Eryc Taylor Dance Premieres "Factory|Refractory," A New Immersive Dance Odyssey
Company:
Eryc Taylor Dance
Eryc Taylor Dance Premieres A New Immersive Dance Odyssey
Factory|Refractory
Sunday, February 26, 2023,
Sunday, March 5, 2023,
Monday, March 6, 2023
Doors Open at 4 PM | Show 1 at 5 PM | Show 2 at 7 PM
Afterparty following 7 PM show, 8-9 PM.
SLATE (54 W 21st New York, NY 10010)
New York, NY, February 26 - March 6, 2023 – Eryc Taylor Dance (ETD) presents encore performances of Factory|Refractory on February 26, March 5 and March 6, 2023 (Doors: 4 PM | Show 1: 5 PM | Show 2: 7 PM | After-party with a cash bar and DJ: 8 PM) at SLATE (54 W. 21st Street). A limited supply of FREE standing-room tickets is available. Reserved Seating varies from $10 to $100. The ticket link is HERE.
Factory|Refractory is a multi-media, multi-sensory dance tribute to NYC and the artists who defined its nightlife in the mid-1990s. Experience an odyssey of art, addiction, recovery, and destiny. Attendees follow the story of a young, impressionable artist in a new city full of exhilarating passions and deadly vices, with live-feed projections enhancing the journey.
Factory|Refractory was conceived by Artistic Director Eryc Taylor, inspired by his observations and experiences in 1990s nightlife, and created in collaboration with the dancers. The Sashalie Rios, co-starring Thomas Batchelor, with Principal dancers Cameron Arnold, Taylor Ennen, Miranda Stuck, Imani Arnett, Julia Foti, and Isoke Wright.
Factory/Refractory is a tribute to the mid-90s NYC nightlife and a nod to Andy Warhol's Factory parties. The mid-1990s club kid personalities, including Amanda LePore, Richie Rich, and others, are still working in NYC’s entertainment and fashion scene. These artistic and fashion-conscious creatives were most notable for their flamboyant and eccentric costumes. As a cabaret-style, multi-sensory roller coaster dance ride in four parts, Factory/Refractory addresses addiction, mental health, struggle, recovery, and destiny through multiple dance styles, including Jazz, Modern, and Voguing. These themes are inspiring forces that shaped Taylor's choreography and vision, with two original scores by Daniel Tobias and music by Guns and Roses, Grace Jones, Kevin J. Prodigy, and more reflecting the time and mood of the work as a whole. This project is made possible partly by The New York State Council on the Arts, The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, and The Marta Heflin Foundation.
COMPANY & CREATIVE TEAM
About Eryc Taylor Dance
Eryc Taylor Dance (ETD), established in 2006, is a New York-based non-profit dance company that performs and tours locally and globally. The Company has performed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Joyce Soho, Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, New York Live Arts, Teatro Armando Manzanero, and Teatro José Peón Contreras (Merida, Mexico), Martha Graham Studio Theater, Bryant Park Theater, Guild Hall (East Hampton, NY), Busan Cultural Center (Busan, South Korea), and Provincetown Amphitheater (Cape Cod, MA). ETD Outreach is ETD’s community outreach program, and ETD’s New Choreographer’s Grant offers opportunities for aspiring choreographers.
For more information about ETD, please contact Savannah Gaillard at info@etd.nyc or visit www.etd.nyc. For more information about the ETD Outreach program, please contact Liviya England at outreach@etd.nyc. Your support is essential in helping Eryc Taylor Dance fulfill our mission. Make a Donation here. Receive ETD updates through our newsletter. Get on the list here.
Artist Bios and Creative Team Credits:
Eryc Taylor (Artistic Director) is the Artistic Director of the internationally recognized non-profit dance company Eryc Taylor Dance and its social impact division, ETD Outreach. He is a performer, speaker, writer, choreographer, director, producer, inventor, board member, and curator. Taylor holds an MFA in Dance from NYU Tisch. Taylor curates 20+ therapeutic movement workshops throughout NYC weekly for ETD Outreach. He has received grants, awards, and City and State funding from NYSCA, The Office of Kathy Hochul, LMCC, SVOG, and the Dance/NYC Coronavirus Relief Fund. Taylor has directed tours in Merida, Mexico, at BIDF in Busan, South Korea. Taylor's 2019 project EARTH involves past recipients of ETD's New Choreographer's Grant and was featured on PBS ALL ARTS in a series titled "Climate Artists." Taylor is the Founder and Inventor of BurnBarre, LLC, the world's first truly portable ballet barre.
Daniel Tobias (Composer) is Eryc Taylor Dance's composer-in-residence and Artistic Advisor. Raised in the hills of Berkeley, CA, Daniel Tobias graduated from The University of California, Berkeley, and studied at the Juilliard School of Music under the kind and encouraging eyes of the late Professor Stanley Wolfe. He was a Lambda Literary Finalist for his debut mystery novel "The Next" under the pen name Rafe Haze. Daniel is the composer in residence for Eryc Taylor Dance, the New York City modern dance company, and has composed 12 symphonic and chamber orchestra pieces for dancers since 2010. In April of 2023, his play "Be Still Be Silent" will be produced Off-Broadway by SOOP Theatre Company. Daniel is a member of The Actor's Studio in NYC and taught the Meisner Technique of Acting for a decade at The Bay Area Acting Studio.
Scooter LaForge (Guest Artist/Costume Designer) Scooter LaForge (b. Las Cruces, New Mexico) is a New York-based artist who has lived in the East Village for the past 20 years. His unique style mines the canon of art history by infusing classical themes with a colorful sensibility. LaForge works in various media, including painting, sculpture, and drawing, and employs unorthodox techniques and striking iconic images. Often combine-like, his works are a walking journal of images where ideas are explored and refined. LaForge approaches art-making intuitively, absorbing what surrounds him and working with agility and focus—drawing from a fertile inner emotional realm and an extensive painterly vocabulary. His paintings have been shown at Howl Happening New York, Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York, the Friedrichshof Museum in Vienna, and the Spritmuseum/Absolut Art Collection in Sweden. In 2015, the artist was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. He holds a BFA in painting from the University of Arizona.
Felicia Maria & James Richwine (Head Stylist) are the Co-Owners and Stylists of Costume Closet, a fashion speakeasy experience catering to New York's underground nightlife and festival scene. Their mission is to create sustainability around event fashion by providing unique, high-quality artisanal items for rent or to buy, which ultimately supports the creator community. They are passionate about creating collaborative experiences for guests to play dress up... providing a safe space to break down inhibitions and explore new styles that build confidence to embody a new skin.
William Ervin (Guest Artist/Collaborator) is an east coast native. He earned his BFA in dance from Montclair State University (May 2017) and graduated with an MFA in Dance from the University of Illinois in May 2020. Under the tutelage of Tempest Revlon, Eric Flores, and Milly Versace. William has performed works by Camille A. Brown, Jose Limon, Kevin Wynn, Sean Curran, Endalyn Taylor, and Earl Mosley. He has also trained with Joffrey Ballet, Rennie Harris, and Alonzo King's Lines Ballet. Since graduating, Ervin has trained at Jacobs Pillows Afro Latin Immersion program and performed at the Alexander Kasser Theatre, the Joyce Theatre, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music with the Hearts of Men ensemble. He has presented his choreography at the Dumbo Dance Festival, Brooklyn Ballet, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. His newest works were created for Kemar's 2021's Global Black Pride event, Battery Dance Festival, Mara Torres's Sol El Bario, and the Joyce Theatre in partnership with Future Dance Festival, 92nd Street Y, and The Martha Graham Dance Company.
Sashalie Rios (Lead Dancer) was born and raised in Miami, FL, where she received her BFA in dance at New World School of the Arts College. While earning her degree, she trained in various movement styles at intensives with Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, San Francisco Conservatory, and Mark Morris Dance Group. She has since worked professionally with Daniel Flores and freelanced with Mari Meade Dance Collective in France.
Thomas Batchelor (Lead Dancer) Tommy Batchelor is a performer/videographer and is the founder of Terpsichorean Media Group. Batchelor started performing as Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical on Broadway. He has since performed works by choreographers Bebe Miller, Stephen Koplowitz, and Eddie Taketa. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019 with a BFA in Dance and has worked as a freelance dance and film artist since then.
Taylor Ennen (Lead Dancer) is a dancer, performance artist, and improviser originally from Ohio. She earned a BFA summa cum laude with an Honors Medallion from Florida State University's School of Dance. Taylor has had additional training from the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, the Academié American de Danse de Paris, and B12. Taylor regularly collaborates with Danse Theatre Surreality, The Equus Projects, and Eryc Taylor Dance. She has performed in films by Sarah Elgart and Jee Eun Ahn. She has had the privilege of dancing in works by Robert Moses, Ohad Naharin, Alex Ketley, Merce Cunningham, Christian Burns, Larry Keigwin, Doug Varone, Gerri Houlihan, and Gwen Welliver.
Cameron Arnold Dancer) is a Brooklyn-based artist originally from Southeast Michigan. He has been dancing since age five and has trained extensively in jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, and musical theatre. Cam has performed live and video performances for artists such as Casey Spooner and Chris Grand. Along with performing, Cam enjoys creating and is a renowned choreographer in Metro Detroit. While at the University of Michigan, he served as the Artistic Director of the hip-hop dance team Dance 2XS Michigan. He is currently part of the Brooklyn-based hip-hop dance team; Dash M. Cam loves the freedom and artistry dance gives and hopes to explore this indefinitely.
Miranda Stuck (Dancer) is a professional dancer from Seattle, Washington, and resides in New York City. Before graduating from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program, Miranda trained classically at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Miranda currently dances with Eryc Taylor Dance and Stubborn MVMT and is signed as a fit model with Stetts Model Management. Miranda has previously danced with Alison Cook Beatty Dance, Buglisi Dance Theatre, and in the Marc Jacobs Fall 2020 NYFW closing runway show.
Imani Rose Arnett (Dancer) was born and raised in Chicago, IL where she began her dance training at age 12. As a member of her dance studio’s pre-professional youth ensemble, she had the privilege of taking classes from Homer Hans Bryant, Ingrid Silva, Alicia Graf-Mack, as well as the late Arthur Mitchell, in addition to performing alongside the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Dallas Black Dance Theater, NYFW campaigns, Tedx Talks, and televised fashion commercials. Imani subsequently earned her BFA in Contemporary Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Since then, she has been freelancing across New York City in hopes of taking her dance and creative career to new heights.
Julia Foti (Dancer) is a movement artist whose love for painting, film, and nature greatly influence her craft. Foti is a 2021 graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where she earned her BFA in Dance and B.Sci in Psychology. Foti performed works by choreographers such as Stephanie Batten Bland, John Heginbotham, Randy James, Benny Royce, and Quashierra Muhammad. Foti gives endless thanks to those who have helped her become the ever-evolving person she is today.
Isoke Wright (Dancer) is an artist born and raised in Richmond, VA. Isoke graduated from Point Park University with a BA in dance. In the past four years, she has worked with and performed choreography by John Heginbotham, Rocker Verastique Kiesha Lalamaand others, and interned and danced at the American Dance Festival. She has also had the privilege of working with the Helianthus Annuus Theatre Company. Her time as a postgraduate has fortunately been filled with amazing experiences, including working with Rennie Harris and Boaz Yakin and being a part of a campaign with Thayers Natural.
Lighting Designer: Carlos Martinez
Sam Boudloche: Director of Special Events | Slate
Audio Visual Technicians: Robin Ediger-Seto
Camera Operators: Mason Chapello, Caroline Haidet
Social Media Development/Engagement: Shannel Resto
Digital Marketing: Daniel Tobias, Shannel Resto
Photographer: Rachel Neville Studio, Shannel Resto
Production Director: Daniel Tobias
Production Assistant: Savannah Gaillard
Publicist/Writer & Booking: Cindy Sibilsky
Factory|Refractory Merchandise here
Ticket Pages here
ETD receives funding from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. ETD is the recipient of the Dance/NYC's Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund and The Marta Heflin Foundation.
Sashalie Rios and company in "Factory|Refractory." Photo by Shannel Resto @s.jrphotography
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