Stacy Grossfield's METAMORPHOSIS 2 At The Chocolate Factory Theater
The show is the sequel to metamorphosis which was presented at The Kitchen as part of the Dance and Process program in 2019.
By: A.A. Cristi Feb. 22, 2024
The Chocolate Factory Theater continues its Spring 2024 season with the premiere of metamorphosis 2, a new dance performance by Stacy Grossfield.
The sequel to metamorphosis - which was presented at The Kitchen as part of the Dance and Process program in 2019 - Stacy Grossfield's new dance/theater work is a blunt, graphic, macabre and vulnerable dissection of female pain, both physical and spiritual; centering the female body as a site for personal and artistic rebirth.
metamorphosis 2 is a collage of striking interludes: Nola Sporn Smith aerobically channels Candace Owens; a nude figure's experiments with feminine skincare products descend into prolonged and increasingly grotesque body horror (complete with realistic bodily fluids by J&M Special Effects); long time collaborator Alexandra Albrecht enacts, and endures, an aching performance of childbirth with a ballet barre. Situated throughout The Chocolate Factory's industrial space, for an intentionally limited audience, these moments are punctuated by the appearance of three surprise intergenerational “guest” ballerinas whose presence answers the question: "where is the dance in this 'dance'"?
"This is the most personal piece I've made to date. I'm pushing toward the things that disturb me. It's like an uncomfortable autobiography."
Choreography by Stacy Grossfield. Performed by Alexandra Albrecht, Tuva H. and Nola Sporn Smith. Video Design: Gil Sperling. Special Effects: J & M Special Effects.Sound design: Ryan Gamblin. Lighting design: Madeline Best. Ballet costumes: Benefis.
metamorphosis 2 was created, in part, through the Space Grant Program at BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange with support from the Sustainable Arts Foundation.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Stacy Grossfield was a 2019 Bessie Award nominee for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer. She has choreographed and performed in NYC since 2003. Stacy's most recent work, metamorphosis, was presented at The Kitchen in the Dance and Process series in April, 2019; and was remounted at In The Works (January 2020). Her previous pieces include hot dark matter presented by JACK, Fur & Tulle, and Red, Pink, Black. She received a 2023 Parent Artist Space Grant at BAX, 2021 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency COVID-19 Grant, two FCA Emergency Grants (2016/2019), and a Manhattan Community Arts Fund grant (2013) for Red, Pink, Black. Grossfield has shown her work at 92Y, BAX, BRIC Studio, CPR, CATCH, DTW, Food for Thought at Danspace Project, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Roulette, and through AUNTS at various venues including NADA Art Fair and the New Museum.
ABOUT THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY THEATER
The Chocolate Factory Theater is an artist-centered organization, built by and for artists. Co-founders Sheila Lewandowski and Brian Rogers began making work together in 1995 and quickly saw the need for a creative home to support their work and the work of fellow experimental performance-based artists. The Chocolate Factory therefore has grown and developed within and through a creative process that centers the development of new work, as guided by makers.
The Chocolate Factory Theater exists to encourage and support performing artists in their process of inquiry. We engage with a community of artists who challenge themselves and, in doing so, challenge us. We believe that by supporting the labor of artists and the public presentation of their work, we contribute to elevating New York City as a thriving and more equitable wellspring of ideas.
The Chocolate Factory embraces artistic practice as an integral part of the artist's whole life, an essential component of the life of our community and a key element of a larger national and international artistic dialogue. As such, we host artists as our equal partners with shared autonomy, trust and appreciation.
Since its founding in 2004, The Chocolate Factory Theater has supported the development and presentation of new work by a community of local, national and International Artists working in dance, theater, performance, and related practices.
The Chocolate Factory Theater continues its pioneering commitment to addressing labor conditions within the independent performing arts community by paying all lead artists, performers, designers and technicians a fair hourly wage, on the books, for all rehearsal and production hours within our spaces.
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