Meryl Murman's THE LIPSTICK Makes U.S. Premiere at Contemporary Arts Center

The Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans (CAC) is pleased to announce two performances of the provocative dance performance by FLOCK--The Lipstick--choreographed by local choreographer Meryl Murman and accompanied by a solo violin and a tube of lipstick. Both performances will take place in the CAC's Freeport-McMoRan Theater, with the first being the U.S. Premiere on September 30 and the final performance taking place as part of the 2016 CAC's Art for Arts' Sake | DOWNTOWN on October 1.

Daring, discomfiting, and darkly hilarious, The Lipstick treads the fine line between what is sacred and what is profane, as choreographer Meryl Murman reflects on her Arab ancestry and the complexities of a diasporic culture. Armed with only a bullet of red lipstick on a minimalist set, the performers weave through shifting landscapes as they illustrate the relationship between identity and geography with rigorous athleticism and aggressive sensuality.

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THE LIPSTICK

Company FLOCK

Choreography Meryl Murman

Musical Composition and Performance Rebecca Crenshaw

Lighting Design Chu-hsuan Chang

Performed by Calvin Rowe, Eric Namaky, Phillip Rush, Jake Harkey, Alan Perez

Sound Design Trey Chandler

Arabic Translations and Oratory Ramzi Hibri

Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans

Advance Tickets $35 General Admission | $25 CAC Members

Day of Show $40 General Admission | $30 CAC Members

Buy Online cacno.org

Buy at CAC Box Office 504.528.3805

CONVERSATION

The Syrian Refugee Crisis and the Trauma of Displacement

September 27, 7pm

Prompted by the Syrian refugee crisis, Meryl Murman joins Professor Shereen Naser, community organizer Lugine Gray, scholar Fernando Lopez, and medical doctor Anjali Niyogi to discuss displacement, trauma and the body, and how art can be used as a tool for social change.

POST-SHOW CONVERSATION

Friday, September 30

Moderated by CAC Senior Curator of Performing Arts Laurie Uprichard

CAC ART FOR ARTS' SAKE | DOWNTOWN

Saturday, October 1, 6-10pm

This year's Art for Arts' Sake | DOWNTOWN celebrates the CAC's 40th Anniversary Season. Exhibition openings and events at the CAC, and throughout the Arts District New Orleans, can be found at cacno.org.

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FLOCK is a constellation of distinct individuals joined by a gravitational compulsion to stretch the boundaries of contemporary dance through a shared sense of curiosity, play and physical abandonment. Under the artistic direction of Meryl Murman our cohort of bold, colorful, ferocious, MOTHERFLOCKERS flaunt our plucky feathers to come together to interrogate the human experience and create disruptive, offbeat engaged performances.

Meryl Murman is a New Orleans-based choreographer, filmmaker, and scholar engaged with the intersection of moving bodies, human rights, and cinema. Her award-winning film le Pain premiered in festivals in the south of France; London; Madrid; and Washington, D.C. Her performance work has been presented in NYC (Soho Rep), Los Angeles (REDCAT), Austin Texas (Fusebox Festival), and most recently Berlin, Germany. Murman taught and presented research at ImPulsTanz International Dance Festival in Vienna, Austria (2016), and in Thessaloniki, Greece. She is the artistic director of FLOCK, with an MFA in Dance and Integrated Media from CalArts, and a BFA from NYU Tisch.

The Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) is a multidisciplinary arts center dedicated to the presentation, production, and promotion of the art of our time. Formed in 1976 by a passionate group of visual and performing artists when the movement to tear down the walls between visual and performing arts was active nationwide, the CAC expresses its mission by organizing world class curated exhibitions, performances, and public programs that educate and enlarge audiences for the arts while encouraging collaboration among diverse stakeholders composed of artists, institutions, communities, and supporters throughout the world.