Joe Fiore’s Dance:208 “Garage Classics,” at the LGBT Community Center, in Manhattan, on March 10, celebrated the musical legacy of the late Mel Cheren’s legendary Paradise Garage disco and the artistic legacy of the late Keith Haring, whose favorite New York City hangout the Garage was. Upstairs, the Keith Haring Room, an erstwhile bathroom, on whose walls the artist painted an erotic work, in 1989, that he called “Once Upon a Time,” had been restored and was on view anew, kicking off a month of Center events honoring Haring, while downstairs, Grammy Award-winning DJ Hex Hector took us back 30 years, spinning the music we used to dance to at the Garage several decades ago.
To add to the heady atmosphere, already aided by the recent full moon, artist Jonathan Bressler was on hand to decorate the hunky body of the Center’s Angelo in Dayglo lines and swirls, much as Haring had adorned the nude body of Grace Jones for her role as the vampire Katrina in the 1986 film “Vamp.”
Coming up on the Dance:208 agenda are “Shameless,” a women’s dance, on March 31; the ever-popular bear fest, “Fur Ball,” on April 14; and the “Studio 54” dance, where we’re sure to find Rollerena, on May 19. Visit www.gaycenter.org to buy tickets in advance.
