Flyaway Productions Concludes THE DECARCERATION TRILOGY This Fall

Flyaway Productions has announced the culmination of its Decarceration Trilogy, an ambitious series of site-specific aerial dance and public art events addressing the devastating effects of mass incarceration in the United States. APPARATUS OF REPAIR premieres at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, September 15 - 25, with tours to Ossining, New York and Santa Monica, California to follow.

With a cast of five female dancers, Apparatus of Repair engages ideas of restorative justice as an alternative to the prison system. The work is grounded in the lived experiences of survivors of violent assault as well as the perpetrators of that violence. Many of the participating artists consented to bring their own deeply personal experiences to the project as survivors.

"Restorative justice is a fast-growing social movement offering peaceful solutions to harm," said Flyaway Artistic Director Jo Kreiter. "To quote activist Aishah Shahidah Simmons, it is 'love with accountability.' Restorative justice causes less damage and holds more hope than our current legal system."

Apparatus of Repair transforms the intimate healing process of restorative justice into a public performance, danced in the air and on the vertical surfaces of buildings. It is designed for presentation in proximity to prisons and communities disproportionately impacted by the legal system. From its premiere on a south-facing wall of UC Hastings College of the Law located in San Francisco's Tenderloin, it will move in October to Bethany Arts Community near the grounds of Sing Sing Prison in New York's Hudson Valley, and then on to The Broad Stage in Santa Monica next year.

Over the last two years, Flyaway has worked in coalition with Community Works based in Oakland, California. The organization has been a leader in the field of restorative justice, serving to advance policies and practices that promote diversion away from prisons as well as successful reentry for those who serve time. Led by restorative justice practitioner Kevin Martin, Community Works connected Flyaway with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people as part of the research for the piece.

Apparatus of Repair was choreographed by Kreiter in collaboration with the dancers: Sonsherée Giles, MaryStarr Hope, Jhia Jackson, Megan Lowe and Saharla Vetch. Additional collaborators include composer Maddy "MADlines" Clifford, set designer Sean Riley, lighting designer Jack Beuttler, costume designer Jamielyn Duggan and technical director Dave Freitag.

There will be eight shows over the premiere dates, September 15 - 25, Thursdays through Sundays at 8 p.m. Seating will be provided inside the Quad at UC Hastings College of the Law with entry at 333 Golden Gate Avenue. Performances follow at Bethany Arts Community in Ossining, NY, October 6 - 8, Thursday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Attendance at Flyaway presentations are free with no advance reservation. For more information visit flyawayproductions.com/upcoming.

The world premiere of Apparatus of Repair is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts/National Dance Project, San Francisco Art Commission, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Fund, The Hewlett Foundation, New Music USA, Bethany Arts Community and Hudson Link.

Jo Kreiter is a San Francisco-based choreographer with a background in political science. Through dance she engages physical innovation and the political conflicts we live within. Her company, Flyaway Productions, explores the range and power of female physicality. Kreiter creates a sense of spectacle to make a lasting impression with an audience, striving for the right balance of awe, provocation and daring. Recent awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Rauschenberg Foundation Artist-as-Activist Fellowship, the Rainin Foundation Open Spaces Award, a National Dance Project Creation Grant and two Creative Work Fund awards. In her book, Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performances, author Victoria Hunter cites Kreiter as a leader in the field of site-specific dance.

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