Center for Performance Research Has Announced Benedict Nguyen as 2020 New Voices in Live Performance Curator

CPR - Center for Performance Research, which supports the development of new works in contemporary dance, performance and related forms has announced the curator for its 2020 New Voices in Live Performance (NViLP) series: Benedict Nguyen. NViLP is an annual curatorial program that invites a curator/artist/collective to organize a weekend-long program of public events at CPR addressing a particular inquiry within the expanded field of dance and performance, demonstrating a sense of research and serious play around the proposed theme. the corpus is exquisite, the equinox is vernal (ceev) will occur March 27 - 29, 2020 at CPR, serving as a mini weekend-long residency for movement makers Malcolm-x Betts and Ogemdi Ude, with the support of collaborator and astrologer Stephanie George, featuring public showings, workshops, and discussions showcasing vital elements of their process.

From the French cadavre exquis, exquisite corpse is a game of assembling text and images in a loop, back and forth. Betts and Ude will each offer each other a piece of text (and an offering for the public) in the weeks before ceev. Malcolm-x and Ogemdi continue this exchange over condensed iterations at CPR, moving back and forth between the large and small studios of CPR, leaving behind traces of their work behind through pages to be installed on the walls. With all of these elements floating simultaneously, ceev offers open-ended prompts through which we can bear witness to these artists' processes and the important questions they're asking of the work.

For the corpus is exquisite, the equinox is vernal, Malcolm-x and Ogemdi's practices overlap around questions of Black intergenerational trauma and possibilities for healing and kinship. Stephanie continues to offer insight into the astrology shifting around us, movements that she articulates into language suggests ways the work can keep happening, keep growing. Ogemdi Ude continues research for Dig/Hear/Sing/, an investigation into the histories, memories, and identities of the Black Diaspora. Malcolm-x Betts furthers work on Midnight Glow: Kinfolk, a continuum from Black Bodies Gone Down that links historical places and embodiment to ancestral forms that happen during performance. Astrologer and dramaturg Stephanie George will provide astrological contexts for these artists' work.

Benedict Nguyen is a dancer, writer, and curator based in the South Bronx, NY. Benedict has recently performed in works by John Jasperse, José Rivera Jr., Sally Silvers, and Monstah Black. Their writing has appeared in the Brooklyn Rail, Dance Magazine, and Shondaland, among others. As the 2019 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow at ISSUE Project Room, they developed a multidisciplinary platform "soft bodies in hard places" for new collaborations in tandem with planetary movements. They're sometimes online @xbennyboo and compile essay-memes for their newsletter, first quarter moon slush.

the corpus is exquisite, the equinox is vernal

March 27-29, 2020

Curated by Benedict Nguyen

Tickets: online and by RSVP to programs@cprnyc.org

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday March 27

opening reception | 7PM | FREE

Welcoming the artists into the space and engage in discussions around early stages of the artists' processes.

Saturday March 28

exquisite switch | 3:30PM | FREE

Malcolm-x, Ogemdi, and their collaborators work on sketches in response to texts, notes, and prompts the other has left behind. Over this 2-hour period, they'll switch between the small and large studios and leave further traces. Audiences get to experience the spontaneity of this iterative process, migrating back and forth.

soft break | 5:30PM | FREE

A pause for the artists. Audiences can tour the studios and read selections of the artists' texts installed in the spaces.

soft performance + soft chat | 6PM | Tickets available online $5-15

Malcolm-x, Ogemdi, and their collaborators share slightly more formal drafts of their processes. Following soft performance, Stephanie and Benedict join the artists for a discussion about the work and the process.

Sunday March 29

exquisite switch, cont. | 12PM | FREE

Studios open for audience visits. Malcolm-x, Ogemdi, and their collaborators continue working in tandem.