Running through Jan. 30, Culturemart offers emerging and established artists a testing ground for hybrid works incorporating dance, theatre, music, new media, puppetry and visual art.
The 2010 Culturemart line-up follows:
Sonnambula (Jan. 12-13). Michael Bodel and Dream Music Puppetry collaborate on the work in which "Bellini's pastoral opera, La Sonnambula is peeled back to reveal the experience of young Amina on the day before her wedding, surrounded by her village but lost in her own mind. A sleepwalker, Amina exists in the space between sleeping and waking, vibrant and lifeless. Soon, Amina's world decomposes…while Soprano Mme. Giuditta Pasta is brought to life moments before she steps onto the stage of La Scala, 1831."Wooden (Jan. 12-13). Laura Peterson offers the work that "explores endurance and the decay of structure. Performers twist through endless configurations without repetition until both the set composed of trees, moss and metal as well as the dancers' performances are changed and broken."
The Venus Riff (Jan. 12-13). Jose Zayas directs Johari Mayfield's dance, music and burlesque work where "the Venus Hottentot struts in a cage as a sideshow freak and scientific specimen in 19th century England. Fast forward to the present day where a young woman solicits men in elevators."Floating Point Waves (Jan. 15-17). Leimay: Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya offer the "installation of strings and water, real-time video projection, live electronic music and Butoh performance converge in a stunning, seamless landscape. Every motion of the dance is reflected in the surface of water, creating waves, which in turn, affect the light and projected image."Lucid Possession (Jan. 19-20). Toni Dove, composer/violinist Mari Kimura and performer Hai-Ting Chinn create the "schizoid duet between a woman with a head like a radio receiver and her own avatar. The uncanny manifestation of a virtual multiple personality plagued by ghosts from the past, this automated video pop-up book forges an entirely new form: let’s call it cinematic bunraku. Live performers animate video bringing characters to life through motion, voice and robotics."Miranda (Jan. 22-24). Kamala Sankaram presents the "multimedia chamber opera where the audience becomes detective, judge and jury for an unsolved murder. An innovative mix of original music inspired by hip-hop, tango, Baroque counterpoint and Hindustani classical ragas, Miranda is set during the live taping of a hit Court TV show."Moshe: The Plagues (Jan. 23-24). Yoav Gal's video opera conjures "the seminal Biblical saga of Moses through highly stylized original music, movement and video projections. A choir of four 'mother figures' who nurtured and protected Moses in his evolution recounts the text of the ten plagues that God had wrought upon Egypt."Epyllion (Jan. 26-27). Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith, Emma Jaster and Dream Music Puppetry present the work inspired by "the fantastical imagery of Magical Realist painter Remedios Varo and the poetry of Rumi... Epyllion offers a world that seeps in through the senses, inviting performers and audience alike to peel back some of the many layers around their hopes, sorrows, fears and secret delights to reawaken the purity of their primitive selves."Don Cristobal, Billy-Club Man (Jan. 26-27). Erin Orr, Rima Fand and Dream Music Puppetry collaborate on the work inspired by the puppet Don Cristobal and the puppet plays of Federico Garcia Lora, which "explores the violent appetites of Cristobal’s on-stage persona and follows him off-stage to reveal his poetic possibilities."At Long Last: Phrase One (Jan. 28-30). Duo Lake Simons and Chad Lynch present the work in which Simons "unravels a silent tale through the inanimate objects surrounding her on stage. With imaginative child-like perception and innocence, Simons brings these objects to life in a new solo performance piece spanning clown, puppetry and dance. Simons and Lynch channel the stylistic qualities of silent film stars and pantomimic gestures of the prima ballerina from days of yore."A Small Leashed Monkey (Jan. 28-30). Deke Weaver, "a Peace-Corps-volunteer-turned-office-worker-drone transforms into a social superhero: a brilliant conversationalist, an exquisite chef, a passionate lover, a shrewd and compassionate corporate titan. He is unstoppable. And then, one night, during a spectacular dinner party filled with heartfelt tributes, deeply moving songs and transcendent dancing, the worm begins to turn." Borders (Jan. 29-30). Nick Brooke and Jenny Rohn "explore how recordings have reengineered the psychological landscape of the U.S., stitching together hundreds of recordings collected along the borders. Seven performers lip-sync, sing and move precisely with a dense map of song fragments, ambient sounds and border broadcasts." For tickets to Culturemart visit HERE. HERE Arts Center is located at 145 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.
