A STRANGE LOOP's Raja Feather Kelly Headlines New York Theatre Barn's Choreography Lab

New York Theatre Barn will host a free live stream of its Choreography Lab on Monday, August 17th, 2020 at 7PM EDT. A Quarantine Lab will explore creating new choreography in a virtual space, and will feature the work of choreographers Raja Feather Kelly (choreographer of A Strange Loop) and Tislarm Bouie (Gary a Sequel to Titus Andronicus).

What does it look like to create new works of theatrical choreography while we are still not able to congregate? Who can you create with? What locations and technology do you have available to you? In this lab, 2 choreographers will present 2 short works of new choreography, created with these questions in mind.

Mr. Kelly will present an excerpt from Rona Siddiqui's new musical Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan. Mr. Kelly serves as both the director and choreographer on this project, which was featured earlier this year in New York Theatre Barn's virtual New Works Series. In the new musical, "Halfghan" Medina Eskandani confronts what it means to identify as a person of color (her Middle Eastern side) when she has spent her whole life trying to be white (her Italian side). Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan is a zany, vaudevillian fantasia of bi-ethnic identity exploration with musical styles ranging from vaudeville, folk, rap, pop, country, to middle eastern groove.

Mr. Bouie will present Thug, an excerpt of his short film focusing on redefining what it means to be a black man in America. Mr. Bouie's film exposes how dangerous and disruptive America's definition of black masculinity is, how that definition needs to be revolutionized, and that black men are undefinable. At its core, Thug seeks to show the world that, "We're not violent! We're vulnerable, resilient and beautiful. We are love".

Both choreographers and writer Rona Siddiqui will join a discussion, moderated by lab founder and curator Avital Asuleen, where they will discuss the inspiration and developmental process behind each new work. Funded in part by a generous gift from the Amber Foundation, the Choreography Lab was created to elevate and expand the use of dance in musical theatre. It is also the only curated choreography platform where choreographers and writers collaborate to develop movement for new musicals during incubation.

The 45-minute presentation will be available on New York Theatre Barn's YouTube channel and will also simulcast to Broadway on Demand. The company will be giving 50% of its donations this week to The Fund for College Auditions which advocates for diversity and equity in college-level theatre training programs. For more information, visit New York Theatre Barn's website: www.nytheatrebarn.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.