River To River starts Sunday and I thought I’d share some ideas on how you can make the most of it! River To River 2012 is a different festival than in previous years. All the thinking behind it is too much to go into here, but it is going to be really amazing. Yes, it will be FUN! but the festival is more than just an aggregation of discrete events. The program has music, dance, theater, film, literature/ideas, experiences and more, all developed to engage with a number of ideas and aesthetics across those disciplines. There are various points of entry to this multilayered month-long festival of FREE art. Below I’ve listed a few different lenses through which to view the program but visit www.rivertorivernyc.com for more in-depth information and to plan your festival! Also, not specifically listed here is really great family programming developed with Children’s Museum of the Arts and South Street Seaport Museum. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and most of all, join us in Lower Manhattan!

EXPLORE LEGACY & LINEAGE IN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC

• 100 years – Alarm Will Sound presents a newly re-imagined version of John Cage’s epic SONG BOOKS at The Schimmel Center as part of this year’s Cage centennial.
• 75 years – Philip Glass Ensemble celebrates the composer’s 75th birthday with a retrospective concert in Rockefeller Park
• 50 years – This is the 50th anniversary of Judson Dance Theater. Trisha Brown was one of the original members and Trisha Brown Dance Company is in residence in LMCC’s Building 110 on Governors Island as the they develop Astral Converted (with music by John Cage). There are open studios, an archival exhibit, children’s programs and more.
• 25 years – Bang On A Can celebrates 25 years with the Annual Bang On A Can Marathon in the Winter Garden at World Financial Center
• Next Generation – new concerts of work from a young generation of composers including Nico Muhly, Paola Prestini, Missy Mazzoli, Merrill Garbus, Judd Greenstein, William Brittelle and more. Also a tribute to Philip Glass by the child prodigies of Face The Music.

EXPLORE “EXTENDED LIFE” FOR DANCE

These artists are revisiting work that was made for a venue and re-imagining it in a site-based context or are building new work for a venue but starting with a site-based exploration:

• Maria Hassabi SHOW
• Tara O’Con Underneath Where We Are
• Luciana Achugar FEEL…FORM
• Beth Gill Electric Midwife
• Tere O’Connor Untitled New Work
• Wally Cardona The Set-Up: Junko Fisher

EXPLORE SITE BASED THEATER

• Richard Maxwell/NYC Players – Showcase in a hotel room at The Smyth Tribeca
• Company SJ – Samuel Beckett’s Act Without Words II in Theatre Alley
• Molly Rice – The Saints Tour
• New York Classical Theater – Twelfth Night

EXPLORE PROCESS

• Trisha Brown Dance Company Astral Converted (In Process)
• Tere O’Connor Untitled New Work
• Wally Cardona The Set-Up: Junko Fisher
• Maureen Towey Three Sisters at Good Companions Senior Center

EXPLORE IDEAS – WORDS, WALKS, TALKS & MORE

• The Bottom of The Harbor – A Tribute to Joseph P. Mitchell with Luc Sante, Mark Kurlansky and more. (presented with the National Book Foundation)
• The Science of Local Food – a panel discussion on local food (presented with the New York Academy of Sciences)
• Artists Respond: Mark Si Suvero – Imaginative Walking Tours of the Di Suvero exhibit on Governors Island by former LMCC resident artists
• John Ashbery reading at Poets House
• We’re Floating – an interactive walking tour led by Jon Cotner, presented by Poets House

EXPLORE SUNSET ON THE HUDSON IN ROCKEFELLER PARK

• Philip Glass Ensemble Retrospective Concert with Face The Music (contemporary music)
• Eddie Palmieri (latin jazz)
• Poetic City featuring Suzanne Vega & Gabriel Kahane, poets Tina Chang and Paolo Javier (poetry and song)
• Third World (reggae)
• Bridge To Broadway (American Songbook meets Jazz Standards)
• La India (salsa)
• George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic (funk)

EXPLORE INDIE FILM AT ELEVATED ACRE (55 Water St.)
presented in association with Tribeca Film

• Collaborator
• Stella Days
• The Runway
• Side By Side

EXPLORE INDIE ROCK AT PIER 17, SOUTH STREET SEAPORT

• Le Grand Continental (200 person line dance) followed by DJ parties with The Miracles Club, Chico Mann and Body Language (presented with The Joyce Theater)
• Veronica Falls with The People’s Temple
• Patrick Watson with Loney Dear
• Eleanor Friedberger with ExCops

EXPLORE NEW MUSIC

• Electric Kulintang (Susie Ibarra & Roberto Rodriguez) at St Paul’s Chapel (presented with Harvestworks)
• Source of Uncertainty I & II (Tribute to Mort Subotnick at Pace, Analog Syntheizer fest at @Seaport) (presented with Harvestworks)
• Blake Carrington, Daniel Iglesia and Taylor Deupree at St Paul’s Chapel

EXPLORE WORLD MUSIC

• Arieb Azhar – pakistani folk rock at Pace
• Manado State University Choir – Indonesian choral music at St Paul’s Chapel

EXPLORE EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES

• Sylvain Emard’s Le Grand Continental – 200 New Yorkers, dancers and non-dancers alike, perform a contemporary line dance on Pier 17!! Followed by DJ dance party. (presented with The Joyce Theater)
• Improv Everywhere – MP3 Experiment
• Kun, 64 Toy Pianos – 4 hour installation/concert on Pier 15 & 16 (presented with Make Music New York)
• Come Out and Play After Dark – street games and interactive experiences at @Seaport
• Come Out and Play Field Day – games for kids of all ages, family fun & more on Governors Island

EXPLORE VISUAL ART INSTALLATIONS

• Mary Mattingly’s Flock House Project in Battery Park and then Coleman Oval Park
• Erika Harrsch’s Kite Project – kite installation w/music by Julian Wachner in Rockefeller Park
• Transforming Function Exhibit at Building 110 on Governors Island