La Jornada – Patti Smith begins activities behind closed doors in NY

New York., Patti Smith performed a mini-concert at the Brooklyn Museum to honor the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and give her voice to a series of activities that represent New York’s first steps toward a return to door-to-door stage live performances. closed.

He sang six songs, in addition to reading poetry and excerpts from his book Just Kids in the Patio de las Bellas Artes. His voice echoed off the skylight ceiling 18 meters high. The concert also served to pay tribute to the museum workers and brought together almost 50 people, all maintaining social distancing with spaciously placed chairs.

“I’m not nervous, but it’s been so long,” Smith told the audience. An hour later, before donning his mask and leaving the stage to a standing ovation, he added: “I hope to see you soon.”

Dressed in black and with flowing gray hair, Smith and his companion Tony Shanahan, performed Wing, My Blakean Year, Grateful Y Dancing Barefoot, as well as How Can We Hang On to a Dream?, by Tim Hardin, and Helpless, by Neil Young. Smith ended his success Because the Night, song composed by Bruce Springsteen.

This was one of multiple cultural activities in the city that are part of NY PopsUp, a festival that will continue until September 6. The programming looks for activities that “remind us what it is to connect with other people through a live presentation.

“We have to take it one step at a time to make sure it’s incredibly safe,” he said. “Those limitations give us a kind of intimacy and opportunity that has really brought us back to the basics of what it is to connect with people and connect with art again.”

The other shows will be held at venues that can be adapted for social distancing performances like The Apollo in Harlem, St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn and the Music Box Theater on Broadway.

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