Art of Activism

Performing Queer History, Activating Queer Space

1:00 – 3:00 PM ET

by 7 Stages Theatre – Live Virtual Brunch Conversation

Our brunch series brings together community experts, artists and patrons for a COMPLIMENTARY VIRTUAL dialogue as we examine our role beyond the art. This vital connection with our VIPs, Last Call – a collective of trans and queer artists, activists and archivists who were drawn together by the closing of the last remaining dyke bar in NOLA, will be the beginning of a collaboration with the Atl community and the 7 Stages family! We will be presenting their original production Alleged Lesbian Affairs, and thus invite YOU to join the process of development! Last Call creates innovative, multi-platform performances, events, and digital media that document and interpret neglected trans and queer history. The cultural organizing model creates connections between those who lived this history and those who have much at stake if it is forgotten.

In this virtual shareback story sharing experience, Last Call organizers will delve into their practice of archiving oral histories and creatively interpreting them! Participants will be guided through a listening session followed by a story sharing, utilizing elements of their oral history podcast and our lived experiences. Oral history and storytelling are our oldest ways of documenting how we survive, pass down our cultural practices and rituals, and captures how embracing the complexities of identity can help to shape the way we experience the world. We welcome all voices to join the VIP’s in connecting across our differences while sharing in commonalities.

CHARMED ONES

by Corian Ellisor and ensemble.

A compilation highlighting the dancers’ journey and magic moments of the live performance.

Filmed by AJ and edited by Ashley James.

The short film is available On Demand on June 26, then throughout the festival!

The recent live outdoor performance, Charmed Ones, marked 7 Stages’ return to in person performances. Charmed Ones was an outdoor dance feast rooted in queerness, magic and ritual. Conceived by Corian Ellisor as a dreamscape celebrating the beauty and resilience of othered bodies, the performance wields movement as a form of protest. Charmed Ones explores the power of ceremony, channels the lifeforce of existing in love with chosen family, and conjures healing, joy, and light. The ensemble includes queer performers Alex Abarca, Leo Briggs, and Patrick Otsuki. Alongside composer Ptar, occultant and set designer Cody Waters, and poet Nicholas Goodly, the performers create a live journey of connection.

SERVICE SATURDAY

1:00 – 4:00 PM ET

As we continue to examine our role, ask what is essential, and connect with the needs of our community, in honor of PRIDE we offer our local community COMPLIMENTARY services with:

• Food provided by Just A Touch Ministry & Outreach
• Clothing and PPE distributions
• Complimentary Big Read books – Advice from the Lights
• Coffee from Java Lords
• Info and advocacy from Fair Districts GA and Lost n Found Youth
• Covid testing and vaccines provided by our friends at the New Georgia Project.

Also, check out our Artistic Associate and student responses to the book and join artist Nicolette Emanuelle who will be sharing and collecting stories centered on the question What Are You?

Covid-safety procedures are in place for all in-person events at the theatre.

Circus of the Self

1:00 – 4:00 PM ET

by Lucy Eden – Outdoor Performances

In this autobiographical busking show, Lucy Eden interweaves circus and poetry to explore issues of identity, gender, and our capacity for transformation. Blending humor, poignant personal narrative, circus arts, and a healthy dose of literary analysis, Lucy chronicles a journey of gradual self-discovery: fear, repression, acceptance, and celebration. This performance includes juggling, knives, unicycles, and fire.

Lucy Eden is a veteran Atlanta performance artist, unicyclist, juggler and transgender visibility advocate. With a background in street performance, her passion for bringing circus arts to pedestrian spaces has been life long. She has performed in both solo and ensemble productions in Atlanta and across the US. Her shows combine storytelling, virtuosity, and a unique queer southern charm.

WHAT ARE YOU?

INSTALLATION AND STORY GATHERING

1:00 – 4:00 PM ET

by Nicolette Emanuelle – Live Indoor Installation and Interaction

Paper Dolls

6:00 – 9:00 PM ET

by Jenna Edmonds and Matt Greenia – Live Indoor Performance and Installation

“Paper Dolls” uses a combination of spoken word, music, and handicraft to invite the audience to look at the ways in which we reflect and refract ourselves through inanimate objects. The work is inspired by Stephanie Burt’s poem “Paper Stephanie”, which is featured in the collection Advice from the Lights.

Moon Walkers / Sun Safari

6:00, 7:00 & 8:00 PM ET

by Flight of Swallows – Live Performance

Flight of Swallows is conjuring history anew: honoring the work of Steve and Rönnog Seaberg, legends of the Atlanta art scene, by reinterpreting two works that were performed 20 years ago. Steve, now 90 years old, is an inspiration to many in the Atlanta circus community, both as an instructor and a performer, having appeared on America’s Got Talent when he was 85 doing a strength and acrobatics act. In this piece, which features a special appearance by Steve, the company weaves live music, movement, poetry, and projection to awaken the parts of ourselves we thought were lost to the past.

Flight of Swallows is a collaborative effort that is joined by a revolving cast of musicians and movement artists who excel at collaborative improvisation. Their pieces function as conversations between movement artist and musician.

I’m Not Buying It

6:15, 7:15 & 8:15 PM ET

by Vickie G. Hampton and Christopher Hampton – Live Immersive Performance

What were they thinking when they called the cops on an innocent black person doing something as innocuous as shopping? “I’m Not Buying It” looks for answers by listening in on a private conversation between a new cashier and a security guard when a black customer comes into a posh jewelry store.

For an enhanced audio experience, bring headphones to this listening-oriented performance.

Vickie and Christopher Hampton are an unstoppable mother-son team. Vickie G. Hampton is an award-winning free-lance writer, editor and publications manager with experience spearheading myriad editorial projects—from magazines and annual reports to advertisement copy and executive communication.  Two of her plays, “I Am Grace” and “Learning Curve” were professionally read at the National Black Arts Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is also the author of two children’s books. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English and journalism from Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Miss., and a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism in New York.

Christopher Hampton is a multi-hyphenate artist (writer, actor, director, teacher, musician) and graduate of the California Institute of the Arts based in Atlanta. Christopher has developed and performed work at 7 Stages, Horizon Theatre, Working Title Playwrights, Theatre Emory, The Aurora Theatre, Whole World Improv Theatre, The Alliance, among others. He is honored to collaborate with his mother, who is a constant stabilizing force and inspiration in his life. His film “Cracking Zeus” can be streamed on the Alliance’s “Spotlight Series” page.

HYSTERIA

6:30, 7:30 & 8:30 PM ET

by Burning Bones Physical Theatre – Live Indoor Performance

Women’s emotional expression has always been policed – first venerated as religious ecstasy, later condemned as witchcraft, and eventually diagnosed as the mental illness hysteria that mysteriously only afflicted one gender. This dance performance by Burning Bones Physical Theatre incorporates elements of butoh, clowning, and burlesque to conjure the stories of women in psychiatric hospitals, whose role as the subjects of early photography was essential in establishing the practice of psychology.  

Burning Bones Physical Theatre is based in Atlanta, Georgia. We are creating work that is original, bold, and personal. Burning Bones is dedicated to collaborating with fellow creatives to engage with the local community and expand the possibilities of live performance in daring and imaginative ways.

Crimson Chrysalis: Emergence

All day

Katelyn Greaton –Sculpture Installation

What do you see when you look into someone eyes? Within every face lies a different truth. When you peer into the reflective faces within this installation, you’re invited to envision who, or what you may be. 7 faces, 7 representations. Which one are you?

Kate Greaton is an Atlanta based mixed media contemporary sculptor, ceramicist and production designer. After graduating the University of Southern Maine in 2018, she moved to Los Angeles, California where she put her sculpting and design skills towards creating unique music videos; most notably, K Michelle, Call Me Karizma and Carole’s Daughter. Now living in Atlanta, Kate is going back to her roots and focusing on her own sculptures while also pursuing art in film. Kate uses mixed media to combine realism and abstraction to demonstrate the relationship between the beauty of our world and our imaginations.

TRUE NORTH

By Lee Nowell, directed by Heidi S Howard, edited by Robby Myles, featuring Markell Williams, Scott Turner Schofeild, and Dorothy Bell-Polk

All New Director’s Cut is available On Demand June 24, then throughout the festival!

In 2000, Magnetic North began moving at an erratic, sudden speed. It’s averaging 34 to 40 miles per year. It’s been scientifically proven that human beings can feel this, and we’re learning that it’s affecting us in wide-ranging ways.

When magnetic fields move erratically and quickly around us, the part of our brain that makes ethical decisions becomes impaired. Changes in electromagnetic energy, caused by magnetic movement in the Earth’s core and in the magnetosphere around the Earth, can affect our health, our potential, and our physical and mental well-being.

Originally created as part of our Home Brew @ Home Series, True North offers HOPE as a guidebook for all of us, combining the latest scientific research with ancient practices that enable each of us to ground ourselves in the midst of uncertainty.

Alien with Extraordinary Skills

Diary of a Playwright Without Borders

7:00 PM ET

by Saviana Stanescu – Live Virtual Performance with Talkback

video design & editing by Darya Gauthier

SAVIANA STANESCU   is an acclaimed NY-based playwright, poet, and ARTivist, author of Aliens with Extraordinary Skills, Ants, Lenin’s Shoe, Hurt, Useless, and other plays centering the immigrant experience. Winner of New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Play (Waxing West) and Best Romanian Play of the Year  (Inflatable Apocalypse), Saviana’s work has been widely produced in New York, regionally, and internationally. ~ www.savianastanescu.com, www.saviana.com.

Saviana Stanescu is a 20-year-old American playwright, and a 40+-year-old Romanian writer. She spent her formative years during Ceaușescu’s dictatorship in Romania, protested in the streets at the Revolution in 1989, and worked as a journalist in the free millennial press. She arrived in New York late August 2001. After 20 years of ‘inbetweenness’ and many O1 visas for ‘aliens with extraordinary abilities in the arts’, Saviana is ready to tell her story.

“Alien with Extraordinary Skills” is an autobiographical performative lecture which includes monologues, poems, confessions, and Saviana’s over 100 photos of the US Flag displayed in New York in the aftermath of 9/11, investigating how objects perform identity, while questioning the power dynamics between countries and people. An imaginary dinner with Karl Marx concludes this political yet humorous (Zoom) autobiographical performative lecture that offers a unique perspective of a multi-rooted “extraordinary alien” who continues to challenge stereotypes, borders, and herself.

Thoughts and Prayers

8:30 PM ET

by Danse Theatre Surreality – Virtual Performance

Directed and Edited by Lauren Hlubny

“Thoughts & Prayers” is a dance-theatre work with a palpable activist heart. In equal parts music, movement, and theatre, we take a journey with Dana and Felix, as the couple experiences five Disasters.

In a dramatic mix of original, virtuosic music, partnering, dialogue, and unique staging, six musicians (woodwinds and strings) play active roles in the performance and embody two distinct Greek Choruses: Congress and The Activists, giving full voice to the political clashes of present-day.

Thoughts and Prayers is a complex, elegant, disruptive world brought to life by creator/director Lauren Hlubny and composer/performer Thomas Giles.

TIT

The Visual Album was created by Elizabeth Dinkova and Barrett Doyle

On Demand beginning June 24th throughout the festival.

Clinging to life in the aftermath of a brutal attack, Lavinia journeys through the wasteland of her mind to confront the ill-fated choices and missed connections that led to her awakening. Set in an apocalyptic future, this kaleidoscopic visual album is the primal scream of those who seek to tear down the status quo and build a new world. TIT, was originally created for our Home Brew @ Home Series and was later a special selection for the NYC Indie Theatre Film Festival of 2021. The full project is being co-created with Jesse Rasmussen, Nicolette Emanuelle, Eugene H. Russell IV, Ellen Warkentine & company.

Elizabeth Dinkova is an itinerant director, adaptor, and collaborative creator who explores alternative realities at the intersection of theater, film, and music in pursuit of social justice. She was born in Bulgaria and recently graduated from the MFA Directing program at the Yale School of Drama. She was the 2017-18 Artistic Leadership fellow at the Alliance Theatre and is currently an Associate Artistic Director at 7 Stages.

Short Film Block (8 Virtual Screenings)

7:00 – 8:15 PM ET

Virtual Film Screenings – Available afterward on demand

Diamonds

by Diego Serna – Short Film

“Diamonds” is a short film about adversity and persevering through it all. It acknowledges the struggle as well as celebrates the resilience and tenacity it takes to find your light out of the darkest of times. 

Diego Serna is an Atlanta-based performer from Guadalajara, Mexico. He specializes in aerial dance in trapeze and aerial sling, as well as stilt walking and palm torch dance. Throughout his career, he hopes to always give back to his community and inspire future artists to pursue their dream path and support one another.

I WAS

by Nina Marinov – Experimental Short Film

Originally from Russia, Nina Marinov is a filmmaker located in Atlanta, GA. She experiments with crossover of poetry, music, and movement. I WAS is a self-reflection and attempt to take a snapshot of the filmmaker’s stream of consciousness.

Sweep Softly

by Leila Ghasempor – Virtual Premiere & Live Installation

“Art should be a tool to create hopeful and positive changes in society, even if that tool can be an egg from daily life that embodies a hopeful, awakening, and caring message.”

Sweep Softly is a performance piece created and performed by Leila Ghasempor. In it, she explores the distinction between self and other. Utilizing dozens of eggs she poses the question: how do I hold space for myself while caring for those around me? Leila Ghasempor is a Kurdish-Iranian performance artist whose work draws from her experiences growing up in the midst of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), during which time her family was displaced. Her expressive and emotional works reference both universal and culturally specific symbols of human pain, displacement, trauma, loss, and the conflicts of ethics vs. politics. Currently, she is an MFA candidate in Performance at SAIC.

SOLO

by Ben Yoganathan – Experimental Short film

“Sometimes I draw myself a bath and sit inside of it and dream of being a Spanish folk singer from the mid 60’s with all the beautiful melodrama that kind of life affords. Is there anything sadder than a performer with no audience?”

Ben Yoganathan is an artist born in Sri Lanka who now lives in Toronto. He is among other things an actor, writer, singer/songwriter (so far). He hopes, along with his comrades, to play a part in revitalizing theatre and live performance culture wherever he is. Especially in our mediated age. He believes in: art, young people, and beauty. He is an Artistic Director of Precipice Productions.

Black is the Body: A Color Guide to Coping

by Anicka Austin – Short Film & Live Installation

Black is the Body: A Color Guide to Coping depicts a solitary woman performing somatic movements and resting in color-saturated landscapes. For the woman, Green is a forest ritual based on years of witnessing communion in the Primitive Baptist church. Narration guides viewers in practicing meditation and resting in stillness.

All the Advice in the World

by Autumn Davis – Short Film

Growing up left her with some trauma, as it does most people to varying degrees. The lead character in this untitled short film is a victim to her broken thoughts, self destructive behaviors and shaky foundation. In this short arthouse film, set mainly in a single bathroom, we witness a young woman’s journey to confront the mental and physical demons that haunt her and hold onto the sole connection that will give her strength and a glimpse of hope. 

Autumn Davis is a curiously voracious young artist. She is captivated by the distorting permeability of reality and explores the human condition with vulnerability and an earnest yearning for answers. Most often finding more questions and deliciously infuriating confusion.

The Echo in Labyrinth

8:30 PM ET

by Banana Effect – Virtual Experience

Enter the labyrinth at your own risk: here, you’ll witness the ugliest and most beautiful faces of human nature. Within the labyrinth’s twists and turns, you’ll encounter citizens from 5 different cities who each experience the world through the lens of their mental illness. There is only one entrance, which is also the one and only exit. Follow the camera if you dare. 

Banana Effect is an immersive game theater company based in Hong Kong with Artistic Director Onnie Chan and Production Director King Wong. They are a team of energetic young artists, most of whom studied abroad and experienced different cultures. They create adventurous and innovative games, through which strangers can meet.

BLOODFLOW

An Experimental Short Film directed by Ashley James

Available On Demand Throughout the Festival!

Inspired by the work of poet, playwright, filmmaker and long time 7 Stages Artistic Associate Robert Earl Price. Bloodflow, titled after Price’s latest book of poetry, is an experimental short film that takes an intimate look at the resilience of black and brown bodies from personal journeys to the family and generational bonds that offer strength.

This original short film, originally created for our Home Brew @ Home Series, was directed by Ashley James, one of 7 Stages’ new Associate Artistic Directors. Ashley is a producer, director, and creator, originally from Mobile, Alabama. In 2015, she received the Princess Grace Theatre Honorarium Award to continue her work as an emerging director with Double Edge Theatre in Massachusetts. She graduated from Florida State University with a BA in Theatre and returned in 2018, earning her MFA in Film Production. Her latest short film FO[U]R has recently screened at the Toronto Black Film Festival and Through Women’s Eyes International Film Festival. It was also awarded the Honourable Mention for the Jury Award for the 10th Annual Breakthroughs Film Festival and will screen June 2021 in Canada.

Art of Activism

Intersections of Criminal Justice and Race.

1:00 – 3:00 PM ET

Virtual Brunch Conversation

Sunday June 20, 2021 1-3 (EST) Art of Activism brings together community experts, artists and patrons for a COMPLIMENTARY VIRTUAL dialogue as we examine our role beyond the art. We welcome all voices to join the VIP’s in connecting across our differences while sharing in commonalities. GA Innocence Project’s John White – who was wrongfully incarcerated for over 27 years, members of Reforming Arts Theatre Re-Entry Project and DUVAR’s producer Natalie Brady & filmmaker Brittney London will discuss the themes of these stories and the intersections of criminal justice and race.  The online event will begin with “MAN”, a poem about John by Theresa Davis leading into the short film DUVAR, thus kicking off this vital conversation.

Duvar

1:00 – 3:00 PM ET

Virtual Film Screening – In conjunction with Art of Activism

A MAN TRIES TO SAVE HIS DAUGHTER AND IS ARRESTED…And then things go from bad to worse. Based on a true story, this film serves as a catalyst for conversation about the intersection of criminal justice and race.  

“Now, more than ever, is the time to challenge social and structural inequity. This is why I pushed to shoot this film in the middle of a pandemic. Telling this story will challenge the media narrative surrounding this particular case.” – Brittney London, Director of Duvar

Brittney London is a Dallas, TX native and the middle child of five. In a family full of big personalities, her need to be heard gave birth to a creative outlet–performing, a craft her mother strongly supported. Brittney is a multi-hyphenate creative who has worked across film, theatre, and new media. She has worked as an actor, script consultant, a teaching artist, a director, and most recently, a writer and filmmaker.

To My Drag Queer Dad in Heaven

4:00 PM ET

by Kāli Quinn – Virtual Film Screening & Talkback

This alchemy of images, poetry, and music attempts to conjure the filmmaker/poet/visionary’s deceased dad after two decades apart in order to relate anew through their evolving gender identities, bask in their common non-binary approach to life, and to embody an age of justice with you.

Kali Quinn is a facilitator of creative discovery, innovative storytelling, physical play, and community dialogue. Trained as a physical ensemble-based theater practitioner, Kali’s work spans collaborating with theater and circus artists to business and healthcare professionals. Kali values creating a welcoming space for participants of all ages and professions to practice this kind of empathy together through: Solo Performances, Workshops, and Mentorship Services. These access points give participants the opportunity to connect, share experiences, gather resources, reconnect to their personal creativity, and dream up compassionate and innovative ways to better care for one another.

Deconstruction & Reconstruction

5:00 & 6:30 PM ET

by Lucy Eden and Nicolette Emanuelle – Live Indoor Circus Performance

Deconstruction & Reconstruction is a blend of sculpture, live music, and virtuosic balancing acts. Lucy Eden and Nicolette Emanuelle explore the link between death and rebirth as they build an organic altar to the pieces of ourselves that we might once have seen as discarded rubble; here, they find new life. In this bittersweet symphony, every new beginning does, in fact, come from some other new beginning’s end. 

色，静 (Color, Quiet)

6:00 PM ET

by Steven Hao – Indoor Film Screening

色, 静 is a black and white mostly silent film that follows four young Asian-Canadians’ separate journeys amidst Anti-Asian violence happening worldwide while reconstructing the dialogue shared with the generation prior. 

Steven (郝邦宇) Hao, born and raised in China, is a Toronto-based actor, singer/songwriter and writer currently enrolled in Ryerson’s Performance Acting program. Steven believes in the power imagery and he aims to create visually stimulating work that leaves ever-lasting imprints inside the minds of his audience. He’s an Artistic Director of Precipice Productions.

Noodles, White Rice and Fruit Loops

6:15 PM ET

by Jacquelyn Pritz – Indoor Dance Performance

Hate speech, vandalism of Asian-owned restaurants, and acts of violence towards elderly Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic have exposed America’s racist and xenophobic underbelly. In this dance work that incorporates traditional forms, hiphop, and movement research, an ensemble of Asian American artists take a stand against bigotry and injustice and vulnerably explore their complex, layered, unique selves. Through sharing their individual identity and culture, they reject the one-sided stereotypes and embrace the power of community to heal a broken political reality. 

Dancers: Patrick Otsuki, Lena Premero Curtis, Joana “Jam” Cruz, Ellie Tsuchiya, Perlizbeth De Leon, EC Fajardo, Niko Tioseco

This work was sponsored in part by the Center for Creativity and Arts at Emory University.

Nafs – Harnessing the Seed of Our Ego

7:30 PM ET

by Aysha Waheed – Art and Live Poetry

Aysha is a Pakistani American artist based out of Atlanta, specializing in a style inspired by realism and impressionism. For 25 years, she has exhibited her oil paintings and sculptures in Dubai, England, France, Pakistan and the U.S, including the High Museum in Atlanta. Her most recent series, Nafs, focuses on the architects of Sufism, particularly depicting the ancient traditions of the 11th-12th Century sufi saints, teachers and alchemists. Portraying their journeys of harnessing their ego, while struggling to be in the real world.

THEN THEY’LL TELL YOU IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD

Presented as a short film compilation edited by Tia Davis, this new work features Theresa Davis’ favorite clips from the original film.

Available On Demand Throughout the Festival!

In her first scripted Home Brew, Theresa Davis took the stage with her visceral words while embracing storytelling in a one-woman manifesto of what it means to be black, human, female, mother in America. With director Dawn Axam, original director of photography and editor Robby Myles and collaborators Destiny Renee, daughter Tia and son Zion, audiences were invited to enter her world via the original Film – offering a sanctuary of bars and stages, places where honest spirits haunt and share, where muses make the world make sense and assure her that she is walking in her purpose visible to all who choose to see.

Intertwined with movement, sound score, characters and poetry from her collection Drowned: A Mermaid’s Manifesto, with Sibling Rivalry Press, Davis makes it clear that these issues are not all in her head, and that NO, you cannot drown a mermaid. Read for the first time in 2017, in this church of prose and poetry, we find things have not changed and it’s not in our heads. BLACK LIVES MATTER

LIFESOUTH Emergency Blood Donation

12PM – 6PM ET

Bloodmobile located in 7 Stages’ parking lot. Be a HERO and schedule today!
Click HERE to schedule your appointment.

Service Saturday

1:00 – 4:00 PM ET

As we continue to examine our role, ask what is essential, and connect with the needs of our community, in honor of JUNETEENTH we offer our local community COMPLIMENTARY services with a Blood Drive from our partners @ LifeSouth, food provided by Just A Touch Ministry & Outreach, PPE distributions, complimentary Big Read books – Advice from the Lights, coffee from Java Lords, info and advocacy from Fair Districts GA and Covid testing and vaccines provided by our friends at the New Georgia Project. 

Look out for Artistic Associate Theresa Davis & John White with Georgia Innocence Project and members from Reforming ArtsTheatre Re-Entry Project offering in person poetry responses! Artwork by Julius Langston-Brown will be for sale and artist Nicolette Emanuelle will be sharing and collecting stories centered on the question What Are You?. 

Also check out InterPlay Atlanta offering a virtual performance workshop from 1:30 – 3pm!

InterPlay: RAGE, REBELLION & HOPE

1:30 – 3:00 PM ET

Immersive Virtual Workshop

As we celebrate Juneteenth and the liberation of the final enslaved Africans, we also recognize that liberation is ongoing. Join InterPlay Atlanta for an exploration of rage, rebellion, and hope as forces for social change. Rage and anger have lit the fire of rebellion throughout history and up to the present moment, particularly as part of the movements of marginalized groups. When we acknowledge and honor our rage, we can channel it into the quest for liberation in our personal lives, in our communities, our country, and our world. Through the movement, storytelling, and vocal forms of InterPlay, we will tap into our rebellious spirits and celebrate the hope that keeps us going.

What Are You?

Installation and Story Gathering

1:00 – 4:00 PM ET

by Nicolette Emanuelle – Live Indoor Installation and Interaction

Reforming Arts

3:00 – 4:00 PM ET

Complimentary in-person workshop

Reforming Art’s Theatre Reentry Program creates, presents staged readings of, and tours original plays about the experiences of reentering citizens. Participants are individuals who were formerly enrolled in Reforming Arts’ higher education program during their incarceration as well as other individuals who were formerly incarcerated in women’s prisons in Georgia. Participants work with Reforming Arts to create original plays that explore the struggles and complexities of reentry and the systemic problems surrounding mass incarceration in the United States. This workshop offers participants guidance from Artistic Associate and poet Theresa Davis in sharing story through connecting their lives to the creative process!

Deconstruction & Reconstruction

6:00 & 7:00 PM ET

by Nicolette Emanuelle and Lucy Eden – Live Indoor Performances

Deconstruction & Reconstruction is a blend of sculpture, live music, and virtuosic balancing acts. Lucy Eden and Nicolette Emanuelle explore the link between death and rebirth as they build an organic altar to the pieces of ourselves that we might once have seen as discarded rubble; here, they find new life. In this bittersweet symphony, every new beginning does, in fact, come from some other new beginning’s end. 

Noodles, White Rice and Fruit Loops

6:30 & 7:30 PM ET

Choreographed by Jacquelyn Pritz – Live Indoor Dance Performance

Hate speech, vandalism of Asian-owned restaurants, and acts of violence towards elderly Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic have exposed America’s racist and xenophobic underbelly. In this dance work that incorporates traditional forms, hiphop, and movement research, an ensemble of Asian American artists take a stand against bigotry and injustice and vulnerably explore their complex, layered, unique selves. Through sharing their individual identity and culture, they reject the one-sided stereotypes and embrace the power of community to heal a broken political reality. 

Dancers: Patrick Otsuki, Lena Premero Curtis, Joana “Jam” Cruz, Ellie Tsuchiya, Perlizbeth De Leon, EC Fajardo, Niko Tioseco

This work was sponsored in part by the Center for Creativity and Arts at Emory University.

The Fires of Rage

8:00 PM ET

by Ember Webb – Outdoor Fire Performance

Poetry and fire play blend together to create an intimate experience exploring the power and necessity of rage. The Fires of Rage holds out a light for those who are too often pushed into the shadows of our world. 

Ember Webb is a queer poet and fire performer, born and raised in Georgia. Their work focuses on themes of social justice, mental health, and healing from trauma and abuse. Their work can take listeners into the deep and dark corners of the human experience, but they always make sure to bring a spark of fire to help light the way home.

Behind Closed Doors

(repeats throughout evening)

by Zimani Faye – Indoor Live Performance

Juneteenth Artwork by Julius Langston-Brown

This exculsive selection of sketches from our dear associate and alumni, offers audiences and buyers a world of colors, gestures, images and celebration. Julius has spent the days, months and many many moments of the pandemic finding solace in his artwork. This installation offers all a chance share in his and our healing through art.

“My name is Julius Langston Brown and I love to create master pieces! Art is my passion! Enjoy my creations!” Yes – The artwork is for SALE!

WHAT ARE YOU?

By Nicolette Emanuelle, Tia Davis, Lexi McKay, Meredith Gordon, Jaylynn Amya Haygood, Arthur McDaniel and an ensemble of national artists, advocates, and storytellers.  

On Demand Throughout the festival!

What are You? is an unflinching exploration of what it means to be mixed-race in America. The project’s lead creator and performer Nicolette Emanuelle, raised with roots in the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina, was often confronted with this relentless question. As she started to interview other mixed-race individuals, Nicolette discovered striking and moving commonalities. Developed as part of our Home Brew @ Home Series, this original, perspective-shifting film combines movement, original music, and a multitude of personal testimonies to highlight the beauty and expose the struggles of multi-racial people while honoring their resilience.  

BONUS ALERT  – The artists are excited to offer one-on-one conversations about race as a part of the in person installation piece for our COMPLIMENTARY Saturday Service Days – June 19 & 26 from 1-4pm! Join us in person to share a story, hear a story, or converse on topics about race, ethnicity and what it means to be multiracial in America.

Welcome to Imagi*Nation

7:00 PM ET

“Welcome to Imagi*Nation” is a multimedia immersive performance inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s film “Modern Times.” While the audience participates in a virtual reality interactive experience, the performers will enter into a mass production competition that will result in multiple challenges. As performers are searching for conflict resolution, the audience will experience the motivations and consequences of migration.

Credits:
Director: Carmen Caceres
Choreography: Carmen Caceres (In collaboration with the performers)
Co-Director & Dramaturge: Lauren Hlubny
Producer: DanceAction
Performers: Aviya Hernstadt, Lauren Hlubny, Mallory Markham, Mar Orozco Arango, Sofia Baeta & Sofia Bengoa
Video: Daniel Hess
Lighting Designer: Stoli Stolnack
Visual Arts Consultant: Maria Nissan
Costumes: Carmen Caceres in collaboration with the performers

Originally created as a part of a residency with the Center at West Park in NYC April 2021.

Music Credits:
“Imagination” by Labrinth
“Omeprazol” by Frikstailers
“Sneaky Snitch” by Kevin LacLeod
“Un simple objeto,” “Un monton de notas,” & “Milonga para terminar” by Emilio Teubal
“The good, the bad and the ugly” by Ennio Morricone
“Puto” by Molotov
“El Matador” by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

CARMEN CACERES is a dance artist, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She received a BA in Dance and Education at SUNY Empire State College and deepened her studies in dance, performance, and choreography at the former Merce Cunningham Studio in New York. In her native city, she graduated from the National School of Dance and has studied Dance Composition at the National University of the Arts UNA.

She has been creating and presenting dance works in Argentina and NY since 2009. In 2012 she founded DanceAction (DA), a creative platform comprised of artists from multiple disciplines, to produce performing artworks in collaboration and provide educational opportunities. DA participated in numerous festivals and performance series in New York, such as Performance Studio Open House (PSOH) at Center for Performance Research, Take Root at Green Space Studio, Open Performance for Movement Research, Under Exposed at Dixon Place, and SharedSpace at the Mark Morris Dance Center. DA has also been invited to international dance festivals in different cities. The First International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City (FIDCDMX), the International Contemporary Dance Festival and Campus “Ticino in Danza” in Ticino, Switzerland, and “Women Center Stage Festival” in New York are some of them. DA’s latest project, BLINDSPOT, was sponsored, in part, by the Brooklyn Arts Fund community grant, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). Most recently, DA has received the Dance/NYC Emergency COVID-19 Grant.

As a performer and collaborator, Carmen has worked with artists Ines Armas, Katie Rose McLaughlin, Isabel Lewis, Jillian Peña, Lisa Parra, Elia Mrak, Jody Oberfelder, and Sarah Berges among others. Carmen also works as a dance educator and program director for different art education programs in New York City, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. www.carmencaceres.com.

LAUREN HLUBNY is the NYC Artistic Director of Franco-American company Danse Theatre Surreality (DanseTheatreSurreality.org). Hlubny’s work centers image-as-metaphor, physicality, social justice, and interdisciplinary communication, and her research focuses on the intersection of movement and storytelling. Hlubny has been invited to share works in France, Italy, Seattle, San Francisco, Birmingham, Knoxville, New Orleans, Portland, and in museums nationwide, including the Dali Museum. Hlubny studies Martial Arts and Anthropology in New York City, where she works as a director who originates works at venues such as Joe’s Pub, Triskelion, The Kraine, Shetler Studios, TADA! Youth Theater, Mark Morris, and La MaMa. Fascinated by multifaceted productions, combat, and consent, Hlubny also enjoys working as a dramaturg and acting coach for choreographers, and as a choreographer for theatre and opera. Hlubny will be an artist-in-residence for her piece īs, a dance-concerto this August at the Shed Seattle, and serves as co-director/dramaturg for Dance Action’s latest work Welcome to Imagi•nation directed and choreographed by Carmen Caceres.

The Isolationists

8:00 PM ET

Produced by New Network & Directed by Maja Mitic – Virtual Performance

When the pandemic started, elders over 60 in Serbia were prohibited from going out (except during severely limited hours) for two months. “The Isolationists” was an initiative to empower 60+ women to share their experiences of intense isolation and acknowledge the importance of human connections in times of crisis. The film of this unique performance amidst the beautiful ruins that adorn the natural landscape of the community celebrates the power of sharing – whether it is deep sorrow, infectious joy, or hard-earned wisdom – that transcends age and geography.

The Fires of Rage

9:00 PM ET

by Ember Webb – Live Outdoor Fire Performance

Poetry and fire play blend together to create an intimate experience exploring the power and necessity of rage. The Fires of Rage holds out a light for those who are too often pushed into the shadows of our world. 

Ember Webb is a queer poet and fire performer, born and raised in Georgia. Their work focuses on themes of social justice, mental health, and healing from trauma and abuse. Their work can take listeners into the deep and dark corners of the human experience, but they always make sure to bring a spark of fire to help light the way home.

The Valkyrie

9:15 PM ET

by The Valkyrie – Live Outdoor Concert Performance

“We are The Valkyrie, a musical performance group featuring corpse Vikings in drag. We play loud rock and roll, but in our skirts and armor, we invert the machismo typical of the genre. We are driven by the community of artists that we are lucky to be a part of — by the process of creating with each other and pushing each other forward. Also, we just like to rock.” – Rob Thompson of The Valkyrie