newyorklivearts WHERE THINKING AND MOVEMENT MEET THE FUTURE 2015-16 Season BILL T. JONES, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
5, 50 & Change Welcome to our fifth season of New York Live Arts, an institution created from 50 years of combined history. When we started New York Live Arts in 2011, it was out of a desire to create a place where thinking doers and moving thinkers could gather to share work and ideas. A place where the past is processed and the future created, a place that establishes art as essential to how we conceive of our society. This year, we are pushing uncompromisingly towards the future with our first season curated by newly appointed Director of Programs, Thomas O. Kriegsmann. With more than 135 performances by 50 radical and adventurous artists, we are defining Live Arts as a vital hub for genre-crossing, socially conscious performance work. We re bringing an unprecedented number of artists from abroad, and our winter-spring Live Ideas Festival will consider art and culture s role in the recent political transformations in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Region. It is important to me that Live Arts isn t just a place to see a show, but a place where artists work and develop their craft, and where we all come together to discuss essential issues. Come Early and Stay Late conversations will continue to spark insights into the work on our stage, and we re partnering with MAPP International and Culturebot to expand the Open Spectrum critical dialogues series. If you share our conviction that art is crucial to our society, we want to see you in the theater, and hear your voice in our conversations. We invite you to shape the future with us. -Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director NEW! Ticketing Packages Choose your place in history and let us help you navigate our exciting season with specially curated ticket packages. These five packages include discounted tickets to three performances. Non-members receive 15% off/members receive 20% off and reduced ticketing fees.* radical maverick re-animator socialist transformer Adventurous & boundary pushing Free spirits, unorthodox & original Re-cast & re-imagined classic narratives Socially conscious & politically engaged Hybrid & genre-bending Miguel Gutierrez (Age & Beauty Part 3) Ann Liv Young Half Straddle Louise Lecavalier Rude Mechs ymusic (Come Around Part IV) Valda Setterfield & John Scott Rebecca Lazier Ann Liv Young Okwui Okpokwasili Wunderbaum les ballets C de la B Rude Mechs Champagne Jerry Winter Family *excludes $15 tickets sponsored by Con Edison Cover Photo: les ballets C de la B by Danny Willems Photo above:philip Habib 3
New York Live Arts Presents 2015-16 Season Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company 2015-16 Touring Season Louise Lecavalier Sep 9 12 at 7:30pm ymusic Sep 11, Oct 30, Nov 20 at 8pm, Dec 9-12 at 7:30pm Featuring Bill T. Jones & Dianne McIntyre Miguel Gutierrez Sep 16 20, 22 26 (various times) Open Spectrum Sep 28, Nov 9, Mar 21, May 16 at 7:30pm, Feb 13 at 5pm Ali Moini Sep 29 30 at 7:30pm Alessandro Sciarroni Oct 1 3 at 7:30pm Rude Mechs & Deborah Hay Oct 7 10 at 7:30pm, Oct 10 at 2pm Okwui Okpokwasili Oct 21 24 at 7:30pm Wunderbaum Nov 11 14 at 7:30pm Pavel Zuštiak & Palissimo Company Dec 2 5 at 7:30pm Ellen Robbins Dec 5 at 2pm & Dec 6 at 1 & 4pm Urban Word NYC Dec 16 & 17 at 7:30pm Live Artery Jan 14-19 7 9 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 Discounts Members, Associate Artists, Students and Seniors receive 20% off regular priced tickets.* Box Office Mon-Fri 1pm-9pm Sat-Sun 10am-9pm 212. 924. 0077 newyorklivearts.org/season Directions 219 West 19th Street Between 7th and 8th Ave Subway 1 to 18th Street 2/3, F, M, L & A/C/E to 14th Street *excludes $15 tickets sponsored by Con Edison **Discounts do not apply to Barnard/Columbia Dances, BalletNext, Ellen Robbins, Lang Dance, Urban Word NYC. Ann Liv Young Jan 20 23, 26 30 at 7:30pm Valda Setterfield & John Scott Feb 17 20 at 7:30pm Champagne Jerry Mar 2 5 at 7:30pm, Mar 5 at 10pm Rebecca Lazier Mar 16 19 at 7:30pm with Dan Trueman & Mobius Percussion Jen Rosenblit Apr 20 24, 26 28 at 7:30pm Off-site at the Invisible Dog Art Center Half Straddle Apr 22 24, 26 30 at 7:30pm, Apr 23 & 30 at 2pm Live Ideas 2016 Arkadi Zaides Feb 9 10 at 7:30pm KVS, les ballets C de la B & A.M. Qattan Foundation Feb 11 13 at 7:30pm Winter Family Mar 25 26 at 7:30pm Adham Hafez Company / HaRaKa Mar 29 Apr 2 New Works Residency Programs Resident Commissioned Artist 2015-17 Live Feed Nov 2015-May 2016 Fresh Tracks Feb 5 6 at 7:30pm Live Core Community Rentals Classes & Workshops 24 25 26 27 29 31 33 35, 36 37 38 41 Follow Us Visit us on any of our online platforms for photo, video and commentary from performances and events at and around New York Live Arts. #livearts
2015-16 Touring Season The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Live Arts resident dance company, embarks on an ambitious touring season with two world premieres and four repertory programs. Following the June 2015 premiere of Analogy/Dora: Tramontane at Peak Performances at Montclair State University the first work of the highly anticipated trilogy series the U.S. summer tour includes Analogy/Dora: Tramontane and staples of their repertoire. A European tour highlights the fall, with the premiere of A Letter to My Nephew/Pretty. The season wraps up with the premiere of the second work in the Analogy: A Trilogy series Analogy/Lance: Pretty aka The Escape Artist at the American Dance Festival in North Carolina. Fall 2015 Aug 14 & 15 Jackson Hole, WY Dancers Workshop Analogy/Dora: Tramontane jhcenterforthearts.org/box-office Oct 3 Augusta, GA Westobou Festival Play and Play westoboufestival.com Oct 10 Long Beach, CA California State University Long Beach Story/Time carpenterarts.org Nov 10 Douai, France Hippodrome Douai World Premiere: A Letter to My Nephew/Pretty tandem-arrasdouai.eu Nov 13 & 14 Creteil, France Maison des Artes A Letter to My Nephew/Pretty maccreteil.com/fr Nov 18 21 Lyon, France Maison de la Danse Play and Play maisondeladanse.com Winter-Spring 2016 Jan 22 23 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati Contemporary Dance Theatre Play and Play cdt-dance.org Feb 12-14 New York, NY Queens Theatre Body Against Body queenstheatre.org Feb 24 Portland, ME Play and Play portlandovations.org Feb 27 Orono, ME Body Against Body collinscenterforthearts.com Mar 7 & 8 Los Angeles, CA USC Visions & Voices The Artist As Leader: Meet Bill T. Jones Lecture/Demonstration visionsandvoices.usc.edu Mar 10 13 San Francisco, CA Yerba Buena Center for Arts Analogy/Dora: Tramontane ybca.org/calendar June Durham, NC American Dance Festival World Premiere: Analogy/Lance: Pretty aka The Escape Artist Educational Partnership Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA The first year of a four year partnership that brings the repertory and pedagogical and performative philosophy of the Company to LMU s campus and the Los Angeles area. Students will perform Continuous Replay, Love Redefined, and D-Man in the Waters (Part 1), study with current company members and company alum/lmu faculty member Rosalynde LeBlanc, and receive exclusive access to lectures and master classes by Bill T. Jones and the Company. Photo: Paul B. Goode 7
Louise Lecavalier So Blue New York City Premiere Sep 9 12 at 7:30pm The first Canadian to win a New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award in 1985 as a dancer for La La La Human Steps, Lecavalier returns to present the New York City premiere of her first extended piece of choreography, So Blue. Conceived and choreographed by Lecavalier with assistance from collaborator France Bruyère, the work s intensely rhythmic soundtrack features Montreal composer and atypical world-music artist Mercan Dede. Performed by Lecavalier and Frédéric Tavernini, the movement is inspired by simple, everyday gestures infused with speed, repetition, abstraction and theatricality. With stark, cool lighting by collaborator Alain Lortie, the powerfully zen and poignantly human So Blue is rife with the stillriveting power of Lecavalier s dancing (The Guardian). Production: Fou Glorieux, in co-production with: tanzhaus nrw (Düsseldorf); Théâtre de la Ville (Paris); Hellerau (Dresden); National Arts Centre (Ottawa); Festival TransAmériques (Montreal); Creative Residency: Szene Salzburg Fou Glorieux is supported by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Montreal Arts Council. Maverick? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. Photo: André Cornellier 9
ymusic Come Around Six World Premiere Music Commissions Come Around I Qasim Naqvi World Premiere Commission + Repertory Sep 11 at 8pm Come Around II Mark Dancigers & Paul Corley World Premiere Commissions + Repertory Oct 30 at 8pm Come Around III Missy Mazzoli & Robert Sirota World Premiere Commissions + Repertory Nov 20 at 8pm Come Around IV Marcos Balter World Premiere Commission + Repertory Featuring Two World Premiere Solo Dance Commissions by Bill T. Jones and Dianne McIntyre Dec 9 12 at 7:30pm Dec 9 & 11 featuring Bill T. Jones Dec 10 & 12 featuring Dianne McIntyre New York Live Arts debut music series features ymusic, a genre defying, indie-classical ensemble comprised of six New York City instrumentalists Hideaki Aomori, Gabriel Cabezas, CJ Camerieri, Rob Moose, Nadia Sirota and Alex Sopp flourishing in the overlap between the pop and classical worlds. Their virtuosic execution and unique configuration (string trio, flute, clarinet and trumpet) has attracted the attention of high profile collaborators from Dirty Projectors to Ben Folds, Bon Iver and Beck and evolved to become one of the great forces shaping contemporary music today. For this debut season, they will perform commissioned works by celebrated contemporary composers Marcos Balter, Paul Corley, Mark Dancigers, Missy Mazzoli, Qasim Naqvi and Robert Sirota. The closing program features world premiere solos by two of the foremost dance legends of our time Bill T. Jones (Dec 9 & 11) and Dianne McIntyre (Dec 10 & 12) choreographed for Marcos Balter s commissioned compositions. The program will also include stunning works from ymusic s growing repertory. Maverick? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. Photo: 11
50 & CHANGE COMMISSION Miguel Gutierrez Age & Beauty Co-Presented with the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) s Crossing the Line Festival 2015 Sep 16 20, 22 26 One of Live Arts most ambitious projects to date, Age & Beauty culminates with the Live Arts commission of the New York City premiere of Part 3 and the first presentation of the full series in one theater. Gutierrez s highly anticipated three-part suite of queer performance works confront mid-life anxieties about, age, mortality, queerness and a future life in art. Radical? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. Age & Beauty Part 1: Mid-Career Artist/Suicide Note or &:-/ Sep 19, 20, 26 at 3pm, 22 & 23 at 7:30pm A duet for 44-year-old Gutierrez and 25-year-old performer/dancer Mickey Mahar. Moving from precise unison dances to an irreverent and celebratory corruption of orderliness, the work suggests modes of communication where hyper-emotional affect is not only the conceptual and choreographic core of the performance, but also the sole hope for continuing in this messed up world. Age & Beauty Part 2: Asian Beauty @ the Werq Meeting or The Choreographer & Her Muse or &:@& Sep 18 at 7:30pm, 19, 20, 26 at 6pm, 24 & 25 at 10pm Featuring Gutierrez s long time performer Michelle Boulé, manager Ben Pryor and lighting designer Lenore Doxsee, this piece harnesses retrospection and Gutierrez s archives of his past work to demonstrate how relationships, money and flights of fancy are at the center of all art making. Age & Beauty Part 3: DANCER or You can make whatever the fuck you want but you ll only tour solos or The Powerful People or We are strong/we are powerful/ We are beautiful/we are divine or &: /// New York City Premiere Sep 16 & 17 at 7:30pm, 19, 20, 26 at 8pm, 24 & 25 at 7:30pm The third and culminating chapter of the series. Performed by Gutierrez along with an intergenerational cast, the piece envisions a future dripping with lamentation, aspiration, melancholy, fantasy and doubt: a choreography for the end of the world. Age & Beauty Part 3 is commissioned by New York Live Arts for its 50 & Change Commission series with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The Age & Beauty Series is supported in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Produced by Ben Pryor / tbspmgmt. Photo: Eric McNatt 13
Open Spectrum - Critical Community Dialogues Sep 28, Nov 9, Mar 21, May 16 at 7:30pm, Feb 13 at 5pm Produced in Association with MAPP International Productions and Critical Partner, Culturebot $5 An intimate conversational platform founded on the belief that cultural institutions can and should be a catalyst for societal transformation by participating in a world of ideas. Open Spectrum provides a space for community dialogue on the most vital issues facing our community today, engaging participants in active listening, constructive discourse and action planning. Topics will be announced in the fall to allow the conversations to respond to current moments in social, economic and political discourse. Photo: suradach/shutterstock.com 14 Ali Moini Lives US Premiere Co-Presented with the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) s Crossing the Line Festival 2015 and the Hermès Foundation s (Fondation d enterprise Hermès) New Settings Program Sep 29 30 at 7:30pm Lives is an exploration of identity from three different points of view, presenting a single blueprint of a multifaceted self. Trained as a musician and singer in his native Iran, Moini uses meticulous amplification in this movement based performance to multiply his voice, words and narratives, encouraging an exploration of the myriad possibilities for self-dialogue. Photo: Mathilde Delahaye 15
Alessandro Sciarroni Folk-s, will you still love me tomorrow? New York City Premiere Co-Presented with the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) s Crossing the Line Festival 2015 Oct 1 3 at 7:30pm Rising European dance artist, Italian performer, choreographer and director Alessandro Sciarroni makes his New York Live Arts and Crossing the Line debuts with Folk-s, will you still love me tomorrow?. A performative and choreographic practice focusing on time, Folk-s reimagines a centuries old Bavarian folk dance, resulting in a deeply rhythmic and auditory work that presents dance as a rule, a dictatorship and a flux of images that follow the form, not the content. Performed by dancers Marco D Agostin, Pablo Esbert Lilienfeld, Francesca Foscarini, Matteo Ramponi, Alessandro Sciarroni, and Francesco Vecchi with original music by Pablo Esbert Lilienfeld and lighting by Rocco Giansante. Photo: Matteo Maffesanti 16 Rude Mechs & Deborah Hay Match-Play New York City Premiere Oct 7 10 at 7:30pm; Oct 10 at 2pm Two pillars of Austin s exploding performing arts scene Rude Mechs, known for their eclectic and remarkable (New York Magazine) performance experiments spanning nearly 20 years, and Deborah Hay, the acclaimed choreographer with a mischievous sense of play (The New York Times) are at the heart of Match-Play, a big-stakes play created by Rude Mechs and adapted from Hay s New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award winning dance, The Match (2004). A haunting, sometimes hysterical meditation on consciousness, Match-Play collages liminal texts from the notebooks of preeminent theater artist Richard Foreman with Ms. Hay s written score and original text by Kirk Lynn. With Rude Mechs trademark penchant for slapstick and innovative staging, Match-Play hovers between hallucination and insight. Featuring SITI Company s Barney O Hanlon, Rude Mechs pull off a quirky and meditative exploration of the depths (and shallows) of the human mind. Maverick? Transformer? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. Photo: Bret Brookshire 17
Socialist? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. RESIDENT COMMISSIONED ARTIST Okwui Okpokwasili Bronx Gothic Oct 21 24 at 7:30pm A solo creation at the intersection of theater, dance and visual art installation, Bronx Gothic gives palpable force to the charged relationship between two girls on the verge of adolescence in 1980s outer-borough New York City where Newports are bought in singles at the corner deli, sex saturated notes are passed in class, and Orchard Beach erupts in flame. Okwui Okpokwasili s New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award winning piece has been hailed as a breakthrough work, and is envisioned for Live Arts stage as part of a multi-year collaboration with the artist. Created in collaboration with Peter Born, Bronx Gothic draws inspiration from Victorian-era novels and West African griot storytelling to reveal a dark and powerful tale of sexual awakening, the body in transformation and the humor, love, strangeness and even terror that accompany it. Read more about the Resident Commissioned Artist Program and new work in development from Okpokwasili on page 34. Photo: Ian Douglas Bronx Gothic is supported in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. 18 Wunderbaum Looking For Paul New York City Premiere Nov 11 14 at 7:30pm Rotterdam based performance gang Wunderbaum is pulling no punches in their highly anticipated New York debut. It s Inez van Dam vs. Kabouter Buttplug, the notorious sculpture by infamous artist Paul McCarthy. Inez lived a simple, serene life in Rotterdam until the installation of the so-called Buttplug Gnome. Inez thinks this work of public art is ruining her street, her very life, and she s heading to Los Angeles to track down McCarthy and take revenge. But can this defiant citizen defeat the indelible force of contemporary art? Designer Maarten van Otterdijk, along with actors and creators Walter Bart, Inez van Dam, Matijs Jansen, Maartje Remmers, Marleen Scholten and guest Daniel Frankl, bring Inez s story to life. This genre-colliding work questions art s purpose, how it gets made and the international funding systems that support its existence, all through the lens of McCarthy s controversial work. Socialist? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. Photo: Steven A. Gunther 19
50 & CHANGE COMMISSION Pavel Zuštiak & Palissimo Company Custodians of Beauty New York Premiere Dec 2 5 at 7:30pm Can anything still strike today s spectator facing modern disenchantment as beautiful? Merging dance, live music and visual arts, Choreographer/Director Pavel Zuštiak examines the multiplicity of concepts of beauty and its permanence within art in Custodians of Beauty. From Plato, via Pope Benedict XVI to Susan Sontag, the work draws from a fascinating range of contextual sources while invoking beauty that can shock and transform us. The work continues Zuštiak s acclaimed working relationship with composer/musician Christian Frederickson and lighting designer Joe Levasseur. Custodians of Beauty is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by New York Live Arts in partnership with Walker Arts Center, Legion Arts and NPN. The Creation Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). The Forth Fund is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. For more information: www.npnweb.org. Custodians of Beauty is supported by Jerome Foundation. It will have its world premiere at American Dance Institute (ADI) as part of ADI s Incubator program. Photo: Nandita Raman 20 Ellen Robbins Dances by Very Young Choreographers Dec 5 at 2pm, Dec 6 at 1pm and 4pm Adults $15, Youth $1 This showcase of young talent has become one of New York Live Arts most-loved community programs. Ellen Robbins has worked with young dancers, ages 5 to 18, for over 3 decades, training their bodies in technique, attuning their ears to great music and immersing them in the special thrills of improvisation. Her students emerge as astonishingly sophisticated dance makers in the true sense of the word. The works in Dances by Very Young Choreographers have conceptual heft, ambitious themes and musicality. These dances can be humorous, dramatic, lyrical, or abstract. Children in the audience are always starry eyed to see dances created and performed by their peers. Photo: Lina Dahbour 21
Urban Word NYC Journal to Journey Dec 16 & 17 at 7:30pm Tickets: Adults $7, Youth $5 Continuing its proud partnership with Urban Word, now in its 13th year, New York Live Arts in collaboration with HI-ARTS presents Journal to Journey. This pre-professional youth development theater program in association with Creative Legacy Project links youth poets with professional theater artists to create original one-person shows based on life real, imagined and hoped for. Led by Artistic Director, Monica L Williams, youth poets participate in a 9 month process in residency and workshop with performing artist at the top of their game. This year s performing artist team includes Lauren Whitehead and Carvens Lissaint. Photo: Urban Word NYC 22 Live Artery Jan 14 19 Live Artery is New York Live Arts annual showcase of commissioned works featuring the season s most acclaimed works and worksin-progress by the season s 50 & Change Commissions, Live Feed residency artists, Resident Commissioned Artist Okuwi Okpokwasili and the Bill T. Jones Arnie/Zane Dance Company. The annual event connects Live Arts artists with curators, presenters and the public during the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) s global performing arts conference and marketplace. Live Artery fuels a vibrant, nationwide network in support of New York Live Arts artists and ideas. Check newyorklivearts.org for schedule updates. Photo: Paul B. Goode 23
50 & CHANGE COMMISSION Ann Liv Young Elektra US Premiere Jan 20 23, Jan 26 30 at 7:30pm Ann Liv Young brings her uncompromising vision of Sophocles Elektra to the stage in her first American commission since 2008. Surrounded by a family steeped in murder, revenge and deception, Ann Liv Young s Elektra is crazed, authentic, honest, compassionate, steadfast and tragic a young woman struggling for footing in a shifting, murky world that she navigates with imperfect tools. Exploring the tipping point between following the social flow and being a responsible and decisive agent, Elektra wants everyone to question, to pay attention, to let go of the yoke of social norms and act as an engaged individual. Elektra is commissioned by New York Live Arts for its 50 & Change Commission series with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Elektra is a co-production of steirischer herbst Festival (Graz, Austria) and Gessnerallee Zurich (Switzerland) Produced by Alexandra Rosenberg/Rosie Management and Ann Liv Young co. Photo: Michael A. Guerrero Radical? Re-animator? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. 25
Valda Setterfield & John Scott Lear US Premiere Feb 17 20 at 7:30pm Created in collaboration with John Scott, Artistic Director of Dublinbased John Scott Dance (formerly Irish Modern Dance Theatre), downtown dance legend Valda Setterfield delivers an examination of the Shakespearean tragedy that is both deeply personal and playful. Setterfield, noted for her work with David Gordon/Pick Up Performance Company and as a soloist for Merce Cunningham, plays King Lear, giving a profoundly moving performance that explores the unraveling of a universe, parental love, fear of death, personal transformation and enlightenment. Reversing gender roles, Lear s three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia are portrayed by men, including Irish dancer Ryan O Neill and young French dancer Kevin Coquelard. Lear is a timely and tender exploration of aging, loss and regret that gets to the very heart of who we are (Irish Daily Mail). Lear was originally commissioned by Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland. John Scott Dance is supported, in part, by the Arts Council of Ireland. Photo: Patrick Moore Re-animator? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. 26 50 & CHANGE COMMISSION Champagne Jerry Champagne Jerry in the Champagne Room World Premiere Mar 2 5 at 7:30pm, Mar 5 at 10pm Welcome to the Champagne Room: a magical hideaway open to the public for an exclusive, limited engagement by hip-hop sensation Champagne Jerry (CJ). Joining him are his onstage entourage of miscreants known as the Champagne Club, a rotating cast of others including Neal Medlyn, Adam Horovitz, Kathleen Hanna, Bridget Everett, the House of Larreon, Carmine Covelli and a series of real and invented bands. Revel in a world of cheap gold, dance, effervescence and memories to last a lifetime through this one-time-only epic performance event celebrating the release of CJ s new album; an acclaimed, sold-out tour of Wal-Mart and Sam s Club parking lots across the Southeastern seaboard from the back of a van; and a suite of videos directed by Jason Cacioppo. Simultaneously catchy, affecting, creepy, endearing, funny, puzzling, and profoundly strange (Blouin ARTINFO), this is Champagne Jerry in the Champagne Room featuring Neal Medlyn. Champagne Jerry in the Champagne Room is commissioned by New York Live Arts for its 50 & Change Commission series with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Champagne Jerry in the Champagne Room is supported in part by The Mertz Gilmore Foundation. Transformer? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. Photo: Max Tannone 27
Rebecca Lazier with Dan Trueman & Mobius Percussion There Might Be Others World Premiere Mar 16 19 at 7:30pm Rebecca Lazier makes her New York Live Arts debut with her movement-based realization of Terry Riley s seminal masterpiece IN C, performed with a live score performed by Dan Trueman in collaboration with members of two of today s most vital ensembles, SO Percussion and Mobius Percussion. Created along with a diverse group of artists, designers and scientists, and featuring an international cadre of performers, the work questions the role of presence, performer agency and collective decision-making to create emergent forms. This extraordinary collaboration features dramaturgy and design by Naomi Leonard, Davison Scandrett and Mary Jo Mecca, as well as acclaimed dancers Asli Bulbul, Simon Courchel, Natalie Green, Cori Kresge, Christopher Ralph and Saúl Ulerio. Creative Producer, Meredith Boggia. Photo: Jakub Wittchen Re-animator? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. 28 50 & CHANGE COMMISSION Jen Rosenblit Clap Hands World Premiere Apr 20 24, 26 28 at 7:30pm In Clap Hands, Jen Rosenblit builds upon a relationship with Live Arts that began with a Fresh Tracks residency (2009), Studio Series (2011) and a split-bill commission (2012). A mating call that both displaces and reveals the solo form, Clap Hands complicates a narrative of intimacy that is not bound to pattern, ritual, or husbandry. Piles of fuchsia felt, installed throughout the space, enact a still life while demanding flamboyance. Clap Hands asks how we continually locate ourselves, and what is it to deal with the haunting nature of remaining alone amongst others? OFF-SITE @ The Invisible Dog Art Center 51 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY Clap Hands is commissioned by New York Live Arts for its 50 & Change Commission series with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Produced by Alexandra Rosenberg/Rosie Management. Photo: Kate Brandt 29
50 & CHANGE COMMISSION Half Straddle Ghost Rings World Premiere Apr 22 24, 26 30 at 7:30pm, Apr 23 & 30 at 2pm Radical? Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to this plus two other performances on our season. Obie Award-winning performance ensemble Half Straddle makes their Live Arts debut with the world premiere of Ghost Rings. Driven by an original song cycle and inspired by elements of live band dynamics, graphic novels and music videos, Ghost Rings tells the story of two friends taking the ultimate leap into adulthood. With text and lyrics by Tina Satter and music by Chris Giarmo and Erin Markey, the show unfurls a narrative of friendship and family-making told through virtuosic musical performances and evocative design. Mixing deadpan magical realism with the considerations of feminist thinkers Maggie Nelson and Michelle Tea, the resulting piece is a tender, harrowingly funny, unexpected musical experience. Ghost Rings is commissioned by New York Live Arts for its 50 & Change Commission series with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Produced by Aaron Rosenblum. 31
LIVE IDEAS 2016 Mapping the Future Cultural Transformation in the MENA Region Feb 9 Apr 8, 2016 Live Arts 2016 Live Ideas festival devotes itself to the ongoing transformation of the MENA region as seen through the lens of contemporary performing artists. A range of performances and humanities programs (to be announced at a later date) presented in the winter and spring will ask and respond to immediate questions defining the region s cultural and political future, its position on the world stage and how the American public views and engage with it. Arkadi Zaides Archive Feb 9 10 at 7:30pm Check out our ticket packages on page 3 and receive a discount on tickets to Winter Family or les ballets C de la B plus two other performances on our season. An artistic exploration of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Archive features footage filmed by volunteers of B Tselem (The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories) s Camera Project. Bringing the viewer s attention to the Israeli body and life to the visceral physical reactions resorted to in various confrontational situations, Archive asks: What is the potential for violence embedded in each individual body? KVS, les ballets C de la B & A.M. Qattan Foundation Badke US Premiere Feb 11 13 at 7:30pm The critically acclaimed Belgian contemporary ensemble les ballets C de la B makes its New York Live Arts debut with the unprecedented international dance experiment Badke, a display of passion for life and dance as a form of resistance. Created by Koen Augustijnen, Rosalba Torres Guerrero (les ballets C de la B) and Hildegard De Vuyst (KVS) with 10 young Palestinian dancers, the work unites diverse dance forms ranging from the traditional dabke to modern dance, hip-hop, capoeira and circus. Winter Family JERUSALEM CAST LEAD hallucinatory trip in an emotional dictatorship US Premiere Mar 25 26 at 7:30pm Guided on a journey of sound, visuals and text by a young woman from Jerusalem, we experience Israeli society, where memory and courage are celebrated everywhere and codes and symbols are stretched to exhaustion. Songs, speeches, dances and sirens are omnipresent as individuals become actors in a dazzling and macabre collective experience. Repeating and translating the specific procedures that the Israeli regime uses on its own population, Jerusalem Cast Lead questions the manipulation of individuals by a governing body. Adham Hafez Company / HaRaKa ARAB WORKS US Premieres Co-Produced with Adham Hafez Company, HaRaKa Platform and ARC.HIVE Mar 29 Apr 2 Deepening Live Ideas exploration of one of the most complex regions of the world, New York Live Arts presents ARAB WORKS, a program curated by the Cairo-based Adham Hafez Company in collaboration with HaRaKa, Egypt s first movement and performance research platform. In addition to performances by Adham Hafez Company, ARAB WORKS features projects by contemporary Arab dance and performance makers and scholars. Live Ideas is made possible in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by other generous donors. This presentation of Jerusalem Cast Lead is made possible in part by French American Cultural Exchange (FACE), with support from Institut Francais [put a little squiggle under the c], the Florence Gould Foundation and The Andrew Photo: Adham Hafez, image courtesy of the artist 33
New Works Residency Programs Resident Commissioned Artist Okuwi Okpokwasili is the 2015-2017 New York Live Arts Resident Commissioned Artist (RCA). Okpokwasili will create a new piece entitled POOR PEOPLE S TV ROOM, set to premiere in our 2016-17 season. Previews can be seen this season at Live Artery, January 14-19, 2016. The Resident Commissioned Artist program is the only one of its kind in the United States, created in 2011 by New York Live Arts to address the overall lack of support for mid-career artists. The unprecedented program is by-invitation only and offers a salary, health benefits, two years of residency time and a commission of a new work to premiere at New York Live Arts. Select works will then be chosen for a fully produced national and/or international tour managed by New York Live Arts. Photo: Ian Douglas 34 Photo: Courtesty of the Artist Photo: Courtesty of the Artist Photo: Kate Previte Photo: Steven Schreiber Photo: Melissa Bunni Elian Photo: Courtesty of the Artist Live Feed $8 The Live Feed creative residency program is a laboratory for the development of new commissioned work directed toward our theater. Informal public showings offer a sneak peek into each resident artist s process and ideas before they hit our stage. Each showing takes place within the intimate working space of the Live Arts studio and is followed by a discussion with the artist moderated by special guests and Live Arts staff. Sonya Tayeh Dec 4 & 5 Gillian Walsh Feb 26 & 27 Andrea Kleine Mar 18 & 19 Preeti Vasudevan Apr 8 & 9 Larissa Velez-Jackson Apr 15 & 16 Adrienne Truscott May 20 & 21 Support for New Work Residencies is provided in part by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. 35
Fresh Tracks Feb 5 6 at 7:30pm $10 New York Live Arts Fresh Tracks Program is New York City s leading, season-long residency and performance opportunity for artists exploring hybrid and movement-based work at the early stages of their careers. Created in 1965 by Dance Theater Workshop, Fresh Tracks continues as a signature program in New York Live Arts newly minted New Work Development Program. Designed as a springboard for intensive choreographic, administrative and creative development, Fresh Tracks is a pioneer opportunity in the field, positioning early career artists at a unique vantage point within Live Arts annual programming. Unfolding over the course of Live Arts regular presenting season, the Fresh Tracks Program provides five artists with a 50-hour studio residency, a professionally-produced shared evening bill in the New York Live Arts theater, an artistic fee, one-on-one dialogue sessions with the program s Artistic Adviser, professional development workshops led by established professionals from the field and extensive support from to Live Arts Marketing, Production and Programming staff. 36 Live Core Live Core is a creative incubator, network, and platform for artists to elevate and propel their ideas forward. Utilizing the resources of New York Live Arts, Live Core empowers artists to connect with larger audiences, raise funds to support their work, and engage with industry professionals and other Live Core artists to bolster their professional and artistic development. Putting creativity front and center, Live Core artists enliven the ecology of performance in New York City and beyond. Enrollment in Live Core is $100 for a full year of unlimited access to the program s offerings, including: New York Live Arts Fiscal Sponsorship Weekly newsletter including grants and opportunities Press & Blogger Email Lists Priority booking on our studio calendar Live Core professional development workshops and community events Reduced rates on New York Live Arts Workshops and master classes 20% Ticket Discount to shows, waived ticket handling fees and advance access during ticket presales. For more information and to become a Live Core member, visit newyorklivearts.org/join. 37
COMMUNITY RENTALS Fall 2015 H.T. Chen & Dancers South of Gold Mountain Oct 15-17 at 7:30pm, Oct 18 at 3pm $35 / $18 Students & Seniors South of Gold Mountain weaves together oral histories and documented experiences of Chinese settlers before World War II, who were lured to the US by the promise of a better life for succeeding generations. Winter-Spring 2016 New York Theatre Ballet Legends & Visionaries 2016 Feb 24 27 at 7:30pm, Feb 27 at 2pm $30 / $15 Students & Seniors New York Theatre Ballet returns to New York Live Arts with its highly acclaimed Legends & Visionaries series. The program includes a world premiere by Milissa Payne Bradley, set to Philip Glass Piano Etudes and featuring a live steel drum ensemble, plus Jerome Robbins Barnard/Columbia Dances Nov 19-21 at 7:30pm, Nov 21 at 2pm $20 / $12 Students Produced by the Barnard College Department of Dance and performed by Barnard and Columbia University students, this concert marks the eleventh season of the College s collaboration with New York Live Arts and features Canonic 3/4 Studies by Mark Morris and premieres by Alexandra Beller, Molissa Fenley and Caitlin Trainor. BalletNext Oct 27 31, Nov 3 7 at 7:30pm, Oct 31 & Nov 7 at 2pm / $40 (20% discount for students/seniors) Welcome to BalletNext, where innovation trumps convention. In this two-week season, dance and music play on- and off- of each other to create a fiercely magical experience. BalletNext Mar 8-12 at 7:30pm, Mar 12 at 2pm / $40 (20% discount for students/seniors) BalletNext returns to New York Live Arts this spring with its rich and diverse repertory that focuses on new choreography, unlikely collaborations, and live music. Lang Dance May 6 & 7 at 7:30pm $9 / Free for New School students, faculty, & alumni Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, The New School, home to one of the more progressive collegiate dance departments in New York (New York Times), offers a unique undergraduate curriculum centered on research and experimentation within the movement based arts. These performances highlight a Trisha Brown Restaging Project, original works by Neil Greenberg and a Movement Research Artist-In- Residence, along with student-created works. New York Live Arts Community Rental packages are designed for dance and theater companies, as well as producing and non-profit organizations. New York Live Arts member discounts apply to select Community Rentals. (H.T. Chen & Dancers & New York Theatre Ballet) Photo: BalletNext by Stephanie Berger 39
CLASSES & WORKSHOPS 40 Open Company Class with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Jan 4 9, 10am 12pm $20/class or $100 for the week Morning classes with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company are perfect for dancers who desire a thorough and thoughtful morning practice or tune up for the day ahead of them. Classes are rooted in the style of the Company as developed by Bill T. Jones and Janet Wong. Progressing from somatic floor work to standing exercises, technical and creative challenges culminate in lush, expressive phrasework. Classes include live accompaniment. Summer Workshop with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Jun 2016 Led by members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, students explore the choreography and creative procedures in Bill T. Jones work. Each day of the 5 day workshop delves into rigorous training in contemporary technique and partnering, as well as explorations of the material both learned and generated through the creative methodologies and structures of the reperatory. The week culminates in a showing. Shared Practice with Okuwi Okpokwasili, Pavel Zuštiak, Rebecca Lazier, Ann Liv Young and more! $20 In Shared Practice workshops, Live Arts season artists reveal the physical and creative practices behind their work. Each processfocused session provides participants with opportunities to recharge their own artistry by experiencing different approaches to making and moving with similarly-motivated professionals. Classes are held on Saturdays throughout the season. 2015 Bessie Lab in Composition Aug 2016 All sessions held at New York Live Arts, 3rd Floor Studios Begun by Dance Theater Workshop, the Bessie Lab in Composition provides choreographers with the opportunity to hone their craft in a 5-day intensive, process-based workshop led by a well-established choreographer. Past teachers include Ralph Lemon, John Jasperse, Tere O Connor and Gwen Welliver. Space is limited for all classes & workshops. Advance purchase is recommended. Visit newyorklivearts.org to reserve. Photo: Ian Douglas 41
Support Does the idea of making a difference in the life of an artist excite you? Does the thrill of live performance feed your soul, and make you feel hopeful about the future? Then our Patrons Circle program is the right match for you. New York Live Arts is: an incubator for up and coming artists, a platform for cutting edge performers, and the home of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Your participation is our sustenance. Patrons of New York Live Arts believe in the transformative power of Art, and give generously to foster a home for performers at all levels in their career. Please join us in helping upstart artists get their big shot at doing something great, and ensure the vitality of movementbased arts by making a pledge of support to Live Arts today. When you join our circle of passionate supporters, you are not only providing growth opportunities for emerging artists, but also helping us build a platform to see and engage with some of the most innovative artists in the field. To make a tax-deductible contribution, or to learn more about how you can support this mission visit newyorklivearts.org/join or call 212.691.6500 X372. You are already a VIP, why not make it official? You attend our presentations. You show support to resident artists as they develop their work under our roof. You cheer on Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company. That makes you a VIP in our book! So why not make it official, by becoming a member? Membership at Live Arts is the gateway to increased access and benefits. With just one step more you can open the door to 20% discounted tickets, exclusive members-only pre-sales, invitations to private rehearsals, and opportunities to engage in person with the virtuosic artists who grace our stage. Join today by visiting newyorklivearts.org/join or call 212.691.6500 X372. 2015-16 Season Supporters Institutional Support provided by: Brownstone Foundation Con Edison Cultural Services of the French Embassy Joseph & Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Ford Foundation French American Culture Exchange The Grand Marnier Foundation The Harkness Foundation for Dance The Howard Gilman Foundation Jerome Foundation The Kresge Foundation The Samuel M. Levy Family Foundation The Lucky Star Foundation MAP Fund The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Mertz Gilmore Foundation Mid-Atlantic Foundation for the Arts The Moriah Fund New England Foundation for the Arts Jerome Robbins Foundation The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc. The Scherman Foundation The Shubert Foundation Theatre Development Fund Public support provided by the following government agencies: National Endowment for the Arts New York City Department of Cultural Affairs New York State Council on the Arts Presenting Partners Photo: Yi-Chun Wu 43
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