Tina Satter's HOUSE OF DANCE Returns to Abrons Arts Center, 1/9-13

As part of the ninth edition of the COIL festival, Performance Space 122, New York City Players (NYCP) and American Realness present an encore engagement of Tina Satter's House of Dance as part of NYCP's American Playwrights Division in association with Half Straddle and Abrons Arts Center. Following a sold-out, critically acclaimed run this fall, which Ben Brantley in The New York Times called, "enchanting," and, "so very refreshing," House of Dance returns to Abrons Arts Center for four performances only.

At a small town tap studio, four dancers prepare for a competition. Tensions flare and dead dreams fly back to life as head instructor Martle (Jim Fletcher) teaches his student Lee (Jess Barbagallo) the ways of the stage. Satter's highly stylized writing and direction creates a heightened reality and an intimate, heartfelt look into defining oneself in the context of others. Elizabeth DeMent and Paul Pontrelli round out the cast.

Five performances of House of Dance will take place January 9-13 (see schedule above) in Room G05 of Abrons Arts Center. The running time is 60 minutes with no intermission. Abrons Arts Center is located at 466 Grand Street, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Tickets, which are $20 ($15 students & seniors), are available online at www.ps122.org/coil and by phone at 212-352-3101.

The creative team includes Chris Giarmo (composer, music director), Hannah Heller (choreographer), Andreea Mincic (sets), Zack Tinkelman (lights), Enver Chakartash (costumes), Randi Rivera (stage management), Ilan Bachrach (video design), Richard Maxwell (producer) and Lindsay Hockaday (associate producer).

Tina Satter is a Brooklyn-based writer and director who makes plays, performances, videos and music. She is Artistic Director of the theater company Half Straddle founded in 2008 and awarded an Obie grant in 2013. Her recent critically acclaimed show House of Dance, about a transgender tap student, opened in October 2013 and was commissioned by Richard Maxwell's New York City Players and named a New York Times Critics Pick. Her play Seagull (Thinking of you) premiered at PS122's 2013 COIL Festival following residencies at MASS MoCA, New Museum, and Abrons Art Center. It tours to France and Croatia in fall 2013 and spring 2014. Her play In the Pony Palace/FOOTBALL was named a Top 10 Show of 2011 by PAPER Magazine, among other honors, and FAMILY was named a Top 10 show of 2009 by Time Out New York. Her work has been curated into seasons at The Kitchen, PS122, Incubator Arts Project, the Bushwick Starr, Prelude Festival, and Ice Factory Festival. Her play Away Uniform had its European premiere at Culturgest in Lisbon, Portugal in October 2013.

Tina was named a "2011 Off-Off Broadway Innovator to Watch" by Time Out New York, was a 2013 Kitchen L.A.B. resident, and featured director at Culture Project's 2011 Women Center Stage Festival. She has been a guest artist and teacher at Princeton University, Reed College, and Fordham University. Tina attended Mac Wellman's graduate playwriting program at Brooklyn College and received a B.A. in English from Bowdoin College and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Reed College.

New York City Players' American Playwrights Division program helps early-career auteurs create theater on their own terms. Previous productions include Vision Disturbance by Christina Masciotti, and Dreamless Land by Julia Jarcho.

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