Don’t Miss: Nick Cave’s Horses

Nick Cave – HEARD•NY from Creative Time on Vimeo.

Last night, a herd of 30 wonderfully shaggy horses galloped through Grand Central Terminal. It was a private viewing of the artist Nick Cave’s “Heard NY,” a performance that has startled, then engaged and finally enthralled untold numbers of New Yorkers all week long. Presented by Creative Time and MTA Arts for Transit to celebrate Grand Central’s centennial, the twice-daily performances (11:00am and 2:00pm through Sunday, March 31), feature dancers from the Ailey School dressed in Cave’s signature mixed-media Soundsuits, noisemaking costumes that he has been producing since 1993 using raffia, feathers, and even human hair. As they romp about Vanderbilt Hall, the colorful raffia makes a delightful whooshing chime, like wind passing over tall grass. “Originally, we wanted to have the horses sort of grazing all day long,” explained Anne Pasternak, the president of Creative Time. “But the suits are very heavy, and it would’ve been too exhausting to wear them that long.” As a result, each 15-minute performance has been mobbed; Pasternak advises arriving half an hour early to get a good view. “People of all ages have been going out of their minds with excitement,” she said. “It’s hard enough getting New Yorkers to stop and engage. This is just amazing to me.”