Epoch Arts 6-3-2016

JOAN MARCUS

Theater Review: ‘Peer Gynt’ Forever seeking ways to satisfy self.

KATI VERESHAKA/EPOCH TIMES

Fashion and the Uniform in America School, work, military uniforms on display beside the haute couture it inspired at The Museum at FIT.

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POET BETSY HUGHES

CLASSICAL POETRY OFFERS US STRENGTH on C8

Arsentiy Kharitonov

Pianist and composer Arsentiy Kharitonov in Manhattan on May 10.

A Maverick Pianist

Marble statue of a youth, Greek, early first century B.C., from the Antikythera shipwreck.

By Milene Fernandez | Epoch Times Staff

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EW YORK—Having a way with tempering the passions, an especially talented musician can artfully provide that riveting catharsis we seek to experience at any concert. The Russian pianist and composer Arsentiy Kharitonov did just that to a full house at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall on May 20. Giving two standing ovations, the audience seemed to clap in agreement that here is a young man with a strong ability to share his artistic expression, drawing from a wellspring of deep emotion.

I would rather not practice at all, than practice poorly.

Arsentiy Kharitonov

“I have a forest fire inside,” Kharitonov said in the interview for this article. “I am speaking a language that cannot be expressed verbally. Interpreting music is a mysterious process. Sometimes I feel that I am doing something magical. We can all understand the music differently, but there are certain things that go through directly to one’s heart,” he said.

At the concert Kharitonov played the first notes of Scriabin’s Prelude in C minor attacking the piano without a moment’s hesitation. With each subsequent piece of the all-Russian repertoire—including Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky—he took more time to breathe before each piece, becoming increasingly at ease as he connected with the audience.

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Essence of China

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

(Left) Since ancient times, Chinese have called amber “hu po,” which means the courage or spirit of the tiger.

Amber in Ancient China:

Tears of a Tiger

(Right) An amber phoenix used as an ornamental plaque, dating from the Liao Dynasty (907–1125).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

By Christine Lin Something about amber made the ancients think of tears—mystical, golden tears.

In Greek mythology, the Heliades (nymph daughters of the Sun) watched as their brother charioted the Sun across the sky, lost control of it, and plummeted to his death. Grieving, their tears flowed into the sea and came back as amber. Other Greeks hypothesized that amber came from the congealed urine of a lynx. The Chinese said it transforms from the tears of a tiger as it breathes its last breath.

Though one cat excretion sounds more poetic than the other, the similarities couldn’t possibly be coincidental.

Since ancient times, Chinese have called this organic gem “hu po,” which means the courage or spirit of the tiger. There are tales about tigers whose souls enter the earth and become amber, a reflection of the age-old belief that the soul is material, not just ideological. Li Shizhen, a Ming Dynasty physician and the author of the famed “Compendium of Materia Medica” (“Bencao Gangmu”) wrote that amber came from “the soul of a tiger descended to earth.”

Perhaps Li and his contemporaries would have prescribed amber, ground up and ingested orally as pills, to calm the spirit, make the blood

A tomb found in 1987 in what is today Inner Mongolia enclosed more amber than was ever found in any dynasty— more than 2,102 pieces in total.

more active, and ease painful and frequent urination (a connection that validates the Greek lynx notion, perhaps?). This last property is corroborated by first century Roman writings.

Being an organic substance—essentially the fossilized sap of eocene-era pines—it is readily processed by the human body if in the proper dosage.

Beautiful Women, Fractured States In China as in Europe, amber was one of the most coveted status symbols among high level officials and prestigious families—and the prerogative of pretty women.

According to “The Notes of the Capital of Chang’an” (or “Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital”), written in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Han Dynasty Empress Zhao Feiyan loved to use amber as a pillow, believing that its natural fragrance would scent her body. In another record from Tang Dynasty, an amber bracelet given to a concubine as a birthday gift was worth “$1.7 million.”

Amber was so abundant to them while it was so scarce elsewhere because the Khitan controlled the areas in the northeast where amber is mined. Amber works flourished during this time, and after the Liao vanished, so did their artistry.

The price of amber in Han China skyrocketed when the Tang fractured into multiple states, including during the “barbarian” Khitan Liao and Jurchen Jin periods (collectively 936–1125).

A tomb found in 1987 in what is today Inner Mongolia enclosed more amber than was ever found in any dynasty. Its inhabitant was a nomadic princess, dead at the age of 18 and interred with her 35-year-old husband. They were covered with amber— amber beads, ornaments, and perfectly preserved necklaces—more than 2,102 pieces in total.

However, when the areas of China were reunited again in the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), the free flow of amber resumed, resulting in elaborate decorative works, including a Qing Dynasty openwork tinder box.

Having survived from an age when Earth had just bidden farewell to dinosaurs, amber has come a long way, and still has many more stories to tell.

Christine Lin is a jewelry designer and writer based in New York. The Divine Land Gemstone Compendium explores the culture of ancient China one gemstone at a time.

Your Art Can Save Lives And you can win up to $1,000

Are you a college student?

Use your creativity and design skills for a good cause: To raise awareness of the brutal persecution of Falun Gong meditators in China.

For 17 years, the Chinese communist regime has been subjecting its own citizens to torture, rape, and worse in secret prisons— all in an attempt to eradicate their faith

in the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Submit a poster design supporting Falun Gong practitioners’ freedom of belief and get the chance to have your poster printed and displayed throughout Washington D.C. this July.

Open to all students of 2- or 4-year university or college programs.

Deadline June 15. See details online.

www.FoFG.org/act-now

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Theater Review

Forever Seeking Ways to Satisfy Self

By Diana Barth

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EW YORK—It’s difficult to equate Henrik Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” with his later realistic social dramas such as “A Doll’s House” and “Ghosts,” to name but two. However, John Doyle, as director and adapter of the version of “Peer Gynt” now playing at the offBroadway’s Classic Stage Company, has pared down Ibsen’s original five-to-six-hour version to less than two hours. The result brings to mind the onion that is peeled away by the eponymous Peer (Gabriel Ebert) as he seeks to find the ultimate kernel that may express his real self, which he has sought a lifetime.

The opening scene is arguably the most dramatically staged and, therefore, the most involving of the evening. Here, the glib but charming Peer entrances his Mother (Becky Ann Baker) with a tall tale of how he has ridden and tamed a wild stag on a mountaintop. She finally comprehends that he has deceived her but cannot resist her son’s imaginative tales.

Peer goes on to steal a Bride (Jane Pfitsch) on her wedding day. The Bridegroom (George Abud) threatens Peer, but Peer is able to get free and is made an offer to become a Troll (two are portrayed by Dylan Baker and Pfitsch). Feeling he has too much to lose by making that commitment, Peer again flees.

Peer travels the world, portraying a variety of characters: He will be emperor of the world someday, he insists. He roams from snowy Norway to the North African desert, then to the sea, becoming at one time a wealthy slave trader. He thinks only of himself and his own pleasure.

He meets the lovely and loyal Solveig (Quincy Tyler Bernstine), who promises to wait for him no matter how long he stays away from her— for he cannot stay in one place for very long.

Someone has advised him: Go about. Keep on the move, make no commitments.

Peer constantly seeks his identity: Who is he, truly?

He never really finds out. He is finally confronted by the Button Molder (Adam Heller, listed in the credits as The Undertaker), whose job it is to melt down into buttons people who never attain their identity, or who never make worthwhile commitments—the nonentities of the world.

‘Peer Gynt’ Classic Stage Company 136 E. 13th St. Tickets 212-352-3101; 866-811-4111 or ClassicStage.org Running Time 1 hour, 50 minutes (no intermission)

Peer Gynt (Gabriel Ebert) in a story about a man’s search for his inner self. But the self is like an onion, and never does a layer of life fully satisfy it.

Closes June 19

Panicky, Peer turns to the one person who might save him. It is Solveig, who, true to her pledge, reveals that his true self lies in her “faith, hope, and love.”

Is the play saying that those who never make commitments, who are never responsible to anyone or anything but themselves and their own selfish desires will forever be dissatisfied? Or more potently, will such people ever be in emotional pain or turmoil? Perhaps each viewer can best answer those questions for him or herself.

Director Doyle, who is slated to take over the artistic directorship of the CSC, is noted for his minimalist productions. His current “The Color Purple,” now enjoying a successful run on Broadway, is a case in point.

However, in the case of this production, more might have been more. I missed the section, deleted here, of Anitra the beautiful Arabian woman and her seductive dance; nor does Solveig sing her song.

Production elements are spare. David L. Arsenault’s set consists of a raised platform. Players wear modern dress, the costumes by Ann Hould-Ward. The appropriate and effective original music and sound design are by Dan-Moses Schreier.

Performances are fine, with an outstanding contribution by the energetic and athletic Gabriel Ebert.

Diana Barth writes of the arts for various publications, including New Millennium.

She may be contacted at diabarth@juno.com JOAN MARCUS

Theater Review

Message and Music Go Hand in Hand in Stellar Production ALL PHOTOS BY JOAN MARCUS

By Judd Hollander

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EW YORK—Containing elements of racism, religion, political turmoil, and more than a little ironic satire, the musical drama “The Total Bent” explodes off the stage at The Public Theater. The work offers a journey both thrilling and insightful, despite its sometimes flawed storytelling.

With a text by Stew and music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, the play is set in Montgomery, Alabama, at the dawn of the civil rights movement.

Papa Joe Roy (Vondie Curtis Hall), a oncelauded gospel blues singer, has become a disgraced and forgotten man. Believing too much in the power of his own words, he turned to faith healing as a means for easy money, only to be exposed as a fake, which led to his downfall.

Now in the midst of trying to record a socalled comeback-crossover album, he not only has to face a world of altered tastes and attitudes but also the disdain of his son Marty (Ato Blankson-Wood).

A singer and rising star in his own right, Marty wrote many of the tunes that helped propel Joe to fame. The younger man is now determined to use his music to illustrate the changing racial tones of the time.

Joe would rather avoid this path. He believes people prefer their medicine and messages in small doses, rather than having them shoved down their throats.

Caught between the two is Byron Blackwell (David Cale), a wannabe record producer from England. He sees in Marty a raw untapped talent and wants to get him under contract.

However, Byron is also an avid music collector, and when he meets Papa Joe, the producer is overjoyed at being in the same room with the man he and his peers back home consider a legend. He begs for the chance to make a record with Joe. Joe, who has a long unhappy history with music producers, eventually agrees, but only if Blackwell eases off on his plans for Marty.

The father-son conflict is the fulcrum around which “The Total Bent” ultimately revolves. Joe excuses his prior actions (other than faulting his so-called God-given charisma) by saying that he basically had no choice thanks to the different rules for blacks and whites in society.

Vondie Curtis Hall plays Papa Joe in “The Total Bent,” running at The Public Theater.

(L–R) Marty (Ato Blankson-Wood) and Byron Blackwell (David Cale) in “The Total Bent.”

(L–R) Curtis Wiley, Ato Blankson-Wood, and Jahi Kearse.

Meanwhile, Marty is so angry at his father for what happened in the past, he fails to foresee his own fate as the ultimate irony. In his fierce determination to get his message across, he doesn’t realize until too late how he’s become a commodity packaged for mass distribution, and thus exactly like those he despises.

Folded into Marty and Joe’s story is the message that one must be wary of false prophets: those who claim to preach the word of God but are actually more interested in making money off their enamored listeners. Joe puts over this point brilliantly in a number where he warns “Beware of the TV Preacher.”

The show also contains a very telling moment on the issue of payback. Seeking revenge for past injustices, whether personal or to a race as a whole, can slowly and subtly change a person.

An idealist wanting to sing about the Mont-

gomery bus boycott can turn into an “Electronic Uncle Tom.” This idea is crystallized in an almost throwaway line spoken by one of Marty’s entourage/ backup singers (Curtis Wiley). He equates “the auction block” to Marty’s performance fees.

A fascinating piece of work, “The Total Bent” unfortunately falls somewhat apart toward the end. Characters drop in and out of the narrative abruptly, without the chance to give the audience the sense of closure the situation calls for.

It’s an issue the show’s creative team will hopefully remedy when taking “The Total Bent” to the next level.

The score, on the other hand, is simply amazing. The various tunes and styles—ranging from gospel to hard driving rock—perfectly capture the spirit of the show’s era, as well as the temperaments of the characters. It helps that Stew

and Ms. Rodeweld are part of the onstage band.

Cale is very good as Byron Blackwell, combining the elements of a man trying to do the right thing with just a bit of the sleaze of someone attempting to put together a deal without all the elements in place. His unbridled joy at meeting Joe makes one believe he really is one of those collectors who would think nothing of spending hours going through dusty record bins in the hope of finding that one special recording.

Hall is excellent as Joe, a man weighed down by years of bitter experience, and a father trying to prevent his son from rushing headlong toward his destruction.

Blankson-Wood is simply electrifying as Marty. In perfectly embodying a young man wanting to throw off the chains of his past while trying to find a way to channel his anger, his performance is nothing short of a revelation.

The actor also quite effectively shows Marty battling insecurities as he starts to make his own way. His uncertainties can be seen in a recording session as he tries to sing from the microphone his father always used—one which the younger man may not be ready to claim as his own.

Despite its structural flaws, “The Total Bent” is a brilliant piece of theater and a stellar example of the power of music and the messages it can convey.

Also in the cast are Kenny Brawner, Damian Lemar Hudson, and Jahi Kearse.

Judd Hollander is a member of the Drama Desk and reviewer for Stagebuzz.com and TheaterScene.com

‘The Total Bent’ The Public Theater 425 Lafayette St. Tickets 212-965-7555, or PublicTheater.org Running Time 1 hour, 50 minutes (no intermission) Closes June 19

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Arsentiy Kharitonov A Maverick Pianist COURTESY

OF ARSENT

IY KHARITO

NOV

Pianist continued from C1

Arsentiy Kharitonov as a student in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2003.

Kharitonov left the strongest impression on this listener, when he played his own composition, “Mezzanotte” (op. 39). He described his piece as challenging and hard to categorize, based on four notes and structured symmetrically with a rich blend of characteristics.

Everything that he had experienced, that had forged his character up to that point in his life, seemed to have coursed through his entire being as he played “Mezzanotte.”

Unlike other contemporary composers who are more like music theorists, Kharitonov, as a pianist, creates pieces that are playable. “I want to play my music because that’s where I completely express myself, 100 percent—it’s all me from the beginning to the end.”

Kharitonov inadvertently discovered his talent for composing in 2003, when in the middle of a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Sonata No. 1 in D minor, op. 28 at the Rimsky-Korsakov Apartment and Museum, he completely forgot the notes and started to improvise. “I started to ‘compose’ right then and there, creating this huge dynamically forceful development that led to Rachmaninoff’s original text at the recap,” he said. After that performance a critic told him, “‘I didn’t really like the Chopin études that you played. They were quite rough,

WATCH VIDEOS and find concert dates at ArsentiyKharitonov. com

Sometimes certain things don’t fly in the direction that I want them to fly, but I hope I manage to express myself, and that’s most important.

Arsentiy Kharitonov

Pianist and composer Arsentiy Kharitonov in Manhattan on May 10. but Rachmaninoff! My God, what a piece!’ So that’s when I realized I should start composing,” Kharitonov said.

The concert at Carnegie Hall marks a milestone for Kharitonov, now 32, who through life’s circumstances had to break all the rules unwittingly. He started playing the piano at 15 years of age, unconventionally late for a concert pianist, and was left to his own devices to educate himself at the College of Music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Since then he has won prestigious piano competitions, such as the Liszt International Competition in Los Angeles and the Rachmaninoff Competition in Russia, and he has performed in solo recitals, and with orchestras throughout Europe and the United States.

A Maverick in the Making Kharitonov’s childhood nickname was “walking radio.” He remembered whenever his parents would take him out walking around his hometown, Stary Oskol in southern Russia, “I would be singing so loudly that people would be looking at me,” he said.

One day Kharitonov’s 12-year-older sister, who was studying piano, decided to take the then 5-year-old Kharitonov to her music school—just for fun. He remembered his sister telling him, “They will press a key and then you have to sing that key, then they will clap a rhythm and you will have to clap that rhythm.”

The music school accepted him, but when they informed their father, nothing came of it.

His father had been a ballet dancer and teacher and later became a painter, and his mother was a choir conductor and a teacher.

“I was born into a very autocratic family. My father was deciding for everyone and was very particular about what he wanted to do with his kids,” Kharitonov said.

10

His father wanted him to become a dancer, but he had no interest in dancing, or in anything else it seemed. “I was horrible in math and in all other subjects. School was like a prison for me,” he said.

While growing up he was exposed to classical music but wasn’t really drawn to it until, at the age of 15, he discovered Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto. He would listen to the first 20 seconds of that concerto, and rewind the cassette tape to listen to it over and over again.

“I really loved it,” he said. “I don’t remember how many times per day I would be listening to those 20 seconds of music, and then I would listen to 30 seconds, and then 40, and so on,” he said.

He would fast-forward or rewind to his favorite sections, “I had internalized those ‘islands’ of music where I would feel comfortable and would therefore enjoy the music,” he said. After listening for some time, he was able to completely understand and nail the whole first movement by just listening to it.

“So, for me, Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto was a bridge to liking classical music,” he said.

He was so excited about discovering his calling that he announced at his school that he intended to go to St. Petersburg to study the piano. But his teacher replied in front of the whole class of about 40 students, “Kharitonov, shut up! You will be bumming around here for the rest of your life!” he recalled.

That heavy dose of humiliation did not stop him. After studying the piano with a private teacher in his hometown, he moved to St. Petersburg in 1999, where his sister had been working as an engineer for some time.

Again, as if a prank were repeating itself, his sister introduced him to a top music professor at the Rimsky Korsakov College of Music,

Greatest Poems Ever Written PA R T 7 O F 10

PD-ART

By Evan Mantyk

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n this series we look at the ten greatest poems originally written in the English language, one by one. It is presented from least greatest (No. 10) to greatest greatest (No. 1), and each poem is followed by a brief analysis.

in Manhattan’s

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Analysis of the Poem

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call 212-239-2808 or email: advertisenow@epochtimes.com Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

In this nine-stanza poem, the first six stanzas are rather vague since each stanza seems to begin a new thought. Instead, the emphasis here is on a feeling rather than a rational train of thought.

What feeling? It seems to be a reaction against science, which is focused on calculations (“mournful numbers”) and empirical evidence, of which there is none, or very little, to prove the existence of the soul.

Longfellow lived when the Industrial Revolution was in high gear and the ideals of science, rationality, and reason flourished. From this perspec-

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Arsentiy Kharitonov performs in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on May 20. which is affiliated with the Rimsky Korsakov State Conservatory.

“I guess it was my hand span that made the biggest impression on him (I have long fingers).

I was just plain lucky. When I got accepted, I thought I was dreaming,” he said.

Three months later when the semester started, however, the professor became furious when he really listened to Kharitonov playing. “I remember he was screaming at me at the top of his lungs, ‘You are talentless!’” Kharitonov recalled.

He was allowed to stay in the college, but that professor swore he would not invest any time in teaching Kharitonov whatsoever. “Every rational human being would probably think, ‘Okay, I’ve got to do something else,’ but I thought ‘Okay, if you don’t want to teach me anything, I will just learn by myself,’” he said.

Besides taking the required classes, he read many books on music methodology, watched videos, practiced sight reading and the piano every day for many hours, and asked some older conservatory students to teach him some lessons to see how he was progressing.

He considers his collaborative piano teacher, Galina Osipova, his first mentor. “She was extremely helpful,” he said. “She told me I had ‘huge potential,’ … that I had ‘that spark.’

Those words were more than enough. I needed some confirmation that I was not learning the piano for nothing, that I was not delusional. She could recognize whatever talent I had, despite the terrible lack of technique,” he said. “That’s what sets a phenomenal teacher apart from a mediocre one,” he added.

After four years of basically studying on his own, he found a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Igor Lebedev, who graciously took Kharitonov under his wing and gave him some private lessons.

When Kharitonov gave his final exam performance, his official main professor who had neglected him again tried to grind him to a powder. “‘Well, what can I say—you didn’t learn a thing in four years. You are just as bad as when you first came here,’” Kharitonov recalled the music professor telling him coldly. “He was not going to change his mind,” he added.

Kharitonov’s talent manifested, with time and dedication, from loving music so much that it gave him the stamina and the will power to overcome one obstacle after another. For those four years of studying without supervision, driving himself to practice diligently, he said, “I was thinking, ‘This will pay back.’ The pay back was nowhere in sight, not even on the horizon yet, it was ridiculous!” he said, chuckling.

tive, the fact that the first six stanzas do not follow a rational train of thought makes perfect sense.

According to the poem, the force of science seems to restrain one’s spirit or soul (“For the soul is dead that slumbers”), leading to inaction and complacency from which we must break free (“Act,—act in the living Present! / Heart within, and God o’erhead!”) for lofty purposes such as Art, Heart, and God before time runs out (“Art is long, and Time is fleeting”). The last three stanzas—which, having broken free from science by this point in the poem, read more smoothly—suggest that this acting for lofty purposes can lead to greatness and can help our fellow man.

We might think of the entire poem as a clarion call to do great things, however insignificant they may seem in the present and on the empirically observable surface. That may mean writing a poem and entering it into a poetry contest, when you know the chances of your poem winning are very small; risking your life for something you believe in, when you know it is not popular or it is misunderstood; or volunteering for a cause that, although it may seem hopeless, you feel is truly important.

Thus, the greatness of this poem lies in its ability to so clearly prescribe a method for greatness in our modern world.

himself in European culture and poetry, which he emulated in his poetry. Before television, radio, and film, he rose to become not just the leading poet and literary figure of 19th century America but also an American icon and household name.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is an American poet of the Romantic period. He served as a professor at Harvard and was an adept linguist, traveling throughout Europe and immersing

Kharitonov’s talent manifested from loving music so much that it gave him the stamina and the will power to overcome one obstacle after another.

Kharitonov called his mentor, Lebedev, for a reality check to ask him what the chances were of him getting into the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Lebedev gave him a rather vague answer and suggested that he study in the United States under a former student of his, Nikita Fitenko. Kharitonov said, yes on the spot even though his English was nearly non-existent. “I only knew how to say, ‘goodbye, hello, and I love you.’ That was the extent of my English vocabulary,” he said, laughing.

Full list of poems: ept.ms/GreatestPoems To contact the Society of Classical Poets, write to submissions@classicalpoets.org Evan Mantyk is president of the Society of Classical Poets and a high school English teacher in upstate New York.

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A Russian in Louisiana In less than a year, using strips of papers with English words on one side and their Russian equivalents on the other, learning 60 new words a day and taking the TOEFL English language test several times, he was accepted to Northwestern State University of Louisiana, in 2004.

He felt elated, not only because he would be furthering his career, but also because he would not have to serve in the Russian military. “I was jumping for joy. It was unbelievable. It was so intense, and I thought, ‘I can breathe now. I can breathe,’” he said.

When his family drove him to the airport they were speechless. “My sister said, ‘This is actually happening, we are not dreaming, he’s leaving,’ and I was indeed leaving,” he said.

When he stepped off the plane in Louisiana, he felt like he had stepped into a sauna. When he ordered food, he could somehow discern the cashier’s accent. “I got to a cafeteria and a black lady said, ‘Do you want the food to go?’ I said, ‘Excuse me, do I want the food to go where?’”

Kharitonov said, imitating a Southern accent.

Despite the initial culture shock, living in Louisiana set a different tempo. “I felt welcomed. It was the time when I recovered from stress,” he added.

Learning More Through Teaching After completing his bachelor’s degree in music performance in Louisiana, he studied under Joseph Banowetz at the University of North Texas, where he is in the process of completing his DMA and is currently teaching.

As he had taken a rather bumbling way in his own music education, Kharitonov learned from making many mistakes and could then teach others how to avoid those mistakes.

For next season’s schedule, visit his website: ArsentiyKharitonov.com This Is New York” is a feature series that delves into the lives of inspiring individuals in New York City. See all our TINYs here: epochtim.es/TINY or follow @milenefernandez on Twitter.

4. ‘A Psalm of Life’

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) What the heart of the young man said to the Psalmist Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each tomorrow Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.

The home of Henry W. Longfellow in Cambridge, Mass.

“Teaching also taught me how to learn better myself because it is a two-way street,” he said.

He noticed that many of his students hadn’t really been taught how to practice pieces well on their own. “I would rather not practice at all than practice poorly. If I practice the wrong way, five hours for example, creating bad habits, then I have to spend at least 10 more hours to undo those bad habits,” he said.

“Music has become very institutionalized. There are so many schools, so many good teachers, good performers, and they all can deliver very good results, but it becomes very homogenized. Let’s say ‘Hammerklavier,’ Beethoven’s Sonata, op. 106, is a very good wine, and then people started to do what? They started to filter it, and filter it, filter it, filter it, filter it, and they filtered it to the point that it is now perfectly distilled water. There’s no taste anymore,” Kharitonov said.

Very much an individualist in his teaching, composing, and performing, Kharitonov would rather miss playing some notes than miss the artistry and sincerity in the music.

“If I am not sincere, then what am I? If I were not sincere where I hold my entire life’s pursuit, I would be missing the point. …Sometimes certain things don’t fly in the direction that I want them to fly, but I hope I manage to express myself, and that’s most important,” he said.

In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,—act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time; Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.

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COURTESY OF THE FRICK COLLECTION

VAN DYCK: THE ANATOMY OF PORTRAITURE (Above) “Mary, Lady van Dyck, née Ruthven,” circa 1640,

by Anthony van Dyck. Oil on canvas.

(Right) “Charles I and Henrietta Maria Holding a Laurel Wreath,” 1632, by Anthony van Dyck. Oil on canvas.

Through June 5 | The Frick Collection, 1 E. 70th St. One of the most celebrated and influential portraitists of all time, Anthony van Dyck’s supremely elegant manner and convincing evocation of a sitter’s inner life—whether real or imagined—made him the favorite portraitist of many of the most powerful and interesting figures of the seventeenth century. $20 adults, $10 students, $15 seniors. Frick.org

THINGS TO DO COMMUNITY EVENTS NEW IN MANHATTAN COURTESY OF AMERICAN CONCERN FOR ART AND CRAFTSMANSHIP

American Crafts Festival Lincoln Center Plaza June 4, 5, 11, & 12 Saturdays, noon–9 p.m., & Sundays, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.

380 juried craft displays selected from every region of the United States.

Continuous entertainment, craft demonstrations.

Free. CraftsAtLincoln.org

ONGOING IN MANHATTAN Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Exercises Tuesdays, 1 p.m.–2 p.m. (through June 14) Tompkins Square Library, 331 E. 10th St. A class of five exercises including meditation. Come relieve your stress and anxieties, increase your energy and vitality, and enjoy peace of mind. Free. en.FalunDafa.org Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Exercises Tuesdays, 6 p.m.–7 p.m. (through June 12, no class on May 31) Countee Cullen Library, 104 W. 136th St. A class of five exercises including meditation. Come relieve your stress and anxieties, increase your energy and vitality, and enjoy peace of mind. Free. en.FalunDafa.org Magical Designs for Mozart’s Magic Flute Through August 27 New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza An exhibition that compares scenic and costume designs from a select group of 20th and 21st century productions extolled for their remarkable visual achievement. Since its premiere in 1791, this opera has inspired countless teams of directors and designers

to create a cornucopia of imaginative productions that have beguiled audiences of all ages. Free.

LincolnCenter.org New York & The Nation The Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History, 170 Central Park West Explore the story of New York and America in the Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History. $20 adults, $12 students, $15 seniors.

NYHistory.org Family Sundays at Rubin Museum 150 W. 17th St. Bring your family to the Museum for a Sunday afternoon full of familyfriendly activities. Drop into the Education Center for some art-making, enjoy our 2 p.m. family exhibition tour, or go on your own thematic gallery search. Free.

RubinMuseum.org Film Society of Lincoln Center Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 W. 65th St.; Walter Reade Theater, 165 W. 65th St. Year-round programming that includes premieres of new films from an international roster of established and emerging directors. $14. FilmLinc.com

ONGOING ELSEWHERE Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Exercises Wednesdays, 1 p.m.–2 p.m. (through June 15) Coney Island Library, 1901 Mermaid Ave., Brooklyn A class of five exercises including meditation. Come relieve your stress and anxieties, increase your energy and vitality, and enjoy peace of mind. Free. en.FalunDafa.org

VISUAL ARTS NEW IN MANHATTAN William Merritt Chase: A Modern Master June 4–September 11 The Phillips Collection,

1600 21st St. William Merritt Chase (American, 1849–1916), a renowned figure in the international art circles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was a brilliant observer of contemporary life, an innovative painter, and an influential teacher. Presented on the centennial of his death, this retrospective— the first in over three decades—will explore the interrelationships in Chase’s work across subject and media, from portraits and figurative paintings, to urban park scenes, domestic interiors, still lifes, and landscapes. Suggested $12.

PhillipsCollection.org First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare June 7–July 17 New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West Containing the first published scripts of 36 of Shakespeare’s most famous plays—including “Hamlet,” “Macbeth,” and “As You Like It”—the First Folio will be on display at the NewYork Historical Society for 6 weeks. NYHistory.org Ceramics by Francis Delille Editions Paris June 8–Sept. 30 Vallois America at 27 E. 67th St. Ceramics will showcase a selection of rare pieces of the most prominent contemporary ceramics artists, all produced in La Tuilerie Manufacture in France, a workshop dedicated to preserving the traditions and pushing the limits of ceramic work.

Vallois.com

ONGOING IN MANHATTAN Global by Design: Chinese Ceramics from the R. Albuquerque Collection Through Aug. 7 Metropolitan Museum of Art Global by Design will focus on the period—from the late 16th to the 18th century— when Chinese porcelain became a global luxury, transforming both the European ceramic industry and styles of dining and drinking. Featuring 60 exquisite and unusual pieces, this presentation will

challenge the long-standing, and overly rigid, tradition of cataloging Chinese ceramics as domestic or trade items. $12–$25 suggested.

METMuseum.org Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World Through July 17 Metropolitan Museum of Art The conquests of Alexander the Great transformed the ancient world, making trade and cultural exchange possible across great distances. Alexander’s retinue of court artists and extensive artistic patronage provided a model for his successors, the Hellenistic kings, who came to rule over much of his empire. $12–$25 suggested. METMuseum.org Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs Through July 24 Metropolitan Museum of Art Spectacular works of art created in the eleventh through thirteenth century from Turkmenistan to the Mediterranean.

Approximately 270 objects— including ceramics, glass, stucco, works on paper, woodwork, textiles, and metalwork—from American, European, and Middle Eastern public and private collections will be shown. $12–$25 suggested.

METMuseum.org Expressions of Nature in Korean Art Through Sept. 18 Metropolitan Museum of Art The display shows how select motifs, especially plants and animals, have been illustrated on ceramics, painting, sculpture, lacquer, and textiles, and what they mean.

Some types of images and symbols are nearly universal across East Asia; others are specific to Korea. $12–$25 suggested.

METMuseum.org

ENDING IN MANHATTAN Chinese Textiles: Ten Centuries of Masterpieces Through June 9 Metropolitan Museum of Art This installation, which explores the cultural importance of silk in

China, showcases the most important and unusual textiles from the Museum’s collection. $12–$25 suggested.

METMuseum.org

PERFORMING ARTS NEW IN MANHATTAN The Golden Cockerel June 6–11 The Metropolitan Opera With his inimitable style and sensitivity, Ratmansky creates rich characters for the seductive Queen, a marvelously gullible Tsar and the darkly magical cockerel—all set against a kaleidoscope of vibrant color that evoke a mythical Russia.

From $20.

MetOpera.org Ailey Spirit Gala June 8, 7 p.m.

Lincoln Center Plaza A one-night-only benefit performance and party.

The Ailey Spirit Gala benefit performance at 7pm includes the world-renowned Ailey dancers in excerpts of Alvin Ailey’s Cry and Robert Battle’s Awakening. The rising stars of Ailey II will perform Ray Mercer’s “Something Tangible,” gifted young dancers from The Ailey School (ages 6 to 23) will showcase their talents and the breadth of the program’s training in a new work, and talented students from AileyCamp will perform a work inspired by Talley Beatty’s “The Stack-up.” $500–$50,000.

AlvinAiley.org

ONGOING IN MANHATTAN Mozart Forever: Fifty Years of the Mostly Mozart Festival May 24–Aug. 27 New York Public Library for the Performing at Lincoln Center Lincoln Center launched America’s first indoor summer music festival as “Midsummer Serenades: A Mozart Festival” in August 1966. The idea was a success from the start, and by 1970 the festival had transformed into Mostly Mozart. Free.

LincolnCenter.org

MUSIC NEW IN MANHATTAN Music and Art from the Court of Charles I June 3, 6–7 p.m.

The Frick Collection English music spanned a range of styles when Anthony van Dyck served as court painter to Charles I. In this Salon Evening, period music ensemble Sonnambula will perform treasured works from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in celebration of the special exhibition Van Dyck: The Anatomy of Portraiture. $40. Frick.org

NEW ELSEWHERE Voices of Hope and Freedom June 8, 7 p.m.

Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th St. Join Highbridge Voices for an evening of music that celebrates Hope and Freedom. The 120-voice Bronx youth choir will perform songs that ask for peace, songs that celebrate diversity, and songs that remind us to continue working for justice. Hosted

by Alec Baldwin, the concert will be a celebration of Highbridge Voices’ eighteen years of bringing music and academic enrichment to the children of this South Bronx community. $50– $250. HighbridgeVoices.org/ benefit Spiral Music Wednesdays Rubin Museum, 150 W. 17th St. Spiral Music presents acoustic music every Wednesday evening at the base of the museum’s spiral staircase. Artists who specialize in music from the Himalayas and South Asia are invited to forge a connection between their music and the art in the galleries. Free.

RubinMuseum.org

Dear Readers If you have an event to suggest, please send details to NYC_Arts@ EpochTimes.com in the format you see here.

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June 3–9, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM AT FIT

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FASHION UNIFORM in AMERICA and the

By Kati Vereshaka | Epoch Times Staff NEW YORK—The uniform—u ni form n., one form for all members of a group—has been one of the most visually striking ways through which nations across the globe have been able to show their individual togetherness. From the battlefield to business corporations, the uniform has been playing the same role throughout millennia.

Uniformity, the new exhibition at The Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), explores the aesthetics and social attitudes toward the uniform, as well as the ways in which fashion designers have used the uniform as inspiration.

According to exhibition organizer Emma McClendon, Americans have had a love-hate relationship with uniforms, particularly since the Vietnam War. The Military The exhibition features a number of U.S. Army and Navy uniforms from the 1940s onward, with interesting text notes.

For example the olive drab Women’s Army Corps, or “WAC’s” uniform issued during World War II was considered much less fashionable than the U.S. Navy’s WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) uniforms. The WAVES uniforms, designed by American-born couturier Mainbocher, were made from navy blue wool, the same fabric as the male officers’ uniforms and were deemed more “becoming.”

Donning either uniform would show their sense of patriotism, but women apparently voted with their sense of fashion, and the WAC uniform was blamed for poor recruitment numbers in the Army Corps.

The Corporate World and Beyond Uniformity, the exhibition, is organized thematically to focus on four main categories of uniforms: military, work, school, and sports. It also explores the way in which fashion designers have adapted elements of various uniforms into ready-to-wear as well as haute couture.

The 1970s was the decade when branding started to seep into business strategy in the United States.

Stan Herman became the go-to designer for big corporations—FedEx being one of them. In 1975 he designed the TWA airline uniforms injecting some long-needed color, namely bright orange and blue that are on display alongside his creations for McDonald’s. Herman was the first person to design uniforms for all of McDonald’s; prior to 1976, each McDonald’s franchise dictated what was worn by the employees of the company without a unifying concept.

If there is one (unwritten yet wellunderstood) rule in uniform design, it is that it must be attractive enough so as to override our inherent need for selfexpression through our clothes.

McDonald’s uniform (detail), 1976,

by Stan Herman.

Polyester.

“Herman took the logo, the advertisement, the design of the stores, and the McDonald’s sign and put it on the body of the workers so that they became an extension of the advertising—a walking billboard for the company,” said McClendon during the walk-through of the exhibition, just minutes before she was interrupted by Herman himself, who came to see the show and was enthusiastic to take a walk down memory lane. He is also featured in the exhibition video, explaining his love for uniforms, and recounting how he got to design such iconic garments.

Rules of Uniformity While an haute couture designer might get away with dramatic design concepts that push the boundaries of wearability, designers of uniforms stand to have their careers promptly curtailed by the comparatively greater disgruntlement of an army of employees (and employers) should the uniform prove to be unpopular.

If there is one (unwritten yet well-understood) rule in uniform design, it is that it must be attractive enough so as to override our inherent need for self-expression through our clothes.

Those of us who find personal style more of a daily dilemma might revel in the freedom from such a chore offered by a well-fitted and authoritative uniform.

And worthy of consideration is also the view that uniforms don’t necessarily stifle one’s individuality, presumably because a uniform’s standardized form of dress places the focus back onto the individual wearing it, so that in a sea of identically dressed people, what becomes most noticeable is the person, not the clothes.

According to McClendon, it is important to define uniform—there is a distinction between a uniform, a dress code, and a personal or social uniform.

In the strictest sense, uniforms are a standardized form of dress that one is given and is required to wear as a member of an institution or organization, while a dress code is a set of rules that one is supposed to prescribe to as part of a job.

Adaptation Fashion designers have always been keenly attuned to dress codes that communicate the values to which their customers subscribe.

Coco Chanel used military uniforms as inspiration and herself adopted a uniform— the cropped jacket. She wore it constantly, thus establishing it as a social uniform.

“With the Chanel jacket, wearing a social uniform [like that], you’re making yourself part of a style tribe, you’re putting on an ensemble to associate yourself with a group, or a lifestyle, that has been set by a designer,” said McClendon.

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1. TWA flight attendant uniforms, 1975, by Stan Herman.

2. Work and school uniforms, to a lesser degree than military uniforms, have impacted and inspired fashion designers.

3. Suit by Chanel, circa 1960. Wool and silk.

4. U.S. Army colonel dress uniform (L) and U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) officer dress uniform

by Mainbocher.

5. Details used to signify rank in the military have often been adapted by designers into highfashion ornamentation.

Current head designer and creative director of Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, also took inspiration from the humble uniform—this time it was the Parisian brasserie waiter’s uniform in the brand’s 2015 fall collection.

All humility aside, Lagerfeld’s creations, such as the ensemble on show that he named Brasserie Gabrielle, features elements such as the short black jacket, the bow tie, the long white apron, and even the plates. Of course, the two plates with the intertwined C’s are a clutch, the white apron is a cascade of silk and cotton flounces, and the jacket is impeccably tailored and complete with trim and camelliashaped buttons.

French haute couture and former prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) designer Jean Paul Gaultier also regularly borrows elements from the Breton horizontal stripes of the French navy, as well as the sailor pants.

But possibly the most currently ubiquitous military pattern is the camouflage pattern that is hardly missing in U.S. street style, be in on underwear, cargo pants, jackets, or caps.

On view in this section is a U.S. Marine camouflage poncho and helmet cover from World War II, as well as high fashion versions of the print from designers such as John Galliano for Christian Dior and Michael Kors.

Kors made camouflage the central theme of his fall 2013 collection and subverted the idea behind the pattern by using blue, white, and gray, so as to make the pattern stand out rather than blend in. Kors’s ensemble is on display next to U.S. designer John Bartlett’s men’s ensemble from his spring 2011 collection. It is a tongue-in-cheek interpretation of traditional camouflage, using bright pink, orange, and red.

Uniforms have always fascinated fashion designers, despite their intrinsic functional rigidity, conformism, and lack of scope for personal expression—all attributes diametrically opposed to high fashion especially, or even ready-to-wear. Undoubtedly, the rigidity of the uniform’s visual lexicon makes it that much more satisfying to deconstruct and re-contextualize for an altogether different purpose.

On View The exhibition features over 70 objects from the museum’s permanent collection, many of which have never before been on view.

Viewing official uniforms side by side with some of the social uniforms and dress codes that we have adopted serves as a timely recapitulation of fashion trends and a chance to decode the source of some interesting design elements. Camo anyone?

Uniformity, The Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology, through Nov. 19, 2016

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June 3–9, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts

The Classics: Looking Back, Looking Forward DAVID LEACH

Poet Betsy Hughes: Classical Poetry Offers Us Strength

By Sharon Kilarski | Epoch Times Staff Practitioners involved with the classical arts respond to why they think the texts, forms, and methods of the classics are worth keeping and why they continue to look to the past for that which inspires and speaks to us. For the full series, see ept.ms/LookingAtClassics A sonnet by Betsy Hughes offers unmistakable relief; you can actually understand what you are reading. Words in glistening, clear images form ideas, which gather together unostentatiously to draw you toward satisfaction. For this poet, who champions accessible language and the classic form of the sonnet, the classics have the power to fortify us.

Classical poetry survives because it still communicates to us, said Hughes in a phone interview on May 4. It does so because its language is clear and its themes universal.

Much of the poetry written today “is so esoteric that its meaning is muffled, its messages incomprehensible,” she later wrote in a later email exchange.

However much we struggle, disdain, or despair over current events and urgencies, we may retreat to the wisdom of a classical poem to clear our eyes.

Betsy Hughes in her home in Oakwood, Ohio.

Hughes attributes these failings to the idea that today artists seem to be intent on expressing themselves. Self-expression may be their sole purpose. Although their poems may appeal to an in-group who are driven by fads, this type of poetry “violates art’s purpose to communicate universal truths.”

By communicating universal truths, the classics can strengthen us, Hughes says, because they remind us of qualities that endure in all times despite the threats from within—such as our mortality—and from without, due to political pressures and contemporary crises.

Put another way, and considering classical poetry in particular, it fortifies us through consolation and wisdom, offering consolation for those threats from within us and wisdom to deal with the threats that come from without.

The Sonnet Hughes came to appreciate the sonnet in her studies, her teachings, and her pursuits. You might say that it was love from afar for most of her life.

As an undergraduate at Vassar, Hughes became acquainted with the Pulitzer Prizewinning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, an alumna known for her sonnets. She—her spirit— was almost a presence on campus, Hughes said.

After graduation, Hughes taught middle school and high school English for 34 years and introduced poetry into every course possible.

But it was not until Hughes retired that she had the time to devote herself to the form. She felt “an overpowering urge” to write, and an outpouring of sonnets resulted.

Hughes believes she was drawn to the sonnet because it allowed her a great deal of freedom within its classical structure. But the structure offers her its own pleasures: “I love the sonnet’s sound qualities due to its rhyme scheme and its rhythm qualities due to its natural iambic pentameter.”

The sonnet is a structured poem with roots that go back to medieval Italy. In English, however, it is typically written in 14 lines of iambic pentameter.

Think of an iamb as a steady heartbeat, da DA—a set consisting of an unstressed and stressed syllable. String five of these together to make the pentameter.

In the English sonnet (as opposed to the rhyming scheme of the Petrarchan type), the poet usually arranges lines in alternating end rhymes, which change per stanza, and the whole poem ends with a couplet—a pair of lines, the ends of which rhyme with one another.

Arranging syllables to keep this rhythm while making sense requires a good deal of verbal gymnastics. Doing it so that the language does not sound awkward or artificial, and, in fact, has a certain tunefulness requires a master linguist. Add to that images, allusions, metaphors—ideas, basically—that reveal a truth of our condition, and you have the ingredients that make a sonnet worthy of its name.

Hughes’s book of sonnets, “Breaking Weather,” won the 2013 Stevens Poetry Manuscript Competition, and her second, “Indigo Macaw,” not yet published, has been recently shortlisted in a manuscript competition.

Although she named the latter for a painting of a bird that struck her, she now thinks the macaw, an endangered species, is as an apt metaphor for classical poetry.

Offering Us Wisdom We could learn a lot from 19th century English poets and some of the 20th century American poets, too, Hughes believes. “These sonneteers zero in on the important universal verities in nature and human relationships, and they warn against forces inimical to those truths,” she explained.

Hughes cites, for example, contemporary politics as a reason to look to Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias.” It describes a “colos-

sal wreck” of a monument, buried in the sands of antiquity. Here are a few lines: And on the pedestal these words appear: ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

However much the emperor might sneer at or boast to his enemies, or to his progeny, for that matter, he and his kingdom are no more.

Those today who build monuments, engage in war, scurry for greed, will also succumb to time and dust.

Thus, however much we struggle, disdain, or despair over current events and urgencies, we may retreat to the wisdom of a classical poem to clear our eyes.

The Classical Arts as Consolation If the poetry offers us a means to step back and, through a new perspective, gain wisdom, the classical arts as a whole may also offer us consolation through connection.

Before the interview, Hughes had just listened to a 24-hour public radio broadcast and heard Beethoven’s “Pathétique,” her mother’s favorite piece. She felt strengthened listening to it, better equipped to deal with the challenges of the present. She felt buttressed.

Both of Hughes’s parents loved classical music, her daughter studied ballet, and her son classical guitar and voice. “There is familial legacy, a reassuring sense of continuity through generations of music appreciation,” Hughes said.

Classical music, poetry, and ballet link people through time. These arts allow us to see that we do not differ that much from our ancestors: We still love, grieve, face our own deaths. In facing threats from within, we are not alone.

But the consolation we receive from the arts can be more than just personal. In the act of writing sonnets, Hughes sees herself as participating in a line of poets that goes back centuries.

We can take comfort in the fact the generations preceding us have faced these same issues, and have worked in these same traditions. Modern art such as modern poetry lacks that lineage. In this sense, the classics are an antidote to loneliness.

Hughes wrote a Petrarchan sonnet, with a different rhyme scheme, about her relationship with the form:

At Sea With the Sonnet The moon commands: Now take a midnight swim, just dive right in and feel yourself immerse!

And so I plunge and pray for safe traverse in lyrics undulating at the brim.

Where is the muse? Where are the seraphim?

What compass guides across this universe?

Afloat, can I convey my thoughts in verse, can I transform ideas into a hymn?

The moon commands: Swim to the current’s time, take measured strokes and feel yourself flex strong!

And so I sense the rhythm, sense the rhyme; syllabic heartbeats with my words belong to nature’s pattern, nature’s paradigm.

I am iambic as I swim my song.