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PHOENIX I25TH BIRTHDA YSALUTE TO BAMMerce C unningham C om pany in %under the critical microscopes. Most talkedabout and thoroughly dissected were thefour dance works by the Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal and Richard Foreman%u2019s%u2018%u2018The Birth of the Poet.%u201d The Foremanpiece was heavily panned by critics and audiences and both works received tremendous publicity. There were especiallysteamed reactions to %u201cThe Birth of thePoet%u201d with its sexually explicit language,aggressive premises and very bad manners.When discussing %u201cThe Birth of the Poet,%u201dLichtenstein explains that %u201cit%u2019s the natureof the work we do to get reactions that arevery strong. I think that%u2019s fine. So muchthat passes for contemporary art is bland.The nature of the Next Wave, of contemporary work, is to be strong, and to comeon with very individual points of view andthis will provoke that kind of reaction.%u201dAs for the Pina Bausch controversy, Lichtenstein says: %u201cHer work is very violentand uncompromising in the things itdoes%u2014the behavior patterns posed betweenmen and women are very strong. Her devices like her use of water and earth are extreme . . . One thing I think is importantwhether you agree or not%u2014Bausch is an important artist%u2014a lot is done not simply foreffect but has depth of meaning.%u201dWith such an avalanche of publicity, it isinevitable that BAM, the New Wave andprimarily Harvey Lichtenstein will havesupporters and detractors.Connoisseur Magazine called him the newDiaghilev (founder of the Ballet Russes atthe turn of the century) and Ross Wetzsteonof the Village Voice, perhaps Lichtenstein%u2019smost scathing critic, called him %u201cNo Diaghilev.%u201dLichtenstein dismisses the whole ideawith an emphatic %u201cI am who I am %u2014this hasnothing to do with Diaghilev.%u201dWetzsteon%u2019s blasts at Lichtenstein are disparaging references to him as New York%u2019s%u201cCulture Czar%u201d and question his %u201cunresolved contribution to the avant-garde.%u201dLichtenstein%u2019s answer is simple. %u201cMy contribution to the avant-garde and art is whathas been done here%u2014the body of work thatwe have developed. If it is consideredavant-garde, that%u2019s fine.%u201dLichtenstein is concerned and perplexedby Wetzsteon%u2019s insistence that he was indifferent to an incident that happened in 1968during a Living Theatre performance,where co-founder Judith Malina was sexually molested.%u201cIt was something nobody knew about atthe time. I spoke to Judith about it and sheseemed to have come to terms with the incident and said he (Wetzsteon) has been talking about it for 15 years and just can%u2019t forget it. It did not reflect on BAM,%u201d he says,but it has colored the writer%u2019s views eversince.%u201cA lot of things said (by Wetzsteon) werenot the case. BAM has been visible andvery successful. It was part of the usualVoice attempt to knock it down.%u201dMAINSTREAM AND AVANT-GARDEAs BAM has received more and more attention by the press%u2014both avant-garde andmainstream%u2014it has found itself the focus ofan ethical dilemma: are devotion to theavant-garde and box office success antithetical?John Rockwell, a senior critic at The NewYork Times, does not think so and has quitefirm views on BAM%u2019s role in the avantgarde:%u201cI admire Harvey. One can always takepot-shots from the sidelines. He does a terrific job in bringing the mainstream and theP h ilip M o r r is %u2019 H a m is h M a x w e ll (le ft) and BAM board chairm an Neil Chrisman. (Phoenix/Kirk Photo)avant-garde together and an amazing marketing job by bringing the Manhattan trendies to Brooklyn. Commercialism is not abogy word to m e,%u201d he says.%u201cCertainly there%u2019s plenty of room forsmall-scale avant-gardism which is definitely less popular . . . artists shouldn%u2019t feel badif it is less popular. But Harvey is making ithappen for the more popular avant-gardewhich impinges on the mainstream. It ishealthy to have that link in the chain.%u201dClive Barnes of the Post expands on thatsubject: %u201cIn dozens of ways, Harvey hasmade BAM into one of the cultural centersof New York and has done so in a verypragmatic way. He tries something and ifthat doesn%u2019t work he tries something else.But always, right from the beginning, heBROOKLYN ACADEMYOF MUSICBOARD OF TRUSTEESHonorary Chairm en: Edward I Koch, Howard Golden, Seth Faison, Leonard Garment, Paul Lepercq.Chairm an: Neil D. Chrism an.Vice-Chairm en: R ita H illm a n , I. S ta n le y K rie g e l, A m e V e n n e m a , F ra n k lin R. W eissberg.Trustees: E liz a b e th D. B a u m a n , W a rre n B. Coburn, Charles M. Diker, Chaim Edelstein, M a llo ry F a cto r, H a ro ld L. F ish e r, R o b e rt l . F o rb e s , C e c il R. F o rs te r, Jr., M ic h a e l Fuchs, David Geften, Sidney Kantor, Sydney Lewis, Roy Lichtenstein, Eugene H. I u n te y , L au rie A. M c A llis te r, E velyn Ortner, R ich a rd M. Rosan, R ob ert C. Rosenberg, M arion Scotto, Am ber L ig h tfo o d W alker, and C u rtis A. W ood.had a genuine and very important affinityfor the avant-garde. His espousal is fortuitous%u2014not opportunistic. Harvey is a suckerfor everything new.%u201dThough some Brooklynites may object toh is im a u p rv R a m p s sa v e - %u201c H a n / w 's triumph is the destruction of the BrooklynBridge.. . Manhattanites no longer find itan insurmountable barrier and now gladlytravel into Brooklyn.%u201dThough Barnes believes Lichtenstein%u2019sabandoned attempts at establishing aclassic repertory theater were premature,%u201chis great mistake, a great pity,%u201d and areal loss to Brooklyn, Barnes says you haveto take into account the financial andcritical obstacles that existed to that concept to put it into the overall perspective ofLichtenstein%u2019s general efforts at producing%u201c20 incredible years.%u201dJudith Daykin, the BAM GeneralManager who oversees the enormous complex of business and legal matters that support an operation budgeted at more than $9million this past season, thinks of the NextWave as BAM%u2019s %u201cown niche.\stein and Next Wave Director Joe Mellilloare constantly scouting for new artists.Next season%u2019s Festival runs from Octoberthrough December 30 and will open withMerce Cunningham%u2019s %u201cRoaratorio.%u201d PingChong%u2019s Fiji Co, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic%u2019s performance of William Bolcom%u2019s%u201cSongs of Innocence and Experience%u201d willbe featured; and the festival will close with%u201cthe CIVIL warS:%u201d by Philip Glass andRobert Wilson.Lichtenstein sees the future of BAM andof Brooklyn as %u201cbright.%u201d %u201cArtists want towork here, which gives us greaterpotential.%u201d He pays homage to his staff thatexecutes the range of ideas and programsand gets them to the stage, saying %u201cBAMhas the finest of any performing arts institute in the country.%u201d He should know, hebrought them together.H o n o r a r y B A M c h a ir m a n Paul l ePercq.(jabeOSollner.An American Dining TraditionSince 1879.Minutes from Manhattan in theheart of historic Brooklyn.372 Fulton Mall near Borough HallFor reservations call: 875-5181Major credit cards acceptedBrooklyn%u2019s Award-Winning Newspaper Publisher Salutes the World%u2019s Premiere Performing Arts Center On Its 125th BirthdayD. B. Armstrong, Chairman o f the BoardMichael A. Armstrong, Editor and Publisher395 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Telephone 718-643-1400.%u2014 Published by Serif Pres; , Incorporated..rats femeflfflR? V illager Brooklyn.S e rv in g D o w n to w n B r o o k ly n a n d Its N e ig h b o r h o o d sS e r v in g G r e e n w ic h V illa g e a n d L o w e r M a n h a t t a nS e rv in g B r o o k ly n %u2019s %u201cJ B u s in e s s C o m m u n i t y f %u00a3 | L ,June 12, 1906, T H E PH OENIX, Page 27