Yara Arts Group Presents SLAP! Cabaret In January
Created and performed by Bob Holman, Susan Hwang and Julian Kytasty.
To celebrate the place of Futurism in Ukrainian culture and its shared history with New York's East Village, Yara Arts Group will present "SLAP!," the outrageous story of Ukrainian painter/poet David Burliuk, from January 23 to February 9 at East Village Basement, 321 East 9th Street.
The hour-long Futurist cabaret is directed by Virlana Tkacz and features Bob Holman as Burliuk, the Father of Futurism, Susan Hwang as an accordion-playing Scythian Viper Princess, and bandura master Julian Kytasty as Mamai, an iconic character of the Steppes who sings their story.
"SLAP!" is a devised work that was created in rehearsals by Bob Holman, Susan Hwang, Julian Kytasty and Virlana Tkacz containing 17 original songs. It opens with a teenage Burliuk searching for artifacts of ancient Ukraine only to reawaken a Scythian Viper Princess. When she slaps him, he realizes that “the Future is Ancient” and starts Futurism. Burliuk's 1912 manifesto, "A Slap in the Face of Public Taste," declares his passion to pursue the modern, capture Futurism's dynamism and oppose the artistic conventions of the past.
Painter/poet David Burliuk was born in 1882 near Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine and studied in Odesa, Kazan, Munich and Paris. His early paintings show Fauvist and Cubist influences, as well as a fascination with Scythian culture. He took part in many excavations of the Scythian burial mounds that dot the Kherson area of Southern Ukraine where he spent his formative years. He founded the artistic group Hylaea, the Greek name for those lands. A favorite character in his work was Mamai, an archetypal figure of the Steppe who embodied for Burliuk a vision of self-sufficiency.
Burliuk's work stands at the intersection of international modernist movements and Ukrainian cultural heritage. His paintings are characterized by vibrant colors, dynamic compositions, and integration of folklore, offering a deeply personal and uniquely regional interpretation of Futurist ideals. His compositions are often chaotic and energetic, reflecting his fascination with motion and the dynamism of modern life.
Burliuk was also a performance artist. He toured with Vladimir Mayakovsky, both dressing in colorful vests with radishes on their lapels and animals painted on their faces. (Scythian-inspired temporary tattoos will be sold at the show.) Their Futurist performances drew packed houses, scandalizing many while winning converts. During the Communist Revolution, Burliuk created Futurist shows and exhibitions in Siberia and, in 1920-22, in Japan. In 1922 he settled in New York, living on East Tenth Street--a stone's throw from The East Village Basement, 321 East 9th Street where “SLAP!” is performed. The East Village basement is the actual first home of Ellen Stewart's La MaMa, of which Yara Arts Group, founded in 1990 by Virlana Tkacz, is a resident company.
In “SLAP!” Vaudevillian elements--including poems by Bob Holman and songs by Susan Hwang--are woven into a Futurist canvas with Scythian imagery and dumy (16th century Ukrainian epic songs) performed by Julian Kytasty. Reporting on a workshop performance, Oksana Lebedivna wrote in Svoboda newspaper (Parsippany, NJ), "Bob Holman, a famous and charismatic American poet, steps forth proudly as both Burliuk and himself, existing, not simply on stage, but truly being both. Susan Hwang, the extravagant Viper Goddess with an accordion, is both a shaman and a coquette. She gives Burliuk a generous Scythian slap, which brings up for him deeper questions of being, pushing him to see the invisible, realize his own potential and experience himself constantly at the crossroads. The voice of this Scythian goddess often sounds as a duet with Mamai, portrayed by Julian Kytasty- one of the best Ukrainian bandura players. Like Burliuk, he experiments with music."
The ensemble describes the play as a response to the current war, in solidarity with Ukraine. They acknowledge the decolonization necessary for Ukrainians to reclaim their own culture--not only by rejecting Russian influence, but also by actively rebuilding and celebrating a vibrant, self-determined cultural identity that includes the Ukrainian East Village. In recognition of this, audience members can exchange a ticket stub for a free cup of borscht after the show at Veselka Restaurant across the street.
Set and lighting design are by Watoku Ueno. Projection and prop design are by Darien Fiorino. Costume design is by Keiko Obremski. Graphic design is by Waldemart Klyuzko. Stage Managers are Anastasia Panchenko and Christina Deychakiwsky. Developmental productions of "SLAP!" were mounted by Yara Arts Group at La MaMa, The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation, the Bowery Poetry Club and at the Ukrainian Museum in New York.
Comments
Videos