Velocity Presents World Premiere of HOW TO BECOME A PARTISAN Tonight as Part of MADE IN SEATTLE

Velocity is proud to present the world premiere of How to become a partisan tonight, April 25, 2015 at Saint Mark's Cathedral. This five-hour immersive hybrid performance by Italian-American choreographer Alice Gosti, and in collaboration with Seattle composer Hanna Benn, is commissioned, developed and produced through Velocity's Made in Seattle new dance development program.

How to become a partisan is presented in correspondence with the events of Italy's National Liberation Day (April 25, 1945), marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Italy from the Fascists. This timely new work is inspired by ideas of collective resistance, self-organization and the sharing of secret information; the movement of herds and stampedes; and the spiritual / political body, both individual and in mass movements.

A five-hour song cycle, composed and performed by Hanna Benn (Pollens, The Fleet Foxes), draws on songs from the partisan movement of 1943 - 1945. Benn's original music composition incorporates a traveling chamber choir, an intergenerational community choir, coded Italian WWII radio announcements, timpani, hand bells, and the beautiful organ of Saint Mark's Cathedral. For the entirety of the performance Benn will be inside of a dress-like installation created by Gosti and designer Deborah Trout that transforms over the five-hour immersive experience. Amiya Brown's remarkable lighting design will create an internal sunset inside of the cathedral, from afternoon to twilight.

How do we move away from apathy and indifference into resistance? What needs to happen for us to take action? These are the timely questions driving How to become a partisan. Gosti, along with an extraordinary Seattle cast, developed choreography using resistance as a physical score, asking questions around what is required to act.

As part of her process, Gosti researched the history and music of the Italian partisan movement in her hometown of Perugia, as well as other small cities throughout central Italy. She has also engaged in conversations with members of the Seattle community who were alive during WWII, learning about their experiences. How to become a partisan is also in correspondence with the history of Saint Mark's Cathedral, a former WWII soldiers' barracks and anti-aircraft gun- training center. Velocity is working with Gosti to actively engage the public and the Saint Mark's community: participants in the performative community procession will travel from Velocity to Saint Mark's, led by the chamber choir and dancers, carrying food for the Saint Mark's Food Bank.

In 2013, Velocity Artistic Director Tonya Lockyer reached out to Gosti to develop an "immersive performance project" supported through the Made in Seattle new dance development program. Two years later, Gosti reveals her first installment of what has become a multi-year project TO|GET|HER. In a new Made in Seattle initiative, Velocity is reaching-out to leading local filmmakers to create a film focused on Made in Seattle residencies and performances. Filmmaker Sebastian Scanduzzi's grandparents were Italians interned during WWII, who escaped to Geneva during the war.

TO|GET|HER and How to become a partisan focus on questions of identity, community, and where art belongs, challenging the canonic boundaries of dance. With this performance project, Gosti aims to bring politics and history back into the foreground of her art.

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Interactive People Programs accompanying Gosti's How to become a partisan include:

SPEAKEASY SERIES: How to become a partisan
APRIL 19 / 5PM
Velocity / 1621 12th Ave
FREE and open to all

Want to participate in the intergenerational community procession on April 25 that sets off How to become a partisan? Travel from Velocity to Saint Mark's Cathedral bearing food for the Saint Mark's Food Bank. Volunteer participants are invited into the process through this one-time community meeting. Gosti and her cast of dance artists will talk about the project and share an open dialogue focused on the key themes of the project including self-organization, the spiritual /political body, and collective resistance. All are welcome.

SPEAKEASY SERIES: Stories of Collective Resistance
APRIL 19 / 6PM
Velocity / 1621 12th Ave
FREE and open to all

A community conversation sparked by storytellers who have actively participated in social resistance around the globe, and at home.

AUDIENCE LAB with Alice Gosti
MAY 3 / 5-7PM
Velocity / 1621 12th Ave
FREE and open to all

Audience Labs demystify Velocity performances with equal emphasis on presentation, participation, and social connection. Alice Gosti will share video clips of artists who inspired her immersive performance practice, including Britain's DV8 Physical Theater, and Flemish legend Jan Fabre; take participants though an experience of the ideas driving her new work How to become a partisan; followed by a group dialogue, facilitated by a guest artist, reflecting on the work's April 25th premiere.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

ALICE GOSTI is an architect of experiences. While her background is mostly in dance and choreography, she uses all media to create a cohesive environment in which the viewer is invited to both experience and perform. Born and raised by the dynamic art duo SANDFORD&GOSTI in Perugia, Italy, she trained at Associazione Culturale Dance Gallery with Valentina Romito and Rita Petrone. At 19, Alice moved to Seattle, where she received a B. A. in Dance from the University of Washington with a focus in choreography and experimental film.

Alice has received the Vilcek Foundation Creative Promise award in Dance, the 2012 danceWEB scholarship from ImpulsTanz; and, for How to become a partisan, an Artist Trust Gap Grant 2014 and a Seattle Office of Arts and Culture individual project award 2015. She has been awarded residencies and smaller prizes all over the world. Gosti is Velocity's 2015 Artist in Residence.

Alice's work has been presented in Italy, Germany, Japan, and on both coasts of the United States. Her project, Spaghetti CO. toured as part of Velocity's SCUBA National Touring Network, and had the honor of being the last piece presented at the Joyce Soho in New York City, before the theatre closed. She has been presented in Northwest New Works, Seattle International Dance Festival, and Velocity's NEXTfestNW, Bridge Project, Fall Kick-Off, and Guest Artist Series.

In 2013, Alice inaugurated Yellow Fish // Epic Durational Performance Festival, the only festival worldwide dedicated to durational performance. As a performance curator, Alice has also been in charge of Modern Dance Behind the Pink Door, Under Constructions (Velocity Dance Center) and various smaller events in collaboration with the Satori Group and the NEPO 5K don't RUN.

Velocity is commissioning, producing and presenting her next project TO|GET|HER as part of the Made in Seattle new dance development program. The first chapter, How to become a partisan is an immersive five-hour performance to premier on April 25, 2015 at Saint Mark's Cathedral. http://gostia.com

Composer HANNA BENN, formerly of the band Pollens, has done string arrangements for The Fleet Foxes, sung with The Cave Singers, and composes chamber music for many of Seattle congregations including Saint Mark's. Benn has been a member of the Saint Mark's Cathedral Choir for ten years. She was recently commissioned by The National Science Foundation to create a site- specific work in 2015.

Lighting Designer AMIYA BROWN was Velocity's first Resident Lighting Designer. She received her BA in Drama with a minor in Dance from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. At UIW she pursued acting, dancing, painting, and lighting design. After college, she worked as a performer, lighting designer, and theatre practitioner. In 2010, she received her MFA in Theatrical Lighting Design from the University of Washington. Her career is comprised of collaborations with choreographers, performance artist, and musicians, as well as, solo visual art works. She has toured her designs nationally to New York, LA, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Wisconsin, and internationally to Rome and Perugia Italy.

Northwest collaborators include Alice Gosti, Velocity Dance Center, AmyO, Kate Wallich + YC, zoe | juniper, Pat Graney, Catherine Cabeen, and Kyle Loven.

DEBORAH TROUT (Costume Design) is Associate Professor, Costume Design, at The University of Washington. She has an MFA from Yale University. She has designed for ACT Theatre, Intiman, Seattle Opera, and Seattle Repertory Theater.

The incredible CAST of dance artists: Colleen McNeary, Alyza DelPan-Monley , Brittani Karhoff, Noelle Chun, Lorraine Lau, Kaitlin McCarthy, Leigh Sugar.

Filmmaker SEBASTIAN SCANDIUZZI is known for his work on Rain Beats Down (2012), Manos: The Hands of Felt (2014) and Bass Ackwards (2010). His grandparents were Italians interned during WWII, who escaped to Geneva during the war.

Velocity's MADE IN SEATTLE program uniquely provides multi-dimensional direct support to artists over a period of a year or more, with particular focus on the critical Development Phase of new work. It is tremendously challenging for local dance artists to find the support necessary to create new work. The Made in Seattle new dance development program is dedicated to growing the Northwest's creative community by commissioning, producing and presenting evening-length dance works by some of the most talented and experimental artists from our region; as well as collaborative projects between Seattle artists and inter/national leaders in the field.

Made in Seattle artists also meet regularly with Velocity's Artistic Director to focus on larger artistic goals and creative projects. In just three years, the program has launched careers, helped start nationally celebrated dance companies, facilitated an artist's transition from stage performer to a career focused on art and social justice . . . while also commissioning and presenting consistently sold-out, critically acclaimed productions. Made in Seattle artists receive pivotal resources: financial support, a commissioning fee, free rehearsal space, a production residency, a fully produced performance; dramaturgical support; as well as professional development through artistic, administrative, and philanthropic support.

VELOCITY MISSION - Velocity advances contemporary dance and movement-based art by fostering the creative explorations of artists and audiences through an invested commitment to education, creation, performance, inquiry, community participation, and inter/national exchange.

ABOUT VELOCITY - Mayor's Arts Award and Genius Award winning Velocity Dance Center is Seattle's forward-thinking laboratory and essential incubator for dance and emerging ideas. A national nexus for dance, Velocity is recognized as a leader in new dance development in the US. With artist-driven, community-centered artistic and education programs, Velocity is instrumental in making Seattle a destination city with one of the most active dance communities in the nation. With artist-led classes and workshops every day, performances every week, three annual dance festivals, ongoing humanities programs that activate thoughtful conversations, as well as weekly community events from social dances to family-style dinners, Velocity is a portal for those new to dance and an important community resource. Home to hundreds of independent dance artists and renowned for producing innovative, cutting-edge work, Velocity has featured performances and master classes by art stars Tere O'Connor, Pat Graney, Reggie Watts, Miguel Gutierrez, Anouk van Dijk, Deborah Hay, Faye Driscoll, 33 Fainting Spells, KT Niehoff, zoe|juniper. Danielle Agami and many more. Velocity is Seattle's only dedicated contemporary dance venue where groundbreaking work and disciplined practice coexist.

Photo Credit: Tim Summers