Roulette, Brookylyn, NY. March 10-12, 2021.
Icebox, Philadelphia, PA. (Canceled due to Covid-19)
HERE Arts Center, Manhattan, NY. February 2, 2020.
Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT. January 27-28. 2020.
Together with sound artists PussyVision (Finley Janes) the performers use song and sound—incantation and invocation—to evoke something both ancient and essential to emotional survival. Scores on attention and rhythm guide performers to look at the spaces between actions, a state where losing momentum feels important. Friction and asymmetry, both auditory and physical, serve to scramble preconceived notions of form and otherwise inhibit this polyphonic, trancelike condition. Endowing the performers with a force unmediated by language, the spell that takes over results in an uncensored account of desire and its power.
Concept/direction: Elena Demyanenko
Made and performed: Elena Demyanenko, Chloë Engel, and Leah Morrison
Lights: Joe Levasseur
Choreographic contributions: Jon Kinzel
Sound: Finley Janes
Video direction: Mariam Ghani
Costumes: Richard MacPike
excerpt from welter (film):
Concept/Direction by Elena Demyanenko
Performed by Laurel Jenkins, Chloë Engel and Elena Demyanenko
Video Direction by Mariam Ghani
Editing by India Abbott
Camera work by India Abbott and Adityajit Kang
Lights by Michael Giannitti