SITI Company to Present New Work by Alumni at SITI Lab

Siti Company will present three new works-in-progress through SITI Lab, a residency for alumni of SITI's renowned training programs. Three years ago, SITI launched this vital program to support emerging artists who are self-producing ensemble-based theater in New York City.

The artists received three months of free and subsidized rehearsal space in addition to mentorship from Siti Company and staff. This October, the SITI Lab artists will present excerpts of their work for an invited audience in SITI's Peter Zeisler Studio. Peta Coy, the director of Salome Redux, says, "I am excited to participate in a program that offers such support and guidance for new works in the New York Theater scene."

The three projects selected for this year's program are Arantxa Araujo's MOTUS Empathés, Odonata's We Can Tell, and Tina Mitchell's Salome Redux.

MOTUS Empathés was created by Arantxa Araujo in collaboration with performers Jenny Tibbels, Larissa Skye Van Rensselaer, Katiana Rangel, and Mario Galeano, with music by Dan Zlotnik and Carina López. MOTUS Empathés is an interactive, multidisciplinary performance that explores the relationship between movement and the development of empathy. The project is based on Araujo's previous research about mirror neurons. Araujo says of the piece, "I am interested in the brain's ability to understand the experience of the other, erasing barriers based on perceived 'otherness' and creating emotional openness."

Odonata, a new theater company, will premiere their first play, We Can Tell. The piece is created by Odonata with direction by Emily Moler and performances by Alex Chernin and Hallie Christine. The piece is inspired by the lives of Leni Riefenstahl and Marlene Dietrich, the director and actor responsible for the majority of Germany's Nazi propaganda films.

Salome Redux is created and performed by Tina Mitchell, Shura Baryshnikov and Helen Yee and directed by Peta Coy, with music by Helen Yee. Salome Redux explores the many facets of the story of Salome through the works of three playwrights. The creative team, which comes from dance, theater, and music backgrounds respectively, ask: who is Salome, and why are we so keen to destroy her?

Reflecting on her participation in SITI Lab, Aranxta Araujo said, "I was thrilled to be selected to develop work with such support in an environment that cultivates focus, spontaneity, courage, and empowerment."

SITI Lab culminates in a performance of in-progress work on October 13 & 14 in SITI's Peter Zeisler studio in Manhattan. The performances are by invitation only, but interested parties may contact Megan Hanley at Siti Company to join the wait list.

Siti Company, now in its 24th year, is an ensemble-based theater company whose three ongoing components are the creation of new work, the training of young theater artists, and a commitment to international collaboration. Founded in 1992 as the Saratoga International Theater Institute by Anne Bogart, Tadashi Suzuki and a group of likeminded artists, Siti Company seeks to redefine and revitalize contemporary theater in the United States through an emphasis on international cultural exchange and collaboration.