Jenn Freeman and Sonya Tayeh's IS IT THURSDAY YET? to Open Next Week at PAC NYC

Is It Thursday Yet? will open on Tuesday, December 12 at the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC, Executive Director Khady Kamara and Artistic Director Bill Rauch). 

Is It Thursday Yet? is a stunning tapestry of dance, live music and home video footage that invites you into the unique complexities of dancer and choreographer Jenn Freeman’s life following her Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis at age 33. Since then, she has navigated an endless sea of epiphanies, examining childhood memories through this new lens.

Is It Thursday Yet? is co-created, co-choreographed and performed by Jenn Freeman, co-created, co-choreographed and directed by Sonya Tayeh, and composed and performed by Holland Andrews.  The production runs from December 8 through December 23 at PAC NYC.

 

The company features Jenn Freeman, Holland Andrews, and Price McGuffey.

Is It Thursday Yet? is a PAC NYC commission. Jenn Freeman is a 2023 NDP Grant Award recipient. Support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation in support of Is It Thursday Yet?. Is It Thursday Yet? has been made possible by additional commissioning funds provided by the O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation. Jenn Freeman is a 2023 New York State Council on the Arts grant award recipient.

Tickets are on sale now at PACNYC.org.

 

PAC NYC (251 Fulton Street) is a dynamic new home for the performing arts, serving audiences and the creative sector through flexible venues that embrace wide-ranging artistic programs. The inaugural season features work across theater, dance, music, opera, film and more.

 

About the Company

JENN FREEMAN they/she (Co-Creator/Co-Choreographer/Performer) is an Autistic American choreographer, dance performer, and educator based in New York City. Freeman is an O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation recipient, a 2023 New England Foundation for the Arts Recipient and the New York State Council on the Arts grant award recipient. Most recently Freeman was commissioned to set a solo for American Ballet Theatre principal dancer, Cassandra Trenary, that premiered at Festival des arts de Saint-Sauveur in 2022. In 2021, Freeman created new work for the Martha Graham Dance Company. In 2018 Freeman produced, directed and choreographed her evening-length world premiere debut: …it’s time… at the Theater at The 14th St Y in New York City. After a sold-out run the show was presented for a second run in 2019. Freeman's choreography has been commissioned by Marymount Manhattan College, Wayne State University, BYU, and The University of Texas at Austin. Her work has been presented at The Theater at the 14th Street Y, The Kaatsbaan Summer Festival, The Reverb Dance Festival, and The McCallum Theater Choreography Festival. For over a d ecade, Jenn has worked as Sonya Tayeh’s associate and resident choreographer in the development of pieces for: The Gibney Company, American Ballet Theater, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Guggenheim W&P, LA Ballet, The Juilliard School, and Cirque du Soleil. Professionally, Jenn has danced in works by choreographers Sonya Tayeh, Kyle Abraham, Larry Keigwin, Charlotte Boye-Christensen (NOW-ID), and many others. Freeman is a graduate of the dance program at TISCH School of the Arts, NYU.

 

Sonya Tayeh she/her (Co-Creator/Co-Choreographer/Director) is a New York City based TONY® Award winning choreographer and director. Since paving her professional career, her work has been characterized as a blend of powerful versatility and theatrical range.  Selected credits include Moulin Rouge!(Broadway, Australia, UK, Tour—Hirschfeld theatre/Dir Alex Timbers), UP HERE (Hulu musical series), The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (Broadway, James Earl Jones Theatre), Is It Thursday Yet? (La Jolla Playhouse), Sing Street Broadway (Huntington Theatre, Boston/Dir Rebecca Taichman), Martha Graham Dance Company (Joyce Theatre/Tour), American Ballet Theatre/What Becomes of Love Film, Unveiling with Moses and dancers (Fall For Dance/City Center), Rent Live! (Fox Network/Dir Michael Grief and Alex Rudzinski), The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova/Dir. Anne Kauffman), Face the Torrent for Malpaso Dance Co. (commissioned by The Music Center/LA), You'll Still Call Me By Name (commissioned by New York Live Arts and Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival), Martha Graham Dance Company's Lamentation Variation Series (Joyce Theatre), Hundred Days (New York Theatre Workshop/Dir. Anne Kauffman), The Skin Of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience/Dir. Arin Arbus), Andrew Lippas' The Wild Party (City Center Encores!/Dir. Leigh Silverman), Kung Fu (Signature Theatre/Dir. Leigh Silverman). Tayeh has directed and choreographed for world renowned music artists including Miley Cyrus (directed and choreographedThe Gypsy Heart Tour), Florence and the Machine (choreographed performances for The Brit Awards, The Voice, and American Idol), and Kyle Minogue (Aphrodite Tour). She has gleaned many accolades for her versatile work, including a Tony Award, two Emmy nominations, one Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award, and two Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Choreography.

 

HOLLAND ANDREWS they/them (Composer) is a vocalist, composer, and performance artist whose work focuses on the abstraction of operatic and extended-technique voice to build soundscapes encompassing both catharsis and dissonance. Andrews develops and performs soundscapes for dance, theater, and film. Notable collaborations include Bill T. Jones, Dorothee Munyaneza, Will Rawls, poet Demian Dinéyazhi, Son Lux, Christina Vantzou, William Brittelle, Methods Body, West Thordson, Peter Broderick, Darian Donovan Thomas, and Nils Frahm.

 

About PAC NYC

 

The inaugural season showcases the unparalleled flexibility of three performing arts venues inside PAC NYC: the John E. Zuccotti Theater (seating up to 450 people), the Mike Nichols Theater (seating up to 250) and the Doris Duke Foundation Theater (seating up to 99). These venues can recombine in over 60 configurations with capacities ranging from 50 to 1080 seats.  Mechanical systems allow the floors to be raked or flat; staging options include proscenium and thrust; and seating, lighting grids and acoustical systems can accommodate each layout for artistic innovation that can engage and delight audiences in new ways at every visit.

 

Named for businessman, philanthropist and benefactor Ronald O. Perelman, the Perelman Performing Arts Center is 129,000 square feet, rising 138 feet from street level.  Its cube-shaped exterior is wrapped in glass-covered Portuguese marble tiles, arranged in a book-matched pattern that radiates from the center of each façade.  The tiles, less than half an inch thick, allow light to radiate in during the day, and glow out during the evening.  Designed by the architecture firm REX, led by founding principal Joshua Ramus, the building was created in collaboration with executive architect Davis Brody Bond, theater consultant Charcoalblue and acoustician Threshold Acoustics.  David Rockwell and his architecture and design firm Rockwell Group designed the interior of the lobby and restaurant with a dynamic ceiling visible from the street to create an inviting entry experience. The lobby's restaurant by chef Marcus Samuelsson, along with the bar and outdoor terrace, will offer a new gathering space for the Lower Manhattan community.

 

Tickets & PAC NYC Individual Memberships

PAC NYC Memberships starting at $10 for the inaugural season are available. Members are provided early access to purchase tickets and other perks. For more information or to learn how to support PAC NYC, visit PACNYC.org.

Tickets start at $39 and are available online at PACNYC.org or by calling 212.266.3000.  All performances are at 251 Fulton Street.

The public can sign up for important updates from PAC NYC at PACNYC.org/sign-up.

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