HERE Presents Janessa Clark's COMMUNION, June 3-19

The OBIE-winning HERE will present Janessa Clark's "Communion," an experimental video art response to the isolation and uncertainty individuals are facing in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Because dancers can no longer breathe together, touch, or share the experience of movement within the physical studio, Clark invited 40 dancers, separated by physical distance and the pandemic, into a digital space to commune together.

The installation will be on view at HERE's Mainstage Theater from June 3-19, 2021, between the hours of 2pm and 7pm, Thursday-Saturday. HERE is located at 145 Sixth Avenue, just below Spring Street. Please visit https://here.org for more information.

Conceived, curated, and edited by Clark, "Communion" features a total of 20 unique duets created from videos by two different dancers who are separated by cities, countries, and sometimes continents. Clark combines these videos to create virtual duets that are set to music donated by a composer who is also collaborating remotely. The running time for the single channel video installation is 50 minutes.

The participating dancers and pairings include Janessa Clark (Brooklyn, NY) and Laura Peterson (Brooklyn, NY); Leslie Kraus (Norman, OK) and Omagbitse Omagbemi (Berlin, Germany); Gerald Casel (Santa Cruz, CA) and Peiling Kao (Honolulu, HI); Ori Flomin (New York, NY) and Helena Franzén (Stockholm, Sweden); Gesine Moog (Stockholm, Sweden) and Yutaka Nakata (Lille, France); Benoît Lachambre (Montreal, Canada) and Dan Safer (Preston Hollow, NY); Julian Barnett (Burlington VT) and Takahiro Yamamoto (Portland, OR); Jennifer Nugent (Brooklyn, NY) and Kendra Portier (College Park, MD); Gus Solomons, jr. (New York, NY) and Guy Whitney (New York, NY); Wendell Gray II (Atlanta, GA) and Catie Leasca (Salem, MA); Doug Elkins (New York, NY) and Sharon Estacio (Florence, Italy); Alice Klock (Whidbey Island, WA) and Kumar Ravi (Delhi, India); Ivy Baldwin (Putnam Valley, NY) and Saùl Ulerio (New York, NY); jess pretty (Brooklyn, NY) and Jessie Young (Port Angeles, WA); Kimberly Bartosik (Brooklyn, NY) and Joanna Kotze (Brooklyn, NY); David Dorfman (New London, CT) and Jeanine Durning (Stockholm, Sweden); aaron lewis (Highland Park, NJ) and Jordan Lloyd (Brooklyn, NY); Jasmine Hearn (occupied land of the Karankawa and Atakpe people, Texas) & Catherine Kirk (unceded land of Lenape and Canarsie peoples, New York); Kelly Bartnik (Brooklyn, NY) and Alexandra Beller (Brooklyn, NY); and Rosalynde LeBlanc (Los Angeles, CA) and Colleen Thomas (New York, NY).

The participating composers include George Baldovin (Zagreb, Croatia), Fatrin Krajka (New York, NY), Tim 'Love' Lee (Wassaic, NY), Anne Müller (Berlin, Germany), Major Andres Scurlock (New York, NY), Sxip Shirey (New York, NY), David Shane Smith (Santa Fe, NM), and Michael Wall (Salt Lake City, UT).

"Communion" is free to attend, however, reservations are required, and donations are encouraged. Attendees will be asked to fill out a health questionnaire, have their temperature taken at the door, and will need to wear a face mask and social distance while at HERE.

"Communion" is funded, in part, by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant Program and by HERE Arts Center.

Please visit https://here.org/shows/communion/ for more information.

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