New York Live Arts' 2013-14 Studio Series Continues With Rashuan Mitchell's UNTITLED Tonight

New York Live Arts presents the Studio Series showing of Rashaun Mitchell's Untitled, tonight, May 9 and Saturday, May 10 at 6:00pm in the third floor studios at New York Live Arts.

Mitchell's newest work (shown through the Studio Series as a work in progress of a piece scheduled to premiere in spring 2015) is an exploration of the invisible, lost memories and entanglements of culture through four distinct solos. The solos, for performers Silas Riener, Cori Kresge, Hiroki Ichinose and Melissa Toogood, were each created through a process of both improvisation and responses to text-based stimuli. Throughout the work, inquiries of lineage, preference, history and the accumulation of physical information come into play, ultimately provoking questions like: how can the memory systems that exist within the accomplished dancers' bodies be molded into new ideas and movement pathways, and is it possible to progress without rejecting the past? Eventually, these solos will be combined into one group piece, seeking to build a new fantastical world for expansive modes of representation and new possibilities for transformation.

Studio Series work-in-process showings will take place in New York Live Arts' studios. Tickets are $5. There will be free in-process talks after each showing with an array of moderators. Tickets are available online at newyorklivearts.org/tickets, by phone at 212-924-0077 and in person at the box office. Box office hours are Monday to Friday from 1 to 9pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 8pm. New York Live Arts is located at 219 West 19thStreet between 7th and 8th Avenues. There will be no late seating.

Rashaun Mitchell started his dance training at Concord Academy and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2000. Since then he has worked with many dance artists including: Chantal Yzermans, Donna Uchizono, Pam Tanowitz, Risa Jaroslow, Sara Rudner, Jonah Bokaer, Richard Colton, Deborah Hay, Rebecca Lazier and Silas Riener. He has received numerous awards: a 2014 Guggenheim Fellowship; a Princess Grace Award: Dance Fellowship (2007); a New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award for sustained achievement in the work of Merce Cunningham 2004 2012 (2011); a Bessie for "Outstanding Emerging Choreographer" (2012); and a Foundation for Contemporary Art "Grant to Artists" (2013). He is a Cunningham Fellow and licensed stager of the repertory. His choreography has been presented in New York City by Danspace Project, Baryshnikov Arts Center, La Mama Moves Festival, Mount Tremper Arts, Skirball Center at NYU, Museum of Arts and Design and at numerous venues and universities throughout the East Coast. With Silas Riener, he was listed in Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" for 2013. He is currently on faculty at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and is a member of LMCC's inaugural Extended Life Dance Development Program.

Created in 2005 by Dance Theater Workshop and continued by New York Live Arts, the Studio Series residency program uses a strong focus on creative process to encourage artist's examinations of movement-based art. Each Studio Series artist receives a commission, 100 hours of creative residency time and is invited to conduct two informal showings. These in-process showings create a framework for the artist to share ideas with an audience in the intimate working space of the studio. Each year, a select number of mid-career artists are given a Studio Series residency as part of a one- to two-year program of support, leading up to a commission and season presentation. Studio Series artists are curated by Artistic Director Carla Peterson in conjunction with Benjamin Kimitch, Producing Associate/Assistant to the Artistic Director, and Marya Wethers, former Studio Series Program Manager (current International Project Director).

New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry offering audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation and active engagement with the social, political and cultural currents of our times. At the center of this identity is Bill T. Jones, Executive Artistic Director, a world-renowned choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer.

NYLA commissions, produces and presents performances in their 20,000 square foot home, which includes a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square foot studios that can be combined into one large studio. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, provides an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people and supports the continuing professional development of artists. Their influence extends beyond NYC through their international cultural exchange program that currently places artists in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.