New York Live Arts Presents In-Process Showing of Live Feed Artist Abby Zbikowski

New York Live Arts' Live Feed creative residency and commissioning program presents a studio showing of new work in development by Abby Z and the New Utility, May 17 2019.

The showing starts at 6 PM and is not open for review. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at 212 924 0077 or online at newyorklivearts.

New York Live Arts' Live Feed commission and residency program is a laboratory for the development of new work and offers a sneak peek into each artist's process and ideas before their creations hit the stage. Taking place within the intimate working space of the Live Arts studio, each showing is followed by a discussion with the artist moderated by special guests and Live Arts staff.

Radioactive Practice is the newest evening length work by choreographer Abby Zbikowski and her company, Abby Z and the New Utility. This genre-bending dance for ten performers breaks down the physicality, socio-cultural functions and psychological states of an eclectic range of movement forms as a means to expose and challenge the cultural and aesthetic collisions intrinsic in the practice of dance in the contemporary world. This work pushes its collaborative team from the United States, Senegal, and Canada beyond perceived limits as they create a new tradition built from the inner workings of established forms, pulling from personal histories with West African dance, hip-hop, modern, and basketball, among others. With an original sound score by experimental hip-hop artist and fellow Live Feed artistRaphael Xavier, this group work is set to premiere in the 2019-2020 season at New York Live Arts.

The post-show discussion will be moderated by Momar Ndiaye.

Abby Zbikowski created her company, Abby Z and the New Utility, in 2012. Her work utilizes both the physical aspects and psyche-emotional experience of rigorously training in African and Afro-diasporic forms, as well as playing sports and performing other acts manual labor. In 2017 she received the Juried Bessie Award for her "unique and utterly authentic movement vocabulary in complex and demanding structures to create works of great energy, intensity, surprise, and danger" and in 2018 was selected by Dance Umbrella UK for a "Choreographer of the Future" commission. She is an inaugural Caroline Hearst Choreographer-In-Residence at the Lewis Center of the Arts at Princeton University(2017-19), a current artist in residence at New York Live Arts(2018-20) and has been in residence at Bates Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, and the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics. Zbikowski is an Assistant Professor of dance at the University of Illinois and on faculty at American Dance Festival. She has taught at the Academy of Culture in Riga, Latvia as part of Movement Research's Global Practice Sharing and studied intensively at Germaine Acogny's L'École de Sables in Senegal. Abby holds a BFA in dance from Temple University and an MFA in dance from Ohio State University. Her company has been presented by the Gibney Dance Center, the Abrons Arts Center, and the 92nd Street Y, among other New York City venues, the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in upstate New York, the FuseBox Festival in Austin, Texas, Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, with upcoming shows at Jacob's Pillow in June 2019.

Located in the heart of Chelsea in New York City, New York Live Arts produces and presents dance, music and theater performances in its 20,000 square-foot home, including a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square-foot studios. New York Live Arts offers an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people; it supports the continuing professional development of performing artists. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; it is the company's sole producer, providing support and the environment to originate innovative and challenging new work for the Company and New York's creative community.

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