New York Live Arts Presents In-Process Showing Of Live Feed Artists Yanira Castro And Raphael Xavier

New York Live Arts' Live Feed creative residency and commissioning program presents studio showings of new work in development by Yanira Castro, April 26, 2019, and Raphael Xavier, May 3, 2019.

Both showings start at 6 PM and are not open for review. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at 212 924 0077 or online at newyorklivearts.

New York Live Arts' Live Feed commission and residency program is a laboratory for the development of new work and offers a sneak peek into each artist's process and ideas before their creations hit the stage. Taking place within the intimate working space of the Live Arts studio, each showing is followed by a discussion with the artist moderated by special guests and Live Arts staff.

APRIL 26: LAST AUDIENCE
Last Audience is a piece made with the audience. It grapples with questions of agency, manipulation and the complexity of choice inside a theatrical context. It utilizes, twists, and re-forms language from requiem masses on Last Judgement and from the Greek Tragedies of Aeschylus on democratic formation. Enacted specifically and uniquely with and by each audience, Castro sees Last Audience as a live laboratory for the communal work of conjuring.

Yanira Castro is a Puerto-Rican artist based in Brooklyn, and founder of the interdisciplinary collaborative group, a canary torsi, an anagram of her name. a canary torsi's work takes the form of live performances and installations that incorporate movement, text and video. The work focuses on the significance of gathering and watching-the historical, political and social resonances of the act of being present together in performance. In their work, they negotiate complexities of sources, authorship and practice with a team of collaborators (including the audience) to build the work as a communal act. Their work has been shown in performance venues in New York (The Chocolate Factory, The Invisible Dog, Abrons, Danspace Project, DTW, PS122, New Museum) and has toured nationally and internationally. Castro is a Bessie-award-winner, NYFA Choreography Fellow, MANCC Returning Choreographic Fellow, Yaddo Artist, Marble House Project Artist, Gibney DiP Artist, BRIClab Artist, and LMCC Extended Life Artist. The group has received awards from NEFA National Dance Project, Jerome Foundation, New Music USA, USArtists International, Trust for Mutual Understanding, and MAP Fund, among others.

MAY 3: SASSAFRAZZ: ROOTS TO MASTERY
Sassafrazz is a new evening-length dance inspired by the word sassafras (a dried root used for flavoring), early character-based dance styles, flavor in Breaking and the privilege of maturing as a dancer in this form. With an original, improvisationally structured composition for 3 Breakers and 3 jazz musicians, Sassafrazz will focus on stages of Raphael Xavier's Breaking life; The birth, life, and death/infinity- represented by the levels and styles in Breaking, including Top rock, Footwork, and Ground Text. Breaking pioneer, Ken Swift, will help create this work alongside notable Jazz experts.

Raphael Xavier is an award winning artist from Wilmington, Delaware. Now living in Philadelphia, he is a self taught Breaking practitioner since 1983. Raphael has forged an exceptional approach to improvisation. Brenda Dixon Gottschild deemed Xavier, 'A fine movement technician'. Searching for a fresh new approach to expand the vocabulary of the dance form has not only come from the culture, but his music and visual background. He is a 2013 Pew Fellow and 2014 Macdowell Fellow 2016 Guggenheim Fellow and 2017 United States Artist Fellow. In a continuation and extension of his craft he has taught a technique called Ground Core. A movement technique that makes the Breaking form accessible to any moving body and is incorporated in the vocabulary he uses in the dance work. His company represents Breaking and its roots as his work sheds light on the sustainability and longevity of the form. Raphael is currently a Professor at Princeton University teaching Special Topics in Urban Dance, Style and Traditions in Hip Hop Culture with a focus on Breaking.