Kathy Westwater's RAMBLER, WORLDS WORLDS A PART Makes World Premiere at New York Live Arts

LUMBERYARD Center for Film and Performing Arts joins forces with New York Live Arts (Live Arts) to present the world premiere of Kathy Westwater's Rambler, Worlds Worlds A Part, February 14-16, 2019, having commissioned the work by selecting Westwater as the recipient of LUMBERYARD's 2017 Solange MacArthur Award for New Choreography. In Rambler, Worlds Worlds A Part, Westwater, whom The New Yorker has called "an unconventional choreographer now experiencing a surge of recognition," extends her 20-plus-year exploration of pain and the body, including the pain of others. While contemplating if it is possible to fully communicate the experience of one's own pain-and its opposite, bliss-or to fully know another's, the cast of dancers, including Westwater herself, responds to and celebrates the profound music of post-minimalist composer Julius Eastman.

The dancers performing Rambler, Worlds Worlds A Part are Ilona Bito, Thomas F. DeFrantz, Alex Romania, Rakia Seaborn, Paul Singh, Stacy Lynn Smith, and Westwater. In the making of the work, Westwater invited the dancers to explore their personal experiences of pain and trauma. The performances at New York Live Arts feature live piano by Joseph Kubera, a longtime collaborator of Julius Eastman-as well as of Merce Cunningham and other iconic experimental artists-and the "exuberantly expressive" (Los Angeles Times) Adam Tendler, plus a special appearance by musician and composer M. Lamar, who plays an original composition in tribute to Eastman with his characteristic "visionary verve" (New York Times). The creative team includes architect Seung Jae Lee as set designer, Roderick Murray as lighting designer, and Melanie George, LUMBERYARD's Resident Dramaturg and Director of Audience Education, as dramaturg.

Performances of Rambler, Worlds Worlds A Part take place at New York Live Arts (219 West 19th St New York, NY 10011) February 14, 15, and 16 at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $15/$20 and can be purchased here. The running time is approximately 60 minutes.

Kathy Westwater, the 2017 recipient of LUMBERYARD's Solange MacArthur Award for New Choreography, has pursued experimental dance forms since 1996. Her work, described in The Brooklyn Rail as "at the limits of the human," responds to the societal landscape in which it manifests by reimagining the body's movement potential.

With an eye to contemporary experience, Westwater's major works have explored the built environments of monuments, landfills, and parks; phenomena of war and pain; intersections of human and animal culture; psycho-physical states of fear; and interactive virtual environments.

Her work has been presented by Brooklyn Studios for Dance, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, 92nd Street Y, Joyce SoHo, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Franklin Furnace, Dixon Place, Performance Space 122, Movement Research, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Summer Stages Dance Festival, Reed College, Pratt Institute, Temple University, and New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

Westwater has received commissions from LUMBERYARD Center for Film and Performing Arts and Temple University, and from Dance Theater Workshop and Danspace Project; and awards from Foundation for Contemporary Art, Puffin Foundation, Franklin Furnace Fund, Meet the Composer, and New York Foundation for the Arts. For Rambler, Worlds Worlds A Part, she was awarded major residencies at Petronio Residency Center and Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography.

Photo by Ian Douglas