Ashley Chen Brings Unisson, Rush, Distances and More to La MaMa, November 30 – December 10

Former Merce Cunningham Dance Company dancer, Ashley Chen comes to La MaMa with two diverse programs of dance in The Ellen Stewart Theatre.  As a performer, Chen has worked Philippe Découflé, John Scott and Boris Charmatz among others, he is now a guest for TanzTheatre Wuppertal/Pina Bausch. Based in France, he founded Kashyl in 2012, with the desire to explore singular and personal choreographic processes and the nature of the social group and collective production.  

The works being performed at La MaMa are Rush and UNISSON (Program A) and TUMBLE, OutSide Flow, Distances and a post-show reimagining of Cunningham's Dime a Dance following certain performances (Program B). These works are being presented as part of Villa Albertine's 2023 Dance Season, a year-long celebration of the art of dance from inception to performance. 

UNISSON - Eight performers attempt to reach an intimate point of resonance and find the answer to a difficult question: how does a group reinvent itself through dance and find unity?  Cast: Magali Caillet-Gajan, Ashley Chen, Peggy Grelat-Dupont, Mai Ishiwata, Pierre Le Bourgeois, Théo Le Bruman, Lucius Romeo-Fromm, Eric Wurtz, Camryn Tomaszewski, Salma Kiuhan

Rush is a choreography in which two individuals are being propelled by an incessant driving force. Cast: Ashley Chen, Julien Monty 

Tumble is the first draft of Chen's new work Dégringolade. He'll be recalling bodily memories from his dance life, embarking on a choreographic stream of consciousness.

OutSide Flow is a choreographic short film shot in NYC, LA, and San Francisco to be premiered in the spring of 2024. It seeks to explore the correlations between human gestures and the ambient movement in which we evolve. This will be the first preview of OutSide Flow (*)

(*) The film OutSide Flow grew out of Ashley's exploratory residency in New York with Villa Albertine, a cultural institution that supports exchanges in arts and ideas between the United States, France, and beyond and presents innovative programming nationwide including 50+ customized residencies for International Artists, thinkers, and cultural leaders across disciplines each year.

Distances - A sisterhood of performers test the outer limits of each other's personal space, inventing a common ground. Exchanging gestures and songs: a morphing phantasmagorical entity emerges. Cast from NYU Tisch School of the Arts: Brook Biafore, Louise Coleman, Remy Corbin, Celeste Goldes, Jacqueline Lee, Lilly Lorber, Kaitlyn Posada, Ngozi Mokwunye, Emilia Pace, Elena Wrinkle Garcia, along side original cast members: Magali Caillet, Peggy Grelat Dupont and Mai Ishiwata

Dime a Dance by Merce Cunningham, has been reimagined by Chen, Chirescu and Therrien as live improvisational game exposing the beginning of Cunningham's use of Chance.

La MaMa Kids Workshop with Ashley Chen - A family workshop dedicated to kids 6 years old and their parents, based on Ashley Chen's show called UNISSON. 

Tickets are $30 for adults; $25 for students and seniors and now on sales on the La MaMa website, www.lamama.org of by phone at 646-430-5374.  Ticket prices are inclusive of all fees.  Face masks are always welcome at La MaMa, but no longer required.

Performance Schedule:

Program A

11/30/23 at 7PM: UNISSON followed by a reception and meet and greet with artists
12/01/23 at 7PM: Rush and UNISSON‍
12/02/23 at 7PM: Rush and UNISSON‍
12/03/23 at 11AM: La MaMa Kids Workshop
12/03/23 at 2PM: Rush and UNISSON

Program B

12/07/23 at 7PM: TUMBLE, OutSide Flow, and Distances
12/08/23 at 7PM: TUMBLE, OutSide Flow, and Distances
12/09/23 at 7PM: TUMBLE, OutSide Flow, and Distances (POST SHOW Dime a Dance)
12/10/23 at 2PM: TUMBLE, OutSide Flow, and Distances (POST SHOW Dime a Dance)

La Mama Experimental Theatre Club is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. La MaMa's 62nd "Radical Access" Season comes on the heels of our 61st season when we re-opened our newly-renovated, original theater at 74 E. 4th St. The building's $24 million makeover provides the return of the fully accessible Club, a new Community Arts Space for neighboring groups in the East Village, and an expanded public lobby and galleries. Our "Radical Access" initiative builds an infrastructure of opportunity that supports new ways of connecting us to people and communities around the world, expanding our means of connectivity and providing space where artists and digital tools converge from multiple points of entry.  

La MaMa has been honored with 30+ Obie Awards, dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie Awards, Villager Awards, the 2018 Regional Theatre Tony Award, and most recently a 2023 New York Drama Critics' Circle Special Citation. We are a creative home to artists and resident companies from around the world, many of whom have made lasting contributions to the arts, including Blue Man Group, Bette Midler, Ed Bullins, Ping Chong, Jackie Curtis, André De Shields, Adrienne Kennedy, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, Playhouse of the Ridiculous, Tom Eyen, Pan Asian Rep, Spiderwoman Theater, Tadeusz Kantor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Mabou Mines, Meredith Monk, Peter Brook, David and Amy Sedaris, Julie Taymor, Kazuo Ohno, Tom O'Horgan, Andrei Serban, Liz Swados, and Andy Warhol. La MaMa's vision of nurturing new artists and new work from all nations, cultures, races and identities remains as strong today as it was when Ellen Stewart first opened the doors in 1961.

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