Fat Boy
FAT BOY – New Work
November 8- 18
Show times: Thursday – Saturday 8 PM
Sunday 5 PM
Written & Directed by Teo Castellanos
7 Stages introduces Atlanta to Fat Boy! Teo Castellanos and his dance project infuses hip-hop with ritual to shine a light on the “Me” era. Fat Boy is corporate greed and the 99%. Fat Boy is the link between the prison industrial complex and the rice paddies of Southeast Asia. Fat Boy will leave you in awe.
Teo Castellanos got the inspiration for his new theater piece Fat Boy from someone who was anything but: a crippled beggar at a train station in Mumbai, five years ago. Castellanos, traveling with his wife and 14-year-old daughter, was overwhelmed by the scale and intensity of poverty in India — the seemingly endless rows of people sleeping on sidewalks, the children begging in the streets. The stress and guilt he felt were exacerbated by the young man pushing himself along on a makeshift cart, following Castellanos and his family through the crowds.
The piece explores the contrast between the greed, materialism and seemingly relentless desire for more that Castellanos sees as driving American culture, with the desperate need, necessary frugality and — sometimes — contentment of other, less materialistic and prosperous countries. “The idea was how fat our nation is,” Castellanos says. “We’re wasteful in so many ways. We’re constantly consuming, and mass consumption leads to weight gain, which leads to ill health. I think we are in a state of ill spiritual, emotional and mental health. We’re in constant fear of not having enough.”
Workshop with Teo Castellanos
This workshop led by acclaimed actor/writer/director Teo Castellanos offers participants an opportunity to develop original material or works-in-progress through movement. Work with universal rhythms, imagination, atmosphere, and archetypes will spark creativity and shape the developmental process. Participants will work barefoot or with dance shoes and will need to wear movement clothes. Teo Castellanos is the artistic director of Teo Castellanos D-Projects, a dance/theater company influenced by ritual and hip-hop. Tuesday, November, 13 at 7 PM. Ages 16 and up.
