In May 2019 the dancer and choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith took over the Ellen Stewart Theater in La MaMa in the East Village with “Lost Mountain”, a lively, stormy work of dance theater for 10 dancers and musicians. During the coronavirus pandemic, Smith, who is currently based in La MaMa, has continued to work with members of that cast on some sort of sequel “Broken Theater” to further uncover the strained, almost family-like relationships of the previous project. “We really got into issues like power, love and chaos, which I believe are all around us these days,” Smith said over the phone.

On Friday and Saturday at 7pm and on Sunday at 12pm, La MaMa will stream “In Process With Bobbi Jene Smith,” a recorded program with an excerpt from “Broken Theater” and conversations with some artists. Tickets for each show cost between $ 5 and $ 25 and are available at lamama.org/in-process-with-bobbi-jene-smith.
SIOBHAN BURKE

Pop rock

If you’ve swiped through TikTok at some point in the fall of 2019, you’ve probably heard a sticky hook from Ashnikko’s song “STUPID”. At the height of its popularity, “STUPID” appeared in videos from around three million users of the app. This early hit shows much of what animates its creator’s new mixtape “Demidevil”: lewd antics, bravery, misandry, and dashing one-liners developed for social media (e.g., “I got the teddy bear you gave me put in a blender ”- face this viral challenge).

The release of “Demidevil” – actually Ashnikko’s debut album – is planned for Friday. Often billed as a rapper, Ashnikko makes use of the trap production but leans towards singing on this tape. Her yelpy style is heavily borrowed from pop-punk from the 2000s. She wears this influence with particular pride in “L8r Boi”, a twist on Avril Lavigne’s 2002 smash “Sk8r Boi”. Ashnikko’s R-rated remake indulges in Y2K nostalgia and tries to make the original more feminist.
Olivia Horn

CHILDREN

Trying to teach preschoolers coping skills and yoga movements through a live-stream zoom musical may sound like a recipe for mayhem. Thanks to judicious use of the mute feature (and the help of the parents in attendance), the New York City Children’s Theater made this premise work.

The result is “Forest of Feelings,” created and performed by Rachel Costello and Dan Costello, the married founders of Yo Re Mi, a musical yoga program for children. During an interactive adventure that helps a lost laugh return to the forest of the title, little ones submit ideas, practice basic yoga poses, and master simple calming techniques like deep breathing.

This half-hour show plays twice on Sundays (except January 24th) through February 7th and plays against Preston Spurlock’s colorful animations. Families who register on the theater’s website will receive video activities and a zoom link for $ 20. Two weeks after production closes, the forest will continue to greet children in an on-demand recorded performance available for $ 15.
LAUREL GRAEBER

When you’re on the phone to speak to an anonymous stranger – not an actor playing a role, just a member of the public like you – it may not sound like theater. But “A Thousand Ways (Part 1): A Telephone Call”, a gentle, participatory piece by the experimental duo 600 Highwaymen, is an impressive exercise in socially distant connection. With an automated voice asking scripted questions (“Are you good in an emergency?”), The two people on either end of the private hour-long encounter are each other’s only audience.

The beginning of a planned triptych, the other parts of which will take place in person, “A Thousand Ways (Part 1): One Phone Call,” is a calming counterpoint to this fearful, atomized moment. Presented until Sunday as part of the Under the Radar Festival (tickets are free but sold out on publictheater.org), it is also available through Stanford Live, where $ 75 tickets at live.stanford.edu include entry to part 2 and 3, which later this year comes to one of the performance rooms on the Stanford University campus in California.
LAURA COLLINS-HUGHES

Classical music

The audience who enjoyed Kaija Saariaho’s production of “L’Amour de Loin” at the 2016 Metropolitan Opera has reason to celebrate this weekend. From Saturday the Operavision platform will broadcast a concert performance of another dramatic work by the Finnish composer: the oratorio “La Passion de Simone”, inspired by the life and writing of Simone Weil. (The stream will be free for six months and available on request.)

Despite the Passion setting, the piece is not an unalloyed celebration of Weil, a mystic and philosopher. Saariaho’s music, along with the writing of her regular librettist Amin Maalouf, moves between Weil’s thinking and commenting. The narrator of the oratorio – usually a soprano role – is sung from the perspective of a nameless, fictional sister of Weil. (Weil’s own writing is also fed into the mix via the electronics.) In this Operavision performance, which was recorded late last year, the part was sung by experienced mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, which is another compelling reason to get involved .
SETH COLTER WALLS

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