FirstWorks Season Kicks Off with Week-Long Residency by Los Angeles-Based Cloud Eye Control

FirstWorks kicks off the 2015-2016 season with a week-long residency by the vibrant Los Angeles-based, multimedia performance art troupe Cloud Eye Control. The event inaugurates the new FirstWorks Frontier Series, offering attendees a first look at the freshest, most groundbreaking performances from across the country. Produced in cooperation with the Columbus Theatre, Cloud Eye Control presents their East Coast debut of Half Life at the Columbus on Nov. 21, 2015. Tickets for Half Life are on sale now and start at only $10 at first-works.org.

Comprised of a multitalented group of artists, Cloud Eye Control's reach spans from The Museum of Modern Art to the TED talk stage. Half Life is a mix of projected animation, theater, and music that examines the psychological fallout of global disaster. This highly visual experience offers an imagistic, visceral work inspired by the nervous fear felt in the wake of natural or man-made disasters. This latest multimedia piece recently drew rave reviews for its world premiere at L.A.'s famed REDCAT Theater. Cloud Eye Control and Half Life draw out a raw energy through innovative live music with the appeal of a rock concert.

"FirstWorks' new Frontier Series allows audiences to discover the most exciting new artistic visions in the country. There could be no better beginning to the season than the eye-popping innovation and gorgeous animations of Cloud Eye Control," said Kathleen Pletcher, Executive Artistic Director, FirstWorks. "Driven by triple-threat leaders-multimedia wizard Miwa Matreyek, who has been featured on the TED Global stage; Anna Oxygen, whose music has been presented at PS1 and MOMA; and L.A.-based theatre director Chi-wang Yang's unmatched talent for integrated media-their work provides an experience for all of the senses. We are so excited to be hosting the East Coast premiere of Half Life.

This performance also marks the beginning of FirstWorks' new cross-promotional partnership with the historic Columbus Theatre, where Half Life will be staged. During the week leading up to the performance, members of Cloud Eye Control will share their inventive hybrid art of animation, experimental theatre, pop music and puppetry with FirstWorks' Arts Learning students at Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts and Central Falls High School.

Workshops and talks at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design are open to the public and provide an opportunity to learn with the L.A. group. In addition, FirstWorks invites the community to join two public salons focused on environmental issues raised by Half Life, which will be held at The Providence Athenaeum.

Mon 11/16, 12-1pm: RISD Global Initiative Club Artists' Talk, Cloud Eye Control directors speak about the Fukushima disaster and its effect on the world's ecosystem and citizens. RISD Global Initiative exists to make seemingly distant global issues accessible and relevant. No registration required. Located at the Tap Room in Memorial Hall at 226 Benefit Street, Providence.

Wed 11/16, 12-1pm: Performance in a Virtual World A co-taught production course exploring emerging technology in the context of live performance, focusing on techniques where the body appears both on stage and on screen with Cloud Eye Control Directors. Register by contacting annette@first-works.org. Located at Grant Recital Hall, 105 Benevolent Street, Providence.

Fri 11/20, 5-7pm: SALON, co-presented with FirstWorks and ecoRI News: Brown University Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences Terry E. Tullis, Chair of the National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council, on "Fracking, Earthquakes, and Carbon Disposal" discusses the potential effect of our present practices on our future. Open to the public.

Fri 11/27, 5-7pm: SALON, co-presented with FirstWorks and ecoRI News: RI Artists on Environmental Practice. Join a conversation with RI artists whose work addresses a variety of environmental issues and instigations, and learn how they use their work to calibrate, celebrate, test, and protest the evolving consequences of human interaction on the physical environment. Open to the public.

Cloud Eye Control's Arts Learning Residency is presented in partnership with Brown's Creative Arts Council and RISD's Center for Student Involvement. Half Life was also made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Pilot, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the California Community Foundation and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

For more information on Cloud Eye Control's visit to Providence, visit first-works.org.

About FirstWorks

FirstWorks' purpose is to build the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of our community by engaging audiences with world-class performing arts and education programs. Launched in 2004, FirstWorks festivals and programs have attracted more than 285,000 participants. FirstWorks has offered Rhode Islanders unprecedented access to firsts in the arts from luminaries such as Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Wynton Marsalis, Joffrey Ballet, and international masters from the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and Europe. The FirstWorks Arts Learning Program works with over 30 public and charter schools across Rhode Island to provide students, particularly those from underserved communities, direct connection with world-class performing artists.

www.first-works.org

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