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Friday, December 9, 2022

Performers - Part 30

Arthur Aviles

Arthur Aviles, an award-winning New York dancer and choreographer, was born in Queens in 1963 and grew up in Long Island and the South Bronx.   He is the co-founder of the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!).

Aviles is Puerto Rican, and he is gay, and he explores both Latino culture and sexual ambiguity in his works.  Frequently he dances either wearing a dress or completely naked.  Above is a clip of Aviles dancing in his work A Puerto Rican Faggot from America, 1996.  This clip is 30 seconds, but the dance goes on for 15 minutes.

I have to admit I'm not a dance aficionado.  I like his naked body, but I can't appreciate his dance moves.

Above is Aviles dancing in Morning Dance, 2001.  The dance is 6 minutes long, but I shortened it to the beginning, the end, and some close-ups in between.

Aviles also choreographs dances for other performers.  Above is an excerpt from Intoxicating Calm, performed by Nikolai McKenzie.

A short clip from another performance by Nokolai McKenzie in an Aviles piece called A Jamaican Batty Bwoy in America.  Batty bwoy is Jamaican slang for a faggot.

We end with an excerpt of Aviles dancing in Algo en la Cocina (Something in the Kitchen).  For the first half of the piece, he wears the red dress.  Then you'll see what happens.  This is definitely not your mother's Swan Lake ballet.

12 comments:

Big Dude said...

There's a scene in a Three Stooges short where some ritzy woman is trying to teach them how to dance. But a bee flies down the back of her dress, and she goes into spasms and contortions, trying to get it out. If this dude weren't bare-dick naked, I'd say he had s bee down his dress...and is trying to get it out. He does have a nice body and cock, though.

Xersex said...

I found his bio here so interesting

SickoRicko said...

I don't understand this kind of dance either.

Gerald said...

I really enjoyed these, especially the close up in the one video. Of course my favorite was the last video with the fellow making his penis twirl around. He wasn't the most talented at this though. Back around 75 years ago, one of the things that the Trobriand island's men would practice, and teach boys, was to be able to control their penises. A man could have his penis twirling in circles and then stop it at the '12 o'clock' position!!!! That is definitely a talent. Regardless, I always enjoy seeing pictures of penises, and especially seeing them swinging about.

Anonymous said...

Don't believe everything you read. (Translation: Is that anatomically possible?)

Randy said...

LOL!!!!! I couldn't agree more. This type of "art" is beyond ridiculous.

Thomas said...

I love modern dance and see a lot of it in New York and Paris. Good dance pieces with men can be incredibly acrobatic, energetic and beautiful. Unfortunately Aviles dancing has no music, and his moves are plain - they are not simple or sophisticated, but boring and repetitive. His novelty is being naked, and that wears off very quickly. With good choreographers and male dancers they don't need to be naked to be interesting, and if they are naked you notice the moves and what they are saying, and not the nakedness.

Anonymous said...

This is postmodern?,

Pat Lark said...

I love me some dancers. Add naked and I'm all in! Thanks, Larry!

Your Furry Pal said...

"Algo" means "something," so a better translation for that final work would be "Something in the Kitchen."

Unashamed Male said...

Thanks, Furry Pal. I have fixed it.

Gerald said...

It was in a book written by an anthropologist in the early part of the last century. I read it many years ago. It does seem far fetched, but I don't think they held that position, but were able to stop and reverse directions. There are many things in this world that I have never seen or experienced, but that do happen.