1518
The Center at West Park Presents
1518
As a part of the Evolution Festival
Thursday, September 25, 2025 @ 7:30PM
The Sanctuary
At St. Paul & St. Andrew
Appropriate for 13+
Welcome to 1518. Things here are... well, bad. Political leaders are absolutely corrupt, the climate is in crisis, women are subjected to oppressive legislation and rules, the wealth gap is massive, and there's generally a feeling that the end of the world could happen at any moment.
Sound familiar?
It's in this world that one woman begins an uncontrollable, unstoppable dance, starting a contagious mass-hysteria-slash-public-revolt. In the two months that follow, over four hundred people join in her dance.
'1518' puts this bizarre-but-real event in the context of a modern pop concert in order to build a bridge from then to now. As we traverse through time, guided by an ensemble of vibrant performer-musicians, audience and cast embodies the story of a people possessed by their political circumstances. In resurrecting the dancing dead, we ask, what can we all learn about overcoming, healing, and resisting in the face of an oppressive society?
Performance to be followed by a talk back with mentor John Waller, a historian at Michigan State University, teaches and writes about the history of medicine and mass psychogenic illness. He is the author of The Dancing Plague: The Strange, True Story of an Extraordinary Illness.
Part séance, part pop concert, full theatrical extravaganza, '1518' is sure to move you, body, mind, and soul.
Kait Warner - Composer / performer
Danica Jensen - Director / performer
Chloe Geller - Music Director
Jbroc - Design consultant
About the Lead Artists
Kait Warner is a multidisciplinary performer, writer, and composer creating genre-defying work across music and theater. Her performances and projects have appeared at The Public Theater, La MaMa ETC, HERE Arts Center (Prototype Festival), City Lyric Opera, and the Edinburgh Fringe. Her debut album Rodeo Clown was praised as “achingly beautiful” (Glide Magazine) and “literate chamber-pop” (Psychedelic Baby). Recent highlights include "Terce" by Heather Christian (NYT Critic’s Pick) and Kait's solo show "Take It Away, Cheryl," which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to critical acclaim, described as “first-rate hilarity” (Broadway World Scotland). She holds a BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts (Experimental Theatre Wing)
The CWP Evolution Festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
