"...offers all the pleasurable frissons of a late-night ghost story." -Laurel Graeber, NY Times "Spine-tingling" is an adjective I rarely use when describing an evening of theatre, sadly, but as the lights rose on Here's production of Aunt Leaf and three ghostlike performers emerged from the creepy haunted house of a set, I felt genuine chills. Even more impressive, playwright Barbara Wiechmann and director Jeffrey Mousseau maintain that deliciously eerie atmosphere for the play's 45-minute duration. "I wish as many 9-year-olds as possible could see Aunt Leaf, for then they would learn how a well-told tale and one's own imagination are all that are required to chill the blood and fire the mind." -Clifford Lee Johnson III, Backstage "...a play for kids that's really for adults, I think. It's not that its story or themes are in any way unsuitable for young audiences: on the contrary, its celebration of the power of storytelling, in whatever unconventional form it may take, is affirming and valuable for people of all ages." -Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com A century-old haunting. A young girl who won't speak and an old woman with skin like tree bark. A dead man whistling on the lawn. A nightly ritual. A tale from the dark woods of the Hudson River Valley and the darker woods of the imagination. A story about stories.   Part of startHERE: Innovative Theatre for Young People Click here to download the AUNT LEAF STUDY GUIDE Jeffrey Mousseau (director) and Barbara Wiechmann (playwright) have created a new original performance for children ages 9 and up exploring the power of the imagination. The project draws upon the literature, art, and folklore that has emerged from the Hudson River Valley region, and is inspired by how the area's landscape and environment provoke both creativity and fear.   Praise for Mousseau's previous directorial work: "I Am My Own Wife has been directed by Jeffrey Mousseau with considerable attention to detail and an emphasis on clarity of thought and action. It is a very intelligent piece of work." –The Independent "Under the nuanced direction of Jeffrey Mousseau...the physical and vocal detail with which the ensemble members convey their characters' solitude makes this production a richly textured living collage." –The Boston Globe (review of American Notes) "Under Jeffrey Mousseau's confident direction...the actors lay out the passions and the regrets that alternate in their psyches." --The Boston Herald (review of Fool for Love) Praise for Wiechmann's previous work: "The Secret of Steep Ravines exploits the theatre's unique capacity to engage reality and fantasy at the same time, to make pretty stage picturess by morphing everyday objects or gestures into abstractions, and to let language slide into movement and back again." -- Alisa Solomon, The Village Voice On The Holy Mother of Hadley New York: "Riveting.....a serious and moving study of the presistent human need to believe in a power greater than us." -- The Westsider   Support from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Check out more photos on Flickr

Tix $15
or see LA Party & Tinder together for $20
Click here to buy the discounted package

Conceived and directed by Phil Soltanoff
Written by David Barlow

A fanatical vegan slides off the wagon one night, falling head-first into a wild LA bender. The story narrated by David Barlow collides with live video in which six performers produce a compelling composite human being. A charming soup-çon from the celebrated Phil Soltanoff whose collaborations with France's CIE 111 have produced playful meldings of theatre, visual art, dance and new cirque.

 

philsoltanoff.org

 

Part of the Under the Radar Festival

Tickets $15
Jan 8-10, 2010
4 pm and 9 pm

$10 or see LA Party & Tinder for $20
Click here to buy the discounted package

 

 

...a mesmerizing fusion of performance art and multisensory installation.—The New York Press, on Red Fly/Blue Bottle

 

An idiosyncratic song cycle about departure and return and the ephemeral nature of insects. To create Tinder, Latitude 14 recontextualized eight songs from Red Fly/Blue Bottle, their spectacularly received multimedia event that bridged concert, cabinet of curiosities, and video installation. Veering between the miniature and larger than life, high-tech and low, absolute restraint and deep reserves of emotion, Tinder melds a street-busking sensibility with high art to deliver richly layered songs and spellbinding video.

Christina Campanella (music, sound, performer)
Mallory Catlett (direction)
Stephanie Fleischmann (words)
Miranda K. Hardy (lights)
Chris Lee (performer)
Peter Norrman (film, video)
Matt Verta-Ray (sculptures)
Jeremy Wilson (live sound)

 

latitude14.org

 

Tinder was created by Latitude 14 via the development of Red Fly/Blue Bottle through the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP) and LMCC's Swing Space Program. Tinder premiered at the EXIT Festival in Creteil, France in March 2009; Red Fly/Blue Bottle premiered at HERE in April 2009.

HYBRID PERFORMANCE BRUNCH
11:00 AM
A Showcase of Current and Alumni Resident Artist Projects. Free and Open to the public. Reservations required. RSVP to Producing Director, Kim Whitener: kim [at] here.org

SOUL LEAVES HER BODY
Peter Flaherty + Jennie MaryTai Liu
Premiering Fall 2010

A young woman rips her soul from her body in order to pursue her destiny in the city and a pregnant woman's belly grows to epic proportions. Inspired by a 13th century Chinese story, and shifting locations from lavish Hong Kong high-rises to meager fishing boats, this original, contemporary work explores the soul-body relationship in today's networked, electronic culture. International artists from the film, visual, and performing arts team up with geeks, engineers, and historians to make a multi-channel film onstage that examines contemporary questions about distance and electronic communication in modern life, love, and family.

SOUNDING
Jennifer Gibbs + Kristin Marting
Premiering February 2010

Rock goddess Leda feels it coming, from deep down, from the ocean. It won't bow to her grief.

Hear it? Lust, longing, life, chaos. The music. The Stranger. Sounding is a live indie film play for seven characters that synthesizes cinematic video from Leda's point of view with dialogue and an original art-rock songscape influenced by Patti Smith, Bartok and Portishead.

WOODEN
Laura Peterson
A dance of twisting, crunching velocity set in an environment of shifting and growing trees, moss and metal.

TINDER
Latitude 14
An idiosyncratic song cycle about departure and return and the ephemeral nature of insects.

HEREArt Presents
"If David Hockney Was My Boyfriend"
drawings by Brad Greenwood
with video works by Jen Denike and David Jones

January 6th to February 28th, 2010
Tuesday-Saturday 2pm - 7pm

Opening Reception / Wednesday January 6th from 6 pm to 8 pm

www.here.org/hereart

Michael Bodel 

Part of the Dream Music Puppetry Program

 
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 wakimg, vibrant and lifeless. Visceral choreography of two dancers converges with puppetry on multiple scales. Amina's world decomposes. Soprano Mme. Giuditta Pasta, is brought to life, moments before she steps onto the stage of La Scala, 1831.

 

Read bio

More @ mbodel.net

Listen to Michael Bodel and Casey Cole discussing their work Sonnambula

 

 

 

Help Support Sonnambula

 Sonnambula is made possible by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Swing Space program; space at 14 Wall Street is donated by Capstone Equities.

Johari Mayfield

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. The Venus Riff blends irony and social critique in a twisted commentary on the fall and resurrection of womankind. Dance, music, and burlesque intermingle in a theatrical exploration that shines an informed light on scientific and religious urgings to pin women down as types, as species, and as good or evil. Directed by Jose Zayas.

"...and the buttocks of the Hottentot [are] a somewhat comic sign of the primitive, grotesque nature of the black female." --Charles Darwin

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food...she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and also gave unto her husband." Genesis 3:6

Developmental support from the Harlem Stage Fund For New Work
Presented on a shared bill with Wooden

 

More @ joharymaifield.com

 

Listen to Johari Mayfield discussing her work The Venus Riff

 

Help Support The Venus Riff

Laura Peterson

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? a post-show discussion series

Moderated by Pete McCabe, HERE Resident Dramaturg

1/13 : Choreography with Johari Mayfield, Laura Peterson and Michael Bodel

1/23 : Musical composition with Kamala Sankaram, Yoav Gal & Rima Fand

1/26 : Puppetry with Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith & Erin Orr

Following the 8.30pm shows

Free | Open to the public

Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya

An installation of strings and water, real-time video projection, and live electronic music converge to create a stunning, seamless landscape in which a single Butoh artist moves. Every motion of the dance is reflected in the surface of water, creating waves, which in turn, affect the light and projected image. Floating Point Waves explores the unstable and interconnected nature of our world. The adult human body is approximately 60 percent water. By heightening this perception and emphasizing the significance of its weight in our body, the dance emerges as an interplay between the body and gravity. Projected video functions as visual music. The world transforms until our only standing point is instability and we are but an interconnected floating point.

More info @ leimay.org

 

Help Support Floating Point Waves

Co-created by Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya, artistic directors of CAVE and The New York Butoh Festival. Additional developmental support from The New Hazlett Theater residency, The Silo dance residency and CAVE.

Toni Dove

"The Future of Cinema?" -- Quebec Micro

Lucid Possession is a 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. On-stage, Toni Dove and composer and violinist Mari Kimura control the physical and virtual movements of video and robotic entities. Performer, Hai-Ting Chinn sings and speaks through the Avatar, alongside songs and musical interludes by Elliott Sharp and Mari Kimura. Software designer R.Luke DuBois and roboticist Leif Krinkle control additional layers of light, sound and movement.

More @ toni.dove.com

Read bio

 Listen to Toni Dove discussing her work Lucid Possession

 

 

 

 

Help Support Lucid Possession

Addiitonal residency support from EMPAC; co-commissioned by "Connections", a group of European co-producers and presenters.,Shown as work-in progress at Republique and Spielart Festival, Munich, Nov 2009.

BUY TIX to MIRANDA on

Jan 22nd or on Jan 23 or 24th (on a shared bill with Mosheh)

Kamala Sankaram

Pop-opera meets Reality TV. Miranda is a multi-media 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. Miranda explores the way that we spin our own stories about ourselves and others, and the devastation that can result when we discover those stories aren't true.

Read bio

Help Support Miranda

Yoav Gal

 "And that you may tell in the ears of thy son, and of your son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am the LORD."

Mosheh is a videOpera re-enacting 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. "The Plagues" are the concluding episode of Mosheh and will be presented in concert form.

Read bio

More @ yoavgal.com

 

Help Support Mosheh

Presented on a shared bill with Miranda

Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith & Emma Jaster/ Aeolian Theatre

Dream Music Puppetry Program

Carnal and spiritual collide and entwine through the dawning of the first day and the moonshine of the first night. Inspired by the fantastical imagery of Magical Realist painter Remedios Varo and the poetry of Rumi, Aeolian Theatre presents a new creation myth told through puppetry, dance, ritual and song. Born of a collective wrestling to find the story that belongs to all of us, we offer a world that seeps in through the senses, flooding our hearts, inviting performers and audience alike to peel back some of the many layers around our hopes, sorrows, fears, and secret delights to reawaken the purity of our primitive selves.

 

Read bio

 

Help Support Epyllion

 

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.  With a hint of Spalding Gray and a dash of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Weaver's grapplings with shadow and light are simultaneously disturbing and hilarious.  

A Small Leashed Monkey is part of The Unreliable Bestiary, a series which presents a performance for every letter of the alphabet, each letter represented by a particular animal or habitat. With support from Creative Capital. Presented on a shared bill with At Long Last

 

More @ dekeweaver.com

 Lake Simons & Chad Lynch

A new solo performance piece by Lake Simons and Chad Lynch that combines clown, puppetry, and dance. Simons unravels this silent tale by communing with the inanimate objects that surround her on stage. With imaginative child-like perception and innocence Simons brings these objects and puppets to life. Simons and Lynch channel the stylistic qualities of silent film stars and pantomimic gestures of the prima ballerina from days of yore. Both ridiculous and poetic. At Long Last: Phrase one, is part of a larger piece being developed by the duo and will include a Phrase 2 and Phrase 3. 

This piece has been given a Creation Residency at the performance space One Arm Red in Dumbo, Brooklyn and will be presented in the New York City area in 2010. It will also be part of the 34th season at the Hip Pocket Theatre in Ft. Worth, Texas. Presented on a shared bill with Deke Weaver. 

Nick Brooke & Jen Rohn

Border Towns explores how recordings have reeningeered the psychological landscape of the US, stitching together hundreds of recordings collected along the borders. Seven performers lipsync, sing, and move precisely with a dense map of song fragments, ambient sounds, and border broadcasts. Along the way, musical Americana gets reconstructed into a surreal theatrical collage reflecting on recording, location, and culture.

 

Read bio 

More @ nbrooke.com

 

Help Support Border Towns

 Border Towns is made possible by Bennington College, The Field, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council`s swing Space program; space at 14 Wall Street is donated by Capstone equities.