KEVIN RYAN
Immigrants: A Blessing to Our American Music People from around the world have created jazz in America.
BENJAMIN CHASTEEN/EPOCH TIMES
Self Expression, Comfort, and Style Love Grace Foods creative director Carissa-Ann Santos shares her style.
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(L–R) Ismene (Katie Fabel) and Antigone (Rebekah Brockman) are sisters who make terribly different choices.
T H E AT E R R E V I E W
POWER and INFLEXIBILITY Bring TRAGEDY By Diana Barth
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EW YORK—As single-minded King Creon of Thebes in ancient Greece puts it, “If you’re not with me, you’re against me.” This is a line from Irish Nobel Laureate poet Seamus Heaney’s adaptation of Sophocles’s “Antigone,” now playing at The Irish Repertory Theatre.
Tragedy will ensue due to a stubborn mind that permits no flexibility.
There has been civil war in Thebes, resulting in the death of two of Antigone’s brothers, on opposing sides, each killing the other. King Creon (Paul O’Brien) orders that Eteocles, loyal to the state, be given a proper burial. But Polyneices must be left unburied, out in the open desert to be eaten as carrion, the deepest of insults to the dead. In a program note, director Charlotte Moore (also artistic director of The Irish Rep) notes that Heaney wrote this play as a direct parallel to the Bush administration’s stance on the war in Iraq. That is, if you don’t support the administration’s wish to eliminate the tyrant in Iraq, then you are on the wrong side. See Power on C4
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Shen Yun Performing Arts
The Hauntingly Beautiful Chinese Violin By Amelia Pang | Epoch Times Staff
A
soul-stirring tune penetrated the silence of a tawny November forest in upstate New York. It was distinctly Chinese. The sound came from a two-stringed Chinese violin called the “erhu.” And the musician playing was Xiaochun Qi, an erhu soloist with Shen Yun Performing Arts. Shen Yun is a New York-based classical Chinese dance company that performs in over 20 countries and 100 cities in a tour spanning five months each year. The dances are accompanied by a live orchestra that consists of an intriguing blend of Eastern and Western instruments. Shen Yun, which embarked on its world tour in December, also showcases bel canto singing and an erhu solo in addition to classical Chinese dance and Chinese folk dance. Audiences at distinguished theaters such as the Lincoln Center in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington have found Qi’s performances gripping and hauntingly beautiful. Her unusual upbringing allows her to perform fully and without stage fright, which is rare even among famous musicians. Qi is an erhu virtuoso who grew up in close quarters in Southern China. Throughout her childhood, she practiced outdoors in order to avoid disturbing neighbors. Her father, also an erhu player, had her practice in public spaces as early on as age 6. Regardless of rain or snow, her father would still carry on with outdoor lessons every night. Uplifting and Purifying Of all the Eastern and Western instruments in Shen Yun orchestra, the erhu is considered to possess one of the greatest capacities to express deeply human emotions. The erhu can mimic a human voice. It can convey a wealth of feelings: from profound grief, joy, and ire, to that sense of having found the meaning of one’s life. The erhu has a 4,000-year-old history in China. Traditional Chinese culture believes that sound can harmonize the universe as well as the individual. In ancient China, erhu music was not merely performed for entertainment, but also to lift a person’s state of mind and purify one’s thoughts. The erhu can also capture the specific characteristics of Chinese ethnic groups through special sliding techniques. From the simple life of girls collecting water
Erhu virtuoso Xiaochun Qi. Traditional Chinese culture believes that sound can harmonize the universe as well as the individual.
Qi’s erhu performances express deeply human emotions.
Shen Yun Performing Arts Lincoln Center David H. Koch Theater Tickets Online: ShenYun.com/NYC Hotline: 800-818-2393 Running Time 2 hours, 15 minutes (one intermission) Date & Time March 2, 3, & 4 at 7:30 p.m. March 5 at 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. March 6 at 1:30 p.m. March 9, 10, & 11 at 7:30 p.m. March 12 at 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. March 13 at 1:30 p.m.
in rural China, to the regal elegance of daughters of Manchurian aristocrats, the erhu can channel the feeling of daily life as influenced by local environments and traditions. The erhu can also imitate animal sounds— such as neighing and the canter of galloping horses. Although the erhu is often compared to the violin, it is actually held vertically on the lap of a seated musician. There is no fingerboard. And instead of a separate bow, a bamboo and white horsehair bow is permanently connected to the two strings. The Shen Yun orchestra takes the erhu to new heights. The erhu’s Chinese melodies are harmonized by the splendor of Western percussion, brass, woodwind, and string instruments. The music still has a distinctly Chinese feeling, though, because Eastern instruments such as the Chinese lute, “suona,” and various eastern percussion instruments play the melodies. A Spiritual Sound Qi’s performance is particularly rich because she practices a spiritual meditation practice called Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa). Through practicing daily Falun Gong meditation exercises, Qi said she has managed to
reach a state of inner peace that has removed fears and anxiety from her life. “Since I started practicing Falun Dafa, I learned to stop concerning myself with what people thought of my performance,” she said in Chinese. “I was no longer preoccupied with those tiring thoughts, so I had more energy to focus on truly playing music.” “Shen Yun’s music can have a purifying effect on the audience because it has a different kind of energy,” she said. “People don’t regret going to see the show. They feel refreshed.” During the 2016 season, Shen Yun will make stops in over 100 cities worldwide. For more information about Shen Yun, visit ShenYun.com THE ERHU (are-who) is one of China’s most important instruments. It has a history of over 4,000 years, and was an integral part of folk performances, operas, and imperial banquets throughout the dynasties. Despite its simple construction, the erhu is extraordinarily expressive. Having SH EN YU no frets or fingerboard allows N PE RF OR for a free array of vibratos MI NG and slides, as well as AR TS tremendous tonal flexibility.
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Essence of China
4 Common Misconceptions About Confucius By Leo Timm | Epoch Times Staff Despite being perhaps the single most influential individual in traditional Chinese and East Asian culture, Confucius has gotten a bad rap in modern times. The great teacher and philosopher is often dismissed as a symbol of oppression, conformity, and sexism. In this narrative, the teachings of Confucius made way for the social ills China is saddled with today, from human rights abuses to pervasive corruption. Things are no better in China, where the most common understandings of Confucius are colored and distorted by decades of Marxism, which regards Confucius a reactionary villain whose ideas hindered China’s progress. These interpretations reflect years of alienation from traditional culture, which was severely damaged by totalitarian persecution. Here are four common myths about Confucius, along with what’s wrong with them.
Myth 3: ‘Confucianism Encourages Corruption’ In trying to understand why China lagged behind the West in political and technological development in the 19th and 20th centuries, Chinese scholars took to blaming Confucian teachings for the corruption and nepotism that is still common today. The reasoning is that rather than being based on clear laws, Confucianism emphasizes family relations and innate virtue. (Ironically, this contradicts the notion that Confucianism is a philosophy of rigid authoritarianism.) However, just as Confucius was no proponent of blind obedience, nor was he given to promoting the welfare of the family above all else. For Confucius, the entire nation was a big family subdivided into nuclear families. Chinese heroes such as the tragic general Yue Fei have been depicted making tough decisions between service to their immediate kin or to the wellbeing of the empire, and choosing the latter. For Confucius, the ends did not justify the means. Instead of following base desires and material greed, a man worthy of respect was formed by adhering to ritual and faith in principles. “The superior man is not a tool,” he said to his disciples. In China, corruption and other maladies are often blamed on the “low quality” of the Chinese people, a notion often used in politics to justify the lack of democracy and human rights. Confucianism, already
consigned to an unwanted past as primitive and backward, was included in this national self-denigration.
The role of the monarch and the parent was not merely to lord over his subjects and children but to educate them with virtue.
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Myth 1: ‘Confucianism Is Oppressive’ Perhaps the most fundamental misunderstanding about Confucianism is that it promotes oppression. This view takes issue with the teaching of filial piety, whereby children must respect their parents and elders, and subjects must respect their rulers. Because the teaching espouses hierarchy, it is assumed that Confucianism must be authoritarian and dictatorial. Some China experts have even sought to argue that Confucius’s influence explains why modern China lacks the human rights and freedoms enjoyed in democracies. But to equate hierarchy with oppression is to oversimplify what Confucianism truly taught. While Confucius believed people occupied different social roles, he did not discriminate against individuals based on their status. Everyone, “from the Son of Heaven to the common folk,” he said, was held to the same moral standards. Furthermore, it was the filial duty of the subordinate to defy the wishes of his superior (whether employer, father, or older brother) when it was clear that the instruction was wrong. Confucius held that if a king, minister, or parent did not have his own mistakes pointed out to him, he would bring his family or empire to ruin. “Merely obey father’s commands—how can this count as filial piety?” Confucius said. For Confucius, the role of the monarch and the parent was not merely to lord over his subjects and children but to educate them with virtue. These values were what made a nation truly great because they would enable people to behave virtuously even without being told what to do.
Myth 2: ‘Confucianism Is Sexist’ Be it stereotypes about the submissiveness of Asian women or abhorrent practices like footbinding and female infanticide, Chinese and East Asian cultures generally are colored by negative perceptions about about the place of women. Again, much of the blame is laid at the feet of “Confucius says.” While women indeed did not factor prominently in Confucian teachings, nothing suggests that the philosopher thought of them negatively. When preaching filial piety among artisans, he commands that mothers be rendered affectionate service. And in the “Thousand Character Classic,” an educational text based in traditional Confucian learning, there is the line “At home, honor your mother’s wisdom.” As for foot-binding, it first appeared only in the Song Dynasty of the 10th century, about 1,500 years after Confucius had died. Even then, the prominent (and oft-criticized) neoConfucian scholar Zhu Xi condemned it as a barbaric perversion, and many emperors tried to have it eradicated.
Confucius believed that a culture of virtue was more important than strict rule.
Myth 4: ‘Confucianism Is Atheist’ For thousands of years, Chinese held faith in the “three traditional religions,” among which were Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. While Confucius, as a philosopher of social and family ethics, was chiefly concerned with worldly affairs, he and his teachings were nonetheless closely connected to the more cryptic thoughts of the Taoist cultivators. Lao Zi, who left behind the primary text of Taoist thought, the “Tao Te Ching,” was greatly revered by Confucius, who likened the venerable sage to a sublime dragon. Under the rule of the Communist Party, however, Chinese were indoctrinated to hate and belittle all religious faiths and ancient philosophies as “feudal superstition.” Through violent campaigns, millions of people were persecuted or killed for their convictions, and countless ancient relics and buildings were destroyed. Today, while the Communist Party no longer overtly pursues the destruction of traditional culture, it has sought to redefine what is left to conform to its own ideology of Marxist materialism. Citing a few vague passages from Confucius’s conversations with his disciples, modern Chinese scholars often claim that Confucius himself was anti-spiritual and even a nonbeliever. One such quotation is, “I do not speak of unruly gods or strange powers.” But taken in context, the line does not show Confucius disapproving of religion. Confucius made many statements endorsing the ancient religious beliefs of the Zhou Dynasty and lamented that they had fallen into neglect by his own time. He also compiled the “Book of Odes,” a collection of poems in which the strong faith of the Zhou people resonates throughout. In Confucian thought, one of the central virtues is that of propriety, also translated as ritual. These were the religious customs and ceremonies that Confucius had hoped to revive and which he hoped would remind people of the divine.
Film Review
Sundance Film That Most Deserves Support HOOLIGANSPARROW.COM
Activist Ye Haiyan, also known as the Sparrow.
‘Hooligan Sparrow’ Documentary Director Nanfu Wang Running Time 1 hour, 24 minutes Not Rated Release Date Jan. 22
By Joe Bendel You might not know Ye Haiyan’s name, but if you attended the Ai Weiwei retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum, you might recognize all her worldly possessions. When Ye and her young daughter were summarily evicted as part of the Chinese Communist regime’s relentless harassment campaign, a picture of their meager belongings dumped by the side of the road went viral. Being one of her social media followers, Teacher Ai recreated the photo in a dramatic installation. However, Ye is not the only target of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) orchestrated thuggery. Her lawyer and her documentarian were also followed, intimidated, and in one case arrested without charge. Nanfu Wang shows guts worthy of her subject throughout “Hooligan Sparrow,” which screened during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Ye Haiyan (also known as Sparrow) first came to prominence as an advocate for sex worker rights. Always one to walk the walk, Ye went to work in the very brothels she protested, becoming an underground media sensation when she offered free sex for migrant workers. In 2013, Ye, human rights attorney Wang Yu, and a group of equally outraged women protested a Hainan grade school principal who abducted, pimped out, and raped six of his appallingly young students. Although he and a local government official were caught dead to rights, the state declined to prosecute, claiming insufficient evidence. Ye and her fellow activists launched a public protest against the principal and his protectors, earning the full wrath of the state. What follows is even more intense and galling than viewers will expect, even if they binge watch Ai Weiwei documentaries every weekend. We watch as Ye is attacked by a gang of home-invading ruffians and then arrested for assault when she defends herself. She and Wang are constantly followed and frequently accosted by mobs on the street. At
one point, Ye is held incommunicado for days as Wang Yu vainly struggled to visit her client. You might think you have heard a lot about the state of human rights in China, or more precisely the lack thereof, but the viciousness of the campaign against Ye is lower than you can possibly imagine. Obviously, the political implications of Ye’s story are absolutely radioactive. However, this is a deeply personal film that viscerally captures the fear and moral outrage of its subjects. There are times Ye and Wang are afraid for their lives, with very good reason. As if that were not enough, Wang also structures the film quite adroitly. Using footage of the original protest, she dramatically brings it all full circle. This is independent filmmaking at its most courageous. By keeping faith with her subjects, she put herself at risk, which is beyond admirable. Frankly, the preening, self-congratulatory “Yes Men” should die of shame if they ever see “Hooligan Sparrow.” Sadly, Ye Haiyan was not able to attend the Sundance premiere, because the government confiscated her passport. Lawyer Wang was also missing from the post-screening Q&A because she has been in prison since last July. Of all the everyday heroes in “Sparrow,” she might just be the most idealistic and dedicated, so her current state is deeply disturbing (#freewangyu). Unfortunately, this timely film keeps getting timelier. This is the film at Sundance that most deserves film-lovers’ support. It is an extraordinary debut from Wang that would be an incredible white-knuckle thriller, if it were not so frighteningly real. Very, very highly recommended, “Hooligan Sparrow” screened at Sundance Mountain Resort. Joe Bendel writes about independent film and lives in New York. To read his most recent articles, visit JBSpins.blogspot.com
The viciousness of the campaign against Ye is lower than you can possibly imagine.
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KEVIN RYAN
Cuban musician Román Díaz (R) with Pedrito Martínez. Díaz performs sacred Yoruba music in Harlem.
Finnish jazz pianist-composer Frank Carlberg (3rd L) with singer Christine Correa (L), Michael Sarin (2nd L), John O’Gallagher (4th L), and Pascal Niggenkemper.
CD Reviews
Immigrants: A Blessing to Our American Music By Barry Bassis Contrary to the current xenophobia, immigrants have enriched every aspect of our lives and we often get the best the country of origin has to offer. Just look at music, specifically jazz. Jazz originally came out of New Orleans, the creation of African-Americans whose ancestors had not come here to find freedom but because they were slaves. Jazz inherited African polyrhythms and call and response but also absorbed the sounds of other cultures. Jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton noted the Spanish tinge. W.C. Handy’s 1914 “St. Louis Blues” mixes blues with Argentine tango. But immigrants are just as important to the jazz scene today.
A jazz singer and a flamenco guitarist turn out to be a dream team.
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Mexico Mexico sent us its leading jazz singer, and she is now an integral part of the New York jazz scene. Magos and Limón’s CD “Dawn” is a beautiful duo album between Magos Herrera and the Spanish flamenco guitarist Javier Limón.
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You wouldn’t guess Herrera is foreignborn when listening to her graceful versions of American standards like “Skylark” and “Nature Boy.” But she also sings Mexican folk songs and Brazilian pieces by Jobim and Veloso. Even the duo’s originals, such as the title track, are entrancing. A jazz singer and a flamenco guitarist turn out to be a dream team.
Finland Frank Carlberg is a notable jazz pianist-composer. A native of Helsinki, Finland, he is now R ED PIAN O RE COR based in Brooklyn. He serves on the faculty of DS the New England Conservatory of Music and Berklee School of Music, where he previously studied. Carlberg has an artist-run cooperative label, Red Piano Records, that has recently released two of his albums: “Word Circus” and “Cosmopolitan Greetings.” The first is a remarkable setting of contemporary American poems by Ron Padgett, Joe Elliott, Ken Mikolowski, and Anselm Berrigan. “Word Circus” is part of an ongoing series of settings that Carlberg has composed especially for singer Christine Correa, who has a flexible voice and the ability to animate the text, whatever the mood. “Cosmopolitan Greetings,” by contrast, is all instrumental and mostly improvisational. At times, Carlberg’s piano playing evokes memories of Thelonious Monk. Israel I could easily write a book about Israeli jazz musicians or at least a chapter on The Three Cohens, two brothers and a sister from Tel Aviv, who have achieved stardom together and separately. Anat Cohen has been leading Downbeat polls as the top clarinet player for years, and she is also a powerful sax player. Her latest album, “Luminosa,” is focused on Brazilian music. (The Brazilian Press hailed her as “an Israeli who seems like a Brazilian when she plays samba.”) Trumpeter Avishai Cohen, Anat’s brother, has just released his first album on the ECM label, “Into the Silence.” This is a haunting CD in which Avishai’s muted trumpet expresses the pain of loss. The album is a jazz instrumental requiem for his father. He wrote most of the tunes in the six months after his father’s death. Like Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue,” the musicians did not see the music until the recording session and so their interpretations are completely fresh. (Note: There is another important
musician from Israel named Avishai Cohen, a bassist-composer-bandleader.) Oran Etkin moved to the United States from Israel when he was 4 years old. A virtuosic clarinet player, his new CD, “What’s New? Reimagining Benny Goodman” (on Motéma), is a tribute to the star of the Swing Era. Goodman himself was the son of poor Jewish immigrants. Louis Prima’s infectious “Sing, Sing, Sing” is a theme running through the album. Goodman’s collaboration with Peggy Lee is recalled in several numbers featuring vocalist Charenee Wade, proving that she is just at home in swing material as she was in her album of Gil Scott-Heron songs. Etkin is true to Goodman’s spirit but is not imitative, interpreting the pieces differently and playing bass clarinet on occasion. “Running Wild” will make you smile, especially if you remember Marilyn Monroe’s rendition in “Some Like It Hot.” Incidentally, Etkin’s mentor, the late saxophonist/flutist and NEA Jazz Master Yusef Lateef, was a devout Muslim. Cuba Pianist-composer Manuel Valera, who came from Havana, Cuba, is the leader of Groove Square. His new album, “Urban Landscape” (on Destiny Records), is his self-described love letter to New York City, where he has lived for the past 15 years. Although Valera’s prior work with the New Cuban Express was nominated for a Grammy as Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year, his new CD is a mix of urban styles. The buoyant opening sounds like Pat Metheny. Valera has been awarded several grants for composition, and this album is further proof of his melodic gift. It’s easy listening in the best sense. Román Díaz also comes from Cuba, but his latest CD, “L’ó dá fún Bàtá,” while true to his Cuban roots harkens even further back to Africa. Díaz is a master percussionist and here with co-producer Pedrito Martínez (another drummer extraordinaire), they perform sacred Yoruba music with a choir of five women in Harlem. Díaz provides spoken introductions/ chants before some of the pieces. This is Afro-Cuban religious music, performed with authenticity and artistry. Díaz and his percussion group appear every Thursday night at 11 p.m. and midnight at Zinc Bar. These artists are just a few of the immigrants who demonstrate American greatness. Barry Bassis has been a music, theater, and travel writer for over a decade for various publications.
Power and Inflexibility Bring Tragedy CAROL ROSEGG
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Antigone (Rebekah Brockman) and her uncle Creon (Paul O’Brien) are on opposite sides of a life and death issue.
Power continued from C1 In the play, the passionate Antigone (Rebekah Brockman) urges her gentler, passive sister, Ismene (Katie Fabel), to join her in burying Polyneices. This act would bring a death sentence upon anyone who dares disobey Creon’s order. Ismene refuses to fight what she feels is a losing battle and reneges. Angry, Antigone determines to perform the deed alone. Later, when the Guard (Colin Lane) discovers Antigone performing the forbidden rite, Creon sentences her to be sealed in a difficult-to-reach cave, where, of course, she will ultimately die. Creon clings to his willful decision, though others try to dissuade him. His own son, Haemon (Ciaran Bowling), who is betrothed to Antigone, explodes in rage against his father at the latter’s stubbornness. Creon’s wife, Eurydice (Winsome Brown), cannot move her husband.
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Book Review
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Two Boys From Ohio
PUBLIC DOMAIN
By Chelsea Scarnegie The story of the Wright Brothers sounds like something out of a fairy tale. Against the odds, two brothers embark on a journey to make the dream of human flight come true. In David McCullough’s new book “The Wright Brothers,� the mystery is stripped away and we see the brothers for who they really are: two boys from Ohio. The brothers were almost evenly matched— both endowed with a sense of humor, an endless supply of humility, and a familial bond that would rival Venus and Serena’s. Little brother Orville, with his fashionable wardrobe and cheerful disposition, was perhaps the more charismatic of the two. But both were undoubtedly smart. McCullough writes, “Everything considered, they got along well, each aware of what the other brought to the task at hand, each long familiar with the other’s particular nature, and always with the unspoken understanding that Wilbur, the older by four years, was the senior member of the partnership, the big brother.� Nearing the turn of the century, there was plenty to do to keep the industrious brothers busy. While in high school, Orville started a print shop in the back shed. Wilbur helped when he could, but was not as dedicated to
Story continued from C4 Even the blind seer Tiresias (Robert Langdon Lloyd), whose wise words would move the hardest mind and heart, cannot cause the willful ruler to change his stance. There is a strong implication that tragedy will ensue due to a stubborn mind that permits no flexibility. Arguably, the appeal of Antigone’s story lies in its universality and timelessness. The conflict of loyalty to one’s nation as opposed to one’s loved ones, family, or friends, has existed from time immemorial. Think of the not-too-distant past, of the blacklisting era in the 1950s, with some writers and actors refusing to name names of their
McCullough ensures that his readers follow Wilbur and Orville every step of the way.
‘The Wright Brothers’ Author David McCullough Publisher Simon & Schuster Pages 320 Price $30
the editorial process as his younger brother. There were domestic duties to attend to, as their mother was deceased. There were home improvement projects to tackle as well, like a wraparound porch, new windows, and shutters. Wilbur and Orville spent their post-high school years enveloped in the new bicycle craze. They opened up a shop a couple of blocks from their beloved home and built, sold, and repaired bicycles. It was in this shop that a lot of tinkering would be done to build the very first plane, as bicycles were the perfect way to get the brothers into the world of machinery. McCullough ensures that his readers follow Wilbur and Orville every step of the way by describing what they studied, what they ate, and how they lived while inventing the “flying machine.� History would be made at a simple camp at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, which was carefully chosen due to its constant wind, tall hills, and soft sand. Here is the stage for the first major climax of “The Wright Brothers�—the first controlled flight in an engine-powered machine. McCullough describes this scene so vividly and with as much action as a blockbuster film. It’s hard not to get swept away in the gusts of wind from that historic first.
past associations with those who might have been members of the Communist Party. Those were harsh times, with not only loss of financial remuneration, but suicide or giving up one’s home and leaving the country. Think of many of us who live possibly simpler lives, who have had to bite our tongues when faced with the possibility of retaliation if we dare criticize our bosses, our spouses, or any authority figures. The old saw “words can never hurt me� has been proven untrue. Heaney’s text, poetic yet hard when it needs to be, is masterful. Of the cast, arguably Robert Langdon Lloyd fares the best with Heaney’s style; Lloyd is able to fuse the poetic word or
Orville Wright in flight in the Wright Flyer II over Huffman Prairie, Ohio, covering a distance of approximately 1,760 feet in 40 1/5 In order to fully understand who the Wright seconds. Brothers were as well as the magnitude of their achievement, these details are crucial. Rather than feel like a bystander looking back at history, the reader feels like a third brother or sister. No matter where their experiments took them, the Wright Brothers understood the value of family and fostered those bonds whenever possible. The two were close to one another, they were close to their father and younger sister, and they were happiest at home in Ohio. No matter where their travels took them—North Carolina, Paris, Washington D.C.—they were always in correspondence with their loved ones back in Dayton. Because McCullough brings a genuine humanity to our understanding SI M ON &S of Wilbur and Orville, they could CH US T ER very well have been our brothers. They could have been us. They were, after all, just a couple of boys from Ohio. In the story of “The Wright Brothers,� greatness can be found anywhere and never far from home. Chelsea Scarnegie lives and writes in the Chicago area.
phrase with the intention or passion required to good eect. Brockman makes a strong Antigone. Rod Brogan plays the Messenger, who informs onstage characters of developments elsewhere. I found Tony Walton’s set puzzling at first, consisting of slightly decorated ropes strung from ceiling to floor. I realized later that when one stands far back from the stage or sees the set in a photo, the ropes appear to be solid Grecian columns. So it was a valiant attempt on Walton’s part to create a sense of ancient Greece. In sum, the play brings to mind basic rules by which any society must function and points the need for constant vigilance on the part of earnest citizens everywhere.
‘The Burial at Thebes’ Irish Repertory Theatre DR2 Theatre (temporary home for the Rep) 103 E. 15th St. Tickets 212-727-2737, or IrishRep.org Running Time 1 hour, 20 minutes (no intermission) Closes March 6 Diana Barth writes for various publications, including New Millennium, an arts publication. She may be contacted at DiaBarth@juno.com
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February 12–18, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts ALL PHOTOS BY JOE LEDERER/2015 MARVEL & SUBS/TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION
(Left) Ryan Reynolds plays Marvel Comics’ most unconventional anti-hero, Deadpool. (Right) Brianna Hildebrand as the mutant Negasonic Teenage Warhead in “Deadpool.”
Film Review
‘Deadpool’ Unfortunately the Most Exciting Marvel Movie Ever By Mark Jackson | Epoch Times Staff There’s a new Marvel Comics summer-blockbuster-caliber winterbuster in town—a fast, funny, freak-flag-flying, four-letter-word-filled flick, making fun of the formulaic franchise from whence it spawneth’d, and featuring SpiderMan’s rude, crude, socially unacceptable punk cousin, Deadpool (not his real cousin). Up until now, we’ve had do-gooder superheroes—it was just a matter of time before we started seeing some less wholesome ones. Not that Batman’s exactly a wholesome dude. But “Deadpool” is the darkest—and, sadly, most fun—superhero movie you’ll have seen, hands-down, to date; hence the R rating. Why is that sad? We’ll come back to that.
The Deadpool Super Suit Deadpool looks sort of like a Spidey-ninja in a red/black Kick-Ass suit. He’s got a SpiderMan-type smart-mouth, but on steroids (filthypottymouth), same flip-and-spin gymnastic supernormal powers, minus the web-slingability. Add two .44 magnum pistols, and (also a lá Kick-Ass) crossed, back-scabbarded Japanese katana swords. The Doings Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), is a super buff ex-spec-ops warrior with 41 confirmed kills, who was abused as a child. Still has traces of acne. Kinda says it all right there, doesn’t it? While hilarious, he’s not really a nice guy. He’s more than a little unhinged,
and we catch up with him in the middle of an unhinged revenge-binge. The very chatty, very funny Deadpool tells us his origin story, while running around, destroying thugs, cars, and bridges. Chatty’s an understatement; this guy’s like a cross between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, turned up to 10. Deadpool’s actually more like Daffy; not sly and fiendishly proactive like Bugs, but more reactive and outrage-thh’d and thhhh-ubjected to shame-inducing victimhood—like getting shot point-blank in the behind. Which—like Daffy—runs off him like water off a, er, duck’s back, without incident (but with Daffy’s ruffled neck-feathers) because he’s got a certain superpower in common with that other sabre-wielding mutant, Wolverine. That’s all I’m givin’ ya. Vanessa So, we’re in the middle of the revenge story, with flashbacks to show how he got here, but to really understand how it is with Wade, we first have to understand Vanessa. Vanessa (Morena Baccarin, the prim military wife in “Homeland”) is—in the vernacular of the legions of pubescent boys who’ll be scheming to sneak past “Deadpool’s” R-rating, and, unbeknownst to mom, ogle this movie— AWESOME. At a mercenary and hitman bar, Wade and Vanessa meet cute using vintage Monty Python, whose-childhood-was-worse, extended-reality, one-upmanship banter. She’s Deadpool’s soulmate. Which means she’s just as nutty, geeky, twisted, and dirtyminded as her spec-ops, costume-wearing boyfriend, and she’s got the Bride-of-Frankenstein-streaked hair and tattoos to prove it. And super-long lashes. And a great tan, and— she’s boy-bait, basically. After a honeymoon that might have landed an X-rating three decades ago, Wade ends up in the hospital. Not from overindulging in honeymoon activities, but from terminal cancer. The Cure Wade’s got a good reason to fight the big C: Vanessa—duh? And so he agrees to be a lab rat in an insane experiment, which ultimately cures him. Does it ever. Via torture. Pain is necessary, you see, in order to jump-start the latent gene mutation. It also leaves him looking like Freddy Kruger. Somebody’s gonna pay for that. Which brings us full circle to the big payback the film opens with.
fuzz-‘stached male offspring will be loving, and you will be hating, while attempting to cover his eyes as he shouts, “Mom!” with his voice starting in the bass register and ending up in the soprano. What it does have going for it, from a mom’s perspective, is a genuine love story. But again, while this is kind of a love story for you, mom, it’s really more about what junior imagines to be an excellent love story. On second thought, don’t even bother trying to chaperone. He’s going to, by hook or by crook, find a way to see it without you anyway. Here’s why: Dante’s “Inferno” is perennially popular. Dante’s “Purgatorio” less so, and pretty much nobody reads Dante’s “Paradiso” anymore. Why’s that? Because tales of angelic choirs and virtue and heaven are boring in this time of Fukushima’d dead oceans and what the Chinese call the “Last Havoc.” Compared to the rings of hell—are you kidding? Demons, torture, shrieking, ghosts, skeletons, the giant head of Satan munching on the body of Judas— does it get any more exciting than that? Not for testosterone-addled teenage boys. So while junior’s enjoyed the virtuous Captain America, and the quippy but essentially decent Iron Man, Deadpool is Dante’s “Inferno.” Once he gets a load of Deadpool, he’s going to be addicted. Don’t mean to be a downer, but that’s not a thing to ululate about with great rejoicing. It’s
But again, this is not a love story for you, mom, but what junior imagines to be an excellent love story. sad. There’s serious cultural dumbing-down going on here, not to mention the inoculation of a psychotic mindset that glides unnoticed into the still somewhat-innocent minds of our youth, under the guise of shock-and-awesomeness and, especially, hilarity. On a lighter note, like Virgil in the inferno, sometimes we have to go through hell to get back to heaven. Junior will appreciate the virtuous superheroes again in the future. Let’s hope.
Is Deadpool an X-Man? Is he mutated? Yes? Well alrighty then. By the way, this whole Deadpool-turns-mutant section is not the X-men’s Weapon-X program, but a lucrative super-slave venture, run by the dangerous, pretending-to-be-a-doctor mutant Ajax (Ed Skrein of “The Transporter Refueled”). And the movie itself is the first Marvel film to trash the X-brand with vehement irreverence. So Then What? That’s pretty much it; otherwise it’s spoilerville. Reynolds holds the center with a powerful need to raze his Green Lantern debacle to the ground, verbally spoofing that failed franchise on numerous occasions. Reynolds, a natural rom-com talent who spent years trying to define his groove, has come full circle to the “Van Wilder” motormouth humor that put him on the map as an exceptionally good looking, exceptionally funny leading man. Reynolds gets great assists here from T.J. Miller as his deadpan, wise-cracking best bud. All in all, Deadpool’s got action, very funny humor, graphic (albeit cartoon-y) violence, foul-mouthery, nudity, and, um, fooling around. But here’s the real warning: If supersnide, juvenile, uncouth banter isn’t your bag, and if Reynolds’ Van Wilder-on-steroids is fingernails on a blackboard to you, you’ve definitely come to the wrong place—because it’s that guy, all the time. That’s the guy your 14-year-old, gangling, voice-changing, size-13-sneakered, peach-
Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and new squeeze Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) trade some pointed barbs in “Deadpool.”
‘Deadpool’ Director: Tim Miller Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano, Leslie Uggams, Brianna Hildebrand, Karan Soni, Jed Rees, Stefan Kapicic, Randal Reeder, Isaac C. Singleton Jr. Running Time: 1 hour, 48 minutes Rated: R Release Date: Feb. 12
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February 12–18, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts
THINGS TO DO VISUAL ARTS NEW IN MANHATTAN Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France Feb. 15–May 15 Metropolitan Museum of Art Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, 1755–1842) is one of the finest eighteenthcentury French painters and among the most important of all women artists. An autodidact with exceptional skills as a portraitist, she achieved success in France and Europe during one of the most eventful, turbulent periods in European history. $12–$25 suggested. METMuseum.org
ONGOING IN MANHATTAN Emotion, Discovery and Illusion: Between Art and Fashion Through Feb. 28 1083 Fifth Ave. (at 89th Street) An exhibition examining the forms, colors and shapes that influence and thus synthesize the worlds of fashion and art. Visual artists of the National Academy School explore the relationship between these two creative pursuits, through pieces by designers from the early 19th century to today, including Christian Dior, Issey Miyake, and Hermès. Free. NationalAcademy.org Jacqueline de Ribes: The Art of Style Through Feb. 21 Metropolitan Museum of Art This Costume Institute exhibition will focus on the internationally renowned
style icon Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, whose originality and elegance established her as one of the most celebrated fashion personas of the twentieth century. $12–$25 suggested. METMuseum.org Wordplay: Matthias Buchinger’s Drawings From the Collection of Ricky Jay Through April 11 Metropolitan Museum of Art This installation of drawings, prints, and related ephemera by the German artist and performer Matthias Buchinger (1674– 1739) explores for the first time the oeuvre of the so-called “Little Man of Nuremberg.” $12–$25 suggested. METMuseum.org
PERFORMING ARTS NEW IN MANHATTAN Manon Lescaut Feb. 12–March 11 Metropolitan Opera Director Richard Eyre places the action in occupied France in a film noir setting. “Desperate passion” is the phrase Puccini himself used to describe the opera that confirmed his position as the preeminent Italian opera composer of his day. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the stirring score. From $32. MetOpera.org La Sylphide Feb. 12–18 David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center The most recent of the enduring classical story ballets to enter NYCB’s repertory, Peter Martins’
RODRIGO VARELA/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
staging of August Bournonville’s “La Sylphide” is filled with passion and unrequited love. $30–$170. NYCBallet.com Madama Butterfly Feb. 19–April 12 Metropolitan Opera Anthony Minghella’s breathtaking production has thrilled audiences ever since its premiere in 2006. Kristine Opolais reprises her acclaimed portrayal of the title role, opposite Roberto Alagna as Pinkerton, the naval officer who breaks Butterfly’s heart. HeiKyung Hong, Roberto De Biasio, and Gwyn Hughes Jones star in a second set of performances. Karel Mark Chichon conducts. From $25. MetOpera.org Astoria Stories Feb. 19–27 Astoria Performing Arts Center, 30-44 Crescent St., Astoria, Queens Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Ave., Astoria, Queens A festival of short plays and musicals paying homage to Astoria Performing Arts Center’s home. $10. APACNY.org
ENDING IN MANHATTAN Maria Stuarda Through Feb. 20 Metropolitan Opera The second chapter of soprano Sondra Radvanovsky’s quest to sing all three Donizetti Tudor queen operas in the same season has her playing the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots. Sir David McVicar’s stunning production turns on the dramatic confrontation
Thai Artist Uses New York’s Iconic Food as Theme of Longing
The Cleveland Orchestra at Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami on Jan. 29.
The Cleveland Orchestra Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall Revered for the grace, taste, and vitality of her Mozart, Mitsuko Uchida conducts The Cleveland Orchestra from the piano in two of the master’s concertos. The “Piano Concerto No. 17” charms with its delightful melodies and engaging wind writing. The blend of the heroic and humane has made the “Piano Concerto No. 25” one of Mozart’s most popular. $24 to $150. CarnegieHall.org
between Mary and her arch nemesis, Queen Elizabeth—compellingly portrayed by soprano Elza van den Heever. Riccardo Frizza conducts. From $32. MetOpera.org Cavalleria Rusticana/ Pagliacci Through Feb. 26 Metropolitan Opera Opera’s indomitable double bill returns in Sir David McVicar’s searing production from the 2014– 15 season. Tenor Yonghoon Lee and mezzo-soprano Violeta Urmana star in Cavalleria Rusticana, the tragedy of ancient codes and illicit love, Sicilian style. From $25. MetOpera.org
NEW ELSEWHERE The Cherry Orchard Feb. 17–27 BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF NUTTHAWUT SIRIDEJCHAI
By Kati Vereshaka | Epoch Times Staff Not many people think about the humble, disposable pizza plate once it has served its purpose. For New York-based Thai artist Nutthawut Siridejchai, the paper plate has become a symbol of sorts and the subject of his new exhibition. “Paper plates as the material in my work represent the state of ‘come and go,’” says Nutthawut. The temporal nature of the plates is much like his status in the United States, where he has been living since 2009. The “missed ‘place’ missed ‘plate’ Typewriter Art Exhibition” is showing in New York, Feb. 19–March 16 at the Art Space at Sugar Club (8118 Broadway in Queens). Nutthawut used a typewriter to create artistic representations of his mother’s dishes that he yearns for, as an experiment to convey his story and his relationship with memories. “I want to dedicate my artwork to my mom, for her life that she has sacrificed for me,” said Nutthawut, whose mother raised him and his two siblings single-handedly after the death of his father when Nutthawut was 12 years old. Seafood is expensive in Thailand and something that was reserved for special occasions. Yet Nutthawut’s middle-class, single mom preferred to get it fresh from the market, bringing it home to prepare it her way for her three kids. “Every time I have seafood, it reminds me of her. I use pizza seasoning and hot dog dressing as paint in these artworks, putting it the way I always do, to let Mom know that I have her food in my own way, that it was my choosing to leave for the U.S.,” writes the artist in his statement that encapsulates the theme and purpose of the exhibition. After studying jewelry in Thailand and working in the industry for a few years,
You cannot go back, you have to admit it, you have to re-do it.
Written for a Russia in the throes of social upheaval, Chekhov’s masterpiece “The Cherry Orchard” reverberates across more than a century in this new staging from visionary director Lev Dodin and his St. Petersburg-based Maly Drama Theatre (Three Sisters, 2012 Winter/Spring; Uncle Vanya, 2010 Spring Season). $25–$100. BAM.org
spirituality, musical artistry, and mortality, in a transcendent and moving tribute to the human condition. $15 in advance, $20 at the door, $10 for students and seniors; free for AT members. TheActorsTemple.org/ events A Festival for New Songs Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. OPERA America’s National Opera Center, 330 Seventh Ave. (at 29th Street) NYFOS Next looks to the future, opening a forum for the next generation of song composers and interpreters. $20. NYFOS.org
MUSIC NEW IN MANHATTAN The Louis Moreau Trio Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. The Actors’ Temple, 339 W. 47th St. The Louis Moreau Trio (violinist Marina Kifferstein, violist Arnaud Ghillebaert, and cellist Liam Veuve) presents an evening of works that reflect upon
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where one can delete, typewritten work cannot be deleted. He explains that it’s a lot like an action, a mistake in life: “You cannot go back, you have to admit it, you have to re-do it,” he said. Like the finality of the typed word, the decision to live in the United States carries a finality that Nutthawut wants to communicate to his mother in a heartfelt way that also speaks of his current sense of place, aspirations, and un-deletable memories.
“Egg with Tamarind Sauce on Rooster Printed Plate” by Nutthawut Siridejchai. E sta blished 1852
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Nutthawut Siridejchai
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$ “Fried Butterfish with Pizza Seasoning” by Nutthawut Siridejchai.
New York-based Thai artist Nutthawut Siridejchai.
Nutthawut came to New York looking for the meaning of life. Nutthawut chose the Art Space at Sugar Club to show his works because it is a cultural hub for the Thai community in Elmhurst, Queens. Known as the place where Thai people can look for work and housing, as well as authentic Thai food, the Sugar Club is the closest connection in New York Nutthawut has to his family and his country. He also hopes that in his work, other immigrants will recognize a familiar struggle: the idea of missing and being missed. “Missed,” he points out in his statement, doesn’t refer only to missing loved ones, but also missing meaning and context and being mistaken. Nutthawut uses an old-fashioned typewriter as a medium because, unlike using a computer
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February 12–18, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts S I BY L L E ’ S S T Y L E D I A RY
CARISSA!ANN SANTOS
ALL PHOTOS BY BENJAMIN CHASTEEN/EPOCH TIMES
on Sharing Yourself Through Clothing in a World of Comfort, Functionality, Fashion, and Juicing By Sibylle Eschapasse This week’s style diary guest is Carissa-Ann Santos, the co-founder and creative director of Love Grace Foods, a New York organic coldpressed juices company. The young entrepreneur who spent 10 years in fashion prior to creating her own juicing company shares some personal insight on her style, from the simplicity of wearing yoga pants to dressing up and blending it all together.
Wear what you feel like. Dress up. Dress down. Carissa-Ann Santos
Sibylle Eschapasse: Describe your style? Carissa-Ann Santos: Funky hippie-chic. Ms. Eschapasse: If a close friend were to describe your personality in three words, what would they be? Ms. Santos: Sunshine. Love. Magnetic. Ms. Eschapasse: How did your style evolve since you were a teenager? What is the wildest thing you ever wore? Ms. Santos: I used to wear crazy stuff. Electric blue fishnets on my arms, striped leg warmers, purple sneakers, and a neon skirt. I just loved color and fun. So I wanted to exude that. It was a perfect fit when I started working
Style means: Complete self-expression and self-love.
with Betsey. She had me in pink tulle from head to toe, plastic dresses, dresses made out of safety pins. For me life looked like puffy dresses, onesies, or an outfit from the ‘60s I scored at a “hadto-know-about” vintage shop. I always incorporated cool vintage cowboy boots to tie the look together. I have to say my style has definitely evolved into having comfort and functionality be the first thing I consider. Now that I run Love Grace and I’m always on the go, I could be sampling juice one minute, in front of a camera the next, or running to a yoga class. Boots, yoga pants, and a Love Grace tank really has become my go-to. Ms. Eschapasse: How do you dress on workdays versus weekends? Ms. Santos: Being a juice girl, I’m most commonly found in my “Healthy” tank top, yoga pants, boots, and an oversized hippie duster sweater. If I’m feeling I need to have some fun and brighten things up, I’ll break out an old school ‘70s inspired jumpsuit and heels. It’s funny when I walk into our juice headquarters where we manufacture all dressed up. It’s fun to see my two worlds collide in this way. At Love Grace, it’s hard to distinguish weekends from weekdays. They all blend together. I think that’s true for most business owners. When I’m home, I’m usually in those same wild neon yoga pants, big socks, and a fuzzy bear style zip-up. Ms. Eschapasse: What are three accessories you can’t live without, and what’s one item that makes you instantly more confident? Ms. Santos: My beaded necklace that is actual seeds from a tree. They are strung together by tribal women. I wear it wrapped around my wrist. It’s from a special trip I took to the jungle in Costa Rica. Also my chunky plastic glasses and my cowboy boots. I’d say all three give me superpowers. Ms. Eschapasse: Who have been your greatest fashion influences? Who is your style icon? Ms. Santos: Betsey Johnson. Ms. Eschapasse: What does having style mean to you? In other words, please define style. Ms. Santos: Complete self-expression and selflove. Knowing what lights you up, inspires you, and expressing that through what you wear, how you live, and how you are with other people. Ms. Eschapasse: What is one purchase you’re most proud of? What would you pay a lot of money for, and what would you never pay much money for?
Ms. Santos: I bought a coat from Buffalo David Bitton when I was 18 and it is still my favorite purchase. It looks like “my grandma’s sofa,” most people say, an antique tapestry style with a soft brown faux fur collar and classic diamond buttons. FAVORITE! In terms of spending, to me the gems are in the thrift stores, the vintage shops, the worn-in and mysterious pieces. No expensive designer piece in my opinion can capture the authenticity of a once-loved ring, bag, or T-shirt. Ms. Eschapasse: When you go on the red carpet, how do you want your outfit to make you feel? Which designers can achieve that? Ms. Santos: Classy, feminine, sleek, and stunning. John Galliano! Ms. Eschapasse: What do you think of how others dress and what’s your advice to people who would like to develop their personal style? Ms. Santos: Many times, I think others dress the way they think they are “supposed” to dress. My opinion is wear what you feel like. Dress up. Dress down. Wear something sweet from the ‘50s. Wear something from yoga class. Wear what makes you feel the best and most expressed. We have the opportunity to share ourselves through clothes. I’d hate to look back at my life and see a timeline of wearing all black and gray because that was expected of me. When you give yourself permission to be, you give others permission to be. I also think dressing up on what you may think is just a “regular” day reminds you that every day is truly a special occasion.
Carissa-Ann’s Favorites Favorite color: Magenta Favorite perfume: French lilac from Pacifica Favorite restaurant in NY: Caravan of Dreams Favorite drink: Cold cacao smoothies! Favorite movie: “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind” Favorite book: “Brida” by Paulo Coelho and “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz Favorite quote: “I remind you that you shine with the purity of a thousand suns.”—Kuan Yin Sibylle’s “Style Diary” is a column that explores style from the perspective of choices, and what that means for different people, with personal advice from some of the most stylish people in New York. Sibylle Eschapasse is from Paris and now lives in Manhattan. She is a journalist and a contributing writer to various publications. Sibylle is also the author of a children’s book, “Argy Boy!: A New York Dog Tale.” She may be reached at Sibylle.Eschapasse@gmail.com