Deborah Slater Dance Theater Concludes InCIVILITY Series At ODC Theater

Deborah Slater Dance Theater (DSDT) is proud to announce the world premiere of INCIVILITY P. 3: A SEAT AT THE TABLE, February 27 - March 1, 2020 at ODC Theater. A Seat at the Table is the third and final section of the company's acclaimed inCIVILITY series. Joining the program will be part two of the series, Outrage Machine. Tickets, $20 - $50, are now on sale at odc.dance/incivility. InCIVILITY is co-presented by ODC Theater.

The culmination of DSDT's 30th anniversary season, the double bill of A Seat at the Table and Outrage Machine celebrates the company's history of exploring timely social issues through acrobatic dance and multimedia spectacle. Conceived, choreographed and directed by Deborah Slater, inCIVILITY began as an inquiry into the sudden rise in highly publicized acts of racism, sexism, xenophobia and the like since 2016. "How is it that what was once inappropriate, ignorant or cruel has been made acceptable, even 'normal' in such a short period of time?" asked Slater. "Technology has certainly transformed the manner in which we perceive and interact with the world around us, but has it transformed us?"

A Seat at the Table follows these questions back to an essential examination of power. "As the saying goes, 'If you don't have a seat at the table, you're probably on the menu,'" notes Slater. Drawing a cue from this culinary metaphor, Slater's development of the piece centers around the image of a dinner party. "If a rectangular table instantiates a 'power' seat at either end, how can we build in greater equity?"

Slater challenged distinguished structural and scenic designer Sean Riley to create a table that could change shape from a rectangle to a circle. It serves as the focal prop for an ensemble of six performers including Rachel Garcia, Anna Greenberg, Derek Harris, Meegan Hertensteiner, Evan Johnson and Kyle Limin. The work unfolds with material drawn from interviews with people from many walks of life - across differences of gender, age, class, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality and ability - including each of the members of the ensemble. Commissioned text from award-winning playwright and screenwriter Eugenie Chan will also form part of the fabric of the piece.

Outrage Machine, which premiered in 2018, asks, "What if - rather than ginning up the 'outrage machine' for clicks - technology could be used as a tool to moderate perspectives?" DSDT company members Harris and Hien Huynh perform a duet against a backdrop of live motion capture and interactive visual effects, the high-tech artistry of software engineer, creative technologist and neuroscientist John Fesenko. An added layer in the work are the respective backgrounds of the two performers. While Huynh's family was fleeing Vietnam in the 1970s, Harris's father was an American soldier stationed in the country. "What's the possibility for conciliation in this time of heightened identity politics?" asks the work.

Additional collaborators include Aaron M. Gold, who composed the sound score for Outrage Machine, Theodore Hulsker, who composed the score for A Seat at the Table, and Allen Willner, who will design the lighting for both works.

The inCIVILITY series is funded, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fleishhacker Foundation, the Sam Mazza Foundation, the Langendorf Foundation and Grants for the Arts.