Archives
Marjani Forté-Saunders, Memoirs of a…Unicorn
Presented by New York Live Arts, January 6
Reggie Wilson / Fist & Heel Performance Group, …they stood shaking while others began to shout
Co-Presented by Danspace Project and Gibney, January 7, 8, 10-12
Daina Ashbee, Serpentine
Presented by La MaMa
in partnership with First Nations Dialogues,
Global First Nations Performance Network and
Consulate General of Canada in New York,
January 9-11
Sujata Goel, Self Love
Presented by Gibney, January 10-12
nora chipaumire, 100% POP | SHABEEN REMIX
Presented by JACK, January 4-6 & 10-12
S.J Norman
Cicatrix 1 (that which is taken/that which remains)
Presented by Performance Space New York
in partnership with First Nations Dialogues, BlakDance, Global First Nations Performance Network
Curated by Emily Johnson for KIN
US PREMIERE
Tuesday January 8, 7:30pm
180 minutes
Performance Space New York
150 First Avenue, 4th Floor
Manhattan
S.J Norman is a non-binary Koori live artist and writer. Cicatrix 1 (that which is taken/that which remains), specially made for KIN, is a chain of actions, woven from the syncretic tissues of buried rites for mourning and remembrance. In particular, Cicatrix 1 considers the collision of Indigenous, queer, and trans bodies with state power, specifically the abuse and obliteration of those bodies by the carceral state. A long-durational ritual unfolding over approximately four hours, Cicatrix 1 begins with the lighting of a medicinal fire and concludes with an outdoor, midnight procession.
Performance Space New York’s presentation of KIN is supported by the Barragga Bay Fund with additional support by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.
Photo by Penelope Benton of Corpus Nullius/Blood Country (2010)
Marjani Forté-Saunders
Memoirs of a…Unicorn
Presented by New York Live Arts
Sunday, January 6, 5:30pm
70 minutes
New York Live Arts
219 West 19th Street
Manhattan
Memoirs of a…Unicorn is a solo performed non-linear installation that weaves sound and media to offer historic and personal narratives as embodied tales of fragmented histories, unabated love, and Warriorship. Spurred by stories of Marjani Forté-Saunders’ Arkansas born Father’s life, Forté-Saunders explores the tenets of his identity while riffing in the wound of its creation story.
“My Father’s story allows me to burrow into my lineage, to ritualistically remember, interrogate, and relish in the celestial ecliptic journeys of folks identifying with—and building legacies within—the spectrums of blackness, maleness, and womb-ness. Through this work I am researching the properties of Black American magic and resilience.”
– Marjani Forte-Saunders
Forté-Saunders mobilizes her work while honoring that it stems from being born in and having engaged with culturally rich, vibrant, historic, and politically charged communities.
Memoirs of a…Unicorn is the recipient of two New York Dance & Performance “Bessie” Awards for Outstanding Production and Visual Design. The work was selected one of Dance Magazine’s “Best Solos” of 2017.
Memoirs of a…Unicorn has been made possible through the support of the PGF-USA Special Projects Grant, The MAP Fund, Jerome Foundation, and Princess Grace Special Projects Award. Memoirs of a…Unicorn was co-commissioned by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Extended Life Residency with New York Live Arts. Memoirs of a…Unicorn has also received post-premiere residency support from the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography through a residency program in partnership with Urban Bush Women.
Photo by Maria Baranova
Media Designer Meena Murugesan
Sound Designer Everett Saunders
Set Designer Mimi Lien
Lighting Designer Tuce Yasak
Marjani Forté-Saunders is a Mother, choreographer, performer, a collaborative artist, community organizer and most recently a 3 time Bessie award winning choreographer and performer, for Memoirs of a…Unicorn. Anchored in a steady collaboration with partner and composer Everett Asis Saunders (New Music USA Awardee), the duo have produced seven award-winning works over the last 10 yrs. Marjani is an Inaugural recipient of the UBW Choreographic Center Fellowship and a two-time Princess Grace Foundation awardee. Her work has been incubated in residencies at the Maggie Allesee National Choreographic Center (MANCC), Lower Manhattan Cultural Center Extended Life Residency, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, CUNY Dance Initiative, 651 Arts and Movement Research. Humbly, she defines her work by its lineage stemming from culturally rich, vibrant, historic, loving, irreverent conjurers!
“Marjani Forté-Saunders’ choreography was powerful, quirky and original. Her shifts in personae was nothing short of remarkable. She, Everett Sanders, and their entire team of collaborators have created a multi-disciplinary work that should be seen and enjoyed by many throughout this country and beyond.”
– Jeff Slayton, LA Dance Chronicle
” Forté-Saunders is a confident, important, extraordinary performer hitting a new high mark in Memoirs of a… Unicorn.”
– Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody
Book Launch
Curating Live Arts
Presented by Gibney
with Cultural Services of the Québec Government Office in New York
Monday, January 7, 3:00pm – 5:00pm
60 minutes followed by reception
Gibney, Studio D
280 Broadway (Entrance at 53A Chambers Street)
Manhattan
FREE
RSVP!Following a major 2014 conference on curating performance at Université du Québec à Montréal, Berghahn Books has published an exciting new book anthology, edited by Dena Davida, Marc Pronovost, Véronique Hudon, and Jane Gabriels. Curating Live Arts brings together innovative essays from international theorist-practitioners to pose vital questions, propose future visions, and survey the landscape of this rapidly evolving discipline. Join us for a conversation with the book’s editors and selected contributors, followed by a reception to celebrate the publication.