Pivot Arts Announces Dates, Line-Up for 6th Annual PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL

Pivot Arts is pleased to announce the 6th annual PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL, a celebration of innovative performances and multi-disciplinary works presented throughout Chicago's Uptown and Edgewater neighborhoods from June 1 - June 10, 2018. Tickets, ranging from free to $35, go on sale Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at www.pivotarts.org/festival.

This year, the ten-day Festival features the Chicago premiere of Rude Mechs, a theater collective from Austin, TX, who have performed at major venues across the country - joined by top artistic innovators from Chicago and beyond. Performances include theater, dance, puppetry, multidisciplinary works, site-specific performances, performances for youth, workshops, discussions and showings of new works-in-progress from the Pivot Arts Incubator program, which has developed works such as Isaac Gomez's La Ruta, to be performed at Steppenwolf Theatre next season.

The Festival also features the fourth annual "Celebrate Community!" Parade on Saturday, June 2 at 3 pm, kicking off at the Senn Playlot (corner of Elmdale and Greenview Aves.) and culminating in performances and interactive workshops at Senn Park behind Senn High School. Participating groups include CircEsteem, Storytown Improv, Walkabout Theater and more!

Specific dates, times and venues are available at www.pivotarts.org/festival. Artists and events currently confirmed for the 2018 PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL:

NOT EVERY MOUNTAIN, presented by Rude Mechs (Austin, TX)

Marking their Chicago premiere, the Austin Texas-based theatre collective Rude Mechs creates genre-averse theatrical productions that represent a cocktail of big ideas, cheap laughs and dizzying spectacle. NOT EVERY MOUNTAIN is a meditation on change, permanence and our place in the natural world. In this piece, the group gathers to build a mountain using pulleys, cranks, magnets and string. It is a presentation of the life cycle of mountains and the processes by which they are born and eventually laid to rest.

THE NEW PRAIRIE SCHOOL AT THE COLVIN HOUSE, presented by Corey Smith

Equal parts architectural tour, immersive theater and musical performance, THE NEW PRAIRIE SCHOOL AT THE COLVIN HOUSE explores an historic Sheridan Road Mansion. Audience members are guided through the Colvin House by performers who sing, speak, gesticulate and gyrate their way through the building. This strange and beautiful performance is a reclaiming of Midwestern radicalism, a love song to the people and the buildings of Chicago.

YOU'RE HIS CHILD, presented by Emmy Bean

A live music, sound and performance interaction with archival family recordings. Actor and musician Emmy Bean engages the history of her great-grandfather, a kitchen-table hymn singer, revealing stories about family and music based on his songs.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TERRY, presented by Vanessa Valliere

Created and performed by Vanessa Valliere, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TERRY is a multi-media journey of romance, parenthood, and success. A woman's search for love has hilarious consequences told through clowning, puppetry, audience participation, drawings, photos and projections.

BROAD NIGHT: DEMYSTIFYING WOMEN'S HEALTH, presented by Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and Katy Collins

This evening includes a short showing from This Boat Called My Body, a play inspired by stories from adolescents seeking abortions, as well as a preview from the web-series The Doula Is In. Following the performances is a discussion about abortion access for youth, the impact of parental consent laws in Illinois and real live doula, Katy Collins answers questions about pregnancy and women's health.

WHAT'S NEXT: Anna Martine Whitehead, Shannon Stewart and Aurora Nealand

An evening of works-in-progress from the Pivot Arts Incubator Program at Loyola University. Choreographer/dancer Anna Martine Whitehead presents NOTES ON TERRITORY, a transdisciplinary movement piece framed in the guise of a PowerPoint presentation about the history of containment architecture (including prison, fort, public housing, and cathedral architecture).

New Orleans-based dance artist Shannon Stewart and musician Aurora Nealand present HYSTERIA AND THE BODY ELECTRIC, a movement opera focusing on the concepts (and realities) of gendered movement, gendered sound and media messaging in our contemporary American culture.

THE? UNICORN? HOUR?, presented by Team Awesome

In a world where hate and anger prevail. Where lines between the dark and light can be broken, where night lights are needed to sleep. Where closet doors are shut. Where monsters lurk under the bed. In a world of death and destruction, one creature, and one creature alone can bring joy and adventure. Come and experience THE? UNICORN? HOUR? and experience joy.

ICE CREAM AND IMPROV with Storytown Improv

An annual tradition, bring the kids for the final day of the festival and start the day out right with Storytown Improv and custard/sweets for purchase at Lickity Split.

WHAT'S NEXT: Ginger Krebs Performance Project and Chicago Fringe Opera

The festival closes with two site-specific showings of "What's Next" from Pivot's Arts Incubator program, Ginger Krebs Performance Project and Chicago Fringe Opera.

Chicago Fringe Opera presents The Rossini Project, which adapts the music and story of Rossini's classic opera The Barber of Seville and transforms it into a hip hop dance party. The project features live opera singers, MCs, DJs and breakdancers.

Ginger Krebs Performance Project presents Escapes and Reversals, a new work by dancemaker, performer and visual artist Ginger Krebs. Escapes and Reversals uses martial arts self-defensive maneuvers and prey animal behaviors to explore illusions of three-dimensional space in technology and how power becomes hidden underneath these seductive surfaces while reimagining contemporary bodies' changing relationships to space.

Festival venues and locations for 2018 include: Bar 63, Chicago Filmmakers, Colvin House, FLATSstudio, Francesca's Bryn Mawr, Lickity Split Custard and Sweets and The Mundelein Center for the Arts at Loyola University.

The full Pivot Arts Festival line-up will be announced shortly.

Festival Preview Party

Join Pivot Arts for a sneak peek of this year's Festival at the Festival Kick-Off Party on Thursday, May 17 at Francesca's Bryn Mawr, 1039 W. Bryn Mawr in Chicago. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door and include appetizers, drinks, entertainment, plus a silent auction. Tickets are available at www.pivotarts.org/events.

About Pivot Arts

Pivot Arts produces and presents contemporary, multidisciplinary performance. They develop new work and present performances throughout the year culminating in a multi-arts festival. Their vision is that of a vibrant community where unique collaborations between artists, businesses and organizations lead to the support and creation of innovative performance events.

PHOTO CREDIT: The 2018 PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL will include (top, l to r) Rude Mechs (Austin, TX), The? Unicorn? Hour?, Shannon Stewart (bottom, l to r) Vanessa Valliere, Anna Martine Whitehead and the 4th annual "Celebrate Community!" Parade.

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