Listings

WEDNESDAY

DECEMBER 17

Dance

CIRCUS OZ

Australians seem to have a pretty comfortable relationship with their bodily functions, so it comes as no surprise when one of the human "cockatoos" swinging from trapezes in this fabulous entertainment defecates on her fellow birds, and the robot dog cozies up to the audience and waggles his little aluminum balls. The gymnasts and jugglers are as graceful as dancers, the onstage band really cooks, and the political satire has subtle bite. ZIMMER

Today, Thursday, Friday, and Tuesday at 7; Saturday and Sunday at 1 and 7; and other times through January 11, New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, 212.239.6200

KOOSIL-JA

In her first self-produced event in her basement space in DUMBO, this multi-talented performer, born in Japan to Korean parents, a fixture of the downtown scene for more than 20 years, explores "the relation between resistance and creativity" in collaboration with videographer Benton-C Bainbridge, composer Geoff Matters, and environmental designers Omar Khan and Laura Garófalo of Liminal Projects. The audience will surround her dance and a video pendulum. ZIMMER

At 8, through Sunday, and December 17 through 21, Élan in Nest, 88 Front Street, Brooklyn, 212.375.0189

Books

REBECCA SOLNIT

Few nonfiction writers possess Solnit's ability to find offbeat material that's not just an excuse for "interesting" books. Her latest, River of Shadows (a VLS fave), prominently features Eadweard Muybridge, the first person to capture the image of a moving animal on film, and owner of a life story as unwieldy as the spelling of his thrice-revised name. But Solnit manages to corral it, and establishes the necessary context to give Rivera vital, contemporary resonance. Poet and creative-writing director Robert Polito moderates. REIDY

At 6:30, New School, 66 West 12th Street,212.229.5353

Music

DAVE MATTHEWS+EMMYLOU HARRIS

Dave's new solo joint sounds like a subdued DMB album. Avant-drummer Carter Beauford is sorely missed; luckily, Phish's Trey Anastasio and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, among others, inflect Dave's introspection with peculiar push. Emmylou Harris should not have to open for anyone—35 years on, her country-folk-etc. still mutates exquisitely. Last fall's deft Stumble Into Grace is only her latest triumph. CATUCCI

At 7:30, Madison Square Garden, 2 Penn Plaza, 212.307.7171

Theater

'THE LAST SUPPER'

Overeager actors are sometimes said to "make a real meal" of their roles. Actor-playwright Ed Schmidt improves on the idiom—he not only cooks a real meal while performing his play, about what went on in the kitchen while Jesus supped with the disciples, but he serves it to the audience. Book early; seating is necessarily limited. FEINGOLD

Now playing, 154 West 27th Street, apt. 4W, 718.499.7758

'THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS—THE MUSICAL!'

We won't pretend to know the content of Joanne Bogart and Eric Rockwell's new musical, which deals with a single story musicalized in five different styles; we just like the straightforwardness of its title. The cast of Pamela Hunt's production for the York Theatre Company includes Craig Fols, Lovette George, and the authors. FEINGOLD

Through January 11, Theatre at St. Peter's, 619 Lexington Avenue, 212.866.4444

THURSDAY

DECEMBER 18

Film

'A PICTURE RARELY SEEN: JOSEPH CORNELL CENTENARY'

Cornell was not just a great artist but a great film artist. This four-day celebration opens with a program of his found "goofy newsreels" and ends with a John Zorn homage. In between: movies from Cornell's collection as well as movies made for him (by Rudy Burckhardt, among others) and, of course, by him. HOBERMAN

Through Sunday, Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue, 212.505.5181

Music

HOUSTON PERSON QUARTET

The big-boned tenor, famed for his many years partnering with the late Etta Jones, leads a trim and fairly irresistible quartet; he is an imposing player in the blues and ballads style once known as soul sax. But he's deeper than that. His solos have breadth and weight. He caresses melodies and stamps them with an ardor that suggests the lifeline of Webster and Ammons. Pianist Stan Hope is just as direct. GIDDINS

Thursday through Sunday at 7:30 and 9:30, Friday and Saturday also at 11:30, Sunday at 7:30 and 9:30, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, 212.576.2232

Theater

'AUNT DAN AND LEMON'

Wallace Shawn's disturbing 1985 play, about an impressionable girl and her life-loving aunt's sinister influence on her, gets its first major revival from director Scott Elliott's New Group. The cast, headed by Kristen Johnston in the role created by Linda Hunt, features Lili Taylor as her niece and Melissa Errico among the figures in Aunt Dan's dubious anecdotes. Don't bring the kids. FEINGOLD

Opens today, the Clurman, Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, 212.239.6200

FRIDAY

DECEMBER 19

Film

'THE FOG OF WAR'

Errol Morris's new documentary portrait of Robert McNamara is almost ridiculously relevant and not just because it's impossible to see McNamara's steely smile and jaunty certitude without thinking of Donald Rumsfeld. No matter what your opinion is of the former secretary of defense and architect of our Vietnam War, The Fog of War is a chastening experience. In the deepest sense, it's about the inadequacy of human intelligence. HOBERMAN

Opens today, Angelika Film Center, 18 West Houston Street, 212.995.2000

Music

BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA

The national treasure Blind Boys offer up the most soulful yuletide tunes of the season—the first Christmas harmonies recorded in their 60 years together. They've brought along some gifted, admiring co-carolers who've known them from childhood (Mavis Staples, Aaron Neville) or wish they had (Spearhead's Michael Franti, Chrissie Hynde, Charlie Musselwhite, Duke Robillard). The record's instrumentalists were aces like Richard Thompson and Robert Randolph; expect some surprises. Some proceeds go to the Diabetes Association. MAZOR