Not limited to conventional dance, the piece includes text and physical theater.
The creative process. Decay, obsession and Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, the "zombie fungus." The 92nd Street Y, New York Harkness Dance Center's 2021-22 Mainstage Series closes with Jonathan Fredrickson's GOODBYE MONTANA, an evening-length world premiere dance theater piece with music by Oleg Stepanov. Not limited to conventional dance, the piece includes text and physical theater. In Person Performance: Thursday, June 23, 8 pm ET. Online: Friday June 24, noon ET - Sunday, June 26, midnight ET. https://www.92ny.org/event/jonathan-fredrickson
Drawing on his seven years with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Jonathan credits Pina's work with influencing some of his choreographic choices and process. He offers this artistic statement on this new work:
"While listening to Richard Strauss' "September", an almost whimsical aria about a garden slowly dying at the end of summer, I was reminded that decay, although sobering and confronting, can be quite beautiful. The theme of decay led me to rediscover a phenomenon in nature- a fungus, called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, that takes over the minds of insects and leads them to their end, turning what remains of them into a fungus themselves. To me, I connected this 'zombie fungus' with obsession. As in with love, and the creative process, our thoughts can be consumed by one singular concept. We are made captive and in the end we are transformed. In what ways do we decay in our everyday lives? Is decay only physical or does it show up as our forgetfulness, in our desires, and in our expectations?"
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