACKIE 60 party throughout the 90s. It ran for 10 years, had over 550 themed weekly editions of JACKIE 60 and ended on top. I made the opportunity to go to one in, I think, 1996 with the theme being the french fetish photographer “Molaire”. I could have the name wrong; its 11 years ago. Someday, I document the hilarious and wonderful story of the tues of the Jackie 60 party starting with me calling a telephone number to get the theme. Meanwhile, if you see me in person, ask me and I’ll gladly tell you the story in person.

Low Life was fun. Easily 150 people were in the audience and included nightlife luminaries from 90s and today. I saw my friends Spot, Desi, and Brendan. Johny Dynell was upstage overseeing everything. Hattie Hathaway and Paul Alexander were MCs. I stayed for the first part of the show and saw the following performers: Dirty Martini, Sweetie, Trina Rose, Miss Delirium Tremens, Acid Betty, Robert La Fossee w/ his Broadway B’Hoyz, and Voltaire.

About 6:30pm, I left to head down to Battery Park. The River to River festival is still going and tonight the Joyce Theater and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council present the Paul Taylor Dance Company; one of the best dance troupes in New York! A borrowed summary from a River to River press release:

Tonight features the work of one of modern dance’s most celebrated artists with over 50 years of dance-making. Audiences will have the opportunity to see one of The Joyce’s 25th Anniversary Commissions with the New York premiere of De Sueños (“Of Dreams”), a surrealistic dreamscape referencing Mexican culture and folklore as the Day of the Dead and the Deer Dance. In Polaris (1976), the choreography of the first section is repeated step for step in the second, but performed by different dancers, to different music and with different lighting – the results are fascinating. The program is completed by Company B (1991), set to hits of the Andrews Sisters, is a distillation of 1940s Americana tempered by the shadows of GIs dying in World War II.

I called my friend Paul, a modern dancer, to come join me. The performance was stellar. I got a great seat center stage maybe 12 “rows” back. It was lawn general admission so I couldn’t see the dancer’s feet, but the rest was clear. I got almost 400 pictures. A few are linked here, I’ll upload more later as I toss the poor ones.

After the performance I needed to decide whether to go to Blowoff or take a quick roundtrip ride on the Staten Island Ferry. I’m still not well and didn’t have the energy to go out to a late night party. So, Paul and I took the ferry ride. It was my first time on it. There are clear views of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the New York skyline. I intend to visit Ellis Island soon so check for any Phurrough’s that came across the ocean. Its very likely the spelling will be wonky so it’ll be a hunt.

I did want to go to Blowoff tonight. My friend, Andy, was doing the PR for it. It was an alt-rock and electronic music show with Richard Morel and Bob Mould; they both host and DJ a musical smackdown featuring their meaty signature mix of indie rock, electro and house. So says my friend.

I remember Morel for his fantastic song “True (the Faggot Is You)” back in 1999. I heard it both in afterhour clubs and also got it on Deep Dish’s mix CD Yoshiesque from 2000; its towards the end of Disc 2. “True” is a great song with an echo-trippy funky sound as if you were dancing to it in a tunnel with a big smile on your face.