The '80s Are Back, Again

Darinka was one of the downtown clubs I performed most frequently at in the eighties, and I also curated a Sunday night fiction reading series there. I briefly mentioned Darinka in my memoir of the glory days of downtown that I posted here a couple of years ago. Now, these many years later, a bunch of writers who were associated with the club will reconvene to celebrate Darinka and, I suppose, the fact that we're all still here. If you're in New York and want to forget what year it is, head over to Dixon Place next Tuesday.

Here's Gary Ray's press release:

DARINKA: A PERFORMANCE STUDIO, THE INTIMATE 80'S PERFORMANCE SPACE CELEBRATES ITS DOWN AND DIRTY HISTORY WITH WRITERS: DARIUS JAMES, BOB HOLMAN, JEFFREY CYPHERS WRIGHT, HOLLY ANDERSON, RON KOLM, PETER CHERCHES, & GAIL GERBER...

At DIXON PLACE: Tuesday May 5th, 7:30 @ 161 Chrystie St. (between Delancy & Rivington) NYC, advance tix $10, at the door $12.


HOSTED BY FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR GARY RAY

The seminal performance space Darinka (1984-87) celebrates its glorious past with a reunion gig that recognizes the eighties punk aesthetic that revolutionized avant culture and ripped through the East Village like a cyclone. The energy and talent spawned scores of clubs, coffee shops, theaters and alternative spaces to present the prolific outpourings of subversion. Some of the most influential writers who were part of the Lower East Side's down-and-dirty heydays are meeting up to represent at this event!

Founder & director of Darinka, Gary Ray (whose credits include poetry in New Blood Magazine as well as working in films with Blondie, Madonna, and on stage with Karen Finley amongst others) is hosting a group of the original movers and shakers who helped make Darinka one of the go-to places for hip, paradigm-shifting performance, music, art and poetry during the 1980s. Darinka's relevance during the 80's is talked about in the They Might Be Giants documentary, Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns. "We were the house band in an amazing club where Steve Buscemi & Karen Finley also performed," John Linnell.

This event will bring together a collective voice of writers whose work pulses with the raw character of New York's Lower East Side. On the bill are Darius James, Bob Holman, Jeffrey Cyphers Wright, Holly Anderson, Ron Kolm, Peter Cherches, and newcomer Gail Gerber (see attached bios).

This long-awaited reunion is taking place at the New Dixon Place, May 5th. Darinka indirectly inspired the establishment of the original Dixon Place (which was located on First Street just one block from where Darinka operated). It is pure poetic justice to produce Darinka's first reunion at Dixon Place's new state-of-the-art space.

Darinka Facebook Group