Black Moon Theatre's BLISS, Based on Tibetan Book of the Dead, Begins Tonight

Black Moon Theatre Company presents BLISS, based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, with performances tonight, September 8, through September 25, 2016, at 7pm with 3pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at The Flea Theater, 41 White Street New York, NY 10013. Tickets are $20-$30 and can be found at here.

BLISS follows the journey of consciousness after death, during the interval between death and rebirth (bardo), and serves as an allegorical guide for the living. In this new multi-disciplinary production, Artistic Director René Migliaccio's staging is a visual and poetic dance/theatre odyssey within the mind of an individual striving to awaken to a Higher Consciousness. The journey is theatrically of double nature: the actor living the text of the Bardo and a Butoh dancer manifesting as his supra consciousness on the path of liberation. Original music features a fusion of ambient and accents of sounds and voices from the world, journeying on a wide spectrum from dark to ethereal moods. Projections create the pictorial environment for the journeyer on his path to liberation, immersing the audience in the symbolic dimension of dreams.

The Creative Team:

Directed by Rene Migliaccio

Text adaptation by Alessio Bordoni

Performed by Alessio Bordoni

Art work by Estella Dupree

Original Music by Amaury Groc

Choreographer Consultant: Eric Pettigrew

Assistant Director of Production: Isabella Schiller

Rene Migliaccio (Director): French-Italian born Rene Migliaccio is an award-winning director and the artistic director of Black Moon Theatre Company (New York), and founder of La Compagnie de la Lettre 5 (Montreal). An accomplished director and adaptor, Migliaccio's work has been performed at notable theaters and festivals across the globe. He began his career in the "expressionistic realism" style and went on to direct a wide range of plays for the Drama Theater Company, among them: Deathwatch by Jean Genet, and Awake and Sing by Clifford Odets. - In 1990, Migliaccio founded Black Moon Productions and directed Fear and Misery of the Third Reich (1996, Los Angeles Playhouse), Nosferatu, and Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni (1997, Los Angeles Playhouse), among others. In 2000 Migliaccio's adaptation of Nosferatu performed in Paris, at the HERE Arts Center in New York, and travelled to Telluride, Colorado and the Prithvi International Theatre Festival in Mumbai, India in November 2000. - Migliaccio established the non-profit organization Black Moon Theatre Company with Lori Vincent in Brooklyn, NY in 2001. Black Moon brings together multi-disciplinary works. The company launched with a production of The Bakkhai (2001, The HERE Arts Center, NYC) and has continued to produce to critical acclaim, nationally and internationally, notably the Kafka Series- The Metamorphosis and The Trial, Fragments (2009), Dante's Divina Commedia - Inferno (2010), Oscar Wilde's Salome (2011), and Ponzi, A Dollar and a Scheme by Alessio Bordoni (2012). Rene Migliaccio's directing work has been published in the Sixth edition on Directing by Francis Hodge and Michael McLain, published by Allyn and Bacon, 2005; and The Electronic Version (eBook) in Perspectives, Pearson Education, 2016.

Alessio Bordoni (Performer) Alessio Bordoni is an Italian-born American actor who has performed in numerous productions throughout Europe as well as in NYC, where he resides. He was trained in Germany by Zygmunt Molik, in NYC at HB studio and at the American Mime Theatre under Paul Curtis. Alessio made his stage debut solo, in his own adaptation of Gargantua and Pantagruel by Rabelais (Teatro Tordinona Rome). He then embarked on a two-year tour of Paolo Poli's staging of Jacques the Fatalist by Diderot, playing Marquis des Arcis. He subsequently portrayed Jean and Schlome, in French and Yiddish, in Primo Levi's If This is a Man (tour), starred in Dostoevsky's Demons (Teatro Sala Uno Rome), played solo in Dante's Divina Commedia - Inferno (New York Fringe Festival/Prague Fringe Festival), performed King Herod in Oscar Wilde's Salome (BMTC/Flea Theater) and again solo in his first play Charles Ponzi - A Dollar and a Scheme (United Solo
Theatre Festival). BLISS is his second work as a playwright and he is thrilled to be presenting it at the Flea. Alessio is also a passionate reader of Dante's Divine Comedy which he recites regularly at CUNY/NYU. He is a member of Actors' Equity Association and the Dramatists Guild of America. Alessio's work has been positively received. (For details check www.alessiobordoni.com)

Amaury Groc (Composer) is a French composer who over the last 20 years has composed original music for 7 shows with Rene Migliaccio. He also collaborated with dancer / choreographer Richard Siegal on some of his creations. His compositions are classical, electronic and world music inspired. Amaury has also worked as a sound engineer for recording studios and radios for fifteen years. Amaury is a developer and programmer at Ableton Live, a composition and performance software company.

Eric Pettigrew (choreographer) began performing in Québec, Canada, as a dancer and later as an actor exploring stage work, film and television. In order to follow his passion for discovering new ways of expressions of life through the human body, Eric spent several months in Japan studying Butoh dance under Butoh founders Kazuo Ono and Min Tanaka. He has been collaborating with Blackmoon Theatre Company since 2005.

New York City's Black Moon Theatre Company was founded in 2001 by Artistic Director Rene Migliaccio and Lori Vincent. Black Moon's New York productions include Oscar Wilde's Salome, Dante's Divina Commedia - Inferno (FringeNYC, Prague Festival Praha), Kafka's The Metamorphosis (FringeNYC, Philly Fringe, La MaMa, Prague Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe), Carlo Goldini's The Servant of Two Masters (Lincoln Center, Meet The Artist Series), Euripides' The Bakkhai (HERE), and Internationally, the company has been seen in Germany, the UK, Canada, Norway, and the Czech Republic. www.blackmoontheatrecompany.org

Non-institutional and resolutely noncommercial, The Flea embodies the spirit of adventure and experiment that has defined Off-Off-Broadway since its inception. We are one of the only professional theaters in the city that maintains an open-door policy for artists-a policy that we believe is crucial to keeping New York Theater vital. Part playground, part laboratory, part training ground, The Flea has been home to established artists taking new risks, emerging artists developing their ideas, and mid-career artists building sustained audiences and identities. Each year The Flea presents and produces dozens of new works in an environment that is professional, welcoming, and intimate. As a testament to our success, Flea artists have been honored with two OBIE Awards, an Otto Award and, in May 2004, The Flea was given a Drama Desk Award for Distinguished Achievement commending our dedication to adventurous theater. With the continued participation of our founders and an ever-growing community of diverse and creative talents, The Flea strives to represent the wide range of what is possible Off-Off-Broadway. www.theflea.org

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