Works & Process: "UNDERSCORED" by Ephrat Asherie Dance and NYC Club Legends
Company:
Works & Process
Works & Process Commission
"UNDERSCORED" by Ephrat Asherie Dance and NYC Club Legends
Sunday and Monday, November 13 and 14, 7:30 pm
Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Peter B. Lewis Theater
Tickets $35, Choose-What-You-Pay
Commissioned by Works & Process, UNDERSCORED is a multi-faceted project that acts as a living archive of five generations of NYC club dancers. Rooted in the intergenerational stories and memories of NYC underground club heads, UNDERSCORED was created in collaboration with legendary elders from the underground dance community such as Archie Burnett, Michele Saunders, and Brahms "Bravo" LaFortune and Ephrat Asherie Dance company members Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie, Manon Bal, Ron "Stealth-1" Chunn Jr., Teena Marie Custer, Val "Ms. Vee" Ho, and Matthew "Megawatt" West. The performers, ranging in age from 27 to 79, share lived experiences, stories, and vibes from seminal underground parties, including David Mancuso's the Loft, Larry Levan's Paradise Garage and Timmy Regisford's Shelter. Featuring costumes by David Dalrymple and building on the intergenerational transference of knowledge and culturally reflective movement that happens night after night on dance floors across the city, UNDERSCORED explores the ever-changing physical and musical landscape of New York City's underground dance community.
Commissioned by Works & Process in 2018, UNDERSCORED makes its long-awaited world premiere in the Peter B. Lewis Theater at the Guggenheim following a summer 2019 residency at LUMBERYARD, summer 2020 Works & Process bubble residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, a spring 2021 Works & Process bubble residency at Bridge Street Theatre with the support of the Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and May 2022 Works & Process LaunchPAD "Process as Destination" residency at Catskill Mountain Foundation. Throughout this time, in some of New York State's first permitted performances during the pandemic, Works & Process coproduced outdoor, filmed, and preview performances of UNDERSCORED at Harlem Stage, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and in the Guggenheim Museum rotunda. During summer of 2022, in-process performances of UNDERSCORED were presented at the Vail Dance Festival and The Yard.
ABOUT WORKS & PROCESS
An independent process-focused non-profit performing arts organization, Works & Process illuminates the artistic process of creators from the world's largest organizations and simultaneously champions artists representing historically underrecognized performing arts cultures by providing rare longitudinal studio-to-stage fully-funded creative residency, commissioning, and iterative presenting support. Works & Process provides audiences with unprecedented access to creative process with programs that blend artist discussions and performance highlights, with the goal of fostering greater understanding and appreciation and broadening representation. This season Works & Process celebrates New York artists, street and social dance, and after four decades at the Guggenheim expands beyond the museum to also present at Gibney Center, Lincoln Center, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, with the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Our ongoing LaunchPAD "Process as Destination" residency program knits together a constellation of 12 residency centers across New York state to support creative process.
"An exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process" – The New York Times
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