The first thing Julio Torres says in \u201cColor Theories\u201d<\/strong> is to deny that he\u2019s made an \u201cOff Broadway play.\u201d (His ponytail, curling overhead like an anglerfish\u2019s light, bobbles as he cringes.) Torres\u2019s lightly chaotic comic monologue isn\u2019t even truly a solo; he merrily bullies various helpers, including a robot living inside an \u201cAlice in Wonderland\u201d clock. Largely, though, it\u2019s just him, delivering a not-so-absurdist lecture about his synesthetic schema: navy blue, for example, represents destructively illogical discipline, because it consists of blue (order) plus black (the unknown). (Some things that are navy blue? A Real Housewife insisting on politesse and, inevitably, the Electoral College.) The show, often hugely delightful but saggy toward the end, does need a bit more structure. Just a smidge<\/em> of blue, I kept thinking, and the picture\u2019s perfect.\u2014Helen Shaw (Performance Space New York<\/em><\/a>; through Oct. 5.)<\/em><\/p>\n Art<\/p>\n The Japanese B.D.S.M. term kinbaku-bi<\/em> roughly translates to \u201cthe beauty of tight binding.\u201d Tiona Nekkia McClodden\u2019s<\/strong> exhibition \u201cPure Gaze\u201d\u2014which takes kinbaku-bi<\/em> as its point of departure\u2014finds an edge between elegance and force. In the abstract assemblages on view, painted leather hides are traversed by labyrinthine patterns of rope\u2014some ensnaring bamboo sticks and dauntingly sharp metal hooks. The submissive body is absent; there are only raw networks of pressure and pleasure, woven together by the threads of discipline. It\u2019s as if the paintings have been commanded into a brutal precision of form: the geometric angles of the rope, the tensed muscles of their fibres, the sleekness of the framing. But struggling underneath this, in the sensual fleshiness of the leather, is the thought of mercy\u2014of the potential of undoing the bind\u2014and as much tension as there is anticipation of release.\u2014Zo\u00eb Hopkins (White Cube<\/em><\/a>; through Oct. 18.)<\/em><\/p>\n Movies<\/p>\n Nathalie Emmanuel on the set of \u201cMegalopolis.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Photograph courtesy Utopia<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n When Francis Ford Coppola was preparing to shoot the 2024 grand-scale political fantasy \u201cMegalopolis,\u201d he invited the director Mike Figgis to make a documentary about the production. The resulting film, \u201cMegadoc,\u201d<\/strong> is an inspiring view of Coppola\u2019s boldly original methods\u2014and of the devil-may-care attitudes that undergird them. Figgis, doing his own cinematography, displays the vastness and complexity of the sets and Coppola\u2019s wildly spontaneous approach to the film\u2019s superspectacular techniques. Improv-heavy rehearsals create a sense of freedom, yet once the camera rolls Coppola expects the cast and crew to follow his lead, albeit into the unknown; conflicts prove inevitable. Figgis includes clips of decades-old table reads which reveal the movie\u2019s long gestation; when \u201cMegalopolis\u201d finally premi\u00e8res, the sheer wonder of its existence is palpable.\u2014Richard Brody (Opening Sept. 19.)<\/em><\/p>\n Dance<\/p>\n City Center\u2019s Fall for Dance<\/strong> series of attractively priced mixed-bill samplers has consistently offered classics and clunkers, along with occasional surprises. Lately, there\u2019s been an uptick in the recycling of previous City Center commissions. This year\u2019s first program has two charming ones: \u201cDance Is a Mother,\u201d which Jamar Roberts made for the intrepid New York City Ballet star Sara Mearns and some friends, including himself; and a tap solo for Dario Natarelli, by Natarelli and Michelle Dorrance. Scattered across other programs are such surefire wonders as the Russian ballerina Olga Smirnova, and the gliding virtuoso Lil Buck interpreting a gospel hymn with the bass-baritone Davon\u00e9 Tines.\u2014B.S. (City Center<\/em><\/a>; Sept. 16-27.)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/inline-embed> Rachel Syme on movies with a sense of style.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/inline-embed><\/p>\n I watch films for many reasons, but if I am being honest, the siren call that brings me most often to the cinema is the chance to see beautiful clothes. Beauty! It never gets old. There are many well-known stylish films\u2014\u201cPhantom Thread,\u201d \u201cMarie Antoinette,\u201d \u201cFunny Face,\u201d \u201cMahogany\u201d\u2014but I am here to recommend some less-heralded flicks in which the garb really shines.<\/p>\n Illustration by Lauren Tamaki<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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