Shana Nys Dambrot
Mindfulness in the garden and a ceramics-forward ikebana class to get grounded, not one but two streaming events for contemporary avant-garde operas, and a new edition of the Grand Park NYE countdown block party. Best wishes for a Happy and Peaceful New Year!
the beginning of something smaller, Jon Seaton and Courtney Duncan at FOYER-LA
Thursday, December 28
Ikebana Workshop with Kyoko Oshiro at Foyer-LA. In the gallery’s current project, the beginning of something smaller, Jon Seaton and Courtney Duncan mine the depths of humility with their tactile forms made of steel, cinder cones, sand, scoria, acid, iron oxide grounded in an earthy physicality. Seaton and Duncan share a keen sense and respect for materiality, and space itself is utilized as a material. Both avid outdoors people on a quest for more space, they respond to and collect from the natural world while contemplating their fragile place in it. The ikebana workshop with Kyoko Oshiro includes selecting a handmade vessel by Courtney Duncan & Jon Seaton. 9070 N. Broadway $204, Chinatown; Thursday, December 28, 6-7:30pm; $250; rsvp at foyer-la.com.
Black Lodge (Beth Morrison Projects)
FYC Best Opera Recording: Black Lodge Livestream. Black Lodge is set in a nightmarish Bardo, a place between death and rebirth. The work follows a tormented writer (identified as the “Man”) as he confronts demons of his own making, in search of escape. Drawing on the complex mythologies of such artists as William S. Burroughs and David Lynch, composer David Little’s Black Lodge fuses industrial metal and punk with classical string quartet and opera to create something wildly vivid and new. The opera’s 78-minute film version was produced during the pandemic by director Michael Joseph McQuilken and Beth Morrison Projects. The artists will present a special holiday (and Grammy nomination celebration) viewing of the full Black Lodge film, streamed live for your consideration. Thursday, December 28, 6pm; free; youtube.com/davidtlittle.
Grand Park NYE
Sunday, December 31
Grand Park Countdown to 2024 New Year’s Eve Party. Two music stages, one with a killer lineup of all-female DJs; Midnight Countdown Art Spectacle projected on L-A’s City Hall; Family Activities by PlayLA; Art Installations for an immersive experience; Over 30 of LA’s Favorite Food trucks; and Metro is giving free rides for everyone all over the city on New Year’s Eve, from 9pm on December 31 to 2am on January 1. 200 N. Grand Ave., downtown; Sunday, December 31, 8pm-12:30am; free; grandparkla.org.
APOLAKI (Photo by Angel Origgi)
Monday, January 1
LACE presents APOLAKI: Opera of the Scorched Earth, now streaming free online. A new experimental opera by Filipino-American composer Micaela Tobin in collaboration with installation designer Carlo Maghirang and dancer/choreographer Jay Carlon, APOLAKI premiered live at the historic and storied Zorthian Ranch earlier this year—and that performance became this film. Continuing her celebration of the pre-colonial mythologies of the Philippines, the work tells the story of Apolaki, the precolonial God of Sun and War, who finds themself lost in a foreign and unfamiliar land (present day Tongva Land/Los Angeles) after being displaced from the Philippines by Spanish colonizers. This opera is a radical meditation on the complex relationships between settler colonialism, migration, and diaspora, and invites the audience to join Apolaki in this immersive pilgrimage. Now online at welcometolace.org.
The Wende Museum garden
Wednesday, January 3
Meditations with Christiane Wolf in the Wende Museum Garden. Mindfulness is being fully present to your life instead of being on autopilot. Our mind tends to rehash the past and to rehearse the future. There is nothing wrong with that except that it does it too much and it keeps us from being with what is actually happening right in this moment, and we can feel like life is passing us by. Start the year by checking in on the museum’s new weekly morning meditation series, whether you are new to meditation or already have experience, or just want to start your day by sitting in the beautiful garden. 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City; Wednesday, January 3, 9am; free; wendemuseum.org.
APOLAKI (Photo by Angel Origgi)
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