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BWW Dance: Gertrude Stein SAINTS! opens tonight at La Mama
By: Barnett Serchuk Aug. 09, 2013
This new production comes to the Fringe Festival from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.
The choreography for Gertrude Stein SAINTS! was developed collaboratively by the ensemble under the direction of Michelle Sutherland. One of Gertrude Stein's central artistic projects was to write the sound of American language. To further elucidate her project, Sutherland and her team drew from only American music and dance such as Shaker, blues, soft shoe, vogue, and B-boy. Sutherland researched traditional American styles of performance and the ensemble created original choreography and an original music score based on this research. The combination creates a landscape of American culture from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Through globalization, nearly every American traditional dance has been commodified in one way or another; frequently used to sell products like Coca-Cola and fast food. Much of the choreography in Gertrude Stein SAINTS! is an attempt to reclaim these dance styles from commercialization and place them back into the context of communal dance, performance, and art. Through recognizable and accessible dances spanning the history of the United States, we distill the essence of each era, celebrating community and what it means to be American. Against the background of Stein's modernist text, the lack of narrative encourages the audience to re-examine this music and choreography that, at first glance, might seem familiar. This unique take on American dance history makes Gertrude Stein SAINTS! a visual spectacle not to be missed.
$15 advance / $18 door
La MaMa
66-68 East 4th Street
(between Bowery & 2nd Avenue)
New York International Fringe Festival
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