BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange Announces Fall 2022 Space Grant Showcase

BAX has announced the Fall 2022 Space Grant Showcase featuring works-in-progress by grantees Symara Johnson, Kelsey Rondeau, and Kimiko Tanabe followed by a moderated Q&A with nia love, BAX's Artist Advisor.

The Space Grant Program is designed to give choreographers, theater-makers, performance artists, and multidisciplinary artists the opportunity to create new work in a setting that is conducive to deep exploration. The Space Grant program is BAX's oldest program for artists. It was initially created for dance artists and expanded to support theater and performance artists in the late 1990s. A significant number of Artists In Residence started their relationship with BAX as space grantees.

The 2022 Fall Space Grant Showcase will be live in-person in the BAX Theater as well as live streamed with automated captions.

"Excerpt of Symara+Lasso" by Symara Johnson

Symara and Her Lasso is an exploration into the artist's American and West Indian heritage. Johnson uses family lore and American cultural fantasy to create and project a persona that both embodies, and is in conversation with, her lineage in the wild West and deep South.

Symara Johnson (she/her) is a Portland Oregon native, currently residing in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, has immersed herself in interdisciplinary and choreographic studies globally. Her work varies due to the different influences she's embraced throughout her life. Symara is a graduate of SUNY Purchase's Conservatory of Dance program. She was a resident artist for Bearnstow, Gibney 6.2, Gallims' Moving Artist residency and currently is a CPR 2022 AIR.

"I've Hungered For Your Touch" by Kelsey Rondeau

When was the last time you touched yourself? When was the last time you touched someone else? Do you crave it? Do you need it? What would happen if it were no longer available to you?

Kelsey Rondeau (they/them/theirs) is an independent dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, and drag performer currently based in Brooklyn. Raised in Northern California, they received their BFA in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014 and have lived in Brooklyn since 2016. In that time, they have performed with Johannes Wieland, Third Rail Projects, Springboard Danse Montreal, the House of Yes, and many more. With their company, Hard/Femme Dances, they have created solos, duets, evening-length works, and short films.

"Portrait of Myself as a Yurei" by Kimiko Tanabe

This showing will include an excerpt of ''Portrait of Myself as a Yūrei", a rendering of the Japanese folkloric tales of yūrei, female ghosts drunk on powerful emotions such as hatred, sorrow, and revenge. This piece calls upon the unapologetic chaos of the yūrei and their surreal world to surface emotions of World War II incarceration buried in my Japanese American community.

Kimiko Tanabe (she/her) graduated from Colorado College with a degree in Creative Writing and Dance. She explores the mediums of performance art, dance, writing, origami and paper, and is in a committed partnership with her .38 Muji pen. She is forever fascinated with Japanese folklore and as a lover of literature she finds herself making important life decisions under the eyes and influence of fiction. For Kimiko, art is intimate and inexact.

BAX is located at 421 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215. To purchase tiered tickets visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2022-fall-space-grant-showcase-tickets-468941124527

All shows will be live in-person in the BAX Theater as well as live streamed with automated captions. BAX also provides free access accessories to audiences such as fidget spinners and pop fidget toys, ear plugs, and more. Please note that the BAX Theater is located on the second and third floors of the building and currently, there is no elevator or ramp. While we are actively working on a permanent solution and are committed to providing a fully ADA compliant space, we are not quite there yet.

For more information on our Accessibility Initiatives visit our website.

BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, founded in 1991, is a multigenerational arts organization nurturing creative expression and artistic process through education, residencies, and performance at the intersection of arts and social justice.

BAX is dedicated to serving artists in progress, from children to professionals, at all ages and stages of development. The multi-faceted nature of BAX programs annually invites over 10,000 students, families, artists, audiences, and community members to embark on, and share creative journeys. For three decades, BAX has honored the power of performing arts to connect and transform individuals and communities. The education programs, artist residencies, affordable rehearsal space, community engagement opportunities, mentorship, and performances, all center artists from historically underrepresented backgrounds and prioritize lived and embodied experiences, and access, regardless of ability to pay.

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