The Void Presents MAGNUM OPUS: Resurgere Ex Cineribus, An Art Film By Celine (née De La Croix) At Kickstarter HQ

Is she a genius, is she a fraud, or is she...both? The mysterious Celine (née De La Croix)* is an up-and-coming avant-garde dance artist based in Brooklyn whose debut art film feature Magnum Opus: Resurgere Ex Cineribus will be screened at a one-night-only event on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 at 7:30pm and hosted by the Kickstarter's Northside Williamsburg headquarters (58 Kent Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222.) The film's Latin title translates to "I Will Rise From the Ashes" and it chronicles the striving creative's re-emergence onto the art world after a bitter experience of a failed artistic venture. The event is free and open to the public but an RSVP is required - reserve a spot at https://www.eventbrite.com/.

Until now, Celine (née De La Croix)* has been known only to a handful of die-hard followers of her cryptic Tumblr blog and her Instagram account. Little is known of her origin; the fragmented storylines of her own writings reveal that not too long ago, the artist was hired and fired by Jü, a liquor brand looking for an "authentic face" for their new campaign. The experience led her to create the art film Magnum Opus: Resurgere Ex Cineribus which, in her own words, is "an ode to recovery from failed collaborations and dashed artistic dreams." In the passionate statement, the artist proclaims that by staging this event, she intends to "battle Capitalism and Industry to spread Peace and Hope to you, the masses." Can she be serious?

For those who look closely, there is a clear hint of Celine's association with The People Movers, a Brooklyn-based collective of critically-minded movement artists led by Artistic Director Kate Ladenheim (one of Dance Magazine's 2018 "25 to Watch"). Ladenheim - an award-winning choreographer and arts producer - teams up for this project, titled OH, CELINE!, with Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs, a performer with almost a decade of experience in experimental theatre, costuming, and scenic design. Is Celine real, or is she just a sophisticated prank devised by the multidisciplinary duo? Is she just a ridiculous, self-important hipster - or a surprisingly deep and creative person whose lot directs our attention to the position of artists, especially female artists, in a society that increasingly treats them as a disposable commodity? The plot thickens as Ladenheim and Lynn-Jacobs gear up for more events featuring Celine coming later this year.

Celine (née De La Croix - now just Celine) is a dancer/visionary/performer/artist thrashing through the daily pressure to deny full consciousness. Through her art, her sound channeling practice, and improvisationally-rooted choreography, Celine transforms her lived experience into cathartic moments of transcendence. She was born nowhere and lives everywhere. Her productions and credits are entirely her own.
Kate Ladenheim, one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" in 2018, is the artistic director of The People Movers, a dance and arts Production Company based in Brooklyn, NY. Her choreography has been praised by Dance Magazine as "as artfully, entertainingly composed as it was intellectually stimulating." Kate's work has been presented across the northeast, most notably at Triskelion Arts Center, Joe's Pub at The Public Theatre, The Invisible Dog, National Sawdust, Knockdown Center and HERE. Internationally, her work has been presented at New Zealand's Performance Arcade, and she was the choreographer and producer of Transmission - a distributed, augmented reality performance and podcast series - shown at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She is the recipient of numerous awards, commissions, and residencies. She is the founder and Executive Producer of CRAWL, a nomadic, multidisciplinary arts presenting series. Kate's performance credits include Third Rail Projects' The Grand Paradise, Brendan Drake Choreography, and Nel Breyer. She was also a member of the DanceNYC Junior Committee from 2015-2017.

Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs is a Brooklyn-based performer, artist, and educator. In addition to developing Celine with Kate and the People Movers, she has also worked regularly with Andrew Schneider and recently appeared in his latest piece NERVOUS/SYSTEM, part of BAM's 2018 NextWave Festival. Cecilia is comfortable flipping between mediums, and enjoys taking on freelance visual art commissions, writing, and design projects in addition to her performance work. As a voiceover artist, Cecilia has won multiple awards for for her work on Webby-nominated podcast Wolf 359, in which she was involved as an actor and story developer 2014-2017. Cecilia is the host of Deep Space Research's podcast Transmission, a distributed reality production, and has moderated panel discussion and interviews at the METI Conference in Paris and the International Science Festival In Edinburgh. As a dancer and actor, she performed the role of Ana during Transmission's premiere at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As an educator, Cecilia is a teaching artist with Curious Jane, an arts/STEM Sciences camp for girls. She holds a BA degree from Wesleyan University and has been a member of DanceNYC Junior Committee 2016-2018.

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