PS122 Presents Vaginal Davis Is Speaking From The Diaphragm 5/15-5/27

VAGINAl Davis IS SPEAKING FROM THE DIAPHRAGM is an episodic series of performance that dissects the heyday of 1970s American daytime television chat and variety programs, taking the format of legendary talk shows like The Mike Douglas Show and Dinah!, which starred lesbian icon Dinah Shore. Never fear - Ms. Davis isn´t assimilating into the mainstream entertainment complex - she's autopsying a TV staple, and re-animating it with a pantheon of live and Skype guests from various worlds of literature, dance, theatre, film and art; guests with whom she has intersected in her over 30 year career as a performance and live artist, writer and cultural raconteur. With "Guest McMahons" downtown treasure Carmelita Tropicana and Jennifer Miller, the famed bearded lady of Circus Amok (and 2008 Ethyl Eichelberger Award Winner), audiences can expect ten different days of the unexpected, the unusual and the sublime.

"To call VaginAl Davis a drag queen hardly does credit to a figure whose career has spanned the worlds of punk rock, indie film, performance art and radical zines, whose oeuvre is studied in academia and whose persona is formed from the often gaga but densely literate ravings of a man whose pseudonym is a kooky homage to his hero, Angela Davis, the radical academic with the criminal past and luxuriant head of hair." - Guy Trebay, The New York Times

Rotating Nightly Guest Stars confirmed as of April 19, 2010 Fashion Powerhouses: Rick Owens & Michelle Lamy, and Pierrot; Culture Guard: Guy Trebay, Bruce Benderson, Joe E. Jefferies, Glenn Belverio, Jose Munoz, Marc Seigel, Jennifer Doyle, John Edward Hayes & Zazie De Paris; Film Glitterati: Bruce LaBruce, Michel Auder, Susanne Sachsse, Uzi Parnes & Ela Troyano, Jackie Raynal of Zanzibar Film Group; Musical Prodigies: Gio Black Peter, Joel Gibb of the band The Hidden Cameras, Jaime Stewart of XIU XIU, Kembra Pfahler of The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, Glen Meadmore, Carol Pope, Intellectual Pop Power Couple Kathleen Hanna (Le Tigre/Bikini Kill) & Adam Horovitz (a.k.a Ad-rock, nee the Beastie Boys); Art Stars & Performance Legends: Bibbe Hansen & Sean Carillo, Justin Bond, Annie Sprinkle, Jibz Cameron a.k.a. Dynasty Handbag, Billy Miller, Slava Mogutin & Brian Kenny, Mashinka Firunts & Jeremy J F Thompson, and Julie Tolentino; an Ethyl Eichelberger Cabal-- and many, many, many more are being confirmed by the minute!

Design and Production by Jonathan Berger in collaboration with Sarah Marcy and Joshua Lubin-Levy, Alexander Hollenbach, and Julia Rexon. Video by Jean Kim. Sound by Jason Martin.

VaginAl Davis was born and raised in Los Angeles and is the first non-New Yorker to win the Ethyl Award. She has been living as an ex-pat in Berlin for 3 years where she curates a monthly performative silent film program at the Arsenal Institute For Film and Video Art. She also has curated programs for the Berlinale International Film Festival, Anthology Film Archive, Sundance and Outfest. Ms Davis teaches performance art at Lund University´s Malmö Art Academy in Malmö, Sweden. Besides being an accomplished experimental filmmaker, writer, musician and visual artist VaginAl Davis has been the muse of such diverse artists as Catherine Opie, fashion designer Rick Owens and pop stars Beth Ditto of the Indie-rock band Gossip, and Beck. Hilton Als of The New Yorker Magazine calls her "the poet laureat of Santa Monica Blvd" She has also been the subject of academic illucidation by Jose Munoz in Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics and Jennifer Doyle, "White Sex: VaginAl Davis Does Vanessa Beecroft" from the 2006 University of Minnesota Press book Sex Objects: Art and the Dialectics of Desire. http://www.vaginaldavis.com/

*********************SPECIAL EVENT: THURSDAY, MAY 20*********************
The Ethyl Eichelberger Award Announcement & Celebration will be held in conjunction with the performance of "VaginAl Davis Is Speaking From The Diaphragm" on Thursday, May 20. The evening will be co-hosted by Housing Works, Fourth Arts Block (FAB), Pride Goes East, and The AIDS Service Center NYC (ASC). Proceeds from tickets to this special performance and event support the Ethyl Eichelberger Award but wait - there's more!

The evening also features a "Designer Dress Drive" to benefit Housing Works AND "A Canned Goods & Toiletries Drive" to benefit ASC's Pantry program, as well as the Kick Off of Pride Goes East - the celebration of Pride on the East Side that culminates in June.

So don't just reach into your wallets - reach into your closets, reach into your cupboards, and reach into your hearts and help us make this beloved annual award event the best-dressed, highest-calorie, community building pre-Pride-rally party in the East Village!

Single Tickets are $35 each and include 7PM pre-show cocktail reception, 8PM performance, and post-show party with drinks, dancing and the unveiling of the 2010 Ethyl Award Winner!
Apply Code "60for2" online and book two tickets for only $60; PS122 Passports apply to the performance and post-show party.

The Ethyl Eichelberger Award was created by Performance Space 122 and made possible with generous support from The Gesso Foundation in honor of seminal performer, landmark and legend Ethyl Eichelberger. The award is given to an artist or group that exemplifies Ethyl's larger-than-life style and generosity of spirit; who embodies Ethyl's multi-talented artistic virtuosity, bridging worlds and vitalizing those around them. The EEA includes a production at Performance Space 122. Past winners are Taylor Mac (2005), Julie Atlas Muz (2006), Justin Bond (2007), Jennifer Miller (2008), and VaginAl Davis (2009).

More about our Ethyl Event Partners:
Housing Works is committed to ending the twin crises of AIDS and homelessness. We believe that all people have the right to a rich and empowering life. Since 1990, we have provided the highest quality services for homeless men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS in New York City and beyond. http://www.housingworks.org/

AIDS Service Center NYC (ASC) is a multiservice community organization that carries out its mission of "helping many, one by one" by building community, connection and stability for New Yorkers living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS. ASC's comprehensive programs include state-of-the-art peer education and training, harm reduction, specialized women's services, HIV counseling and testing, mental health services, medical and holistic care, case management, support groups, and many other innovative programs that help New York City's most vulnerable individuals and families to survive and thrive in the face of HIV/AIDS. http://www.ascnyc.org/about.htm

Fourth Arts Block (FAB) founded in 2001, works to improve and promote the East 4th Street Cultural District, which has supported creative diversity and experimentation for more than 30 years. FAB provides a variety of services to its member organizations including leading the development and conversion of 100,000 square feet of cultural space, marketing the district as a destination, and offering discount ticketing and other community events and programs. Home to more than 20 arts groups, 12 theaters, and 8 dance and rehearsal studios, the East 4th Street Cultural District serves more than 1,200 artists and 200,000 audience members each year. www.fabnyc.org.

Pride Goes East is a celebration of Pride on the East side. Kicking off on May 20th and lasting the entire month of June, PGE will play host to a bevy of cultural events including Performance Space 122 & Dixon Place, as well as amazing shopping and dining various boutiques and eateries throughout the East Village & Lower East Side - including a neighborhood wide scavenger hunt and a Gentleman's Night Out. PGE will culminates in a week long shop-a-thon (June 19-27), with a portion of all profits from PGE sponsors will be donated to the Hetrick-Martin Institute, home of the Harvey Milk School. http://www.pridegoeseast.com

The Gesso Foundation was created in accordance with the wishes expressed in the will of the acclaimed artist Frank Moore, who died in 2002. The Foundation's purpose is twofold: to preserve, protect, and expand awareness of Frank Moore's art; and to support non-profit organizations devoted to the arts, social justice, environmental or AIDS-related causes. http://www.rubymanadero.com/gesso/

Performance Space 122 is one of New York's ultimate destinations for cutting-edge theatre, dance, music, live art and multi-media. PS122 is dedicated to supporting and presenting artists who explore innovative form and provocative content and who rigorously challenge the boundaries of contemporary performance; PS122 is committed to a steadfast search for pioneering artists from a diversity of cultures, nations and beliefs. www.ps122.org

VaginAl Davis Is Speaking From The Diaphragm will be performed Saturday, May 15 throughThursday, May 27 on the following schedule: Wednesday - Saturday at 8PM, Sunday at 6PM, plus Late Shows at 10PM on Saturday, May 22 & Thursday, May 27.
Running time: 60 minutes.

The Ethyl Eichelberger Award Announcement & Celebration: Thursday, May 20. Tickets for this Special Event are $35; ticket includes pre-show reception, performance, and post-show party. PS122 Passports apply to the performance and post-show party.

Tickets for all other performances: $20 and $15 (students/seniors). Tickets and PS122 Passports are available at www.ps122.org, by phone at 212-352-3101, and at the PS122 Box Office.

The PS122 Passport is 5 tickets for $55 - tickets can be used in any combination to the Spring 2010 performances.

Performance Space 122 is located at 150 First Avenue @ E. 9th Street, NY, NY 10009