CPR Presents: Spring 2017 Artists in Residence, Presenting Programs, and Technical Residency Program Expands

Center for Performance Research (CPR), an artist-driven organization co-founded by Jonah Bokaer Choreography and John Jasperse & Thin Man Dance, Inc. to support the development of new works in contemporary dance, announced today its Spring Season. CPR's Artist-in-Residence, technical residency, and presenting programs offer multiple platforms aimed to support creative development and experimentation during the artistic process. CPRs 1,845 sq ft theater features a LED lighting system; making it one the most technically advanced venues of its size within the five boroughs.

Mellon Artists-in-Residence
Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, CPR's AIR program offers up to 100 hours a year of reduced rates for rehearsals to selected artists. The program serves as a platform for both emerging choreographers and established companies, and is constructed in a manner so as to impose as few constraints as possible in order to provide an open environment for research and development of new dance work. CPR's 2017 AIRs include: Lauren Bakst, Marcos Duran, Moriah Evans, Beth Gill, Meredith Glisson, Abigail Levine, Xan Burley + Alex Springer/the Median Movement, Anna Sperber, Tatyana Tenenbaum, and Gwen Welliver.

Technical Artist-in-Residence: Kaneza Schaal, April 30 - May 6, 2017
CPR's Technical Residency program seeks to address the need for advance technical support by providing New York City based artists with one week of unrestricted access to its theater and technical resources during the development of new work. Schaal will use the residency to develop JACK& JILL with collaborator Cornell Alston, alumnus of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). A multimedia comedy of errors, the production is structured around active and passive social training from prison re-entry programs to debutante balls. The duet for "Jack" and "Jill" explores the whirlpools of power relations that inform re-entry into society after prison. The performance draws on infamous comedy duos and artists such as such as Buster Keaton, Elaine May, and Flip Wilson.

Performance Studio Open House
This series, curated and moderated by Jen McGinn, provides opportunities for artists to share works in progress with an audience and engages the public in the process of developing new dance and movement-based works, inspiring discussion around both the work and the process of creation. These open rehearsals are free to the public, and include works representing a broad constituency of artists who use CPR.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017: Ayano Elson, Maho Susio Ogawa, and Kristopher K.Q. Pourzal
Tuesday, March 21, 2017: Movement Research AIRs: Hadar Ahuvia, Ursula Eagly, Camilo Godoy, Molly Poerstal, Andre Zachary, Nia Love, Jen Rosenblit, and Netta Yerushalmy
Tuesday, April 25, 2017: Maritea Dæhlin, Abigail Levine, and Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith
Tuesday, May 23, 2017: Lauren Bakst, Anna Sperber, and Kathleen Kelley | Proteo Media + Performance

New Voices in Live Performance, curated by Ali Rosa-Salas, June 10-11, 2017
New Voices invites curators to shape a weekend of performances and events at CPR that highlight creative practices in dance, theater, and performance art. Death to Zero investigates the historical significances of the color black through traditions of abstraction in Western canons of visual and performing arts. Developed in collaboration with Jonathan Gonzalez, choreographer, and Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste, sound and media designer, the work will accumulate material and participants over time and will be fully realized as a score of twelve movements. The work will traverse live and recorded sound, installation, projected media and film, and movement-based performance. As part of Rosa-Salas' proposal all twelve movements will be shown in two parts over two days, inviting audience members to return to the theater multiple times over the course of the weekend. Rosa-Salas and her collaborators will activate the theater and lobby with live sound design by Toussaint-Baptiste, a danse macabre with solo performer Chazz Bruce, as well as sculptural and new media elements that will occupy both CPR's gallery and theater spaces.

Spring Movement, April 13-15, 2017 at 7:30pm
A biannual festival of dance Spring Movement provides an opportunity for audiences to experience a range of work engaged in contemporary performance practice. Participants are selected from an open call by a panel of artists. Each selected artist receives two hours of technical rehearsal, rehearsal space, and one fully produced evening of performance. CPR thanks its Spring Movement 2017 panelists: Kimberly Bartosik, Johnnie Mercer, and Ashley R.T. Yergens. Spring Movement 2017 selected artists will be announced February 27, 2017.

CPR is grateful for the support of prominent funders including the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About CPR
CPR is an artist-driven initiative, co-founded by Jonah Bokaer & Chez Bushwick and John Jasperse & Thin Man Dance, Inc. CPR's mission is to support the development of new works in contemporary dance, performance and related forms, and to promote awareness of and appreciation for contemporary performing arts. CPR is particularly interested in supporting artistic processes that integrate visual design, installation, and technology. Located in a 4,000- square-foot mixed-used arts facility in Brooklyn's first L.E.E.D.-certified green building of its kind, CPR provides affordable space for rehearsal and performance, innovative arts programming, education, and pedagogical engagement with the communities of New York City and abroad. CPR addresses the critical need for space in New York City's creative landscape and is committed to building arts infrastructure that nurtures contemporary performance. At the same time, CPR provides a sustainable model for livability in New York City with a focus on community involvement and environmental responsibility.