Hikari is a triptych which reveals the constant struggle between opposed forces that are paradoxically intertwined. From darkness, comes light. With light, comes searching. The search begets a desperation that threatens to consume it all and drag the subject to the deep dark, descending into the underworld. Nevertheless, even when sunk in the depths, the individual can surmount this disposition and grows, expanding like a song, like waves to light, from larva to butterfly from searcher to Illuminated, going from internal journey to the plenitude of the Self.
Hikari. Original idea by Dora Hagerman and Héctor Murrieta.
Arts.Performance
Hannah Schwadron
Blueface is a current series of solo dances made in relation to the artist's research on "Jewface" performance tropes; those bodily excesses of too much (talking, needing, wanting) and not enough (dancerliness, feminine appeal) that become the recognizable "things" of performing Jewishly. The improvisational score is at once a self-incision into the autoexotic the performance of self as un/sexy otherand a movement reflection on the joke-work of a "funny girl" body. A tribute to Jewish stage women of yore (think Streisand as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1968)) and an effort to take those tropes apart, Blueface morphs between blatant and abstracted movement reference to an American century of Jewish female comic stars and their dancing shtick.
Jonathan Royse Windham
An unknowing audience member is asked to perform on stage unprepared. While intimate details of his character are narrated, the audience gets an intimate look at his secrets, quirks and idiosyncrasies.
"a thoughtful and engaging spatial composition of light, sound, movement, story, participation, emotion and energy. It was by far one of the most unforgettable solo performances I have seen in a while!" -Dance Enthusiast
Kaley Pruitt
Super looks at the icons of the super hero, and sidekick through the impressions we carry of those roles from childhood to adulthood. The characters change through the piece to accept what bravery is in reality, apart from emulating fantastical comic strip personas. The piece takes a journey from reality, into a fantasized comic book adventure, and back to reality again. The scenes travel from friends are meeting after work, to the slapstick, action-packed play world of our childhood super heroes, and back to the day-to-day world the characters become more accepting of.
Constantly shifting between dance and theater, the piece is kept comically upbeat and achieves its goal of blurring what is expected of dance performance. My aim in making Super is to create a world of escape and fantasy and, at the same time, bring the characters closer to confronting reality with the optimism of youth. Ultimately, the figures rediscover how to be brave in the face of anything, imagined or real. Super will depict how bravery may really be nothing more than having a powerful and convincing imagination.
Sarah Foster
Helga is a simple woman who lives a simple life, secluded in the American backcountry with her pink bb gun, hair rollers, and high heels. Raised by her grandfather, who during her childhood suffered from dementia and taught her that the Civil War was still raging, Helga stays on her land, isolated from modern society, with only her books to read and her crops to sow. One day, however, she receives a letter that propels her and her greek chorus of Helgas on an epic adventure of love, loss, and revenge. This movement piece combines clowning, classic modern dance, quirky hip hop, and farm tools to portray the innocent, yet strong life of Helga as she deals with the universal quandary that is love.
Arts.Performance
CEMA Dance Artistic Director, Rachel Hagan, and Brooklyn-based choreographer, Lindsey Mandolini will each be premiering brand new 30-minute works. Both choreographers developed and defined new movement within a human context. Lindsey's new work, slight of hand, was inspired by the anatomy of the human hand and its evolutionary history. Rachel's new work for CEMA dance addresses feelings of longing, satisfaction, and discomfort. The interaction of these experiences are explored in Content.Undone. Join us for physical and thought-provoking movement from two young, working New York choreographers.
A post-performance reception will be held on Friday March 21st.
Two choreographers.
Two premieres.
Two evenings.
CEMA dance
Content.Undone
Choreography by: Rachel Hagan
Performed by: Jane Cracovaner, Elizabeth Hepp, Catherine Kirk, Daniel Mont-Eton, and Kyleigh Sackandy
slight of hand
Choreography by: Lindsey Mandolini
Performed by: Caitlyn Johansen, Amanda MacLeod, Lindsey Mandolini, and Julie Miller
Arts.Performance
MERGE vol.2 VIDEO/INTERACTIVE ART + DANCE is a hybrid showcase of dance and video/interactive art. Contemporary dancers, visual artists, and media artists meet and present a variety of their artworks and collaborative projects. Produced by a Japanese choreographer and dancer Arisa Kusumi and directed by a visual artist Satoshi Tsuchiyama.
Thank you everyone for all the support, this is vol. 2!
The idea of the event originated when Arisa Kusumi, a dancer and choreographer, met a visual artist, Satoshi Tsuchiyama in New York City. They wanted to create an event that is something a little different from a conventional dance showcase. The collaborators realized that their influences in both dance and visual art could enormously inspire each other. MERGE intends to merge the layers of different artistic mediums together and presents a lively experience where the borders of all formats become vague for the possibilities of new meanings and relationships within the works. The chemical reaction among the artworks will invite the viewers to go beyond the surface of what they are seeing. MERGE is an evolving environment for all kinds of artists, creative endeavors and experimental approaches.
Arts.Performance
SOMEDAY THIS COUNTRY takes the entire script of John Ford's 1956 classic film "The Searchers," transcribed from a pirated copy of the film, and performs it not just word for word but second for second. Each line in the script is time-stamped with the minute and second it was uttered in the film. The performers have memorized these time-stamps, and will keep their lines synced with when those lines happen in the movie.
Meanwhile, they will perform a dance that lies somewhere between a 90's workout video and country line dancing. After two hours of nonstop music, clocks, and movements, performers and audience alike will be exhausted. In that moment of collapse, we hope, perhaps we can learn something new about the American project.
Arts.Dance
Artists presenting each night:
Thursday
Program A at 7pm
Alessia Lovreglio
Mariana Valencia
Catherine Galasso
Program B at 8:15pm
Katie Workum
LJ Leach
Mina Nishimura
Friday
Program B at 7pm
Katie Workum
LJ Leach
Mina Nishimura
Program A at 8:15
Alessia Lovreglio
Mariana Valencia
Catherine Galasso
Arts.Performance
Arts.Dance
Arts.Dance
Arts.Dance
Dancers:
Alana Kirzner
Anyeli Arias
Melanie Boyce
Laura Alexander
Whitney G. Mcintosh
Patricia Carby
Sara Braun
Jhanelle Latore
Artistic Director: Nadia Joseph
Development Director: Whitney G. Mcintosh
Arts.Dance
Arts.Dance
Broken Heart Story is a story of art and love. A whiskered female author is searching for her soul to cure her incessant writer's block. The themes of Capitalism and Death whirr around her brain as she strives to pen important and relevant work. The play urges us to question our choices, our identity and how to live an artistically fulfilling life. The play paints a poetic and absurd landscape that bubbles with humor and big questions.
How do we balance artistic independence with love? And is love worth the price of that independence?
"Some questions: Can art change reality? When did you last comfort someone else? Do you want a gift? Do you like ketchup? Do you like driving fast? Where does the soul reside? When did you cry last? What do you think about theatre? Do you watch F1 races sometimes? Is it raining over there? What is love?"
Friday June 1st:
Carmen Caceres
Sophia Cleary
Alissa Horowitz/ AVtv Creations
Keiko Hashimoto
HeJin Jang
Saturday June 2nd:
Dahlia Nayar
Esme Boyce Dance
Michele Torino Hower
Shani Collins-Achille/ Eternalworks Dance Company
Rastro/ Julieta Valero
Arts.Dance
Choreographer/ Director: Elisabeth Motley
Dancers: Meredith Fages, Lea Fulton, Josselyn Levinson, Elisabeth Motley
Live Music: Colonna Sonora- Brady Bagger, Christian Serramalera, James Sparber
Visuals/ Projection: Victoria Masters
Inspired by a watercolor-like hallucination Motley experienced while suffering from a brain disease, Underwater has evolved over the year into a performance event that examines compound levels of disorientation; considering the social and physiological ramifications incurred when one experiences any form of confusion. In a shadowy, dream-like environment the artists' incorporate extensive, tactile materials. Baby powder covers the body of a dancer, while her movements frenetically engage with the white, powdery puffs. Hard, white beans are poured from pitchers onto another dancer on the floor while she skims her arms and legs across the ground, propelling the beans in various directions. Both sonic and visually resounding, Underwater features live music from instrumental band Colonna Sonora, projected visuals from Victoria Masters, and both rigorous and surreal choreography from Motley Dance.
This event is part of new Voices in Live Performance: CPR's New Voices in Live Performance is a core program of its presenting activities that showcases contemporary experimental performance in a concentrated series in the spring. As part of the New Voices in Live Performance program, well-established and emerging voices in the dance community are invited to curate a series of events that include performances, lectures, panel discussions and other activities all open to the public.
Arts.Dance
May 7th performances by: Tori Lawrence, Christina Gesualdi and Marcel Williams Foster
Mascher Space Cooperative, a home for new dance in Philadelphia, brings to CPR two evenings of experimental work by Philadelphia based dance artists. Artist imagined, artist founded, artist shared and run, Mascher's mission is to provide (both through tangible structure and intangible infrastructure) space that is affordable and versatile and a community of support that allows for a flow of ideas and modes of deep problem solving and inquiry. Bound not by aesthetics, but a common commitment to working cooperatively and sharing administrative tasks and resources, Mascher wildly nurtures the development of its Artists-In-Residence at various stages in their careers, lines of research, and explorations.
Nicole Bindler performs Sand in My Soda Pop with sound design by Bhob Rainey and a cameo appearance by Annie Wilson. A woman has an unrequited crush on the lifeguard at the beach. He doesn't even know she exists. Will she drown herself to get his attention, or will the world be destroyed by nuclear war before she gets a chance? Sand in My Soda Pop is a tragi-comic dance-theater work that is funny, subversive and full of surprises. "The beginning is so strong... you make us watch from the get go." --Liz Lerman, 2009 http://nicolebindler.com/ Jane Goodall Speaks with a Native About Nature. Hyphen-Nation Arts joined forces with Marcel W. Foster and presented the "comic delight" (The Art Blog) of The Jane Goodall: Experience. Join Jane once again as she leaps across the Atlantic Ocean with the help of her friend, the interwebs, to live-stream a conversation about the beauty and future of Africa with Tanzanian Environmental HistorianDunstan Matungwa. Christina Gesualdi performs sequeriousexperiensentiality: Tori Lawrence + Co presents "Awakened Ruins" with Choreography by Tori Lawrence, performed by dancers Emily Herchenroether, Christina Knipp, Ashley Lippolis, Pamela Vail with Violinist: Christopher Brooks, Pianist: Patrick Fink and Costume Design by Virginia West and Tori Lawrence. "Awakened Ruins" is originally an evening length site-specific piece made and set in Founder's Hall at Girard College, but now has been transplanted in a more traditional stage setting. The piece explores the beauty, decay, and permanence of the forgotten, architectural forms that once existed. Fully coated in uneven and congealed patches of dried clay, four dancers join a violinist and pianist to embody a structure's erosion through time. www.torilawrenceco.com This performance is part of New Voices in Live Performance: CPR's New Voices in Live Performance is a core program of its presenting activities that showcases contemporary experimental performance in a concentrated series in the spring. As part of the New Voices in Live Performance program, well-established and emerging voices in the dance community are invited to curate a series of events that include performances, lectures, panel discussions and other activities all open to the public.
"sequeriousexperiensentiality = my solo attempt to load a dance, thus, making it: sequential, serious, experiential, sensual, and essential.
You say, 'But I wanted something that would meticulously make my postmodern panties drop, and instead, this just sounds over-ambitious'
True. This piece will take you back to the weirdness of 9th grade as it pathetically reasserts itself in space and hints at the heaviness of my heart."
Arts.Dance