Dan Safer/Witness Relocation Present SURVEYS THE PRAIRIE OF YOUR ROOM

Dan Safer, a downtown maverick and the Artistic Director of Witness Relocation (called a purveyor of lo-fi mayhem by Time Out NY) returns to the stage as a lead performer in his work in Surveys the Prairie Of Your Room, a duet co-created and performed with leading WR company member Ae Andreas, featuring original music by OBIE Award-winning composer and longtime company collaborator Heather Christian.

The work will be presented as part of the annual LaMaMa MOVES! Festival on Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19 at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E 4th Street, 2nd floor.) Tickets are $25 and can be purchased through OvationTix at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1007285https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1007285 or by calling 866-811-4111.

Surveys the Prairie Of Your Room, titled after a David Bowie lyric, is an exhilarating and healing meditation for the uncertain times: it's a study of low-grade euphoria caused by the subtle stimuli, and a preponderance on the way things go, or could go, in any number of directions. The viewer is left unsure which one is right. It's about things that happen in liminal spaces. It's about ASMR recordings. And ultimately, is about trying to be happy when everything has gone to hell. Composed as an uninterrupted movement sequence accompanied by Heather Christian's dreamy score and the original text by playwright Kate Scelsa (Everyone's Fine With Virginia Woolf) delivered in the electrifying voice of Grace McLean this highly kinetic and physically demanding piece is, paradoxically, about stillness that soothes both body and mind.

Dan Safer explains: In the context of what I've been doing with Witness Relocation over the years, this new piece is as much a combination of dance and theater as my previous works but it is also a departure in a few ways. First off, I've never made a full length duet before other than a short piece from 2009, I never made a foray into this territory. I also really pushed the virtuosity (which can mean a lot of things) of the dancing and explored a lot of new ways of creating movement. Working with Ae Andreas was a big part of it: we have worked together for a few years now in different capacities, so we really know how each other move so we could really push the limits.

Safer, who has frequently collaborated with the OBIE-winning composer Heather Christan since 2006, sees her contribution to the piece as an important structural component of the duet which marks his comeback as a lead performer in his own work. This score is frequently orchestral and beautiful and not only unifies the show but brings in its own amazing layer of information and experience. he says. She created the music that is incredibly lush and cohesive. I knew going in that I wanted her stamp all over this piece when we first spoke, I said the piece existed somewhere between Johnny Cash and David Bowie, and that is exactly where I think Heather exists.

Co-created and performed by Ae Andreas, Dan Safer Directed / Choreographed by Dan Safer Original Music by Heather Christian Text by Kate ScelsaVoice over by Grace McLeanSuits provided by Ministry of Supply