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Event
Cracking Open: The Second Draft
This is a work-in-progress performance of the first two sections of Cracking Open, which will have a total of five sections when it is completed. Cracking Open is a full-length dance theater performance piece slated to premiere in the early summer of 2018 at the Temescal Art Center.
This work is created collaboratively. I choreograph and direct, but I always draw from movement devised by the dancers for their bodies. The dancers for this work-in-progress performance of the first two sections of Cracking Open are Chris Gallegos, Mia Holtan, Amy LaFaille, Savanna McGrew, Belgica Rodriguez, and Kati Pienimäki Schenker. Eric Kupers is writing almost all of the music for Cracking Open, and he will perform live with us alongside Keith Penney and other musicians.
This is a piece about experiences that crack us open. We are looking closely at those moments when who we *are* is forever changed. The death of a loved one. Adolescence. The birth of a child. A move across the country. A word used to describe us that transforms us as soon as we hear it. Huge, tiny, happy, sad. What happens when we recognize that we were wearing a shell, and it has cracked open, and we are forced to emerge, all soft and exposed? When we have to figure out who we really are, all over again? Cracking Open is lit entirely from within by the dancers. Using dramatic shifts in color and tone, we will immerse the audience in an experience that cracks open over and over again, to reveal layer after layer of dance, color, language, and music.
Each section of Cracking Open, like a series of nesting dolls, features elements that appear in previous sections, but with a unique color, theme, and feel. While things will seem familiar, they will also constantly be new and emerging. Each color carries an ideological framework, as though when the sections shift we are suddenly viewing the world through a different pane in a stained glass window.
The first two section of Cracking Open, which we will perform for you, are:
--Light in the Dark. This section was first shared in December of 2016 at the Temescal Art Center. It is a direct response to the sudden, traumatic death of my little sister last October. We use nursery rhymes, snippets from Emily Dickinson and the Child Ballads, and my own lyrics to explore loss, loneliness, connection, and transcendence. We are creating our world for this section with lanterns, black umbrellas, a metal bucket of cootie catchers, and fairy lights.
--Red. In Red, we are experimenting with images of birth and death, with women as trees, with fabric as blood, with adolescent transformation, and with the format of a fairytale as a container for dark metaphors. We are creating our world for this section with red lights, red fabric, wolf masks, and broken umbrellas that have been repurposed to create surreal sculptural elements.
We look forward to sharing this raw, personal work with you, and we will have brief post-performance discussions after both performances so that we can hear your feedback and answer your questions. Thank you for joining us!
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LocationCalifornia State University East Bay: PE 140 (View)
CSUEB, Physical Education & Gym room 140, W. Loop Rd
Hayward, CA 94542
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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