Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance Present PLASTIC HARVEST Virtual Work-in-Process Screening

The Center at West Park presents a virtual work-in-progress screening of Plastic Harvest, followed by an artist talkback, on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 at 7pm ET.

Plastic Harvest is a Covid-era dance film by choreographer Jody Sperling exploring the scourge of plastic pollution. Ironically, plastic is something we all share and that connects us across virtual spaces. We wear it, we swim in it, we ingest it, we even inhale it. Tickets are free, with a suggested donation of $10, and may be purchased attimelapsedance.com/events/plastic-harvest.

In 2020, Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance celebrates its 20th Anniversary. Throughout the year, the company has been offering virtual and socially distanced programs, finding fresh ways to engage with audiences in a changing world.

"For 20 years, we've been investigating the relationship of the moving body to the world we inhabit through performance, media, education and activism," said Jody Sperling, Artistic Director. "As we celebrate our 20th anniversary during these challenging times, we've been sharing virtual and socially distant programs that reaffirm our mission: that dance is a powerful force that can help move us toward a more embodied, sustainable and equitable future."

In Covid's wake, Sperling began rehearsing Plastic Harvest remotely with the six dancers of her company, Time Lapse Dance, who were newly dispersed across the country. Each dancer fashioned a unique costume for herself from plastic bags and investigated a different relationship to the material.

In the film, one dancer luxuriates in a bathtub filled with plastic bags. Another glides, ghostlike, in a plastic-bag kimono through a church sanctuary. Sporting a plastic tutu emblazoned with yellow-smiley face, a third frolics amid traffic on a busy avenue. Ultimately, the work blurs the boundary between the precious and the expendable.
The music is by acclaimed environmental composer Matthew Burtner. The film features TLD dancers Frances Barker, Morgan Bontz, Carly Cerasuolo, Anika Hunter, Maki Kitahara, and Andrea Pugliese-Trager.

An artist residency at The Center at West Park has supported the development of this work. This work was also made possible in part by funds with Dance/NYC's Coronavirus Relief Fund.