Support Our Artists!
2021 marks the end of our 5th Year as a vibrant cultural hub for both our Upper West Side neighbors and the NYC artistic community.
As we look forward to the future of CWP, we hope you will continue to join us on our journey to build a more inclusive community and support the diverse, engaging, and boundary-pushing artists we serve.
FALL 2021 Season:
PARDON THE INTERRUPTION
A new performance series
curated by debra Ann Byrd, Melanie Greene & Elliot Reed
Be(ings)
Created and Performed By
Gabrielle Schutz and Andrew Murdock
In Residence: Sep 20-Oct 2
Performances: Sep 30-Oct 2
Be(ings) is an immersive, meditative, spectacle where "life" takes unexpected forms. We invite the audience to encounter other-worldly life and watch dynamic landscapes develop in real-time. In this interdisciplinary performance, simple materials and the human body are transformed through live video manipulation, puppetry, and layered soundscapes. At its heart, Be(ings) is about perception, empathy, and examining the uniqueness of life-forms large and small, known and imagined.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
GABRIELLE SCHUTZ (She/They) is an interdisciplinary theatre artist based in New York City, specializing in original contemporary performance and innovative reimaginings of classical material. Their work often engages dance, theatre, and emergent media to create visually rich and fully embodied productions. Their Direction/Choreography of new work(s) has been presented by Dixon Place, Object Movement Festival, Pace University, TheatreLab NYC, The Hudson River Museum, Seattle International Dance Festival, Pony World Theatre, and The Northwest New Work Festival, among others. Schutz is also an active educator with teaching credits at Pace University (Adjunct Faculty), Sarah Lawrence College (Adjunct Faculty), United Nations International School (Guest Artist), and more. They hold an MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College (2015). www.gabrielleschutz.com
ANDREW MURDOCK (He/Him) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator. His work often bridges the tangible and digital by utilizing techniques in video, physical theatre, and puppetry. He currently works at Poly Prep Country Day School as a scenic designer and videographer. Recent credits include: Video Designer and Livestream Technician for 36.5 / PROCESS by Sarah Cameron Sunde (Socrates Sculpture Park/Hallett’s Cove, NYC) and commissioned video project AMASS (ArtYard, Frenchtown, NJ). More info at www.AndrewMurdock.com
VIRGINIA/POE
Written By Daria Kent
Directed by maiya pascouche
In Residence: October 4-16
Performances: October 14-16
When Virginia Eliza Clemm, a young girl in love with Death, meets Edgar Allan Poe, she becomes entangled in a marriage that eludes historians to this day. VIRGINIA/POE explores the many possible relationships between the famed poet and his thirteen-year-old cousin. Steeped in uncertainty, the play explores questions of historical interpretation, agency, and power.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
DARIA KENT (She/Her) is an emerging playwright, dramaturg, and theatre artist in New York City. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre (Playwriting) and English from Fordham University. There, she produced three original plays: Erotophobia (dir. Miranda Haymon, November 2018), Into Me See (solo performance, November 2020), and Virginia/Poe (dir. Kate DiRienzi, April 2021). Daria also worked as a dramaturg on various Fordham Studio productions, including Ishmael, a new play (dir. Kevin Hourigan, 2017), Dimes, a new play (dir. Carlos Armesto, 2018), and Everybody by Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins (dir. Terrence I. Mosely, 2021). Her devised work includes If you give a country a cookie, performed in collaboration with Emma Lea Hasslebach at Theatre in Asylum’s The Debates 2020.
MAIYA PASCOUCHE (She/Her) is a theater director-songwriter-adaptor. Originally from Connecticut, she has found her true home in the multifarious neighborhoods of New York City. She studied Drama at NYU Tisch. Her work strives to challenge the cis, hetero-normative narrative commonly found in the theatrical canon by placing women and LGBTQ+ characters at the forefront of her pieces. It is the vulnerable act of making theater that keeps her alive. Maiya’s work has been seen at Playwrights Downtown, Theaterlab, and digitally as a Line Producer for The Homebound Theater Project.
Photo credit: gif/meme from Annalise Keating character from How To Get Away With Murder played by Viola Davis
Hokum Arts
Sis! White Male!
Directed and Choreographed By
Louis DeVaughn Nelson
In Residence: Oct 25-Nov 6
Performances: November 4-6
An homage to Adrian Piper and her The Mythic Being, Village Voice Ads (1973-1975) and Vanilla Nightmares which investigate how Eurocentric views of Black Bodies cross the border of admiration to exploitation, Sis! White Male! is a quick and dirty crowd-sourced artistic investigation about how the endurance of the cisgender white male gaze has expounded through the 21st century.
First, the creative team gathers oral histories and artifacts (cultural data) collected from WOC colleagues, collaborators, and calls for inspiration via social media. Second, work is devised through development rehearsals with the creative team. Both virtually and in a site-specific production, the final reflections are presented through a series of performance vignettes.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
LOUIS DEVAUGHN NELSON (He/Him) is a Queer, Black interdisciplinary artist and the founder Hokum Arts started in 2006. Nelson has worked for 20 years as a performer, choreographer, producer, and director for film, theater, dance, and more. His works have been shown in the USA, Europe, Australia, and South Korea. He has studied at DeSales University, Drexel University, The New School, The Jeanne Ruddy School of Dance, The Koresh School of Dance, and is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild of America.
Intimate partner violence, racism, sexuality, discrimination, bigotry, misogyny, and the marginalization of class and social systems are frequent topics of Nelson's film and dance theater work. His most notable pieces were included in his three-part dance-theatre series satirizing sociopolitical warfare and sensationalism in the media in America entitled Human Error (2007), Man Bites Dog (2010), and Until Proven Guilty (2018). In all of these works, he used innovative methods combining several media/disciplines - collaborating with photographers, filmmakers, fine artists, and performing artists.
From 2019 – 2020, Nelson segued into directing theatre for festivals, including Dear Ms. Kitt at The Broadway Bound Theatre Festival, and several short plays for The Village Playwrights. He started the artist residency #4ColorsNYC at Sitting Shotgun Theatre which examines racial identity in America and began having his monologues selected for performance series at theatres nationwide. His piece Outer Inner Monologue is included in 8:46 Fresh Perspectives, a collection of Black monologues published by New World Theatre.
Since the pandemic – he has directed six theatre/dance productions for Zoom, YouTube, and Twitch with an aim to push the envelope in this time of burgeoning new media, and is currently contributing to theatre companies working in new forms like Teatro Milagro and Ignition Arts.
妈妈，爸爸。
(For Mum, Dad)
By Eva Ding
In Residence November 8-20
Performances Nov 18-20
Performing works by Asian and Asian hyphenate composers and collaborating with a team of immigrant creatives, Eva Ding (flute) and Emma Kato (cello) weave together a story about the journey of one woman's travels to a foreign land, mirroring the struggles and triumphs of immigrant parents across the globe in an interdisciplinary performance of 妈妈, 爸爸 (For Mum, Dad).
妈妈, 爸爸 is a love letter to Ding’s own Chinese parents, who sacrificed so much – living in separate countries, learning entirely new cultures and languages – so that she could have a richer, more fulfilling life – the kind of life they didn't get to experience. It is a love letter to all immigrant families who have sacrificed their cultures and dirtied their hands to provide for their children and their future.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
EVA DING (She/Her) Often humorously likened to an inflatable tube man onstage because of her enthusiasm and physicality, all flutist and multi-disciplinary artist Eva Ding ever wants to do is imbue in her audience the same sense of joy and richness the performing arts gives her. Ever-changing and growing in her craft, Eva is currently working on creating interactive works that meld together her passions for music, theater, and film.
An avid proponent of contemporary music, Eva has given premiere performances of Tailleferre’s Concertino, The Golden Flute Concerto by Chen Yi, and an orchestral arrangement of Claude Bolling’s Suite for Flute and Jazz Trio. She is also passionate about illuminating classical music for a new kind of audience – one that looks more like her – and gave an online talk for Crushing The Myth to that end, on how to listen to classical music and its relevance today.
With her flute-cello duo – KOE, Eva received an Ensemble Forward Grant from Chamber Music America funded by the New York Community Trust and recently premiered two pieces by Chinese American composers – Chen Yi and Zhou Long – as part of Protestra’s Heritage Against Hate concert.
EMMA KATO (She/Her) is a cellist and music instructor, born and raised in New York City. She started playing the cello at the age of 6 at Third Street Music School, where she studied with Su Hang, Tova Rosenberg, Carolyn Jeselsohn, and Sibylle Johner. Later, she attended Fiorello H. Laguardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts, where she continued her musical education.
Emma received her Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music in 2018, studying with renowned cellist Alan Harris, and completed her Master of Music in 2020 at the Manhattan School of Music with Julia Lichten.
Growing up, Emma won 1st prize in the Wagner College Young Musician Competition and the Associated Music Teachers League Scholarship Competition. More recently she won 2nd place in the Cello Concerto Competition at The Eastman School of Music.
Emma first started teaching in 2012 at various music camps, such as Third Street Music School, Chamber Music Center, and Kinhaven Music School. She currently works as a music instructor at Brooklyn Waldorf School in New York City and is pursuing the Suzuki Teacher Training Program at The School for Strings.
Cauldron of the secret self
By SAMANTHA CC
In Residence: Nov 29-Dec 11
Performances: December 9-11
Cauldron of the Secret Self is a multimedia ritualistic performance created by Samantha CC and heavily influenced by Black folk magic traditions such as Hoodoo. These traditions often involve the "calling in" of ancestors as spirit guides. Through this work Samantha explores both the wisdom of her ancestors and the fact that many of them had to use compromise and conformity as survival tactics. This performance acknowledges that reality and envisions an alternate world where the ancestors are unburdened from these choices and able to fully embrace a liberated mind state.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
SAMANTHA CC (She/They) is a performance and multi-media artist originally from and currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. While her background is mainly in film and video, her practice has centered around performance since 2016. Her performances often incorporate original video projections and sound design. Much of her work incorporates themes of fantasy, science fiction, and mysticism as a means of exploring human fragility and the individuation process. The “unreal” both reflects the real and servers as a catalyst for exploring alternative ways of addressing both personal and global issues. She has presented work at Roulette Intermedium, The Wild Project, The Knockdown Center, MoMA PS1, Secret Project Robot, The AC Institute, Outpost Artists Resources, and EV Gallery to name a few. Currently, she is curating an ongoing performance series called Intimates at EV Gallery in New York City.
About the Curators
DEBRA ANN BYRD
Debra Ann Byrd is the Founding Artistic Director of the Harlem Shakespeare Festival, as well as, an award winning classically trained actress, scholar and producer who was recently named Writer-in-Residence at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Artist-in-Residence Fellow at the Folger Institute, an A'Lelia Bundles Community Scholar Arts Fellow at Columbia University, a Virtual Artist-in-Residence at The Center at West Park, and Artist-in-Residence at Southwest Shakespeare Company, where she recently reprised the role of Othello, winning her the 2019 Broadway World Phoenix Award for Best Lead Actress. In addition, Byrd is an emerging playwright who recently completed her new critically acclaimed solo show BECOMING OTHELLO: A Black Girl’s Journey.
Debra Ann received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Acting from Marymount Manhattan College and completed advanced studies at Shakespeare & Company, The Public Theater’s Shakespeare Lab and The Broadway League’s Commercial Theatre Institute.
Her career as an actor, producer, scholar, arts manager and business leader has been recognized with many awards and citations, including the NAACP Shirley Farmer Woman of Excellence Award, the LPTW (League Lucille Lortel Award, and the Josephine Abady Award for Excellence in “Producing works that foster diversity.”
She is the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Sidney Berger Award presented to her by the Shakespeare Theatre Association for her work as leader of a Shakespearean theater throughout the world.
MELANIE GREENE
Melanie Greene, 2017 Bessie Award Recipient for Outstanding Performance with Skeleton Architecture, is a dance artist, writer, and podcast host. She is no stranger to swirling on the edge of impossible, swimming in the sea of the minority. She has presented work around New York City and has received generous support from MANCC, Marble House Project, Brooklyn Studios for Dance, Movement Research, Mount Tremper, New York Live Arts, Gibney Dance, Actors Fund, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Dancing While Black Fellowship, Bogliasco Fellowship, and Brooklyn Arts Council. Greene has contributed written works to Dance Magazine and the Dance Enthusiast, and is currently a co-host of the Dance Union Podcast, and a 2018/20 Movement Research Artist in Residence. A southern belle turned Brooklynite, Greene holds a special place for buttery biscuits, country ham, and collard greens. Stay tuned: www.methodsofperception.com
ELLIOT REED
Elliot Reed is an artist and director based in New York. He assembles bodies, movement, and narrative within exhibition space, wielding performance as a tool. Their projects span video, dance, performance, and sculpture highlighting the ways seen (and unseen) actors make their mark.
Elliot is a 2019 danceWEB scholar, 2019-20 Artist In Residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem, and recipient of the 2019 Rema Hort Mann Emerging Artist Grant. Exhibitions include a commission with JACK Quartet (2021), MoMA PS1 (2020/21), OCD Chinatown (2021) The Getty Museum (2018), The Hammer Museum (2016), The Dorthy Chandler Pavilion (2018), The Broad (2017), and international performances including Tokyo, Osaka, London, Mexico City, Vienna, and Hamburg.
OTHER FALL 2021 PRODUCTIONS
TORN OUT THEATER
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
THE CENTER AT WEST PARK
PRESENTS
ANTIGONICK
FRIDAY, AUGUST 20 AT 8:00PM (DOORS AT 7:30PM)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21 AT 3:00PM (DOORS AT 2:30PM)
THERE IS NO ADVANCE TICKETING. ALL SEATS ARE FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVED.
Torn Out is thrilled to present Antigonick, Anne Carson’s adaptation of Sophocles’ famous tragedy Antigone.
After over a year of physical isolation, come celebrate intimacy, connection, and the devastating importance of human touch.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
TORN OUT THEATER, founded in August 2016, is a home for theater projects that push the boundaries of how we see the human body and what we assume about modern sexuality. Alice Mottola and Pitr Strait, co-founders, believe that everyone's body tells a story, sometimes many stories. By adapting classic texts and devising unique audience experiences, Torn Out attempts to navigate a culture where private and public blur together, where the shocking and common trade places, and where magic is real.
In the spring of 2016, Mottola was approached by the Outdoor Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society about directing a nude production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. After developing the core concepts of this world, finding a way for nudity and Shakespeare to blend together seamlessly, she invited Strait, longtime friend and collaborator, to join her as co-director. Together, they brought a performance like no one had ever seen to Central Park. A cast of brave and proud actors, dancers, and musicians played to overflowing crowds, leaving sorcery, beauty, and wonder in their wake.
In the weeks that followed, coverage of the performance circled the globe, igniting controversy and conversation. Thousands of people debated the role of the nudity in art and in society, the politics of reinventing classic plays, and the differing perceptions of male and female bodies. Seeing the power of theater to bring simmering tensions to the surface, where they could be confronted and explored, Mottola and Strait decided to form a company dedicated to starting more difficult conversations.
Image by Daniel Hess
WELCOME TO IMAGI*NATION: PART 2
DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY BY CARMEN CACERES
(In Collaboration with the dancers)
CO-DIRECTION & DRAMATURGY BY LAUREN HLUBNY
OCT 21 AT 7:30PM
FREE WITH REGISTRATION
SUGGESTED DONATION OF $10 - $40
Welcome to Imagi*Nation: Part 2 is a multimedia interactive performance that begins at the conflict of two fictional neighboring nations. While the audience participates in a socially distant interactive experience, the performers will enter into a series of challenges that will result in multiple possible outcomes. As the characters are searching for a way to survive, the audience will experience the motivations and consequences of migration.
This production will feature performances by Carmen Caceres, Israel Harris, Lauren Hlubny, Mallory Markham-Miller, Sofia Baeta, & Sofia Bengoa.
Understudy: Lydia Perakis
Lighting Design: Nicole Sliwinski
The evening will run approximately 60 minutes total, including a 20-minute talk-back with the artists following the performance.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
CARMEN CACERES (SHE/HER) 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, a creative platform composed 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 project, BLINDSPOT, was sponsored, in part, by the Brooklyn Arts Fund community grant, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). The company has also received the Dance/NYC Emergency COVID-19 Grant in 2020. DA was an Artist in Residence at The Center at West Park, premiering their new work Welcome to Imagi*Nation during the Virtual Residency Program in April 2021. Most recently, DA has received the City Artist Corps Grant to continue exploring this piece; Welcome to Imagi*Nation: Part 2 will premiere in the fall of 2021 at The Center at West Park.
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 (SHE/HER) is the NYC Artistic Director of the 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 was 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.