UNA Productions Opens Harkness Dance Center Season With NY Premiere Of GRASS IS GREEN

The 92nd Street Y, New York Harkness Dance Center's 2022/23 Mainstage Series opens on Thursday, September 22 with UNA Productions, and the New York City premiere of Grass is Green, an evening-length work for seven dancers and drag queen/live cellist/live pianist Rose Nylons, choreographed by Chuck Wilt in collaboration with the performers.

Grass is Green considers cycles of destruction and rebirth both within humanity and the land we are a part of. The work embodies a cycle of rebirth, representations of Queer intimacy, and moments of communal joy, grief and connectivity. The work embodies the connections between the shared reality of our Queer history - including the AIDS crisis of the 80s/90s- and the ongoing reality of wildfires throughout the world. These particular devastations are considered within Grass is Green in order to further understand what connects us to each other and the land we are a part of, as well as how to honor the continuous cycles of rebirth.

"In 2019, I visited a site in California that had been recently destroyed by wildfire," comments Chuck Wilt, UNA Productions Artistic Director and Choreographer. "Despite the many blackened trees, and obliterated structures, there was already new green growth coming through from beneath the charred trees. Witnessing the earth's amazing ability and wisdom to continue on, and restart (time and time again), is what inspired the early research of Grass is Green in 2019. The themes within the work have only become increasingly poignant over the last three years. Additionally, a root component of Grass is Green, and something that I don't see depicted enough of within dance, is representation of Queer intimacy. Drag as an element of UNA's work, represents a quintessential and integral component of the Queer community. Throughout the work's arc, Rose acts as a facilitator of change and bringer of life."

Wilt continues, "in 2018/2019, UNA was an Artist in Residence at 92NY. It was the first time as a company we felt like we had a home in NYC to get to invest in our creative process on a regular basis and cultivate our sense of community. It's an honor to return and be a part of the Harkness Mainstage series amongst incredible artists!"

Program Information

Choreographed by Chuck Wilt
in collaboration with the performers
Performed by Kira Fargas, Tushrik Fredericks, Dominica Greene, Dasol Kim, Rebecca Margolick, Hadassah Perry, Chuck Wilt
Drag queen & live cellist/pianist: Rose Nylons
Rehearsal Directors: Jennifer Payán and Rebecca Margolick
Music by Donna Summer, Sylvester, DJ Koze/Nils Frahm, Julia Wolfe/Matthew Welch, Rose Nylons, Michael Nyman
Costumes by Caitlin Taylor, Idel Dorleans and Rose Nylons
Lighting Co-Designed by Amith Chandrashaker / Abigail Hoke-Brady