Ice Theatre Of New York, Inc Presents THE UNSEEN At ONX Studio

Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) presents The Unseen, a real-time motion capture performance on ice showcasing, celebrating, and honoring Black figure skaters of the past and present on December 16 & 17, 2022 at 6:30pm at ONX Studio, 645 Fifth Avenue, NYC. For more information and to RSVP for this free event, visit givebutter.com/THEUNSEEN.

During The Unseen, visuals will be projected on the ice blending the stories of the future-past. This work explores and discovers Blackness both in the context of race, as well as outside of race. Blackness as invisible (transparent), unknown (unseen), and expansive. Blackness as magic, unbound by colonial markers such as time, gender, race, class, sexuality etc. How do we navigate, and heal by accessing the unseen? How might we honor and channel the stories of our ancestors as an embodied experience, and how can we save that information for generations to come?

About the Artists

LaJuné McMillian is a Multidisciplinary Artist and Educator creating art that integrates performance, extended reality, and physical computing to question our current forms of communication. They are passionate about discovering, learning, manifesting, and stewarding spaces for liberated Black Realities and the Black Imagination. LaJune believes in making by diving into, navigating, critiquing, and breaking systems and technologies that uphold systemic injustices to decommodify our bodies, undo our indoctrination, and make room for different ways of being.

LaJuné has had the opportunity to show and speak about their work at Pioneer Works, National Sawdust, Leaders in Software and Art, Creative Tech Week, and Art & Code's Weird Reality. LaJuné was previously the Director of Skating at Figure Skating in Harlem, where they integrated STEAM and Figure Skating to teach girls of color about movement and technology. They have continued their research on Blackness, movement, and technology during residencies and fellowships at the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Eyebeam, Pioneer Works, Barbarian Group, and Barnard College. LaJuné is a member of ONX through the XR Track of NewINC.

Theron James ("TJ") made his ITNY debut in the 2019 City Skate Concert Series, when he skated "Presence," a piece which acknowledges the presence and absence of blackness within the predominately white space of skating in honor of Black History Month. TJ joined his first touring ice show in 2009, and has been a principal soloist for multiple professional companies including Holiday On Ice, Disney On Ice, and Royal Caribbean through the span of his vibrant career.

Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) exists to create and advance ice dance as (an ensemble) performing art form with its professional ice dance company. ITNY is also dedicated to providing education and to presenting public performances to people of all ages. We aim to inspire people to experience the balance, flow and flight of skating and to engage in a lifelong healthy activity.

Founded in 1984 by Moira North, Ice Theatre of New York has changed the face of figure skating by creating works that integrate the sensibilities of contemporary dance, music and art challenging the perceptions and conventional definitions of figure skating. Through its performances in both traditional and site-specific venues, ITNY presents ice dance that opens one's eyes to seeing skating in unexpected ways. ITNY was the first ice dance company to receive dance program funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information, visit www.icetheatre.org.

ITNY's programming is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. ITNY is also supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and NYC Council Member Shaun Abreu and by Dance/NYC'S Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund.

Additionally, ITNY receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Lisa McGraw Figure Skating Foundation, the Will Sears Foundation, and its generous private patrons.

ONX is both an extension of Onassis Athens' Digital and Innovation Program and a structure that supports New York and the international digital and artistic ecosystem. ONX exists as a hybrid production and exhibition space for XR artists-artists working to extend reality, not just in extended reality. ONX acts as a hub within a dynamic global ecosystem of new practices and ideas-supporting the development, execution and mobility of new work in the digital arena. In particular, ONX acts as an active bridge between NYC and Athens in the area of digital and XR practice. ONX focuses on supporting the work of artists, and their trajectories-with production support, presentation opportunity, and promotion in NYC and globally.