Elastic City to Present THE LAST WALKS, 7/7-27

This summer, Elastic City, the pioneer of artist-led participatory walks, will present The Last Walks, its seventh and final festival. A diverse lineup of performing and visual artists are creating, and will lead, walks for the public, using sensory-based techniques, reinvented folk rituals and other exercises to investigate and intervene in the daily life of the city and its various communities. Elastic City will present the walks free of charge in locations throughout NYC, July 7-27.

The Last Walks will feature new outdoor walks-given three times each-by artists spanning dance, theater, performance and visual art: dance artist Anna Azrieli, performance artist Becca Blackwell, artists/activists Tania Bruguera and Mujeres en Movimiento, theater director Lee Sunday Evans, choreographer/performer Okwui Okpokwasili and sculptor/performance artist Aki Sasamoto.

Elastic City's Todd Shalom and Associate Artistic Director (and Flea Theater Artistic Director) Niegel Smith will also lead participants on a walk of their own, "The Last Walk," seven times over the course of two days (July 26-27) in Prospect Park. "The Last Walk" will feature re-performed prompts by past Elastic City walk artists. Each of the seven walks will include at least one cameo by an artist who will present their original prompt. Artists for Shalom & Smith's walk include choreographer luciana achugar, new media artist Chiara Bernasconi, dance artist Michelle Boulé, urbanist/visual artist Neil Freeman, video artist Neil Goldberg, writer/painter Wayne Koestenbaum, comedic singer/performance artist Erin Markey, and sound artist Pamela Z.

Each walk lasts approximately 90 minutes and holds 12 people on average. Admission is free, but most walks fill up in advance, so reservations are recommended, and can be made at www.elastic-city.org. Signups are possible at the walk starting point, space permitting.

A description of each walk, with dates and times, is below. More information-including brief biographies of each walk artist-can be found at www.elastic-city.org/artists

Following The Last Walks, Elastic City will focus on creating a book that provides prompts from a multitude of walks and details best practices for artists and enthusiasts.

Reflecting on the seven-year life of Elastic City, an experiment in a new art form, Shalom said, "Elastic City has been incredibly rewarding-for me and for the artists and audiences involved. Since 2010, we have produced and presented over 125 original works. We've expanded the way in which thousands of people experience their everyday." He continued, "But above all, I feel like Elastic City has fulfilled its mission and has explored this form well. We've developed a method, and are excited to detail its quirks and charms in a book. This is a project in poetry, really, and we're going out with a celebration."

Hyperallergic is the media partner of The Last Walks.

WALKS

"Their Shoes" by Aki Sasamoto
http://www.elastic-city.org/walks/their-shoes

The East Village, forever gentrifying, still retains its characters. If one wants to dig deeper into the psyche of this neighborhood, a confrontational approach might greet you unkindly. In Their Shoes, Aki Sasamoto will lead participants through Tompkins Square Park using indirect observational techniques. The group will engage in peripheral viewing, following and mimicking exercises for empathizing and co-existing with others.

This walk holds 12 people. Their Shoes will be held in English but Aki also speaks Japanese.

Dates/Times:
Thursday, July 7, 2016; 7:00pm
Tuesday, July 12, 2016; 7:00pm
Thursday, July 14, 2016; 7:00pm

Starting Point: Northwest corner of 1st Street and 1st Avenue in Manhattan
Duration: 90 minutes
Admission: Free
Age: 16+

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"Concrete Jungle Gym" by Anna Azrieli

http://www.elastic-city.org/walks/concrete-jungle-gym

When my child was small, I spent a lot of time at the playground. I'd be on my phone and chatting with other adults-trying to make the time go faster. Anything to avoid being present in the moment. But once in a while, I'd look up, join my kid in play, and be transported back to the sensations of being young and flying on a swing, balancing on a beam and swooping down a slide.

On Concrete Jungle Gym participants will meet at a Brooklyn playground and re-discover how our bodies can give voice to our current state of play in concert with the structures there. The group will climb, jump and improvise--working intuitively with these tools to build a participatory choreography. A playground dance. From there, we'll take it to the streets, with its signposts, trees and stoops as props for a new group composition. No previous movement experience necessary.

This walk holds 12 people.

Dates/Times:
Saturday, July 9, 2016; 6:00pm
Wednesday, July 13, 2016; 7:00pm
Thursday, July 21, 2016; 7:00pm

Starting Point: This walk will meet on Clermont Avenue (in between Willoughby Avenue and Dekalb Avenue) at the entrance to Albert J Parham Playground in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Please wear comfortable clothing.

Duration: 90 minutes
Admission: Free
Age: 18+

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"Tracing our Power" by Lee Sunday Evans
http://www.elastic-city.org/walks/tracing-our-power

Director/choreographer Lee Sunday Evans will lead participants on a walk that uses movement-based composition and folk song to transmit power in the radically minded and ever-electric East Village. The neighborhood's electric and gas lines will frame the route while the assembly of a simple circuit guarantees to generate new light on where our power comes from.

This walk holds 12 people.

Dates/Times:

Monday, July 11, 2016; 7:30pm
Monday, July 18, 2016; 7:30pm
Monday, July 25, 2016; 7:30pm

Starting Point: 13 E. 7th Street; Manhattan
Duration: 90 minutes
Admission: Free
Age: 13+

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"This is my Worst Nightmare" by Becca Blackwell
http://www.elastic-city.org/walks/my-worst-nightmare

Becca Blackwell came of age in the mid-90s West Village dyke culture. As a bartender at Crazy Nanny's and a few other lesbian bars, they lived through drug raids, sexual assaults and even a race riot. Now a performer and trans, Becca revisits the glorious and traumatic episodes of their past and invites participants to re-enact them in their original locations. Techniques from theater, performance art and circus will bring out your inner queen, drug dealer, and closeted Hollywood A-lister.

This walk holds 12 people.

Dates/Times:
Wednesday, July 13, 2016; 7:00pm
Tuesday, July 19, 2016; 7:00pm
Wednesday, July 20, 2016; 7:00pm

Starting Point: 21 7th Ave South in Manhattan
Duration: 90 minutes
Admission: Free
Age: 21+

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"La Mano Inmigrante (The Immigrant Hand)" by Tania Bruguera and Mujeres en Movimiento
http://www.elastic-city.org/walks/la-mano-inmigrante-immigrant-hand

Cruza la frontera con Corona, únete a Maria, Tania, Valeria y Vero, en una caminata que muestra una verdad que no se admite: todos somos inmigrantes. Durante el recorrido de La Mano Inmigrante, el grupo se imaginará un barrio en el que se celebra el trabajo y la experiencia de todos. Vamos a renombrar las paradas del metro, repasar las historias de vida y, en ese tiempo, trataremos de vivir la experiencia de trabajo de las personas que a menudo son mal pagadas y explotadas, que son esenciales para mantener a flote esta ciudad.

Miembros de Mujeres en Movimiento que están participando: Maria Canela, Vero Ramirez y Valeria Reyes

Esta caminata tendrá capacidad para 12 personas.

Cross the border into Corona and join Tania Bruguera and Mujeres en Movimiento on a walk that presents the unacknowledged truth: we are all immigrants. On La Mano Imigrante, the group will imagine a neighborhood where everyone's work and experiences are celebrated. We will re-name subway stops, pass along our life stories and perform the labor of people who, often underpaid and exploited, do the essential jobs that keep this city afloat.

Featuring the following members of Mujeres en Movimiento: Maria Canela, Vero Ramirez and Valeria Reyes

This walk holds 12 people and will be held in Spanish with English translation.

Dates/Times:
Friday, July 15, 2016; 7:00pm
Saturday, July 16, 2016; 2:00pm
Tuesday, July 19, 2016; 7:00pm

Starting Point: Southeast corner of 46th Ave and 111th Street in Corona, Queens
Duration: 90 minutes
Admission: Free
Age: 13+

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"Market Thrum" by Okwui Okpokwasili

http://www.elastic-city.org/walks/market-thrum
Join Okwui Okpokwasili on a walk that explores the making of an "embodied collective" in the charged landscape of the South Bronx. Facilitating a multi-sensory exchange with each other and the space, we will slowly walk through the Gold Coast Trading Company (an African market) and work toward an expansive group practice of dynamic movement.

No previous dance experience required.

This walk holds 12 people.

Dates/Times:
Friday, July 22, 2016; 5:00pm
Saturday, July 23, 2016; 5:00pm
Sunday, July 24, 2016; 2:00pm

Starting Point: Northwest corner of E. 138th Street and Park Avenue in the Bronx. This is off the "138 - Grand Concourse" subway stop on the 4/5 train.
Duration: 90 minutes
Admission: Free
Age: 16+

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Image Credit: Eric McNatt

"The Last Walk" by Todd Shalom & Niegel Smith
http://www.elastic-city.org/walks/last-walk

Walk us out
to greener pastures
Tie it tight
Your frayed shoelace

Seven walks for seven years
Prospect Park--our final resting place

Over two days, Niegel and Todd will lead participants on The Last Walk. This walk will occur seven times and feature re-performed prompts by past Elastic City walk artists.

Each of the seven walks will include at least one cameo by an artist who will present their original prompt.

Contributing artists: luciana achugar, Chiara Bernasconi, Michelle Boulé, Neil Freeman, Neil Goldberg, Wayne Koestenbaum, Erin Markey, and Pamela Z

Each of the seven walks holds 12 people.

Dates/Times:
Tuesday, July 26, 2016; 1:00pm
Tuesday, July 26, 2016; 4:00pm
Tuesday, July 26, 2016; 7:00pm
Wednesday, July 27, 2016; 10:00am
Wednesday, July 27, 2016; 1:00pm
Wednesday, July 27, 2016; 4:00pm
Wednesday, July 27, 2016; 7:00pm

Starting Point: Bailey Fountain at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. Your clothes might get a little dirty on The Last Walk, so please dress appropriately.
Duration: 90 minutes
Admission: Free
Age: 13+

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