Join us for a delightful evening of short performances! This special evening features 3-6 performances, each 10-20 minutes long from artists of different disciplines. This is a chance for artists to share work, or excerpts of their work, alongside other artists. Audiences will be given the option to write a note for each artist, sharing their experience of the work. This is a wonderful opportunity for artists to receive feedback about the impact of their work, and for audiences to feel into the impact of each piece. The mixture of pieces – from dance, to music, to theater, to visual art, to experimental art – makes for a fun, inspiring, and diverse evening.
In May we are thrilled to present (please see longer descriptions below):
Written by: Philip Dimitri Galas
Performed by: Anne Lilly
Directed by: Grace Phelan
Description:
Brooklyn based Theater Artists Anne Lilly and Grace Phelan will be sharing an excerpt of a one-woman show entitled Performance Hell written by the late, award winning, West Coast playwright Philip Dimitri Galas.
Before his untimely death in 1986, Philip worked with Anne, mentoring her in his “avante-vaudeville” style, and giving her permission to perform his canon of work. Performance Hell is a fever dream that explores the trials, tribulations, joys and revelations of the life of a performer. Anne will be performing six out of about a dozen vignettes that make up the show. Along with Galas’ rich text, there is also singing and movement which make for a vibrant performance experience that is both darkly comic and emotionally vulnerable.
Anne Lilly is an actor, singer, and educator based in Brooklyn NY. For the last several years Anne has enjoyed being the lead singer in the NYC band Suffragette Kitty whose focus was presenting fierce female rock songs at venues such as Arlene’s and The Bitter End. Anne has also previously performed at The Knitting Factory, The Hudson Guild Theatre, PS 122 and The Vineyard Theatre. Ms. Lilly studied with Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse, holds a B.A. in Drama from The University of Washington, and an M.A. in Theatre Education from the University of Northern Colorado.
Grace Phelan is a director, actor and educator from Brooklyn, NY. She has performed and created theater in NYC, Los Angeles, Maine, Ohio as well as Ecuador, Brazil, France, and Italy. In 2019, she played Athena in The Trojan Women at La Mama ETC. She enjoys directing and developing new works, in addition to adapting the classics. She was the founder and artistic director of the company The New Euripides which performed The Bacchae at the Edinburgh Fringe, as well Romeo+Juliet at the City Reliquary Museum in Williamsburg. Grace received her BA in Theater from Oberlin College.
Created and performed by: Nikita Patel
Description:
An initial work-in-progress sharing of the embodied exploration of the four lead characters from Jill Hammer’s queer fantasy sci-fi story – The Moonstone Covenant. Inspirations – their elemental qualities, relationships (to themselves, each other and the world around them), working together to clear the path to truth.
Nikita Patel (she/her) was born and raised in Pune, India. She is a dancer & interdisciplinary artist with international performance experience in India, UAE & USA. She is passionate about inner work (mind & soma) and food. You can find her creating in the kitchen when not dancing.
Choreographer: Jerylann Warner
Dancers: Neva Cockrell , Raphael Sacks, Meredith Casimiro, Lara Shmakov, and Jennifer Torborg
Singer: Raphael Sacks
Music: Life and Death by the Balanescu Quartet
Description:
The title of this piece will be revealed to everyone, dancers, dance maker and audience alike at the end of the work. It is in process and perhaps thematically hinges (a tiny bit) on the title of the music Life and Death.
In the realm of performance ideation, Jerylann, as a choreographer and seasoned teacher, has made an unstoppable creative impact. She has guided her students far in their artistic pursuits while mentoring, nurturing, and developing professional dancers and actors. Her choreography and dance company, Gathering Wild, have provided opportunities and acclaim for many performing artists. Her signature approach has been to foster community, conversation, and collaboration among vocal, visual, musical, theatrical, movement, and literary artists. Her roles in performance, production, and direction all center around this alchemy. Her production credits are numerous, ranging from site-specific immersive events to staged musical theater, as well as performances for the concert stage.
Jerylann has served on the faculties of Harvard and Emory University, directed dance programs in two performing arts high schools, and also served as dramaturge in residence. She launched a dance program in Title I schools in Atlanta, directed a school of dance in metro Atlanta, and wrote and directed a series of evening-length productions.
Created and performed by: Chris Black
Description:
Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ attempts to capture the sense-memory of a particular time and place on the Jersey Shore of the 1970s.
Chris Black (she/her) is a choreographer and performer now based in the Hudson Valley after living in San Francisco for 30 years. She has made work for theaters, parks, museums, a Tokyo acting school, and a wedding, and has won numerous awards for her choreography. This excerpt is the beginning seed of a larger project, between two waves of the sea.
Photo credit: Lydia Daniller
Choreographer Lillian Kemanis performing a duet with Nikita Patel
Description:
This work-in-progress explores the dynamic relationship between sound and movement, drawing inspiration from the natural world. It emerged through a practice of deep listening and attentive witnessing of the lake’s vibrant ecosystem at WildHeart Center.
Lillian Kemanis is a multidisciplinary artist, dancer and choreographer whose work explores the intersection of modern/contemporary dance, somatic movement, and theater. Based in New York City for over a decade, she performed throughout the city and co-directed a dance theatre company, 96b, from 2013–2017. Lillian has produced two dance films—In Between (2016) and Marigold (2019)—and has appeared in several others, most recently Heart of the Earth (2023). Lillian’s practice blends performance and healing, inviting embodied presence through expressive, interdisciplinary work.
WildHeart is located on 46+ beautiful acres in the Hudson Valley at 183 East Road, Wallkill, NY. This event will take place in the Barn, the large building at the end of the driveway. You can park in either of the two parking areas on the right side of the driveway before you get to the Barn. There are also a few spots in front of the Barn. More info about directions and transportation options HERE.
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