Beginning and concluding its 30th anniversary fall season with works that continue the institution's immersion in issues of national and global import, Harlem Stage will present the premieres of Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dreams Project (September 19-22) and Sleep Song (November 30-December 1).
These integrally related works are presented as part of Harlem Stage's WaterWorks program, which additionally commissioned and produced Holding it Down. Created by two longtime collaborators, composer/pianist Vijay Iyer (2012 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Award Winner-Pianist of the Year, GRAMMY Award Nominee, five category winner in the 2012 DownBeat International Critics Poll and 2012 Greenfield Prize Award Winner) and poet/performer Mike Ladd (Easy Listening For Armageddon, Welcome To The Afterfuture, Negrophilia and Vernacular Homicide), together with poet / United States Marine Corps Iraq veteran Maurice Decaul, Holding It Down and Sleep Song shed musical and poetic light on two sides of the experience of war: what it means for American soldiers of color to return home from international conflict, and the impact of American soldiers and their missions on the lives of civilians in Iraq, respectively.Performances of Holding It Down (World Premiere) will take place Wednesday-Saturday, September 19-22, 7:30 P.M. at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse (150 Convent Avenue, Manhattan). The institution will present Sleep Song (American Premiere) at the Gatehouse on November 30 and December 1 at 7:30 P.M. Tickets for each production are $30 ($24 for Harlem Stage members) and can be purchased by visiting www.harlemstage.org or calling 212.281.9250 ext. 19/20.
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