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booksbooksbooks, GLBTAQ activists, GLBTQA History, Harvey Milk

The Children of Harvey Milk 

By AndrewReynolds

Oxford University Press

Harvey Milk was on the San Francisco board of supervisors and was the most high-profile openly gay elected officials in the world when he was gunned down in his office 40 years ago this month.  In his taped notes about his candidacy, Milk predicted he might be assassinated and stated that he was not just a politician but part of a movement of gay Americans “yearning to be free.” And indeed, Milk’s rallying cry all gay people to be out and visible, then and now, has inspired GLBTQueer citizens in the US and around the world.     

Andrew Reynolds’ The Children of Harvey Milk chronicles the private and political journeys of two generations of pro-GLBTQ activists who Milk has inspired.  They are legislators, parliamentarians, judges, government officials, and citizen activists making the difference and on the front political lines to continue the fight for LGBTQ rights, facing the current threats of a worldwide uptick of government-sanctioned antigay crusades.

 As many advances that have been made in the quest for GLBTQ equality and representation, there has been an equally forceful, violent and disturbingly effective campaign by homophobic politicians, and evangelical ‘missionaries’ – who export their brand of anti-gay hate.-all have blood on their hands.   

GLBTQ people are routinely imprisoned, brutalized and murdered in dozens of oppressive regimes all over the world and Reynolds’ investigative analysis is a prescient reality check.

In Pakistan, Reynolds reports, only 2 percent of the population ‘accepts’homosexuality.  In Russia, Vladimir Putin is basically trying to eliminate gay visibility and there have been countless purges, imprisonments, and murders.

Similar ruthless methods are taking place in various forms in the African, Caribbean, Asian and Arab countries.  Reports of routine stonings, imprisonment, and torture of gay men and women in Iran and Saudi Arabia.  In South Africa, grotesque crimes as raping lesbians to ‘convert’ them into heterosexual are culturally tolerated, many such attacks end in murder. And NATO largely remains silent about this human rights issue.

But Reynold profiles of the pro-gay global movement gives much reason for hope.  The amazing journey of South African activist-politician  Zakhele Mbhele, for instance, the first out gay man elected to the South African Parliament in 2014.

The recent pro-gay reversal of a resurrected a 153-year-old law that re-criminalized homosexuality in India, which amazingly just weeks ago, was decriminalized, and GLBTQ India has been re-liberated. Michael Cashman became known in Britain as the first out character Colin Russell in the 80s on the hit BBC soap opera EastEnders Cashman became Member of the European Parliament for the WestMidlands, 1999-2014, now in the House of Lords and the Labour Party’s representative on LBGTQ issues worldwide.

And in the US Senator Barney Frank’s historic rise to the US Congress, a closeted politician who made history when he was outed in a gay sex scandal and didn’t resign, but became a leading advocate for the advancement of gay rights bills in Congress.  Sarah McBride a community activist also making history as the first transgender woman to speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2016 and now is planning to run for office in her home state of Delaware.

But the attacks and hate crimes against GLBTQ Americans are at record highs across the US.  And officially starting with the President’s actions against GLTBQ  Americans.  When Trump didn’t get away with kicking transgender military personnel out of the military, he is trying to erase the identity of an estimated 1.4million transgender American by fiat that a person genitalia at birth defines their sexual identity for the duration of their life.

Reynold’s cites this alarming research concerning transgender and non-binary sexuality in the US- 82% of transgender Americans have considered suicide to escape the hate and oppression they face every day. 

“The Children of Harvey Milk” is a vital almost up to the minute barometer of where LGBTQ civil and human rights stand. Reynolds is professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina and founding director of UNC LGBTQ Representation and Rights Research Initiative, a global think tank focused on gay politics. 

His style is one based on meticulous research, and thorough sourcing,  a bit heavy going at times, but this is vital documentation of the gay civil rights movement in our perilous times.  That it comes out on the 40th anniversary of Harvey Milk’s death honors the work of a transformational politician and testament to his enduring legacy. 

This review first appeared in my column with New York Journal of Books

DanceMetros

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International dance

 

Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers
Fall concert series
Performance Garage, Philadelphia
November 9-10
http://www.kyld.org

 

Choreographer Kun-Yang Lin is currently creating his 101st dance piece which will have its premiere at the Annenberg Center in Philadelphia next spring.  As founding director of KYL/Dancers he has choreographed all of the company’s repertory so far,  For the company’s fall program at the Performance Garage he opened up the repertoire to include aspiring choreographers within his company by sharing  the program with premiere works created by dancers Weiwei Ma, Evalina ‘Wally’ Carbonell and Mo Liu.

Lin has nurtured the inner company choreographers and one of the surprises in this concert series is their choreography look different from Lin’s own choreographic aesthetic.  

Evalina Carbonell’s ‘Seed’

Evalina Carbonell’s ‘Seed’ opens with Nikolai McKenzie in an on the floor in a warm spotlight in a fetal position, a literal reference to the choreographer’s newborn son, born just weeks ago. then dancers one by one appear in others, symbolic of human connections as parent, aunt, sibling, etc. The seeds of developing life, idyllic and safe, and exploring. McKenzie & Keila Perez-Vega  and Grace Stern &  Frankie Markocki in mirroring duets that suggests turmoil and facing life’s obstacles. The soundtrack, by Hauschka, becomes more rhythmic and driving. So does the troupe. They hurl their bodies around in more aggressive patterns,  Yogic and balletic movement give way to fearless aerials or tumbles, knee drops and low to the ground choreography that flows into acrobatic couplings.  ‘Seed’ is full of unexpected movement, and with a thrilling and dramatic theatrical arc.

Liu Mo’s  Miànjù’

‘ Miànjù’ (Mask) is Mo Liu’s ironic quartet scored to dramatic music by Philip Glass and starts abstractly with Grace Stern, Frank Markocki, Barbara Craig and Kyan Namazi on their backs at the back of the stage. In slow motion they rise and advance to the front, lean over the audience and make different expressive faces. Dressed in black jackets, bare legs and socks, they start to move in expressive ways, they dive around each other, tie themselves in body knots, relationships are hinted at (or not).

Liu is such an exquisite contemporary danseur, powerful in the air and lyrical in his technical artistry and his choreography for  Miànjù, in contrast, is angular, grounded and wily, so different from Liu’s own performance style.  His dancers end up in a tangled heap, tearing off those jackets, the dancer’s ‘mask’ dropped, as Liu has them dish and debrief each other on their own performances.

Weiwei Ma’s ‘Fan’

 WeiWei Ma’s FAN, music by Ito Kayo and Nawang Khechog, variations on fan dances. the first is a fan slam, as Grace Stern, Annielille Gavino and Keila Perez-Vega , the trio of flash red fan dancers. Coquettish, dominant and funny, they were snapping their red fans, striking poses that mocked any perception of sexual inference. The section is Ma’s stunning martial arts/balletic fan dance. Lui hurls himself onstage stage with a large white fan, then Ma flies in wielding a flowing silk black fan, also in the shimmering judo-esque dueling fan choreography. The final section with McKenzie, Liu, Namazi and Markocki in silky tunics that suggest a ritual or ceremony. They unfurl a fan with a wing span of five or so feet, which Markocki wields as cultural iconography creating mystical stage pictures.

Kun-Yang Lin’s  ‘Arrival’ from Home/S. 9th St.

It was so fitting that Lin’s closed the concert with ARRIVAL 2018, adapted from his 2015 two-act opus ‘HOME’ S. 9th St.’  scored to music-soundscape by composer Cory Neale, a frequent collaborator, Home is already a KYL/D signature work.  And danced by the troupe with stellar ensemble esprit and conviction 

 With its themes of immigrants and refugees coming to America and being facing political, cultural and individual challenges to gain citizenship. Put through what in many cases is hostile and arbitrary screening processes. Lin expresses the psychological stress through dance and character movement. ‘Arrival’ resonates even more now after the US perpetrated the human rights outrage of separating refugee families and stoking substantiating claims of an ‘invasion’ of our borders.  

Lin ’s themes of journeying through the barriers of dealing with official and cultural xenophobia but with the hope of building a better life resonates more than ever. 

HOME expresses the struggles from every absurd and very real perspective. KYL/Dancers has always embraced the diversity of cultures, nationalities, and community, it looks like 21st century America.  Now, with Lin opening up the repertory to other company dancemakers the culture exchange and fusion continues to explore and define.

DjangoLives….

All-Stars at Carnegie Hall, May 2018|

Django Festival All-Stars
Perelman Theater, Philadelphia
Nov. 3

The Django Festival Allstars  kicked off their current US tour in Philadelphia Nov. 3 with a 90 minute set as the premier artistic disciples of legendary guitarist-composer Django Reinhardt. The ensemble bringing Reinhardt’s artistic legacy and with new interpretations, variations and compositions bringing “gypsy jazz” to a new generation of avid fans.

Led by veteran guitarist/violinist Dorado Schmitt, his two sons Samson and Amati Schmitt on guitars and Franko Mehrstein, rhythm guitarist; filling out the AllStars accordionist extraordinaire Ludovic Beier, violinist Pierre Blanchard and bassist Gina Roman.

The AllStars are consummate musicians, virtuosic without doubt, but with a jam session vibe going,  constantly feeding off the energy of each audience.  Their one night only concert At the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater in Philly bringing the house down more than once.

Here are some random highlights.

 The AllStars ignited the night with a quick tempo arrangement of Cole Porter’s ‘Love for Sale’ turned into a foxtroty rhythm guitar of Samson Schmitt and Mehrstein, under Blanchard’s supple violin lede melody, and the spidery accordion of Beier, all spinning the room around. The audience was in Django ‘s world of “hot jazz’ of the 30s by the end of the song that spins the room spins around.

The All-Stars only played one track from their latest recording 2017’s Attitude Manouche and with Beier saying they were delighted to kick off their tour in “beautiful Philadelphie and we have some new songs” for the occasion.

Beier announced a composition called “Deep Sea Waters” (I think) he wrote the week before the concert. He states the theme with a run of a 16th note stream of accordion consciousness with, a mach speed tempo, quick step tango, that like the dance keeps getting more intricate. Pierre has a cadenza then Mehrstein takes the lead on rhythm guitar, along with the muscled counterpoint of bassist Gina Roman.

Next, Samson  Schmitt  introduced his composition” Lovely Wife” the only track the AllStars performed from “Attitude Manouche. ”  Samson’s Spanish-French guitar, backed by Beier and Blanchard atmospherics, is a true troubadour romanza.

They introduced “Dorado’s Smile” dedicated obviously to the leader of the AllStars. The tune is a accordion and guitar jam, A stop time dancey tune that in the dance hall of the 30s, couples who floor the floor for an at-ease Lindy hop.

Samson then introduced “the boss” his father Dorado and brother, fellow guitarist Amati Schmitt (in a suave satin floral jacket. A song from the film “Django.”  Dorado hit the full swing violin jump. The tempo akin to ‘One o’clock jump’ and the ambiance just transporting and hypnotic. The breathtaking passagio fiddling up and down the scale, tingled up and down your spine. The rhythmic gypsy jazz rondo and Dorado’s violin voicing reaching the stratosphere and Beier’s lightning speed on the accordion keyboard hypnotize, in this tune there was even a blue slide feel ala Fats Waller, along with some rowdy vocalizing by the rest of the band.

When Pierre was offstage, Dorado played the soulful ‘For Pierre’ a sentimental tribute to the musical artistry of Blanchard.

As astounding as Beier is on the accordion as a one man orchestra, he is spellbinding playing the accordina a mini-mouth accordeon powered by his own lungs, his fingers playing a keyboard. In a lengthy improvisational ballade (possibly End of a Love Affair) exemplar of his astounding breath control and keyboard dexterity.

The AllStars showcased the range of Reinhardt’s aesthetic and as proponents of “gypsy jazz” how it has infinitely many permutations, colors, themes, evocations and musical possibilities in its multi-national folkloric fusion. The encore had so much Eastern European & Russian folkloric (an echo of  Glinka?) DNA, maybe,  who knows, it’s all jazz as Sachmo famously said, and with the Django Festival AllStars, it still sizzles, catch them if you can on their current tour.

After Philly, the band was headed for New Jersey, then a five night run at Birdland in New York, a few nights in New England, onto Canada and then the West Coast.

Classical Philly

 

Kirill Gerstein (photo: courtesy Philadelphia)

 

French Tales

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Oct. 25, 26, 10.27.2018*

Camille Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre, Op. 40

César Franck:  The Accursed Huntsman

Paul Dukas: Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Maurice Ravel:  Piano Concerto in G major

Suite no. 2 from Daphnis and Chloé

 

Louis Langrée, conductor

Kirill Gerstein, pianist

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra music director Louis Langrée returned to the Philadelphia Orchestra podium to conduct a sumptuous evening French repertory in what was one of the concert highlights of the year in Philadelphia across the board. Langrée also renowned as director of Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, brings the same vibrancy to a program of Saint-Saens, Franck, Dukas and a Ravel’s Suite & the marquee draw of Ravel’s monumental concerto performed by Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein.

Langrée is a debonair, warm presence on the podium as he ignites Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre with a dimensional orchestral clarity. His tempos blazing a revelation and framing an equally fiery violin solos by concertmaster Juliet Kang, Kang’s signature lush tone and fiery fiddler drive in an altogether thrilling performance.

Next, Caesar Franck’s aggressive orchestral The Accursed Huntsman, a work full of brass and percussion pyrotechnics and other symphonic effects that fit the season. All fueled at full volume in this performance, but Langrée’s   fluid detailing during the less bombastic  passages to make it more than a showy showpiece.

Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice is pure fun and fitting for October’s last weekend and the orchestra, a Halloween seasonal favorite with those famous harrumphing bassoon motifs known to kids of all ages from Walt Disney’s Fantasia with Mickey Mouse commandeering a brooms to carting water. And child’s play with virtuoso bassoonists Daniel Matsukawa, Mark Gigliotti and Angela Smith (a scene stealing growler bassoon) not beyond vamping, but Langrée again giving equal luster to the rest of the piece.  (at some point a surreal moment did come for some of us in the audience when a mouse scurried across the aisle.)

Kirill Gerstein’s interpretation of Ravel’s masterpiece Piano Concerto in G, was the concert highlight of an evening of stellar musicianship. Gerstein’s command of every aspect of this masterpiece hypnotic to watch and his precision and interplay with the orchestra. In this performance the voicings of  jazz sinfonia deftly essayed by Gerstein. But all of the dimensions and mystique of this concerto inspiring his technical artistry.
Thrilling duet passages between Gerstein and principal harpist Elizabeth Hainen

Langrée stayed in Ravel’s musical universe for the altogether magical performance of Suite no. 2 from Daphnis and Chloé, Ravel’s illusory orchestral that still can has the contact high of a belle epoch opium den, that only the lusty applause by this audience would crash one back to reality. The orchestra just luminous throughout and among the outstanding soloists principal flute Jeffrey Khaner and actually all the way down the woodwinds.

In the three curtain calls Langrée expressed his already palpable rapport with the Philadelphians, shaking hands with several players and cuing every section of the orchestra to take ensemble bows.