June 2001 BAMcinematek 2001 Spring Season ___ 651 AFLlS Andres Serrano, Hooded Warbler II, 2000 BAM Spring Season sponsor: PHILIP MORRIS ~lAGf8lll COM PAN I E SIN C. B~~L1 Stagphill Contents • June 2001 Brooklyn Spi rit 9 BAMcafe's glorious gospel brunch series, Sounds of Praise, looks forward to its second season. By Ann Lewinson Cries and Whispers 22 Renowned director Ingmar Bergman directs a haunting production of August Strindberg's The Ghost Sonata, which comes to BAM this month. By Stan Schwartz Program 17 Upcom ing Events 35 BAMdirectory 54 The Ghost Sonata Pholo by Bengl Wanselius Co\/or 1\ rtict Andres Serrano was born in New York City in 1950 and studied art at the Brooklyn Museum Art School from 1967 to 1969. His artworks have been exhibited in galleries and institutions around the world. He has had numerous one-person exhibitions, including "Body and Soul ," a traveling exhibition seen in Norway, Germany, and England, and mid-career retrospectives at The Institute of Contemporary ArVPhiladelphia and the Groninge Museum/The Netherlands. His photographs have been included in many group shows, with recent exhibitions at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City; the Serpentine Art Gallery, London; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. He is represented by Paula Cooper Gallery, New York City. Andres Serrano BAM Photography Portfolio Hooded Warbler II, The Andres Serrano image on the cover is from BAM 's new Photography 2000 Portfolio. The portfolio features 11 images donated to BAM by Richard 20" x 24" Avedon, Adam Fuss, Ralph Gibson, Nan Goldin, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Courtesy Paula Cooper Annie Leibovitz, Jack Pierson , Richard Prince, Andres Serrano, Cindy Gallery, New York Sherman, and William Wegman . All prints are 20 x 24 inches, signed and For BAMart informa­ numbered in an edition of 40. They will be delivered to buyers in custom­ tion, contact Deborah made linen portfolio boxes designed especially for BAM by John Cheim . The Bowie at pre-publication initial offering is $15,000 + tax and shipping. The portfolio is 718.636.4138 published by Serge Sorokko Gallery of New York and San Francisco. 6 Bmoklyo ~pirit The first season of Sounds of "Go Jesus!" bellows Pastor Jeffrey White of East New York's Greater Temple of Praise. "Go Jesus!" Praise, BAMcafe's gospel brunch sings the Soul Stirring Crusade Choir. "Go series, has been a smash hit, Jesus! " chants the audience, not too stuffed with fried chicken, collard greens, and cornbread for a and the joyful song continues little impromptu roof-ra ising. We're at Sounds of next season. By Ann Lewinson Praise at BAMcafe on a Sunday afternoon, where $20 gets you a soul food brunch and the most spirited music in town. Sounds of Pra ise was conceived by BAM 's President, Karen Brooks Hopkins, and its Reverend Timothy Wright and Voices of Grace Executive Producer, Joseph V. Melillo, as a Tabernacle Choir Photo by Greg Mango way to enliven the new cafe space and make it 9 more welcoming to the community. "We said , will continue to feature gospel choirs from Brook­ 'Let's do gospel brunches,'" recalls Hopkins. lyn churches, and the following year BAM may "'There are so many great gospel groups in present gospel concerts in the Opera House Brooklyn. It would be a wonderful way to along with the cafe series. showcase that music.'" The series, programmed by BAMcafe curator Sounds of Praise's first season has showcased Limor Tomer in consu ltation with gospel singer such diverse gospel artists as Rev. Ti mothy and educator Syndi Graham, explores the Wright and Voices of Grace Church of Crown breadth of gospel in this borough of 13,000 Heights, Fort Greene's 47-year-old Institutional churches. "We're very lucky, being in Brooklyn ," Radio Choir, the venerable a cappella gospel says Tomer, "or aswe say in the faith-based com­ quartet Thrashing Wonders , and the Caribbean munity, we're blessed, because we have rhythms of the Direct Messengers Band. It con­ extraordinary, Grammy-winning, 8i/1board­ cludes this month with the contemporary sounds charted gospel talent. of The Voices of Citadel on June 3 and David Bratton and Spirit of Praise on June 17, two cho­ "We want to open these doors to a group of peo­ ruses based in Brooklyn. Next season the series ple who are not coming to BAM currently," Tomer David Bratton (center) and Spirit of Praise continued on page 14 10 continued from page 10 continues. Meanwhile, the churches have group, which counts Bratton's wife, Valena, and opened their doors to BAM. "The first time I went their 13-year-old daughter among its nine in I felt like an interloper," she says, "and I was singers, will release its second CD at the end of just amazed at how incredibly open and friendly the summer. and welcoming everyone was. From the pastors to the bishops to the music ministers to the con­ Spirit of Praise's seven-piece band plays arrange­ gregation, people are just delighted that you've ments drawn from 1970s funk and contemporary come, no matter why." R&B, and the group is as likely to sample "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" as it would a Thomas The gospel choirs of Brooklyn are as diverse as Dorsey standard. "We have a couple of songs that the music itself. Some of the freshest sounds are sound like Boyz II Men , a couple that sound like coming out of Citadel of Praise and Worship, a Mary Mary, songs"that sound like old-time tradi­ church founded by Dr. Kevin Bond with 12 con­ tional gospel," says Bratton. "We even have a gregants in his grandmother's basement in couple of songs that we're working on now that Bedford-Stuyvesant four years ago and currently sound like bluegrass. " looking for a building to call its own. "Brooklyn is the borough of churches and all the good ones The choir has sung with Yolanda Adams and are already taken ," says Bond, who also teaches Andy Williams as well as at prisons and shelters. full-time at P.S. 308. David Bratton continued on page 21 The 40 singers of the church's three-year-old Voices of Citadel, directed by Professor James Hall , perform arrangements influenced by R&B and hip-hop. The group, which has just recorded its first CD, will be making its second appearance at Sounds of Praise. "We're very excited about the choir," says Bond , "and we're hoping that this album will really give them a lot of recogn ition." The choir's urban-contemporary sound is accom­ panied by drums, a bass guitar, and a synthesizer as well as an organ. "We use different genres to get the message across, by any means necessary," says Bond . "The young people are drawn to more contemporary music, and the music is a drawing card to get them in. The music gets people's attention, the words will reach their heart. We want to reach the heart, so we can save the soul." "I seek after JesuS/seek after the One who will conquer my inhibitions," sings David Bratton , who founded his nondenominational choir Spirit of Praise in 1991. Bratton , who plays the organ at Beaulah Tabernacle Church in Bedford­ Stuyvesant and teaches at P.S. 299 in Bushwick, formed the group to sing his gospel originals. "I began to write songs," he recalls , "and I would always forget the songs, so I put together a group of singers to help me remember the songs." The 14 2001 ~pri[)g Brooklyn Academy of Music Bruce C. Ratner Alan H. Fishman Chairman of the Board Chairman, Campaign for BAM Karen Brooks Hopkins Joseph V. Melillo President Executive Producer in association with Baryshnikov Productions presents White Oak Dance Project PASTForward Approximate BAM Howard Gilman Opera House running time: June 5-9, at 7:30pm 2 hours and 30 minutes with Artistic direction Mikhail Baryshnikov one intermission Directed and written by David Gordon Lighting by Jennifer Tipton Videotape sequences Charles Atlas Dramaturgy Jim Lewis Choreography by Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Simone Forti , David Gordon , Deborah Hay, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer White Oak Dance Project Dancers Raquel Aedo , Mikhail Baryshnikov, Emily Coates, Jennifer Howard , Rosalynde LeBlanc, Michael Lomeka , Emmanuele Phuon , Keith Sabado General Management Baryshnikov Productions, Christina L. Sterner Principal sponsor: The Howard Gilman Foundation Major sponsor: HSBC Bank USA BAM Dance support: The Harkness Foundation for Dance and The Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation 17 PASTFnnAl2m The following work, Scramble, will be performed on stage as the audience enters the theater. Scramble Created by Simone Forti (1970) Rehearsal Assistant Nancy Duncan The performers in this work are drawn from the White Oak Dance Project dancers and from the community. A steady state activity, like an ongoing flocking of birds. This production has been commissioned by UCLA Performing Arts and the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation for White Oak Dance Project. Prologue Video by Charles Atlas Principal archival photographs by Peter Moore Narrated by Mikhail Baryshnikov Chair Intro 2000 Constru cted by David Gordon (2000) Music John Philip Souza "Stars and Stripes Forever" Lighting by Jennifer Tipton Rehearsal Assistant Scott Cunningham Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov Chair / two times Constructed by David Gordon (1975) Lighting by Jennifer Tipton Rehearsal Assistant Scott Cunningham Dancers Raquel Aedo , Emmanuele Phuon or Keith Sabado Valda Setterfield and I used to do four versions of Chair. The original, the symmetrical , with repeats, and with singing. The first performances were at the Paula Cooper Gal lery in New York.