New York Live Arts Announces 'Creating in Confusing Times' 2017-18 Season

New York Live Arts, under the artistic leadership of MacArthur Genius Award and National Medal of Arts awardee Artistic Director Bill T. Jones and Associate Artistic Director Janet Wong, announced the organization's 2017-2018 season today.

Framing the season by the urgency of Creating in Confusing Times, Artistic Director Bill T. Jones explains his vision behind the season's programs. "New York Live Arts is a cultural organization in the intersection between art and activism. We create a platform, one founded in empathy, with the goal of providing opportunities for artistic expression and a safe place for the exchange of ideas. We hope that by encouraging lively and sometimes difficult conversations and by supporting artists and their varied perspectives and practice, a nuanced and multi-dimensional view of our world will emerge," states Jones.

New York Live Arts will open its season with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker's A Love Supreme, a quest for an order of happiness and an homage to John Coltrane's musical creed. The season continues with a roster of current and incoming Live Feed commissioned artists - Bebe Miller, Jack Ferver, Joanna Kotze, Kaneza Schaal, Kimberly Bartosik and Rashaad Newsome, to name a few. The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company returns to BAM's Next Wave with the acclaimed A Letter to My Nephew.

Live Ideas, New York Live Arts' annual humanities festival of arts and ideas, will bring together artists, activists, and thinkers during five days of conversations, performances and cultural interventions to help us find and move with radical vision. Co-curated by Brian Tate and New York Live Arts in partnership with the Hannah Arendt Center Live Ideas: Radical Vision will be held April 18-22, 2018.

In addition to performance presentations, Live Arts continues its popular discussion series, Bill Chats and Open Spectrum, and will showcase talented choreographers and new work in development as part of Fresh Tracks and Live Artery. Randjelovic/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist RoseAnne Spradlin will showcase work-in-progress studio showings of her new work and will remount her dynamic performance "X" as part of Live Artery.

Internationally acclaimed choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker opens the
Live Arts season with, A Love Supreme, her stunning spiritual exploration choreographed in collaboration with Salva Sanchis to John Coltrane's marvelous musical creed. In this compelling quartet, four dancers of De Keersmaeker's company Rosas embark on a search to find an order of happiness. Mysticism and sensuality as well as meditation and improvisation are the determining factors of the dance. A Love Supreme opens September 27 and runs through the 30th, 2017.

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company perform the internationally acclaimed A Letter to My Nephew as part of the BAM's Next Wave Festival, October 3-7, 2017. The piece sets a portrait of Jones's nephew Lance T. Briggs-a talented dancer who struggled with illness and addiction-against the political landscape of the present. Composed like a series of postcards sent home from a fabled liberal Europe, A Letter to My Nephew launches a swirl of images around Briggs' ever-present hospital bed: a vogue ball, a breathtaking vista, a scene of forced migration. Featuring Janet Wong's haunting projections, composer Nick Hallett's delirious score, and live performance by baritone Matthew Gamble and Hallett, Jones's cultural critique is rewritten for the time and place of every performance, flashing by each night like a feverish hour of the evening news.

2018 marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of Arnie Zane, co-founder and co-artistic director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. To honor Mr. Zane's legacy, New York Live Arts will present events throughout its season celebrating Zane's life and work as a choreographer, photographer, and experimental filmmaker.

In an ongoing effort to support the creation of new work and nurture artists working in a multitude of perspectives at various levels of their career, New York Live Arts presents the work of seven artists commissioned through the institution's Live Feed creative residency program, a laboratory for the development of new work.

Bessie Award winner Walter Dundervill, known for his immersive performance environments fusing dance, costume, sound, and visual art, brings his latest work Skybox to the stage offsite at co-producer Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, October 20-22, 2017. Dundervill's new dance begins where his previous work ARENA left off - with a group of mysterious individuals gathered in the skybox of a stadium. Using ancient Roman frescoes, a 17th century mathematical theory, and a late mannerist painting as departure points, Skybox is a field for transformations of time, material, and perception.

Preeti Vasudevan brings her solo Stories By Hand to Live Arts, November 2-4, 2017. Vasudevan, who was born in Madras (now Chennai) in the south of India, is a leading exponent of Bharatanatyam, the classical Indian dance. Stories by Hand takes the hand gestures of Bharatanatyam as the basis for a storytelling dance-theater interweaving East and West, past and present, the mythic and the everyday. Stripping away some of the traditional trappings of the dance, her performance becomes uniquely intimate and private.

Fresh Tracks alumna Marjani Forte-Saunders teams up with media designer Meena Murugesan, sound designer Everett Saunders, set designer Mimi Lien, lighting designer Tuce Yasak, and her own father as set builder, to present her new solo Memoirs of a... Unicorn. In this provocative work she remembers, interrogates, and relishes in the properties of Black American magic and resilience. Spurred by stories of her Arkansas-born father's life, her new work is a dynamic evening of storytelling that weaves historic and personal narratives into an embodied tale of fragmented loss, warrior-ship, and abiding love. Memoirs of a... Unicorn will be presented offsite at the Collapsable Hole, West Village, November 15-19, 2017.

In their compelling and impassioned performance of Clear & Sweet, December 13-16, 2017, Live Feed artists zoe | juniper blend Zoe Scofield's visceral choreography and Juniper Shuey's cutting-edge videography with the raw, uniquely American tradition of Sacred Harp Singing, a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in the American South. Mixing live Sacred Harp singers with a stellar cast of dancers and performed in the round, this passionate work plays with constantly shifting points of perspective and highlights the strengths in community in a powerful search for redemption.

Choreographer Bebe Miller, honored with four Bessie awards and fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Ohio Arts Council and Guggenheim Foundation, and a United States Artists Ford Fellow, will bring The Making Room, an investigation into innovative ways of sharing the creative process to Live Arts, February 21-24, 2018. The project brings together Miller and choreographer Susan Rethorst, an internationally renowned teacher of choreography who has been instrumental in devising BA and post-graduate programs. The Making Room is the result of their joint experience of the choreographic process, each having worked within her respective creative methods to create their revealing investigation of the creative process.

Bessie award-winner (for the ravishing It happened it had happened it is happening it will happen), Joanna Kotze premieres her new interdisciplinary dance performance, What will we be like when we get there, March 28-31, 2018."The ruthlessly elegant dancer-choreographer..." (Time Out) performs with long-time collaborator Netta Yerushalmy (dance), visual artist Jonathan Allen, and composer/musicIan Ryan Seaton. Her compassionate new work is informed by the location where it is presented and explores physical, emotional, and artistic spectrums while reflecting on the desire for intimacy bringing attention to our desires, flaws, strengths, and fantasies.

Playful postmodernist writer, director, and choreographer Jack Ferver presents Everything is Imaginable, performed by a stellar cast: the American Ballet Theater principal James Whiteside, the Martha Graham Dance Company member Lloyd Knight, the dancer and costume designer Reid Bartelme, and Ferver himself. An interdisciplinary performance work, Everything is Imaginable explores being in a community that lives the outrageous queer dream, examining and juxtaposing the lives and virtuosity of four queer performers. The piece turns manic and poetic, addressing ideas of genre, sexuality, success, and friendship. Presented April 4-7, 2018.

New York Live Arts Live Feed creative residency program presents studio showings of new work in development by Kaneza Schaal, March 23 & 24, Kimberly Bartosik, April 13 &14, Rashaad Newsome, May 4 & 5, Netta Yerushalmy, May 11 & 12, Kota Yamazaki, May 18 & 19. Each showing takes place within the intimate working space of the Live Arts studio and is followed by a discussion with the artists moderated by special guests.

Live Ideas: Radical Vision will bring together artists, activists, thinkers, and philanthropists to examine a radical vision for the future. From conversations to performances to cultural interventions, the festival will add unique perspectives from diverse sectors, examining new ways forward to deepen understanding, enliven dialogue, and inspire further action in these politically divisive times. Co-curated by Brian Tate and New York Live Arts in partnership with the Hannah Arendt Center
Live Ideas: Radical Vision will be held April 18-22, 2018.

New York Live Arts popular series Bill Chats returns featuring Bill T. Jones in dialogue with writers, scholars, visual artists, and activists. It begins with a discussion between Bill T. Jones and British author and Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, January 22, 2018. Other discussions in the series will be held March 5, and May 21, 2018.

Live Arts continues the success of its Open Spectrum community dialogues. This season will bring together curators, producers, funders, and artists to discuss the who, what, why, and how of supporting and creating new work in our confusing era. The three panel discussions will be on November 6, December 4, and February 12, 2018.

Live Arts' Fresh Tracks performance and residency program continues its 53-year commitment to bringing new voices to the forefront. Fresh Tracks artists present their auditioned works on December 8 & 9, 2017. Aimed at providing career and residency support to emerging artists, the program begins with a series of career-oriented professional development workshops leading up to a debut showcase of previously created works and culminates in a workshop presentation of new works developed throughout the residency on June 15 and 16, 2018. Through Fresh Tracks, New York Live Arts provides a singular opportunity to new artistic voices to gain professional development, experience and recognition.

Live Artery, New York Live Arts' dynamic showcase of new and recent works created by Live Arts commissioned artists, opens January 12 and will run through January 15, 2018. Presented during the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference, Live Artery 2018 will feature three full theater productions, two recently premiered works, and twelve new studio presentations by featured artists. Highlights include sneak preview presentations of work by Bill T. Jones and a remount of the critically acclaimed "X" by RoseAnne Spradlin.

As part of its Live Arts Plus, New York Live Arts presents programs by American Dance Festival, October 11-14, 2017 and May 10-12, 2018; Barnard/Columbia Dances, November 29-December 2, 2017; Lumberyard January & February 2018; and Lang Dance, May 4-5, 2018, among others.

For the performance schedule and additional information, please see below. NEW YORK LIVE ARTS is located at 219 West 19th Street, NYC (btw. 7th and 8th Avenue). Tickets start at $15 and may be purchased at 212 924 0077 or online at newyorklivearts.

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NEW YORK LIVE ARTS 2017-2018 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

September 27-30, 2018, 7:30PM
ANNE TERESA DE KEERSMAEKER:
A Love Supreme
Choreographed to John Coltrane's classic A Love Supreme, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's dance creation choreographed with Salva Sanchis is a captivating quartet that brings together improvised and composed materials, interweaving and absorbing them into one another. Danced by José Paulo Dos Santos, Bilal El Had / Robin Haghi, Jason Respilieux, Thomas Vantuycom.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY
(NYC Premiere)

October 3-7, 2017, 7:30PM
Bill T. Jones/ARNIE ZANE COMPANY:
A Letter to My Nephew
A Letter to My Nephew is an intimate, impressionistic collage for nine dancers,
setting a portrait of Jones's nephew Lance T. Briggs-a talented dancer
who struggled with illness and addiction-against the political landscape of the present. Brooklyn Academy Of Music
30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
(NYC Premiere)

Oct 11 & 12, 2017, 7:30PM
AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL
Claire Porter & Sara Juli
The Lectern
The duo Claire Porter & Sara Juli, first paired by ADF in 2015, present their latest ADF-commissioned collaboration, The Lectern. Living according to rules is the demand on all of us. We are surrounded by the rules of our laws, protocols, manners, and expectations. But what are these rules? What are the rules of the game we're playing? And what happens when rules take over? Using movement, text, sound, song, and a catwalk runway, the acclaimed comedic performers upend our day-to-day, necessary-to-survive rule-rituals in The Lectern and find the hilarious in the rule-bending of our daily lives.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

Oct 13 & 14, 7:30PM
AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL
Yossi Berg & Oded Graf
Come Fly With Me
Come Jump With Me is a daring, provocative, and witty work that examines the relevancy and significance of creating art in the urgent political reality of Israel. In the explosive political and social reality, this work indeed pushes the limits and "plays with fire," both literally and visually.
This performance contains adult subject matter
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

October 20-22, 2017, 8PM/6PM
WALTER DUNDERVILL:
Skybox
Using ancient Roman frescoes, a 17th century mathematical theory, and a late mannerist painting as departure points, Skybox is a field for transformations of time, material, and perception. Co-produced with Pioneer Works.
Pioneer Works
159 Pioneer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
(World Premiere)

November 2-4, 2017, 7:30PM
PREETI VASUDEVAN:
Stories by Hand
Preeti Vasudevan takes the hand gestures of Bharatanatyam (classical Indian dance) as the basis for a storytelling dance-theater interweaving East and West, past and present. Created in collaboration with Paul Kaiser and performed by Preeti Vasudevan.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY
(World Premiere)

November 6, 7PM
OPEN SPECTRUM #1:
Live Arts continues its Open Spectrum Community Dialogues providing space for reflection on the most vital issues facing communities today.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

November 15-19, 7:30PM
Marjani Forte-SAUNDERS:
Memoirs of a... Unicorn
Marjani Forté-Saunders teams up with media designer Meena Murugesan, sound designer Everett Saunders, set designer Mimi Lien, lighting designer Tuce Yasak, and her own father as set builder, for a dynamic evening of storytelling that weaves historic and personal narratives into an embodied tale of fragmented loss, metaphysical warrior-ship, and abiding love.
Collapsable Hole
55 Bethune Street
New York, NY
(World Premiere)

November 29-December 2, 2017, 7:30PM
BARNARD/COLUMBIA DANCES:
Produced by the Barnard College Department of Dance and performed by Barnard and Columbia University students, this concert marks the twelfth season of the College's collaboration with New York Live Arts.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

December 4, 2017, 7PM
OPEN SPECTRUM #2:
Live Arts continues its Open Spectrum Community Dialogues providing space for reflection on the most vital issues facing communities today.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

December 8-9, 2017, 7:30PM
FRESH TRACKS:
Live Arts' legendary Fresh Tracks performance and residency program continues its 53-year commitment to bringing new voices to the forefront.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

December 13-16, 2017, 7:30PM
ZOE|JUNIPER:
Clear & Sweet is a multi-disciplinary performance by zoe | Juniper INCorporating
dance and live singing based on an inquiry into Sacred Harp Singing, a form of spiritual a capella choral singing founded in Southern Baptist churches.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY
(NYC Premiere)

January 12-15, 2018
LIVE ARTERY:
New York Live Arts' dynamic showcase of new and recent works by Live Arts commissioned artists is presented during the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference and will feature two full theater productions, two recently premiered works, and twelve new studio presentations.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

January 19-21, 2018
ELLEN ROBBINS:
Dances by Very Young Choreographers, a showcase of young talented dancers taught by Ellen Robbins, has become one of New York Live Arts' most beloved community programs, inspiring children by exposing them to live performances.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

January 22, 2018, 7PM
BILL CHATS: Salman Rushdie
New York Live Arts popular series Bill Chats begins with a discussion between Bill T. Jones and British author and Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

February 12, 2018, 7PM
OPEN SPECTRUM #3:
Live Arts continues its Open Spectrum Community Dialogues providing space for reflection on the most vital issues facing communities today.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

February 21-24, 2018, 7:30PM
BEBE MILLER:
The Making Room is an investigation into innovative ways of sharing the creative process from start to premiere. Organized by Bebe Miller Company, the project brings together choreographers Bebe Miller and Susan Rethorst to generate a joint experience of the choreographic process. The Making Room is co-commissioned by New York Live Arts, the Wexner Center for the Arts, and On The Boards.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY
(NYC premiere)

March 5, 2018, 7:00PM
BILL CHATS:
New York Live Arts popular series Bill Chats returns, featuring Bill T. Jones in dialogue with writers, scholars, visual artists, and activists.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

March 23-24, 2018, 6:00PM
LIVE FEED IN-PROCESS: Kaneza Schaal
The Cotillion is a companion piece to Schaal's Jack&Jill and expands the investigation of ceremonial entrances into society. From re-entry into society after prison to 'entering society' at debutante balls, The Cotillion draws on traditions of mimicry and mirroring, as seen in early waltz notation and in balls sponsored by African American social clubs since the early 1900s.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

March 28-31, 2018, 7:30PM
Joanna Kotze:
What will we be like when we get there
Bessie Award winner Joanna Kotze presents 'What will we be like when we get there",
a new evening-length dance performance created by long time collaborators Kotze and Netta Yerushalmy (dancers), Jonathan Allen (visual artist), and Ryan Seaton (composer/musician). The new work explores physical, emotional, and artistic spectrums while reflecting on the desire for intimacy.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY
(World premiere)

April 4-7, 2018, 8:00PM
Jack Ferver:
Everything is Imaginable
Jack Ferver choreographs and performs in Everything is Imaginable, along with dancers Lloyd Knight, James Whiteside, and Reid Bartelme. The work is an interdisciplinary performance work that explores being in a community that lives the outrageous queer dream.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY
(World premiere)

April 13-14, 2018, 6:00PM
LIVE FEED IN-PROCESS: KIMBERLY BARTOSIK
Kimberly Bartosik explores faith, ecstasy, and violence within specific, radical religious practices in Untitled (1-2). This two-phase, dual-venue work delves into her experiences of growing up in North Carolina and her family's embrace of Born-Again Christianity and Charismatic rituals.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

April 18-22, 2018
LIVE IDEAS FESTIVAL:
Radical Vision
Live Ideas, New York Live Arts annual humanities festival of arts and ideas, will bring together artists, activists, and thinkers to examine a radical vision for our future.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

May 4-5, 2018, 7:30PM
LANG DANCE:
Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, The New School, Arts, "home to one of the more progressive collegiate dance departments in New York" (New York Times), offers a unique undergraduate dance curriculum centered on research and experimentation within the movement based arts. These performances highlight new works created with resident artists and faculty, as well as student-created works.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

May 5-6, 2018, 6:00PM
LIVE FEED IN-PROCESS: RASHAAD NEWSOME
Newsome's FIVE explores Voguing, a competitive dance form created by a subculture of Black and Latino LGBTQ and GNC New Yorkers in the 1970's. Accompanied by a makeshift orchestra, five dancers perform five individual elements of vogue fem.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

May 10-12, 7:30PM
AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL
dendy/donovan projects
Elvis Everywhere
The ADF-commissioned Elvis Everywhere is dendy/donovan projects' latest work. "America is Elvis Presley-the most beautiful, talented, rebellious nation in the history of Earth. And now, you're in your Vegas years. You've squeezed yourself into a white jumpsuit, you're wheezing your way through 'Love Me Tender' and you might be about to pass away bloated on the toilet. But you're still the King." - John Oliver. This performance contains adult language.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

May 11-12, 2018, 6:00PM
LIVE FEED IN-PROCESS: NETTA YERUSHALMY
Yerushamly's Paramodernities engages with the canon of modern dance in radical ways in order to spark new ideas and new choreographies. The project involves deconstructions of landmark modernist choreographies, as well as contributions by writers, philosophers, and historians who situate these iconic works in modernity's larger context.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

May 18-19, 2018, 6:00PM
LIVE FEED IN-PROCESS: KOTA YAMAZAKI
Darkness Odyssey Part 3, the third installment of Yamazaki's Darkness Odyssey series, is a non-operatic celebration of "becoming others." Inspired by writings of authors Gilles Deleuze and Fe?lix Guattari and Butoh pioneer Tatsumi Hijikata's notion of "dance of darkness," the series explores the idea of the body as a black hole.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

May 21, 2018, 7PM
BILL CHATS:
New York Live Arts popular series Bill Chats returns, featuring Bill T. Jones in dialogue with writers, scholars, visual artists, and activists.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

June 1-2, 2018, 6PM
ROSEANNE SPRADLIN
Work in Progress
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

June 15-16, 2018, 6PM
FRESH TRACKS:
Live Arts' Fresh Tracks performance and residency program continues its 53-year commitment to bringing new voices to the forefront. Fresh Tracks artists present excerpts of new work in development.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY

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, which includes 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 and supports the continuing professional development of performing artists. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and 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.

Photo Credit: Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company by Liza Voll