This Ring Cycle Comes With Gloves - Gleason's Gym · presumably in the trunk of a tree—a cello! A...
Transcript of This Ring Cycle Comes With Gloves - Gleason's Gym · presumably in the trunk of a tree—a cello! A...
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This Ring Cycle Comes With Gloves
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By ANDY BATTAGLIA
In this corner—weighing in at approximately 10 pounds, from parts unknown butpresumably in the trunk of a tree—a cello!
A recent afternoon at Gleason's Gym in Dumbo offered the unusual sight: musicianDan Barrett in the ring, up against the ropes and working his hands, sendingsonorous notes from his cello into the combative clamor of the worldfamous boxingmecca.
On Saturday, Mr. Barrett will climb into the ring again for the occasion of "Strike!," aunique performance event that will feature a mix of classical music, boxing and danceat the 75yearold facility that has seen legends like Jake LaMotta, Cassius Clay,Gerry Cooney and Mike Tyson pass through its doors.
"I find a purity of function in a boxing ring," said Mr. Barrett, the mastermind of theevent and the leader of the ensemble International Street Cannibals—a New Yorkbased collective of musicians, composers, videographers, audio technicians,dancers, puppeteers and visual artists. "When you go inside a gym, you see
Philip Montgomery for The Wall Street Journal
Cellist Dan Barrett at Gleason's Gym in Dumbo, where and his artist collective will stage a uniqueevent.
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everything arranged not in any way toward decoration or symbolic function but towarda very practical human function of usage. This, I think, is a very good guideline forart."
Mingling the art of boxing with the art of art is the main objective of "Strike!," whichmarries two of Mr. Barrett's aesthetic passions. "I'm an ardent student of boxinganalysis," he said. "So commonly we denigrate sports fans by saying they have lowattention spans, but if we watch them watch, their observations are highly nuanced.Enjoyment of sports is commensurate with capacity to analyze."
Though he has trained a bit in the pastand follows the sport voraciously, Mr.Barrett, who is 55, found a moredecorated boxing foil in BruceSilverglade, the 66yearold fightgamefixture who took over as owner ofGleason's in 1982. These days the gym,which was founded in the Bronx in 1937,maintains 1,100 members who work outthere as aspiring professional boxersand recreational hobbyists alike.
Gleason's also plays home to "Give aKid a Dream," a charitable program that offers free training to disadvantaged youth. "Ihave kids who come to us from the projects, who are in a situation they didn't putthemselves in, and I like to do anything I can to expand their horizons or introducethem to something they would not normally be introduced to," Mr. Silverglade said.
Staged as a benefit for the children's initiative, "Strike!" certainly expands horizons.Stretching across three boxing rings, the event will feature bouts between youngstersin the program, aged 11 to 17, with performances of classical music and danceinterspersed. Musical selections include a premiere of a piece by Mr. Barrett titled"Technical Knock Out"—for French horn, bass trombone, violin, electric guitar andpercussion—and others reminiscent of work by Bartok and Wagner.
"They're not meant to draw attention but to galvanize," Mr. Barrett said of thecompositions, another of which bears the title "March of the Balonie Sandwiches.""There's a certain turnover that happens to the arm in most punches, and that alsohappens [to a musician] with a bow. There are physical parallels."
The dance portion of the program was designed by choreographer Megan Sipe, whotook some lessons at Gleason's to get a feel for the movements and machinations ofboxing. "I went into this knowing nothing about boxing," Ms. Sipe said. "What's beengreat about it is that the boxers have been really interested in what we're doing.There's been real exchange. There's real artistry and rhythm to boxing. Some of thefootwork they do they even call 'dancing.'"
Showcasing the more refined aspects of boxing is part of the purpose of "Strike!"—and for Gleason's Gym in general. "Hollywood never gives a true presentation of aboxing gym," Mr. Silverglade said. "When 'Raging Bull' came in here"—MartinScorsese shot portions of his classic film at Gleason's second location, in Manhattan—"they used smoke and guys with fedoras and cigars. But in reality it's a clean placeand everybody is nice."
Geniality, with the promise of exertion in and around the ring, appeals to NaishaSantini, a young boxer enrolled in the "Give a Kid a Dream" program.
"When you have a lot of problems and a lot on your mind, once you walk through thatdoor, it's like everything goes away," said Ms. Santini, 19, who travels from her homein Williamsburg to train at Gleason's. "Nothing else matters. When I'm on the bag, Itake out my stress and the world around me doesn't bother me no more."
Artists of all kinds often say the same about their own studios—they are places
Philip Montgomery for The Wall Street Journal
Gleason's Gym owner Bruce Silverglade andcellist Dan Barrett at the Brooklyn boxing mecca.The two are collaborating on a unique event.
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where skills are honed, dreams are realized, and appearances are irrelevant. Said Mr.Silverglade of Gleason's, "You can sweat here and nobody cares what you look like."
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