The Exponential Festival 2019 Presents DUET-ED

The Exponential Festival, a month-long January festival for NYC-based emerging artists working in experimental performance, is proud to present the world premiere production of Duet-ed by What Holds Heat. What Holds Heat is a collaboration between Nic Adams (Icarus in the L.E.S.) and Cori Marquis (Cori Marquis + the Nines [IX] and LMnO3). Of their works, they write, "Our kinetic and experiential works of performance seek to extend the boundaries of theatre and expand its power for our audience. Our ensemble-based theatre prioritizes impressionistic storytelling, with subjects ranging from the intimate to the fantastical, while always being grounded in the complexity of human relationships." Since 2015, What Holds Heat has produced three original works for the stage, at venues like Dixon Place, The Bushwick Starr (as part of Target Margin Theater's Stein Labs), and Vital Joint.

Duet-ed is a site-specific, interactive performance on intimacy, fidelity, and desire, comprised of a sequence of one-on-one experiences between a single attendee and a performer. Duet-ed received a workshop production at ?!:New Works Festival at Vital Joint, which ran for two sold-out performances.

The cast of Duet-ed includes Sandie Cheng, Taylor Greatbatch, Chris Ignacio, Vanessa Koppel, J Moliere, Taylor Myers, Cristina Pitter, Nicole Pursell, and more to be announced. The production is designed by Aaron Amodt, and is created and directed by Cori Marquis and Nic Adams.

Six consecutive one-hour long performances of Duet-ed will take place on Fridays in January (4, 11, 18, and 25) from 12pm - 6pm at Vital Joint, located at 109 Meserole St., Brooklyn, NY 11206. Performances begin at the top of each hour for a maximum audience of five. Tickets, priced at $25, can be purchased by visiting duet-ed.brownpapertickets.com.

Cori Marquis (creator and director) is a NYC-based choreographer, dancer, and teacher. Under the moniker Cori Marquis + the Nines [IX], Marquis has produced two evening-length and half-a-dozen smaller works over the past 10 years in NYC, California, Massachusetts, Arizona, Oregon, Connecticut, and Michigan. Marquis was AIR at Duo Multicultural Arts Center (2012), Chen Dance Center (2011), and the Bessie Schönberg Mentorship Residency at The Yard (2014). In addition to her independent work, Marquis is one-third of the hyper-female comedic dance trio LMnO3 with Deborah Lohse and Donnell Oakley. Since 2014, LMnO3 has been presented by American Dance Festival, 92Y, Dance Now | Joe's Pub, SUNY Brockport, MusikFest (PA), Dance Now Boston, Denver's Clocktower Cabaret, The Yard (Martha's Vineyard), Dance Place (DC), Crojik's Croft (MI), Ringling International Arts Festival (FL), and others. As a dancer, Marquis currently dances and tours with Guggenheim Fellows and Bessie Award-winning choreographers Doug Elkins (2010) and Jane Comfort (2015). Cori has also danced with Liz Gerring, Parijat Dasai, Hope Mohr, Anabella Lenzu, Hee Ra Yoo, and others. In 2013, she was the rehearsal director for Elkins' work with the Young Dancemakers Company, under director Alice Teirstein. She has taught contemporary and partnering classes in Oregon (Reed College, Jefferson Dancers, Conduit Dance), Arizona (Dance United, Highland High School), Martha's Vineyard (The Yard), and New York (BAX, Flowers with Care). She graduated from Stanford University in 2008 with a BA in Psychology and Performing Arts (Phi Beta Kappa and with distinction). www.corimarquis.com

Nic Adams (creator and director) is a Brooklyn-based theatre-maker. Written works include: Icarus in the L.E.S., a performance-poem exploring New York's mystical literati (2017); Six Church Poems, a musical variety-show featuring the world's best fake poets (2014); and The Silent Janitor, a parable about the triumph of the artistic spirit in the face of cynicism and dayjobs (2013). With What Holds Heat, Nic directed White Wines (after Plays), a salon of hermetic curiosities based on the writings of Gertrude Stein (2015). Nic is writing a new monologue called The Comfort Illusion, which he is sharing in serial episodes at salons around New York. Adams' work has been presented at venues such as Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, The Performing Garage, The Bushwick Starr, The Brooklyn Museum, JACK, Vital Joint, and Dixon Place. He has been a playwright-in-residence with Theater Reconstruction Ensemble's TRE|haus program, a playwriting fellow with The In-Between People, and a FAIR assistant director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is a producer and curator with The Exponential Festival, and a producer of the quarterly salon, HERETOFORE UNSEEN, at The Tank. His writing has been published online at B O D Y Literature and in print with Avaantlanche. nicadams.squarespace.com

Photo Credit: Lee Rayment