FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2014
Media Contact:
Kelly Hargraves
213-237-2873
[email protected]
REDCAT Presents the 11th Annual
NEW ORIGINAL WORKS FESTIVAL
3 WEEKS 8 NEW ORIGINAL WORKS 1 NOW
Thursday, July 24 to Sunday, August 9, 2014
Image credits: Rosanna Gamson/World Wide. Photo courtesy the artist.
Program 1: July 24, 25, 26
Wilfried Souly: Saana/The Foreigner
Rosanna Gamson/World Wide: Still
Overtone Industries: ICELAND
Program 2: July 31, August 1, 2
Carole Kim: The Singing Head
Marsian De Lellis: Object of Her Affection
d. Sabela grimes: Electrogynous
Program 3: August 7, 8, 9
John Fleck: Blacktop Highway
Ate9 dANCEcOMPANY: For now
Festival Pass $40 (See all three programs)
Tickets $20 (Students/Members $16, CalArts $14)
For the artists, in their restless journeys to create new original works, the festival has become a base camp from which to launch. And for audiences, it’s become a unique home base at which to put their fingers on the pulse of cutting-edge contemporary performance.
LA Times
LOS ANGELES, CAREDCAT, CalArts’ downtown center for contemporary arts, announces its 11th annual New Original Works (NOW) Festival, a three-week celebration of Los Angeles’ vibrant community of artists making work for the stage. This year’s festival will be held on the weekends of July 24-26, July 31-August 2 and August 7-9.
Three distinct programs on three weekends, offer audiences a chance to experience the full breadth of NOWnew original works created in Los Angeles by celebrated world class and emerging artists, with each weekend presenting a shared evening of dance, theater and multimedia work.
The 2014 NOW Festival kicks off its first weekend July 24-26, with a collaboration between dancer Wilfried Souly with music by Senegalese Kora player Amadou Fall and multi-instrumentalist Tom Moose, as well as the six-member Rosanna Gamson/World Wide, closing out with a 20-member cast in the contemporary opera by Overtone Industries.
NOW continues on the weekend of July 31-August 2, with multimedia work by Carole Kim, featuring dance by Oguri and Roxanne Steinberg with music by vocalist Carmina Escobar, bassist Mark Dresser and sound designer Paul Chavez, as well as taple-top puppetry by Marsian De Lellis and new dance and music by d. Sabela grimes.
The NOW festival closes the weekend of August 7-9 with a new theatrical work by John Fleck and new dance by Ate9 dANCEcOMPANY. All three works are performed each night of the program. (See below for full details.)
Every year, the REDCAT NOW Festival acts as a catalyst for artist creativity and new ideaswhile offering audiences an inspiring view of a generation of artists among us. Over its eleven year history, the program has launched 85 new works by an impressive roster of alumni who continue to be seen on stages throughout the U.S., including New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Austin, San Francisco and internationallyPoland, France, India, Nepal and the UK.
“It is a thrill to see REDCAT active as a vital performance laboratory each summer, with dozens of artists and collaborators using our flexible theater to invent new and interdisciplinary ways to express urgent ideas, says REDCAT Executive Director Mark Murphy. “The eight works premiering during this 11th edition will surely resonate with audiences who value the exploration of new forms, and hybrid approaches to creating new productions for the stage.”
Individual tickets at $20, $16 for student and members, $14 for CalArts.
A Festival Pass, which provides access to all three programs, is available for $40.
Press comps and Artist Interviews are available by contacting Kelly Hargraves, [email protected], 213-237-2873.
HERE IS 2014 NOW:
Program 1: July 24, 25, 26, 8:30 p.m.
Wilfried Souly: Saana/The Foreigner
Spellbinding choreographer and dancer Wilfried Souly draws from the traditions of his native Burkina Faso and contemporary dance theater forms in Saana/The Foreigner, a solo featuring live music by multi-instrumentalists Julio Montero, aka Cuñao, and Tom Moose. All three collaborators are immigrants to the US, who bring their own personal experiences to this new work focused on Souly’s journey to create a new life, expressing his personal tale with a multi-layered blend of dance, music, and spoken word.
Rosanna Gamson/World Wide: Still
Virtuosic dancers share intimate or volatile moments, floating in a shifting landscape of veils, shadows, and changing light, in acclaimed choreographer Rosanna Gamson’s kinetic investigation of the neuroscience of dreams. Performed by six dancers, Still is rich with tender and violent movement, explosive athleticism and stunning moments of stillness. The action is set against an eclectic sonic landscape of viol, cello, and violin music ranging from French 17th century court composer Marin Marais, to new world post-rock band instrumentals.
Overtone Industries: ICELAND
Soaring vocal harmonies and riveting stagecraft are hallmarks of the operatic explorations that have made Overtone Industries a celebrated force in the evolution of contemporary music-theater and opera. Acclaimed composer O-Lan Jones teams with Irish songwriter Emmett Tinley for ICELAND, featuring the ten-member Hidden Folk Choir, two soloists and a chamber orchestra. This modern love story is set in a mythical and timeless world, where elemental forces and ancient creatures challenge a hero and heroine on an archetypal journey.
Program 2: July 31, August 1, 2, 8:30 p.m.
Carole Kim: The Singing Head
Multi-media artist Carole Kim concocts an intoxicating visual world, using multi-layered projection surfaces, scrims and beautifully constructed sculptural costume pieces. Evocative dancers Oguri and Roxanne Steinberg bring the environment to life, enveloped by a submersive soundscape created by vocalist Carmina Escobar, bassist Mark Dresser and sound designer Paul Chavez. The complex and rich live video imagery is inspired by depictions of single-celled oceanic organisms, radiolaria, by Ernst Haeckel, a 19th-century biologist, philosopher and artist.
Marsian De Lellis: Object of Her Affection
A woman who falls in love with inanimate objects discovers that the Golden Gate Bridge has been cheating on her in Marsian De Lellis’ latest table-top puppetry creation. Since her first love-affair with a baby blanket Andrea Lowe’s heightened affection has led to a complicated relationship history. Directed by Michele Spears, Object of Her Affection uses puppetry and object theater to explore the oversimplification of sexual identity and attraction, tracing Andrea’s unending search for true love.
d. Sabela grimes: Electrogynous
Compelling sound and movement artist d. Sabela grimes transcends the realms of Hip Hop and Afrofuturism in his genre-defying work Electrogynous, mixing poetry, street dance and infectious, otherworldly soundscapes to question hyper-stereotypes of masculinity and femininity in contemporary Black cultures. With technical precision and a keen theatrical intelligence, he draws from sensationalized events and personal anecdotes to engage and implicate the audience with questions on Black male power, sexuality and vulnerability.
John Fleck: Blacktop Highway
Unclassifiable performer John Fleck re-invents the gothic horror genre in this horrifyingly hysterical tale of taxidermy, transformation and caged creatures. Fleck’s multi-character solo piece is a brilliantly staged screenplay, inspired by classic horror cinema and Freud’s Theory of Mind (Id, Ego and Super Ego) all played out on one man’s body. Weaving video with theatrical movement and his remarkable vocal qualities, Fleck leads the audience on a journey into an unknown and darkly hilarious world.
Ate9 dANCEcOMPANY: For now
Israeli choreographer Danielle Agami teams up with Persian underground Hip Hop musician Omid Walizadeh in For now, a new work for ten dancers. For now plays between instinct and precision, subtlety and prowess, with jarring physicality and stillness, humor and subtle innuendoes. Agami, who is quickly establishing her new company as a significant force in Southern California’s contemporary dance community, is praised by Dance Magazine for having “the gift of turning awkwardness into something beautiful.”
To request press accommodations, photos, interviews, additional information, media or images, please contact Kelly Hargraves, [email protected], 213-237-2873.
The New Original Works Festival is made possible by generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rosenfeld Fund for Special Projects, and REDCAT Circle donors.
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TICKETS & INFORMATION
REDCAT’s 11th Annual New Original Works (NOW) Festival 2014
http://www.redcat.org/event/new-original-works-festival-2014
Date(s)/Time(s):
Thursday, July 24 at 8:30 pm
Friday, July 25 at 8:30 pm
Saturday, July 26 at 8:30 pm
Thursday, July 31 at 8:30 pm
Friday, August 1 at 8:30 pm
Saturday, August 2 at 8:30 pm
Thursday, August 7 at 8:30 pm
Friday, August 8 at 8:30 pm
Saturday, August 9 at 8:30 pm
Ticketing:
$20 general [$16 for members/students, $14 CalArts]
$40 festival pass [See all three programs for $40]
Seating is general admission and tickets are available for purchase in person at REDCAT Box Office, by phone at 213-237-2800, or online at redcat.org.
REDCATs Box Office is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from noon until 6 pm, or two hours prior to curtain. Group, member, student and CalArts faculty/staff discounts available.
Location:
631 West 2nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90012
ABOUT REDCAT | THE ROY AND EDNA DISNEY/CALARTS THEATER
REDCAT, CalArts’ downtown center for contemporary arts, presents a dynamic and international mix of innovative visual, performing and media arts year round. Located inside the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall complex in downtown Los Angeles, REDCAT houses a theater, a gallery space and a lounge. Through performances, exhibitions, screenings, and literary events, REDCAT introduces diverse audiences, students and artists to the most influential developments in the arts from around the world, and gives artists in this region the creative support they need to achieve national and international stature. REDCAT continues the tradition of the California Institute of the Arts, its parent organization, by encouraging experimentation, discovery and lively civic discourse.
GENERAL INFORMATION
For current program and exhibition information call 213-237-2800 or visit www.redcat.org.
Location/Parking: REDCAT is located in downtown Los Angeles inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex with a separate entrance at the corner of West 2nd and Hope Streets. Parking is available in the Walt Disney Concert Hall parking structure. $9 event rate or $5 for vehicles entering after 8:00 pm on weekdays.
Street Address: 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles CA 90012
THE LOUNGE | Open to the public six days a week, the Lounge is a great place to spend an afternoon or grab a drink pre- and post-performance.
Lounge Hours: TuesdaysFridays from 9am until 8 pm or post-show; Saturdays from noon until 8 pm or post-show; Sundays from noon until 6pm or post-show
THE GALLERY | REDCAT’s Gallery presents five major exhibitions each year, and publishes artist books and catalogues. Admission to the Gallery is FREE.
Gallery Hours: TuesdaysSundays from noon until 6 pm and through intermission
THE THEATER | Tickets for programs held in the theater are available through the REDCAT Box Office, by phone 213-237-2800 or online at www.redcat.org. Group, member, student and CalArts faculty/staff discounts available.
Box Office Hours: TuesdaysSaturday from noon until 6 pm or two hour prior to curtain
