Press Release for The Field's EAR Showcase

here i sit, running lines and slowly working my way through blocking in my harlem apartment before i head to chelsea in a few hours to rehearse with ken roberson for next week's showcase. i can't believe this residency is almost over. it feels good, shockingly achingly good, to have something meaningful and substantial to show for my time and effort. after this, onto the next -- but what a lovely moment i've had, tromping all the way to the west side through the freezing cold and the filthy snow to a warm emotionally/creatively safe place to explore my freshest ideas and make art.

the press release is below. one performance only. and yes it will get videotaped.

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The Field Emerging Artist in Residency Showcase

Monday March 21st, 7:30pm

The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street NY, NY

Tickets: $15, advance and at the door

Information and Tickets: www.thefield.org

The Field Emerging Artist Residency showcase proudly presents the performance work of Queen Esther, Maija Garcia/Organic Magnetics, Sara Zimmerman, Josselyn Levinson Dances, Yanghee Lee, Marie Christine Katz and Becky Radway Dance Projects at The Kitchen, Monday March 21st at 7:30pm. These seven unique artists present and array of new work drawing from diverse artistic and cultural backgrounds. The products of an extensive community driven feedback process, these in depth and carefully crafted performance works ranging from contemporary dance, physical theater and performance art promise a thought provoking and compelling evening of new work.

Queen Esther presents a segment from her one person show currently in development, “The Big Payback” – a comedic socio-political romp about reparations, directed by Ken Roberson with music by Jon Diaz. Through sound and vision, storytelling, song and dance, “The Big Payback” takes the viewer through the history of Africans in America as 7 characters – a Japanese-American grandma, a socially downward Harlemite, a jaded Alabama housewife, a Native American tribal leader, a Boston dock worker, an overachieving ATL-ien and a Serbian “dancer” in Brighton Beach – reflect on their disparate yet somehow intertwined experiences and how the idea of reparations has touched each of their lives intimately. Collectively, they speak to the notion of what is owed and to whom and why.

Josselyn Levinson Dances presents an excerpt from her dance theater work “Itemized”. Blurring the line between installation, theater and contemporary dance, “Itemized” explores the affects of materialistic accumulation in our society. Set against a backdrop littered with receipts and a sound score of live text and pop music, “Itemized” asks, how much do we need in order to feel whole?

Sara Zimmerman presents Big Exit, a physical theater performance created in collaboration with Eliza Ladd. The piece is a theatrical love letter to all the human beings who feel stuck in dead end jobs and dream of flight. Big Exit celebrates the strange and beautiful ways imagination and fantasy can lead to escape!

“The three seconds” presented by Yanghee Lee / The Limbo Project, is derived from the vocative effects of displacing the human bodies in one space to another, including the potential effects of their exterior or interior movements. This multi-faceted happening utilizes the elements of sounds from the human bodies, and non-narrative physical movements act as an installation in different formats which are part of the 'accumulation' in time and space. These hybrid associations are encountered for their aesthetic properties, moment to moment, as conceptual signifiers carrying a light of connotations.

Marie Christine Katz’s new work, "Unravel”, invites you to enter into a universe where your imagination weaves together the threads of a different reality.

Becky Radway Dance Projects presents an excerpt of “Palisade”, a new work that encloses the performers in a fully palpable environment by reining them in with audience on opposing sides and a movable fence structure. Delving into the intimate encounters created by this enclosure, the work is filled with tactile investigation, assisted movement, and animalistic exploration.

Majia Garcia’s Organic Magnetics, comprised of artists from Cuba, Trinidad, Mexico, Germany, Nigeria, Japan, Canada and the US, presents “Co-Incidence”. A study of overlapping patterns; an experience of time as a cycle that connects us all by the migration stories of our ancestors. Identifying hidden layers that compose and expose the diverse and complex culture of NYC, “Co-Incidence” asks who we are, where we come from, and how we all ended up here in this melting pot- by force or choice; by boat, train or plane? And what do we do with the stories? Stir it up!

About The Field

Founded by artists for artists, The Field is dedicated to providing strategic services to thousands of performing artists and companies in New York City and beyond. From fostering creative exploration to stewarding innovative fundraising strategies, we are delighted to help artists reach their fullest potential. Now in our 25th year, more than 1,900 performing artists come to The Field each year to build their businesses. Each year 2,000+ new art works are developed under our stewardship, and our services are replicated in 11 cities across the U.S. and Europe. In tandem with this significant growth, we remain true to our grassroots origin and artist- centered mission to: strategically serve the myriad artistic and administrative needs of independent performing artists and companies who work in the fields of dance, theater, music, text, and performance art. Field services include career-building workshops (grant writing, touring, internet strategies, etc.), fiscal sponsorship, creative residencies in New York City and out of town, and Membership benefits. See our different program offerings at www.thefield.org.

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The 2011 Emerging Artists Winter Residency Performances at The Kitchen, 3/21

This is a showcase for an idea I've been carrying around in the pit of me for way too long -- a one person show about reparations called The Big Payback. Actually, I was actively developing it off and on awhile back but other things rushed in as is often the case in New York City and the project got derailed. The winter residency with The Field was an ideal way to grow this concept all over again.

I shall always be forever grateful for those many rehearsal hours that eagerly awaited me, deep in the heart of West Chelsea. I trudged through the filthy snow in the dark, pushed and shoved along by the wind and sometimes the black ice. Armed with a laptop, a pair of indestructible snowpants and a vivid imagination, I made my way to the safety of a warm incubatory space. Unbelievable, how much of this piece I fleshed out in that room.

I should spend every winter hibernating creatively. It would be worth it, if I could always have results like this.

I always meant to have a live music component but this has evolved to include multimedia, too -- images, video, some interviews maybe -- which really excites me for some strange reason. I really want to be inclusive on this subject and not just go on about 40 acres and a mule because clearly, reparations is a global issue.

Now that I have a wonderful director in Mr. Ken Roberson to steer this project, a rough draft -- and with this performance, a videotaped segment -- this train has finally left the station.

For tickets and more information, please click here.

The Field Art Grows Here Serving Performing Artists Since 1986

Emerging Artist Residency Showcase Presented by The Field Monday, March 21st 7:30pm at The Kitchen 512 West 19th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues TICKETS: $15 In Advance with Visa or Mastercard or Cash at the door Join us for an evening of works-in-progress as the Winter 2011 Emerging Artist Residents harvest their creative crop... Artists include: Queen Esther Maija Garcia Sara Zimmerman Josselyn Levinson Yanghee Lee Marie Christine Katz Becky Radway Dance Projects Workshops facilitated by Susan Oetgen

a break in the ice

yeah, so...

once i got the winter 2011 emerging artist residency through the field in december, i thought that would be more than enough until the end of the season. there's a lot of work involved. we have weekly meetings, i have weekly rehearsals, and there are consultations and talks to consider, along with a final performance at the kitchen on march 21. january found me trudging through chelsea's west side in the snow and freezing cold to the warmth of an open studio space and fresh ideas, to flesh out whatever was inside me. i spent my days buried in rewrites and running lines aloud in our harlem apt to bounce them around and make them come alive somehow, leaving the house for twice daily boxing sessions, church and occasionally groceries. my self-imposed lockdown was complete.

nevermind the fact that i have to finish recording and mixing my black country rock album, that i've got the "billy meets billie" project in february at the university of the streets to rehearse for or the salon's anniversary bash at the edison ballroom in early march. i'll get to those tidbits later.

the thing is, i had every intention to stay in lockdown until my father's birthday in march. but inspiration is a funny thing. it can't be partitioned off or legistated or controlled. once something triggers it, it simply flows. in the best of circumstances -- that is, if i get out of the way and don't undo things -- it keeps flowing. once the ideas started to run over me from one project, they started to spill onto everything else.

i'm not afraid to fall through the ice and drown. thanks to my time in nyc as an outsider, i know how to swim very well. there may be an undertow, but that's to be expected when the pull is this strong.

if you've been reading this blog, you already know this -- so for the uninitiated and/or uninformed, here's something you should know about me as an artist.

i'm not a replicator. i'm an originator. that means most of the work i do comes from what i create. everyone that calls themselves an artist doesn't do these things. as a matter of fact, most of the creative folk i know patiently wait by the phone for it to ring so they can make a living. for most of them, developing and executing their own ideas is unthinkable -- for lots of reasons, not the least of which is that they don't have any ideas in the first place. needless to say, fear of so many things -- one's own potential, for example -- can sometimes play a stronger part than anyone would care to imagine. but i digress.

i'll tell you what i'm working on later. for now, all i can say is that i'm working. hard.

winter = hibernation

hibernation: 1. to spend the winter in close quarters in a dormant condition, as bears and certain other animals. Compare estivate. 2. to withdraw or be in seclusion; retire.

when i got the winter 2011 emerging artist residency from the field some weeks ago, i realized that this was the perfect moment for me to fall into a deep sleep of creativity and let my ideas -- however lousy and half-baked and simple -- wash over the soul of me like a gigantic waterfall, and gush onto the rest of my world. that's the way the creative impetus seems to work -- for me, anyway. it gets all over everything, it affects everything. it changes me, opens me up. no sooner did i begin to doze and dig into the libretto for the alberta hunter project than the rpm challenge reared it's ugly head. i'd wanted to do it for ages. why not now? i couldn't think of a reason, so i signed up. by the time i really settled in, i decided to pull out the script for my one person show about reparations. so right about now, i'm off to the races.

it's trippy, that long walk through the snow and the cold and the quiet that lives in the darkness to the rehearsal space all the way on the west side. everything is still and the trees are frostbitten and i am alone. and i like my aloneness. i'm adjusting to this process, to writing everyday and working out ideas alone in a wide open rehearsal space. i like this chance.

there's all this other stuff going on -- a gig here and there, auditions, and lots to work on for the next album. and yes, there is boxing and all the work i'm doing physically so i can get good at it, which is a whole other situation entirely. an hour of circuit training makes me feel like crawling all the way home, or at least to the steam room. but creative hibernation reigns paramount.

i intend to emerge victorious when spring arrives -- lean and strong and clear-headed, squinting into the sun, defiant and happy. my script in one hand, my album in the other. a pretty hat on my head. new songs in my heart. more ideas, growing.

until then, i am hibernating like the bear my permanent boyfriend says i really am.

great news!

i received notice earlier today from harlem arts alliance, lower manhattan cultural council and the field that i'm one of ten artists that's been chosen to participate in the 2010 uptown/downtown performance development program. i'm using this opportunity to grow the alberta hunter project, an idea written by storyteller daniel carlton and myself that was instigated by a commission from jazzmobile earlier this year for their vocalfest as a tribute to miss hunter.

the performance in the spring at harlem stages for vocalfest was wonderful. daniel and i were onstage with the hot five, strutting our way through the better part of the 20th century via miss hunter's action-packed life. i've got a lot of ideas. and needless to say, i'm very excited.

i'd like to take a moment to thank aj for letting me know about this opportunity and encouraging me to apply for it. ever since he saw my one person show queen esther: unemployed superstar, he's been quite the cheerleader. thanks so much, aj. i hope you'll like the art i'm growing now.