Jody Oberfelder Concludes 7 Year Body Trilogy With MADAME OVARY Next Month

Jody Oberfelder Projects, known for their immersive dance experiences of inventive athleticism, wit, and whimsy, presents Madame Ovary at The Flea Theater, May 15-19, 2019. The final installation in a series of body-centric multimedia explorations, Madame Ovary commits to examine the role biology and anatomy play in defining identity through a humanistic and thoughtful lens.

Informal and interactive, Oberfelder will provide a discovery prologue for audiences upon their arrival- an outdoor (weather permitting) treasure hunt to examine items, their potential gender or ownership, and the gender-centric hands by which they were created. This conversation folds into the theatrical work in The Flea's Sam Theater. In building a collage-like evening delving into topics of identity, the full-length work will employ modern dance in its many forms. Incorporating film, spoken word and an original score, the work focuses simply on the gut and genitals asking how are we defined by our bodies, or not? Addressing the gender schema theories and the body as a site of institution, agency and identity, the project uses Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary's story of a corseted life amid 19th Century social constructions as a springboard to address and provoke conversation on today's gender revolution and the #metoo movement armed with empathy, humor,embroidered breastplates, and badass rocker panache.

"From the literal female power of conceiving life to the small but impactful revolutions by the feminine hand throughout history, it is time to explore, honor and tear town the archetypes," explains Oberfelder. "This is a power piece for everyone because there is great power in simply living in our biology and celebrating the things that define who we are. It's BYOB-bring your own body and bring your own identity."

Madame Ovary is the third work in Oberfelder's body-part trilogy, following the heart, 4Chambers, (performed as an immersive installation on Governors Island and a former hospital in Brooklyn, 2013-14) and The Brain Piece, (at New York Live Arts in June 2017).

Madame Ovary will run from May 15-18 at 7:00 p.m., and May 19 at 3:00 p.m. There will be an opening night gala on May 15.

General admission tickets are $20, with opening night gala tickets $150In and include a post-performance reception with champagne and sumptuous fare. Tickets can be purchased at http://bit.ly/BuyMadameOvary

The Flea Theater's Sam Theater is located in Tribeca at 20 Thomas Street (between Broadway and Church Streets) and accessible from the A/C/E, 1,2,3 and J/M/Z at Chambers Street, the N/Q at Canal Street and the R/W and 4/5/6 at City Hall.