Raja Feather Kelly's Newest Warhol-Inspired Work Headed to LUMBERYARD Festival

LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts will present the feath3r theory in: Another f-ing Warhol Production, or Who's Afraid of Andy Warhol?, a new work from Raja Feather Kelly and his company the feath3r theory, June 22-24 at The Kitchen as part of the second annual LUMBERYARD in the City festival.

This world premiere culminates Kelly's development of the work with the support of LUMBERYARD's 2016 Solange MacArthur Award for New Choreography, with which he received commissioning funds, fee-free fiscal sponsorship, strategic marketing and development support, and this presentation of the commissioned work.

Performances of the feath3r theory in: Another f-ing Warhol Production, or Who's Afraid of Andy Warhol? Will take place June 22, 23 and 24 at 8pm. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased at www.thelumberyard.org or 855-4LYDTIX. The Kitchen is located at 512 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011.

Kelly describes the feath3r theory in: Another f-ing Warhol Production, or Who's Afraid of Andy Warhol? as a "docufiction performance." The work stars Kelly and his company, the feath3r theory (as themselves), performing a post-ballet theater musical that reimagines and attempts to re-create unrecorded, deleted and lost footage from a rumored 2015 "Saturday Night Live" episode on love and war ("The Love Episode"), featuring musical guest Kanye West.

In addition to Kelly, the cast of the feath3r theory in: Another f-ing Warhol Production, or Who's Afraid of Andy Warhol includes Amy Gernux,Sara Gurevich, Rachel Pritzlaff, Collin Ranf, Aaron Moses Robin, Benjamin Wolk and Aitor Mendilibar as the camera man. The work features lighting design by Tuce Yasak, video by Laura Snow, photography by Kate Enman and sound design by Emily Auciello.

Raja Feather Kelly was born in Fort Hood, Texas, and is the first and only choreographer to dedicate the entirety of his company's work to Andy Warhol and the development of popular culture over the last thirty years. He is the creator of Andy Warhol's 25 Cats Name Sam; Andy Warhol's Drella (I Love You Faye Driscoll); Andy Warhol's 15: Color Me, Warhol; Another 37 Reasons to Cry (Another Warholian Production;Andy Warhol's TROPICO, and Andy Warhol's Bleu Movie, all of which have been created and performed in New York City theaters. For over a decade, Kelly has worked throughout the United States and abroad (Austria, Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, and France) in search of the connections between popular culture and humanity and their integration into experiential dance-theater. Kelly currently choreographs, writes and directs his own work as Artistic Director of the feath3r theory, a culture-driven dance-theater company.

Kelly can be seen in the work of Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group, Keely Garfield and Kota Yamazaki. He has formerly been a company member with David Dorfman Dance, Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, Christopher Williams Dance, Zoe | Juniper, Colleen Thomas and Dancers Racedance and PearsonWidrig DanceTheater. Off-Broadway credits includes choreography for Brenden Jacobs-Jenkins' EVERYBODY directed by Lila Neugabauer (Signature Theater), Susan-Lori Parks' The Death of The Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World directed by Lilieana Blain-Cruz (Signature Theater) (Nominated for 2017 Lucielle Lortel Award) and Funnyhouse of a Negro; written by Adrienne Kennedy directed by Lila Neugebauer (Signature Theater) (Nominated for 2017 Lucielle Lortel Award).

Kelly is 2017 Bessie Schoenberg Fellow at the Yard on Martha's Vineyard, a 2016 NYFA Choreography Fellow, a two-time recipient of Jerome Foundation commissioning funds for emerging artists (Dixon Place 2015, Danspace Project 2016) and has received a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant recipient (2013-2015 Paris + Lyon, France), been a 2016 Dancemapolitan Commissioned Choreographer, been a 2015 Dixon Place Dance Artist in Residence, been an LMCC Workspace Residency Recipient, and won an Emerging Choreographer residency at Bates Dance Festival. He has been the Guest Choreographer in Residence at Princeton University, University of Maryland College Park, University of Florida, University of Utah, and Middlebury College; the Harkness Choreographer in Residence at Hunter College; a 2009 and 2011 Dance Web Scholar (Vienna, Austria); and has received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts EmergenCy Grant. Kelly is a 2016 Gelsey Kirkland Academy Artist in Residence.

LUMBERYARDContemporary Performing Arts, based in New York City and led by Executive and Artistic Director Adrienne Willis, is a national non-profit organization that evaluates the needs of artists throughout their creation process and fills gaps in the structures that exist to support them. LUMBERYARDwelcomes audiences of all experience levels into the inner world of the contemporary performing arts, giving them opportunities to witness the creation, as well as the performance, of new work.

Among LUMBERYARD's varied and ever-expanding offerings are an acclaimed residency program that gives artists and companies from across the U.S. housing, space, time, and other resources to develop new work before a New York or national premiere; LUMBERYARD in The City, an annual New York City festival of premieres; and the Solange MacArthur Award for New Choreography.

LUMBERYARDis developing a state-of-the-art facility in Catskill, New York. When it opens in the spring of 2019, the four-building facility on the Hudson River waterfront will allow the organization to drastically expand its activities, especially its residency program. LUMBERYARD will make a significant contribution to the village's revitalization efforts. The complex consists of a main lumberyard building in Catskill and three large adjacent barns along Catskill Creek. There will be a large, column-free, flexible theater, a lobby, administrative offices, housing for up to 20 resident artists, a chef's kitchen, an artist lounge and a public courtyard. Phase II will encompass the three adjacent structures, which LUMBERYARD will develop in collaboration with the Village of Catskill and in line with the Village's Downtown and Waterfront Revitalization Strategy.

Each year in Catskill, LUMBERYARD will present a summer season consisting of premiere and work-in-progress performances by celebrated professional artists and companies, serving local residents and attracting tourists from across New York and beyond. From October through April, the facility will be available for collaborative residencies, subsidized and commercial rentals, and community programming.

Connect with LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts at thelumberyard.org, or follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/LumberyardContemporaryPerformingArts, Twitter: @Lumberyard and Instagram: www.instagram.com/lumberyard_catskill.