Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble Presents Collaborative Performance On LGBTQ+ Identity

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble has announced the third installment of its 2019-20 Art & Activism Performance Series, THE QUEER LANDSCAPE, an evening of live performance, art, and poetry centered around the intricacies, awareness, and opression of LGBTQ+ identity. Topics of featured performance works examine displacement of the trans community, violence and hate crimes, the evolution of coming out and coming into one's self acceptance, and gender fluidity. THE QUEER LANDSCAPE will play March 20-21, 2020 at Chicago Danztheatre's permanent home, Ebenezer Lutheran Church Auditorium, 1650 W. Foster Ave. in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at danztheatre.org.

The performance showcase features performance contributions from Michael Workman, Liam "L" Fleming, and Lucid Banter Project as well as poetry by Emily Bieniek and Timothy Rey, and visual art contributions from artists to be announced. Performance pieces include a piece by Liam "L" Fleming, "Drawn and Quartered," by Michael Workman, and "How Did You Not Know" by Lucid Banter Project, led by Paula Ward. A reception and conversation with the artists will take place on Saturday March 21st at 6:30 p.m.

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: THE QUEER LANDSCAPE

Featuring an art gallery, poetry by Emily Bieniek and Timothy Rey, and original movement performance pieces by Michael Workman, Liam "L" Fleming, and Lucid Banter Project.

Location: Ebenezer Lutheran Church Auditorium, 1650 W. Foster Ave., Chicago

Dates:

Regular run: Friday, March 20 - Saturday March 21, 2020

Artist Conversation: Saturday, March 21 at 6:30 p.m.

House/ Art Installation Open: 7:00 p.m.

Performance: 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: General Advance: $19. General Door: $25. Student & Senior Advance (with ID): $10. Student & Senior Door (with ID): $15. Free to high-school and younger. Tickets are currently available at danztheatre.org.

About the Artists:

Michael Workman (Performer, "Drawn and Quartered") is an artist, writer and reporter, choreographer, dance, performance art and sociocultural critic. In addition to his work at the Chicago Tribune, Guardian US, Newcity magazine, Workman is also Director of Bridge, a Chicago-based 501 (c) (3) publishing and programming organization. His choreographic writing has been included in Propositional Attitudes, published by Golden Spike Press, and his Perfect Worlds: Artistic Forms & Social Imaginaries by StepSister Press was released in October 2018 with a day-long program of performances at the Museum of Contemporary Art and SITE/less Chicago.

Liam "L" Fleming (Performer) is a non-binary choreographer and dancer based in Chicago. Through research, volunteerism, and movement study, their work explores the present displacement of transgender youth in America. Their work analyzes the systemic barriers transgender youth face while seeking housing and intends to connect transgender youth in need with local organizations. Liam strives to advocate for their community by capturing transgender narratives through research-based movement projects. In addition to setting work, Liam currently trains through Lou Conte Dance Studio's work-study program.

Paula Ward (Lucid Banter Project Artistic Director, "How Did You Not Know") is a dancer, choreographer and producer from Madison, Wisconsin. She was a youth company member of the Madison Ballet, danced in Hope College's modern and jazz companies while earning her BA in Dance and Chemistry, and spent a decade with the Joel Hall Dancers in Chicago, Illinois. She directed the Joel Hall Dancers Youth Company and Le Ballet Petit School of Dance before forming her contemporary dance company, the Lucid Banter Project, which is currently in its fourth year. Lucid Banter presents in many non-traditional spaces and stages, as well as on film.

Emily Bieniek (Poet, "the whore of babylon," "eve's daughter," "i have a scab on my knee") earned her undergraduate degree in poetry from Columbia College Chicago. Her chapbook wanting was selected as a finalist in the 2019 Paper Nautilus Debut Chapbook Series and her poem "I have a scab on my knee" was included in Plain China: Best Undergrad Writing in 2018. Her work has appeared in Columbia Poetry Review, Ransack Press, The Lab Review, and The Garland Court Review. Emily works at the Poetry Foundation as a media assistant.

Timothy Rey (Poet) is a Chicago-based poet, playwright, performer and educator. He attended Indiana University Bloomington, on The Most Outstanding Author scholarship, from IU's Department of English where he studied poetry under Pulitzer Prize winner Yusef Komunyakaa. He is a 2015 Semi-Finalist for the Guild Literary Complex's Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Poetry Award, and one of the winners of Project Exploration (The Poetry Center of Chicago 2004). He is the cofounder of the LBGT Solo Performance Showcase, Solo Homo (2002-2011). Timothy has taught poetry and performance for Columbia College School of Fine & Performing Arts Community Engagement Program, the Poetry Foundation Summer Teacher's Institute and is currently a Poet In-Residence for The Chicago Poetry Center. He is the Chicagoland Regional Coordinator for Poetry Out Loud! (Poetry Foundation/ National Endowment For The Arts) Timothy's writing has appeared in magazines and journals including: '60 Inches From Center,' and 'After Hours: The Chicago Journal of Writing & Art,' and will be featured in the upcoming short film, by Matthew Riutta, Little Voices. Timothy has performed at Steppenwolf Theater (Lookout Series), New York City's International Fringe Festival as well as The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts.

About Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble

Dedicated to "performance with a purpose", Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble challenges, engages and inspires audiences both onstage and in the classroom, through innovative, multidisciplinary storytelling in the genre of Tanztheatre, "which unites all art media to achieve an all-embracing, radical change in humankind." As an ensemble, CDE collaboratively creates thought-provoking arts performances and educational outreach programs incorporating elements of theatre, music, movement, visual arts, and literary text.

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