On the Boards Fall Brochure - 2018 / 2019 Season

18/19 SEASON

Welcome

2

Calendar

7

Subscribe

8

Performances

11

24

Cover and this page: Okwui Okpokwasili: Poor People’s TV Room (Dec 6-9).

Photo above by Paul B. Goode. Cover photo by Ian Douglas

Special Events

Support

40

We have so much to learn. The ideals that have shaped my entire life thus far have been called into question by the election of this so-called president. They are ideals worth fighting for: a faith, as Martin Luther King assured us, that the long arc of history bends toward justice; that societies have the desire and capacity for improvement; that reflection and communication will foster greater compassion; and a belief that one of the most powerful paths to progress is through art and literature. I have believed in the value of knowledge and of truth. And I have believed that the quality of a life is not measured by money, celebrity, or material goods but by richness of mind, generosity of spirit, and by meaningful human relationships.

Along with these beliefs comes an endlessly renewed (and renewable) joy in the superfluous. By which I mean that the things which thrill and enchant, delight and inspire, move and hold us rarely fall into the category of the necessary. I’m not making light of the necessary— food, water, shelter, health, employment, companionship —without which we manifestly can’t survive. But what makes us human is our capacity for memory, for laughter, for passion, for grief, and for joy.

Welcome to On the Boards’ 2018–2019 Season. Think of it as a Roman candle, but instead of light and smoke, it is exploding with enchantment, delight, and inspiration. We are living in dark times, but the artists in this season are a reminder of what is human and what is possible.

Long before I worked at On the Boards, I was an avid subscriber.

I came for the art, of course, but it was the lobby, and the people who gather there, that won my heart. In these uncertain and rapidly changing times, being part of a organization committed to welcoming people and celebrating their differences gives me hope. Our mission is to invest in leading contemporary performing artists near and far, and connect them to a diverse range of communities interested in forward-thinking art and ideas. We believe if we are successful in our work we can grow our field, enrich peoples’ lives, and contribute to civic and global dialogues.

We’ve been doing that work for 39 years now, and we get stronger, smarter, and more skilled all the time.

We’re asking more questions of ourselves, our colleagues, our artists, and stakeholders than ever, and we’re better at listening to the answers. We know our contribution is important, and we want to be heard, and we want to hear from artists in our community and from our audiences.

I invite you to be part of a lively community of art-goers with our Subscription Series, get close to great art in its developmental stages with our Artists in Residence, dive deep into ideas with our new Lectures, and revel in special events that you absolutely will not experience anywhere else. Artistic Director Rachel Cook and the On the Boards curatorial team have made a season for our times. In this season we will find companionship and community—a necessity, entertainment, surprise, and illumination—“joy in the superfluous,” and the humanity of memory, laughter, and passion.

Meet me in the lobby!

Betsey Brock Executive Director

CLAIRE MESSUD, “THE TIME FOR ART IS NOW”, PARIS REVIEW DAILY, MARCH 22, 2018

2

WELCOME

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

3

Nicola Gunn: Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster (Feb 14–16). Photo: Gregory Lorenzutti

How is meaning made? What actions, gestures create meaning? How are artistic movements made? How do artistic gestures inspire meaning in this world?

4

WELCOME

Curators act as catalysts for conversations that are already embedded within a community.

I think of curating as multi-dimensional and collaborative. Sometimes your curatorial role is to push the conversation into areas away from the artwork and towards different histories or alternative discourses. As a curator, you are tasked with generating an interconnected-ness between images, objects, and gestures for a community of individuals.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how curatorial positions can hold power in different ways and how power can be more equitably distributed in order to create platforms for artists and communities. I see my curatorial role as creating context around artists’ work, participating in critical writing and feedback, archival research, mentoring, and advocacy.

This type of work is practiced in conversation with the community, working in tandem to collectively examine larger cultural questions in order to inspire a shift in our thinking and understanding of the world.

In recent years, a growing number of multidisciplinary artists have employed performative strategies in their work to interrogate a variety of relevant social and political topics.

Contemporary performance has become a working method, a critical framework, and a strategy, rather than simply a medium or discipline.

Additionally, many choreographers, performance and theater-makers working today consider their practice in a very similar vein to visual conceptual artists — performative, collaborative, and multidisciplinary.

This shift away from performance as medium or discipline comes at the very moment when many artists and curators are embracing and being fully embraced by technology and corporate branding structures.

Digital tools are a way to create physical stories. The creative class is no longer a small elite group of individuals and a handful of alternative art spaces. From large-scale fashion houses to DIY design wearable ventures, to music videos, animation, and video games, technological devices have blurred and disrupted the boundaries between pop culture, advertising, and art. We are living through a time in which the distinction between categories in art is not straightforward anymore.

I am interested in asking a series of questions: How is meaning made?

What actions, gestures create meaning? How are artistic movements made? How do artistic gestures inspire meaning in this world? I think about a season as a shift in climate, or a change in the amount of daylight, or the marking of a point in time which the earth is in relationship to the sun. Mostly I think about a season as a collection of artists and ideas presented over the course of a year in a particular setting. This season will take up the idea of Image, Object, & Gesture as a way to think about the blurring and hybrid distinctions being made in contemporary performance today.

Rachel Cook Artistic Director

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

5

Tickets can be purchased online at ontheboards.org or by calling the Box Office at 206-217-9886 ext.1019 (open Tue–Fri, 12–4 pm). The Lobby Box Office opens 1 hour before performances for will call and walk up sales (subject to availability). Single tickets for performances will go on sale 6-8 weeks ahead of scheduled dates.

Want to get the best deal on tickets? Subscribe! You’ll receive the lowest available ticket price plus great subscriber benefits, such as the ability to exchange tickets for free and early access to special events. (See p.8 for more information about how to subscribe.)

All ticket sales are final. No refunds.

All seating for OtB events is unassigned, “General Admission”.

Late seating is not guaranteed, and is at the discretion of the performers and the House Manager.

Children under the age of 6 are not permitted due to the nature of the work and our performing artists’ preferences. Children ages 6+ must be accompanied by and seated with an adult.

Accessibility

Plans changed? Tickets can be exchanged for a different performance of the same event.

Our ADA entrance is located on the Roy St. side of the building. Ring the doorbell by the mailbox for entry. If you require ADA assistance for an upcoming performance, please contact us in advance so that we can accommodate your needs.

Single ticket holders can only exchange tickets by calling the Box Office and will be charged $5 per ticket exchanged.

Seniors (65 and over)* $23 advance $25 week of show Under 25* $12 advance $15 week of show TeenTix (ages 13-19) $5 with TeenTix card (Sign up at TeenTix.org)

*Must show ID. Cannot be combined with other discounts.

Ticket Exchanges

Subscribers may exchange tickets online up to 24 hours before your originally ticketed event at no cost. Subscriber exchanges made less than 24 hours prior to originally ticketed event will be subject to a $5 per ticket fee.

General Admission $26 advance $30 week of show

ontheboards.org/1819-season Box Office 206-217-9886 ext.1019 Hours: Tue-Fri, 12-4 pm

SU SE BS RI CR ES IP TI ON DI O S FO R CO R EA UN SU RL TS BS Y CR AC IB CE ER SS S

18/19 SEASON CALENDAR

X

SEP 13–16

Rachel Mars: Our Carnal Hearts

SEP 20

Performance Lab

OCT 4–7

Solo: A Festival of Dance

X

OCT 6

Lecture: Ashley Stull Meyers & Joyce Rosario

X

OCT 18–20

Andrew Schneider: YOUARENOWHERE

X

OCT 25–27

Andrew Schneider: AFTER

NOV 1–3

Inua Ellams: Barber Shop Chronicles Presented by Seattle Theatre Group

DEC 6–9

Okwui Okpokwasili: Poor People’s TV Room

DEC 8

Lecture: Betelhem Makonnen & Anna Gallagher-Ross

DEC 15

Performance Lab

JAN 24–27

Sound Histories Festival

JAN 25–26

Marginal Consort

X

FEB 14–16

Nicola Gunn: Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster

X

FEB 21–24

Nicola Gunn: Working With Children

X

MAR 22–24

keyon gaskin:

MAR 29–30

A.I.M by Kyle Abraham Presented by Seattle Theatre Group

X

APR 3

Artist Talk: Michelle Ellsworth

X

X

X X X

: a self portrait

APR 4–6 Michelle Ellsworth: The Rehearsal Artist and Post-Verbal Social Network

X

X

X

MAY 2019*

Ligia Lewis: minor matter (Dates and times to be announced Fall 2018)

X

MAY 2019*

Ligia Lewis: Sorrow Swag (Dates and times to be announced Fall 2018)

X

JUN 2019*

NW New Works Festival (Dates and times to be announced Fall 2018)

X

*Dates and times to be announced Fall 2018.

Note: All dates and times are subject to change. Please check ontheboards.org for the most up-to-date information.

6

7

18/19 SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES

Subscribe to the 18/19 Season at On the Boards and join an adventurous community of artists and art lovers like you! Your subscription provides critical support for each and every performance and helps OtB continue programs that increase access to the arts, such as the Ticket Bank, sliding scale tickets, and more. Subscribers receive the lowest available ticket price plus these benefits (available for every type of subscription): — — — — — —

Tickets to Subscription Series performances Free and easy ticket exchanges Complimentary ticket to bring a friend Discounts on additional tickets to Subscription Series performances Discounted parking in the OtB lot Access to work-in-progress showings or open rehearsals with Artists-in-Residence — Discounted tickets or early access to Special Events — Season Brochures mailed to your home — First to hear about additional special events Most subscriptions can be purchased online at ontheboards.org/subscribe.

For questions or to subscribe over the phone, please call 206-217-9886 ext.1019 during Box Office hours (Tue–Fri, 12–4 pm).

PERFORMANCES IN THE SUBSCRIPTION SERIES — Rachel Mars: Our Carnal Hearts (Sep 13–16) — Andrew Schneider: AFTER (Oct 25–27) — Okwui Okpokwasili: Poor People’s TV Room (Dec 6–9) — Marginal Consort (Jan 25–26) — Nicola Gunn: Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster (Feb 14–16) — Nicola Gunn: Working With Children (Feb 21–24) — Ligia Lewis: minor matter (May 2019) — Ligia Lewis: Sorrow Swag (May 2019)

8

SUBSCRIPTIONS

LECTURE SERIES Talks by visiting curators and arts leaders working in contemporary performance.

— Ashley Stull Meyers & Joyce Rosario (Oct 6) — Betelhem Makonnen & Anna Gallagher-Ross (Dec 8) — Two lectures in Spring 2019 (to be announced Fall 2018)

Complete Series + Lecture Series $230

Tickets to all 8 Subscription Series performances, tickets to all 4 talks in the Lecture Series, plus all subscriber benefits.

Complete Series $200

Tickets to all 8 Subscription Series performances plus all subscriber benefits.

Total cost incl. fees if purchased online: $237 / by phone: $234

Total cost incl. fees if purchased online: $207 / by phone: $204

Pick-6 $150

Create your own subscription! Includes tickets to 6 Subscription Series performances of your choosing plus all subscriber benefits.

Total cost incl. fees if purchased online: $157 / by phone: $154

Under-30 Complete Series $120

A Complete Series subscription just for young art lovers!

Includes tickets to all 8 Subscription Series performances plus all subscriber benefits. Must be under 30 years of age as of September 1, 2018.

Total cost incl. fees if purchased online: $127 / by phone: $124

OtBFF $450 Includes $210 tax-deductible portion To purchase an OtBFF subscription contact the Box Office at 206-2179886 ext. 1019. Total cost incl. fees when purchased by phone: $457

A-List $800 Includes $400 tax-deductible portion. Add a second A-List subscription for $600; includes $200 tax-deductible portion To purchase an A-List subscription contact the Box Office at 206217-9886 ext.1019. Total cost for single A-List subscription incl. fees, when purchased by phone: $808

Take your support for On the Boards to the next level! An OtBFF subscription includes tickets to all 8 Subscription Series performances, the subscriber benefits listed on the opposite page, plus these exclusive benefits: — — — — —

Invitations to open rehearsals, special events, and parties Early notifications for Studio Suppers (see p.36) Free drinks and snacks from the FUBAR for 6 shows An invitation to a special preview of the 19/20 Season And a very special pin!

A-List Subscribers are among OtB’s diehard supporters.

Each A-List subscription includes tickets to all 8 Subscription Series performances, tickets to all 4 talks in the Lecture Series, complimentary passes to Solo: A Festival of Dance and the NW New Works Festival, the subscriber benefits listed on the opposite page, plus these exclusive benefits: — — — — — —

Invitations to open rehearsals, special events, and parties Early notifications for Studio Suppers (see p.36) Free parking Free drinks and snacks from the FUBAR An invitation to a special preview of the 19/20 Season Invitations to join the OtB Board for TRAVEL — to the TBA Festival in Portland in September, to Mexico City in February, and to the Fusebox Festival in Austin in April ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/SUBSCRIBE

9

PERFORMANCES

We know that ticket prices can be an obstacle to attending performances, and we’re working on breaking down those barriers so that everyone can participate in the community conversation.

Sliding Scale Tickets New this season, on select weekend performances patrons can choose how much to pay for tickets, from as low as $10 up to $70, which is the average, per-ticket cost of staging a production at On the Boards. Sliding Scale Tickets will be available online and at the Box Office.

Ticket Bank Since 2015, the Ticket Bank has given ticket buyers the opportunity to purchase extra tickets for other audience members, and allows potential audience members to enter a drawing for those tickets at no cost. It’s a win-win situation for everyone! Here’s how it works: To make a deposit to the Ticket Bank: When you buy tickets online, look for a note on your checkout screen about contributing to the ticket pool, and follow the prompts. If you buy in person or over the phone, just ask to add a Ticket Bank ticket to your order.

To receive a ticket from the Ticket Bank: Visit ontheboards.org/ticket-bank to sign up for the Ticket Bank email list and learn how to enter the drawing for each show. ontheboards.org/ticket-bank

Childcare We’re working to make it easier for parents of young children to get out and see art. See p.39 for more information about the kids’ art workshops Sweet Pea Cottage School of the Arts will conduct during select OtB shows (and they’ll present performances just for little ones, too). ontheboards.org/kids Andrew Schneider: AFTER (Oct 25-27) (photo courtesy of the artist)

10

TICKETS

SEP 13–16

RACHEL MARS

OUR CARNAL HEARTS Limited capacity performance Thu, Fri, Sat, Sat, Sun,

Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep

13, 14, 15, 15, 16,

8 8 3 8 5

pm pm pm pm pm

Childcare available for Sun, Sep 16 show (see p. 39 for details)

Please note that Our Carnal Hearts uses haze.

This fairy comes round your house.

You, she says, are in luck.

Ask for anything you want.

Anything in the world and I’ll give it to you. But whatever you ask for, your neighbour gets the same thing, but double.

Great. You say. Fine.

Cut out one of my eyes.

With a raucous chorus of original music, Rachel Mars and four belting female singers come at you with a hilarious dark show about the hidden workings of one of our uglier emotions. Our Carnal Hearts is a gleeful, thrilling and murky celebration of envy, competitive spirits, and all the times we f*ck each other over. A combination of performance, comedy, a singing lesson, and a conjuring ritual, the performance feels like five women have rocked up at your town and are inviting you to a beautiful, raucous theatrical ceremony.

Our Carnal Hearts is a celebration of envy, a performance that seeks to prove that envy makes us better. That politicians are right: that its spirit

Developed with the support of Arts Council England. Co-commissioned by Cambridge Junction and CPT with further support from American Repertory Theatre, Ovalhouse, Shoreditch Town Hall, and South East Dance in partnership with Jerwood Charitable Trust. Developed in partnership with The Orchard Project (NY), The Royal Court Theatre, and Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal.

runs through our hearts, lymph systems and bowels and it’s glorious and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Rachel Mars is a performance maker with a background in theatre, live art, and comedy.

Mars explores the idiosyncratic cultural and political constructs that inform the way we are together, as people, just trying to figure it all out. She’s recently interrogated humor, the language of 80’s pop and politics, and the science of rage.

Mars has created work alongside The Royal Court and the Tate Modern; been commissioned by Cambridge Junction, CPT, and Fuel Theatre; and been in residency at The Orchard Project (NY) and Cove Park (UK). Her performances have been shown around the UK including at The Barbican, South Bank Centre, and Royal Exchange Manchester and at festivals internationally including Fusebox (Austin) and Wildside (Montreal). Mars also leads workshops for students and artists of all backgrounds.

Her work is often supported by grants from Arts Council England. rachelmars.org

Photo: Christopher Shea

12

SUBSCRIPTION SERIES

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

13

Limited capacity performance Thu, Fri, Sat, Sat,

Oct Oct Oct Oct

25, 26, 27, 27,

8 8 3 8

pm pm pm pm

Childcare available for Sat, Oct 27, 3 pm show (see p.39 for details)

AFTER uses haze, strobe, sound spatialization technology, and a prolonged period of total darkness.

See p.26 to learn more about Schneider’s YOUARENOWHERE (this is a separately ticketed event)

Photo: Maria Baranova

OCT 25–27

ANDREW SCHNEIDER AFTER 14

Andrew Schneider’s performances push theater into new experiences that defy easy categorization. These live works combine hallucinatory techniques and stretch the language of theater into new dimensions. Schneider, along with his recurring collaborators, will present two parts of an existential trilogy about what it means to be alive in the world today. Exploring our modern life and the relationships we have to technology and other humans, Schneider’s two works will sit back to back as chapters 1 (YOUARENOWHERE, see p.26) and 2 (AFTER).

AFTER is a mind-bending performance examination of what constitutes a single life and the endless possible outcomes at the precise moment of death. Collaborators Alicia ayo Ohs, Alessandra Calabi, and Bobby McElver join Schneider to continue their trademark exploration of hyper-precise live theatrical experiences.

AFTER combines intense light and sound effects with a physical performance that seamlessly integrates a rapid-fire flow of text blending pathos and humor with intelligence and vulnerability. Through the use of various theatrical devices—digital effects and pulsating sensory extremes— there emerges a poignant, shared consciousness about perceiving where we are, how we got here, and what comes AFTER. Andrew Schneider is an OBIE award-winning, Drama Desk-nominated performer, writer, and interactive-electronics artist who has created original works for theater,

AFTER is a co-commission of EMPAC/Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Performance Space 122 with support from the Jerome Foundation and Rockefeller Brothers Fund. AFTER was developed in residence at EMPAC Rensselaer as well as during a residency at Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York, NY and as part of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Process Space program. Wave Field Synthesis courtesy of EMPAC Rensselaer. AFTER is supported in part/made possible by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.

video, and installation since 2003. Rooted at the intersection of performance and technology, Schneider’s work critically investigates our over-dependence on being perpetually connected in an always-on world.

Schneider’s original performance work includes YOUARENOWHERE (winner of the 2015 OBIE award; nominated for a 2016 Drama Desk award), DANCE/FIELD (2014), TIDAL (2013), WOW+FLUTTER (2010), and many more. He was a resident artist at the University of Chicago where he created TRUE+FALSE (2007), and STRATEGIES AGAINST ARCHITECTURE (2008) among other works.

Schneider’s wearable, interactive electronic art works include the Solar Bikini (a bikini that charges your iPod) and wireless programmable sound effect gloves. His interactive work has been featured in publications such as Artforum and Wired and presented at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Schneider was a Wooster Group company member (video/performer) from 2007–2014. andrewjs.com

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

15

DEC 6–9

OKWUI OKPOKWASILI

POOR PEOPLE’S TV ROOM Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun,

Dec Dec Dec Dec

6, 7, 8, 9,

8 8 8 5

pm pm pm pm

Childcare available for Dec 9 performance (see p.39 for details)

Sat, Dec 8, 3 pm Lecture: Betelhem Makonnen & Anna Gallagher-Ross (see p.33 for details)

Photo: Paul B. Goode

16

SUBSCRIPTION SERIES

Okwui Okpokwasili is an Igbo-Nigerian American artist, performer, choreographer, and writer. Her multidisciplinary performances draw upon her training in theater, and operate at the intersection of theater, dance, and visual installations.

Poor People’s TV Room explores two historical incidents: the Women’s War of 1929, a resistance movement against British colonial powers, and the Boko Haram kidnappings of more than 300 girls in 2014, and its connection to the Bring Back Our Girls movement. The performance is concerned with how to recover buried histories, particularly of movements of resistance and collective action in Nigeria, as well as examining gender, culture, and identity. Okpokwasili performs with three women, each from different generations. The result is a narrative by brown

Poor People’s TV Room was produced by MAPP International Productions in association with New York Live Arts, with lead support from New York Live Arts Resident Commission Artist program. It has been commissioned by the American Dance Institute and the Walker Art Center. Poor People’s TV Room is a project of Creative Capital. It has received funding from The MAP Fund, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Poor People’s TV Room was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support was also received from the Ken and Judith Joy Family Foundation. It is supported by developmental residencies at The Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL; Brooklyn Creative Arts LAB (BRIC); Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; Denniston Hill Residency; Times Square Alliance Artists in Residence; “Alternative Spring Break: NYC Performing Arts” at Columbia; and 92Y in New York; The Rauschenberg Residency (Robert Rauschenberg Foundation) on Captiva Island, FL; and Wesleyan University in Middlebury, CT. An early work-in-progress iteration of Poor People’s TV Room was presented by Lincoln Center in the David Rubinstein Atrium in June 2014.

women contending with the meaning of their bodies in relation to each other—a potent reflection of the effects the erasure of women’s histories has on contemporary societies today.

Okwui Okpokwasili is a New York-based writer, performer, and choreographer. In partnership with collaborator Peter Born, Okpokwasili creates multidisciplinary projects, including Pent-Up: A Revenge Dance and Bronx Gothic, which won a 2014 New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award for Outstanding Production.

Okpokwasili‘s residencies and awards include the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography Choreographic Fellowship (2012), Baryshnikov Arts Center Artist-in-Residence (2013), New York Live Arts Studio Series (2013), New York Foundation for the Arts’ Fellowship in Choreography (2013), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Extended Life Program (2014– 2015), The Foundation for Contemporary Arts’ Grants to Artists in Dance (2014), and the Rauschenberg Residency (2015). She is a 2018 USA award grantee and will be a Hodder Fellow at Princeton in 2018–2019.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

17

JAN 25–26

MARGINAL CONSORT PART OF THE SOUND HISTORIES FESTIVAL (JAN 24–27) Fri, Jan 25 Performance Sat, Jan 26 Workshop Times to be announced Fall 2018

Childcare available for Sat, Jan 26 workshop (see p. 39 for details)

Marginal Consort will perform as part of the Sound Histories Festival (Jan 24–27). They use established and homemade acoustic instruments, electronics, bamboo sticks, marbles, water, and other objects to realize their interpenetrating sonic constructs, but also incorporate actions that do not have sound production as their object.

Meeting only once each year since forming in 1996, Marginal Consort discuss nothing before their annual performances, preferring to gather as a collective of horizontally organized independent solos rather than a cohesive goal-oriented ensemble.

The start and end times are the only fixed elements in their longform happenings, usually lasting two to four hours and featuring the players spread

This performance has been organized in collaboration with PUSH Festival in Vancouver and Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) in Portland, Oregon. Additional support for Marginal Consort provided by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and the Japan Foundation.

out across the performance space, distant enough to concentrate on perfecting their own work without distraction.

Separate, yet together, they become entangled without subsumption into a whole, with the audience invited to mill about or recline on the floor, each creating their own subjective experience of the performance.

Marginal Consort is a Japanese collective improvisation group founded by members of East Bionic Symphonia, an outfit assembled from students of Fluxus artist Takehisa Kosugi’s class at the radical Bigaku School of Aesthetics in Tokyo in the ‘70s. Current participants are former Taj-Mahal Traveller Kazuo Imai, engineer Kei Shii, artist and Gap member Masami Tada, and musician Tomonao Koshikawa. Their records together have been released by P.S.F. and PAN.

Photo: Kazuyuki Funaki

18

SUBSCRIPTION SERIES

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

19

FEB 14–16

Thu, Fri, Sat, Sat,

Feb Feb Feb Feb

14, 15, 16, 16,

8 8 3 8

PIECE FOR PERSON AND GHETTO BLASTER

pm pm pm pm

“A couple of years ago I got into a fight with a stranger because he was throwing stones at a sitting duck. She was protecting her eggs. The man’s children were collecting stones for him to throw. I told him what he was doing was unnecessary and could he please stop. He told me to mind my own business, or words to that effect. I was in a foreign country and we did not speak each other’s language. What ensued was an angry, abusive and physical confrontation that achieved

Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster is supported the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria. Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster was developed with the support of the Australia Council, Creative Victoria, Mobile States, the Besen Family Foundation, Punctum Inc. Seedpod program, the City of Melbourne through Arts House’s CultureLAB, and Maximised by Chunky Move.

FEB 14–16 FEB 21–24

NICOLA GUNN Nicola Gunn is a Melbourne-based performer, writer, director and dramaturge. Since 2002, she has been making works that blend performance, art, and anthropology to explore the fragility of the human condition with subversive humor. Her artistic practice is committed to institutional critique, social engagement, and generating works that activate the public sphere by questioning old ways of being or proposing new ones. She uses performance to reflect critically on its place in theatres, to examine power relations in existing organizations, and to consider the relevance and social function of art itself. The starting process is often a written text or idea imagined responding to a self-generated impulse to tell a story or explore a form. She draws mainly from her experience to create autobiographical fiction. Nicola’s work has been presented widely in Australia and has toured to Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United States. nicolagunn.com

“Imagine a woman who works with children, but has a secret she’s incredibly ashamed of. Now imagine a man who works with children, but says and does things in private he wouldn’t want made public.

Imagine they’re both working with children at a school in a low-income area. Or maybe it doesn’t matter what the socio-economic demographic of the school is. Now imagine there are regulations in place to protect children from all things inappropriate or transgressive, like dark emotions or the vulnerability of reality.

Imagine this is all part of a work of fiction.” —Nicola Gunn

Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster combines text and choreography to interrogate a story of a man, a woman, and a duck. It dissects the excruciating realms of human behaviour by calling into question our capacity to make moral judgments and relate to others in an ethical way. The work is disarmingly simple but gradually becomes mind-bogglingly complex. It slips across tempos, ideas, and performance modes to create something inescapably unique full of wit, provocation, and reflection.

FEB 21-24

WORKING WITH CHILDREN

Nicola Gunn: Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster. Photo: Sarah Walker

nothing: he continued to throw stones at the duck and I walked home to write about it on Facebook.” —Nicola Gunn

Working with Children looks at the phenomenon of artists who make work with children for an adult audience, exploring the risky territory of shame and sexuality. Combining an imagined talk show interview, extracts from a fictional novel, and some education theory, Nicola Gunn has constructed a confusing show to explore the moral and ethical minefield of working with children and other social taboos.

Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun,

Feb Feb Feb Feb

21, 22, 23, 24,

8 8 8 5

pm pm pm pm

Working With Children was commissioned and originally produced by Melbourne Theatre Company and supported by CAMPO. Tour partnered by Performance Space (Sydney), BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen) and On the Boards (Seattle).

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

21

MAY 2019

LIGIA LEWIS

minor matter & SORROW SWAG

Dates and times to be announced in Fall 2018

Ligia Lewis is a dancer and choreographer who works in multiple contexts, including in theatres and museums.

Engaging with affect and empathy, her choreography considers the social inscriptions of the body while evoking its potentiality. Her work can be described as experientially rich and complex. Within her practice, Lewis continues to provoke the nuances of embodiment.

She is in the process of developing a triptych; minor matter is the second part. Materializing thoughts between love and rage, Lewis and two performers move with and against one another, their bodies become engaged in a complicated entanglement with the black box and themselves. Between light and shadow, reference and imagination, affect and embodiment, questions of re-presentation, presentation, abstraction and the limits of

signification emerge. In minor matter, sound travels across musical epochs to arrive at the poetics of the intimate present.

Through a dynamic interplay of the theatre’s parts—sound, light, image, and architecture— minor matter gives life to a vibrant materiality.

Sorrow Swag, the first part in this triptych, takes the color blue as a point of departure to work through grief and sadness. The performance uses texts and images derived from mid-century classical theater, Beckett and Anouilh, to interrogate race, authorship, gender, and grief. Sorrow Swag disrupts the canonical by means of an imaginative reformulation that prioritizes sensation. The work takes place in an immersive visual and auditory space and uses color as a synesthetic texture and emotional referent to produce a choreography that engages language, text, affect and embodiment. Sorrow Swag takes race and melancholy as points of departure for an experience that unfolds through the language of sadness.

Ligia Lewis, born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the US, is currently based in Berlin. In 2017 Lewis was awarded a Bessie for

Outstanding Production for her latest stage work, minor matter, and awarded the Prix Jardin d’Europe for her work Sorrow Swag. In 2018 she was granted a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award in the field of dance. Both her stage works minor matter (2016) and Sorrow Swag (2014) continue to tour internationally. Her work has been shown at various venues and festivals including the following: Abrons Art Center/ American Realness (NYC), Flax/Fahrenheit (LA), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), TATE Modern (London), Stedelijk Museum/ Julidans Festival (Amsterdam), REDCAT/Pacific Standard Time (LA), and Tanz im August presented by HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin).

As a dancer, Lewis has performed and toured extensively for artists including Ariel Efraim Ashbel, Mette Ingvartsen, and Eszter Salamon. She has collaborated with visual artist Wu Tsang, musical artist Twin Shadow, and with the DJ collective NON Worldwide. Ligia Lewis is currently managed and produced by HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin) and she is a factory artist at tanzhaus nrw (Düsseldorf). ligialewis.com

Sorrow Swag is a production by Ligia Lewis. Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe, with support from Human Resources Los Angeles, ADA Studio Berlin and Pieter Space (Los Angeles). minor matter is a production by Ligia Lewis in co-production with HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe and Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V. Additional support provided by residencies at FD-13, PACT Zollverein, 8:tension/Life Long Burning and collective address.

Ligia Lewis: minor matter. Photo: Martha Glenn

22

SUBSCRIPTION SERIES

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

23

ON THE BOARDS + SEATTLE THEATRE GROUP Seattle Theatre Group is pleased to offer OtB subscribers discounted tickets for these world-class performances in their 18/19 Season!

Single tickets can be purchased at stgpresents.org; OtB subscribers will receive a discount code in their subscriber packets starting in late August.

Questions? Contact the OtB Box Office at boxoffice@ontheboards.org or 206-217-9886 ext. 1019. (Tue–Fri, 12–4 pm)

INUA ELLAMS: BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES NOV 1–3 One day. Six cities. A thousand stories.

Newsroom, political platform, local hot spot, confession box, preacher-pulpit, and football stadium. For generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world.

This dynamic new play leaps from a barber shop in London to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling.

Born in Nigeria, Inua Ellams is a cross-artform practitioner, a poet, playwright, performer,

graphic artist, designer and founder of the Midnight Run — a nocturnal urban excursion. He’s a Complete Works poet alumni and a designer at White Space Creative Agency. Inua Ellams’ previous plays produced by Fuel at the National Theatre include The 14th Tale (Fringe First award) and Black T-Shirt Collection. Other plays include The Riddler (Theatre503); Knight Watch (Fuel at Greenwich + Docklands Festival); Mostly Like Blue (Islington Community Theatre); Cape (Unicorn); among many others.

The Moore Theatre Nov 1-3 Thu, Fri, Sat, Sat,

Nov Nov Nov Nov

1, 2, 3, 3,

7:30 pm 8 pm 3 pm 8 pm

Tickets: stgpresents.org

Presented by Seattle Theatre Group at The Moore Theatre, in association with On the Boards.

inuaellams.com

A.I.M BY KYLE ABRAHAM MAR 29–30 In a new mixed repertory program, the “magnetic dancers” of A.I.M (Siobhan Burke, New York Times) demonstrate a diverse range of choreography, all created by Artistic Director Kyle Abraham within the last two years. Repertory includes: Meditation: A Silent Prayer (2018), Drive (2017), a duet excerpt from Dearest Home (2017), and Kyle Abraham’s newest solo, INDY (2018).

Inua Ellams: Barber Shop Chronicles. Photo: Mark Brenner

24

SPECIAL EVENTS

The mission of A.I.M is to create an evocative interdisciplinary body of work. Born into hip-hop culture in the late 1970s and grounded in Abraham’s artistic upbringing in classical cello, piano, and

the visual arts, the goal of the movement is to delve into identity in relation to a personal history. The work entwines a sensual and provocative vocabulary with a strong emphasis on sound, human behavior and all things visual in an effort to create an avenue for personal investigation and exposing that on stage. A.I.M is a representation of dancers from various disciplines and diverse personal backgrounds. Combined together, these individualities create movement that is manipulated and molded into something fresh and unique.

The Moore Theatre Mar 29–30 Fri, Mar 29, 8 pm Sat, Mar 30, 8 pm

Tickets: stgpresents.org

Presented by Seattle Theatre Group at The Moore Theatre, in association with On the Boards.

abrahaminmotion.org

STGPRESENTS.ORG

25

MAR 22–24

Photo: Maria Baranova

keyon gaskin : A SELF PORTRAIT

OCT 18–20 ANDREW SCHNEIDER YOUARENOWHERE

Limited capacity performance Fri, Mar 22 Sat, Mar 23 Sun, Mar 24 Location and times to be announced Fall 2018

Subscribers receive early access to tickets for this performance

full moon in Taurus: of the body, for the body reading as the invisible act i “do” in my head but always is embodied or else i could not hold a book the book as a dance, as a set of steps and gestures that my fingertips can hold: i page, i palm, i point—i touch my mouth (this is the book too) then close myself, shelve it away. like the dance, it is no more and it can never be again. ephemeral. which i know i should find comforting but which is, instead, for me, disconcerting. out of concert. i did not agree to this. like so many things.

Limited capacity performance Thu, Fri, Sat, Sat,

Oct Oct Oct Oct

18, 19, 20, 20,

8 8 3 8

pm pm pm pm

Subscribers receive early access to tickets for this performance

YOUARENOWHERE is a rapid-fire existential meditation. Acclaimed performer, writer, and interactive-electronics artist Andrew Schneider (see full bio on p.15) uses a lecture-style format, pop culture, and personal revelation to dissect subjects ranging from quantum mechanics and parallel universes to missed connections and AA recovery steps. Using an array of visual and sonic effects to produce

YOUARENOWHERE was commissioned by Mass Live Arts and Performance Space 122 with support from the Jerome Foundation, an award from the National Endowment for the Arts – Art Works and was made possible in part by New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Development residency provided by Mass Live Arts, an AIRspace residency at Abrons Arts Center, and a space residency at The Bushwick Starr. YOUARENOWHERE premiered in a co-presentation by PS122 and The Invisible Dog Art Center as part of PS122’s 2015 COIL Festival, January 8-17, 2015. Additional support for YOUARENOWHERE at On the Boards is provided by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF).

26

SPECIAL EVENTS

a landscape of sensory overload, YOUARENOWHERE transforms the physical performance space and warps linear time to short-circuit preconceived notions of individual perspective and what it means to be here now.

the body, an object—I object, I say no…there is a blood mystery and although I can be weighed, measured, prodded, counted, discounted— the Thing is,

YOUARENOWHERE is the first chapter of an existential trilogy by Schneider and his collaborators about modern life and our relationship to technology and other humans.

The second chapter of the trilogy, AFTER, will be presented Oct 25–27 as part of On the Boards’ Subscription Series (see pp. 14–15).

a make-you-feel

I is also a dance a set of steps, gestures,

and then I’m over.

gaskin prefers not to contextualize their work with their credentials. [a swatch of lavender]: a self portrait is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by PICA in partnership with On the Boards, Amercian Realness, and NPN. The Creation Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

27

EXPLORING THE BUILDING AS A SITE FOR FESTIVALS, VIDEO INSTALLATIONS, AND MORE This season we fill each pocket of On the Boards with art,

from the Merrill, to the Studio Theater, hallways, and stairwells.

From video installations and sound experiments, to the launch of new festivals—audiences and artists are invited to think about the building as a site for creative inquiry. This exploration into the multidisciplinary possibilities embedded in OtB’s architecture will create a way to view a number of different artworks simultaneously. We will present two festivals—one centered on interrogating the form of the choreographic solo, and the other focused on the history of sound art. Each of these festivals are structured as a weekend-long program with a range of artworks presented in the building, alongside discussions and artist conversations.

OCT 4–7 Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun,

Oct Oct Oct Oct

4, 5, 6, 7,

8 8 8 8

pm pm pm pm

Sat, Oct 6, 3 pm Lecture: Ashley Stull Meyers & Joyce Rosario (see p.32 for details) Oct 6–7: Additional talks & discussions; times TBA

Festival artists will be announced early Fall 2018

Subscriber Add On: Add tickets to the Festival to your subscription

SOLO: A FESTIVAL OF DANCE The solo, a fundamental building block of making a dance, is particularly critical at this moment when so much of dance and contemporary performance is being called into question. It is important to refocus on the core of how we define dance as a medium and discipline.

The solo is a choreographic form consistently taught to dancers. There is an art to composing a dance, a specificity to the arrangement of movement, a technique of representing various movements, and a notation system.

Solo: A Festival of Dance is made possible this season with the generosity of lead donors Case Van Rij, John Robinson and Maya Sonenberg, and many other. For a complete list of supporters, visit ontheboards.org.

A festival allows viewers, audiences, and artists to access a variety of works in close succession. By pulling together multiple solos in a festival context, we begin to open up the space for conversations about how solos, the medium of dance, and contemporary performance are being defined and explored with curatorial and institutional practices. ontheboards.org/ solo-a-festival-of-dance This festival is curated by Artistic Director, Rachel Cook; Associate Producer, Clare Hatlo; and Director of Program Management, Charles Smith.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

29

APR 3–6

MICHELLE ELLSWORTH

THE REHEARSAL ARTIST AND POST-VERBAL SOCIAL NETWORK

Michelle Ellsworth’s work encompasses live performance, installations, video, websites, and drawings.

Ellsworth employs absurdist humor, new technologies, monologue, and dance to create a topsy-turvy world that audiences get to experience, sometimes on the most intimate scale. The pharmaceutical potential of dance interests her, as well as the value of labor-intensive ideas. Ellsworth will utilize spaces throughout On the Boards’ building.

In The Rehearsal Artist a small group of audience members surveil a dancer who is simultaneously: 1) watching reenactments of scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and 2) participating in a mash-up of some of the most canonical social science experiments of the last 50 years.

Post-Verbal Social Network (PSVN) employs both contemporary and pre-industrial technologies to augment the physical labor of choreography and community. In a series of PVSN prototypes, Ellsworth and friends comingle simple mechanical apparatuses as well as Javascript and Arduinos with choreography to test possible non-language based, non-mediated, humanto-human encounters.

30

Michelle Ellsworth is currently a Professor of Dance at the University of Colorado Boulder. Among Michelle Ellsworth’s honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship (2016), Doris Duke Impact Award (2015), NEFA National Dance Project Grants (2014, 2017), a Creative Capital Fellowship (2013), and a USA Artists Knight Fellowship in Dance (2012). She has received three National Performance Network Creation Fund Commissions (2004, 2007, and 2016).

Recent performing highlights include presenting at American Realness (2015, 2018), Bard’s Fisher Center (2017), Noorderzon Festival (Netherlands 2016), Made in the U.S.A. Festival (Greece 2016), On The Boards (2004, 2005, 2012, 2015), The Chocolate Factory (2015), The Fusebox Festival (2013 and 2015), and Brown University (2011, 2015).

Wed, Apr 3 Artist Talk: Michelle Ellsworth

Limited capacity performances + installation Thu, Apr 4 Fri, Apr 5 Sat, Apr 6 Times to be announced Fall 2018

Subscribers receive early access to tickets for this performance

Michelle Ellsworth: The Rehearsal Artist. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

The Rehearsal Artist was made possible by support from The MAP Fund, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Boulder County Arts Alliance. The Rehearsal Artist is also a National Performance Network Creation Fund co-commissioned by Performance Space NY, The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, On the Boards, Women and Their Work, and University of Colorado Boulder. The development of The Rehearsal Artist was made possible by the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University, as well as the Center for Humanities in the Arts and IRISS Project Society research funding at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Post-Verbal Social Network was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. PostVerbal Social Network is also supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Headlands Center for the Arts Residency program, and the Boulder County Arts Alliance.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

31

LECTURE & STUDIO VISIT SERIES On the Boards is a leader in the civic and global dialogue about contemporary art and performance. This new lecture series brings international curators, artistic directors, and arts leaders to Seattle, where they will each do five to eight studio visits with artists based in the greater Seattle area. They will also deliver a public lecture about contemporary performance and their own practice. This series will provide national and international arts leaders an opportunity to meet members of our community and learn about work being made here. It will also foster connections with voices from outside the region. Artists can apply for studio visits at ontheboards.org (see p. A18 for more information).

BETELHEM MAKONNEN & ANNA GALLAGHER-ROSS SAT, DEC 8, 3 PM Fusebox is an annual art and contemporary performance festival based in Austin, Texas. Created over 14 years ago, the festival has become a city-wide celebration featuring artists from around the world.

Tickets: $10

Tickets to all four lectures can be added to any subscription package for $30.

See p. 8 or visit ontheboards.org/ subscribe

ASHLEY STULL MEYERS & JOYCE ROSARIO SAT, OCT 6, 3 PM Ashley Stull Meyers is a writer, editor, and curator. She has curated exhibitions and public programming for a diverse set of arts institutions along the west coast, including those in San Francisco, CA; Oakland, CA; Seattle, WA; and Portland, OR. She has been in academic residency at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (Omaha, NE) and the Banff Centre (Banff, Alberta). She is currently Northwest Editor for Art Practical and has contributed writing to Bomb Magazine, Rhizome, Arts.Black and SFAQ/NYAQ. In 2017 Stull Meyers was named Director and Curator of The Art Gym and Belluschi Pavilion.

She is based in Portland, OR.

32

SPECIAL EVENTS

Joyce Rosario is currently Interim Artistic Director at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver BC, Canada. She has been with the PuSh team since 2013.

Previously, Joyce spent 10 years in the Canadian dance milieu as a curator, producer, and manager. Her training is in Theatre Production/ Design from University of British Columbia’s Theatre program, and she was once nominated for a Jessie Richardson award for Costume Design. Her first foray in performance was as a teenage participant in ‘Turning Point’, a new genre public art project by Suzanne Lacy. Joyce is a first-generation Canadian of Filipina descent. She is privileged to live and work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

Betelhem Makonnen is a curator at Fusebox. She has a background in visual arts curation and programming with independent artist-run spaces and community arts events. She is also a practicing conceptual artist who exhibits work both nationally and internationally at galleries, museums and cultural centers. A native of Ethiopia, she received her undergraduate education from the University of Texas in Austin and the School of Visual Arts of Parque Lage in Rio de Janeiro, and is currently an MFA candidate at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Anna Gallagher-Ross is a curator at Fusebox. Most recently, Anna was an editor of aCCeSsions online journal of curatorial studies, curatorial fellow at the Walker Arts Center, curatorial fellow for the Live Arts Bard Biennial We’re Watching (Fisher Center for Performing Arts), and curator of the exhibition and performance Whispers in the Grass: The Living Theatre and The Brig (Hessel Museum of Art). She was Curator and Managing Editor for the arts and literacy program Sister Writes from 2013–2017. Anna holds an MA in Curatorial Studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, and an MA in English and BA in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Toronto. Anna’s writing and interviews have appeared in C Magazine, the Walker Art Center Reader, Theater Magazine, Written & Spoken, and other places.

Information about Spring 2019 Lectures and Studio Visits will be posted online Fall 2018.

Visit ontheboards.org to learn more.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

33

ONTHEBOARDS.TV

ONTHEBOARDS.TV IS A LIVING ARCHIVE Each year we add a few more films to our growing catalogue of contemporary artists. We’ve filmed at OtB as well as with our peers at Seattle Theatre Group, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (Portland, OR), Fusebox Festival (Austin), and Performance Space New York (NYC).

OntheBoards.tv is a first-of-its-kind portal for viewing full-length, high quality performance films on your TV, desktop, or mobile device. It functions as a streaming subscription service and an archive for ground-breaking artistic projects and contemporary performances.

The films featured on the website include international and US-based contemporary artists, some of whom are rarely seen live stateside, with works that might not be performed again. We work with our hand-picked film crew to capture live performances, edit collaboratively with the artists, and deliver the best possible video performance straight to you. All proceeds are shared with the artist, so each time you buy or rent a film, you put money directly in an artist’s pocket. We reach audiences in all 50 states and 157 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. OntheBoards.tv gives art lovers access to a growing catalog of artists from around the world regardless of where they live or their busy schedules, at affordable prices.

LATEST FILMS — Markeith Wiley: It’s Not Too Late (Nov 2016) — Lars Jan/Early Morning Opera: The Institute of Memory (TIMe) (Apr 2017) — Bebe Miller Company: In a Rhythm (Mar 2018) — Kaneza Schaal & Cornell Alston: JACK & (May 2018)

SUBSCRIBE FOR UNLIMITED ACCESS! Individual subscriptions to OntheBoards.tv start at $50, or add a streaming subscription to your performance subscription for only $25 (50% off)! Visit ontheboards.org/subscribe to get started.

Since 2014, we have been strategizing and building ways to support educators and students who use OntheBoards.tv in their curricula, and rethinking the site’s potential as a historical and educational platform. Contemporary performance has evolved into a working method, a critical framework, and an artistic strategy, which creates the need for more background material to better contextualize and historicize each artist’s practice. This fall, we’ll begin testing our first set of contextual tools with a select pool of universities.

These tools include artist interviews, essays by artists and celebrated 34

ONTHEBOARDS.TV

writers, film commentary, and peeks into artist notebooks.

This fall we’re also releasing our first-ever video Master Class with Seattle dance-makers Zoe Scofield and Dani Tirrell! This class explores the rich similarities and differences between these two choreographers making work in Seattle. A dancer’s “Behind the Actors Studio”, this class invites viewers into the conversation where Dani and Zoe discuss dance philosophies, teaching methodologies, their love-hate relationship to ballet, and strong feelings about unison.

Bebe Miller Company: In a Rhythm. Photo: Robert Altman

NEW INITIATIVES

Current Artists Ahamefule J. Oluo Allen Johnson Amy O’Neal Antoine Defoort & Halory Goerger Bebe Miller Beth Gill Big Dance Theater Bruno Beltrão Catherine Cabeen Charles Atlas, Rashaun Mitchell & Silas Riener Chris Schlichting Christian Rizzo Complex Movements Crystal Pite Dayna Hanson

Degenerate Art Ensemble Diana Szeinblum Ezra Dickinson Faye Driscoll Findlay//Sandsmark Frédérick Gravel Jan Fabre Kaneza Schaal & Cornell Alston Kristen Kosmas, Paul Willis, Peter Ksander Kyle Abraham Kyle Loven Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol Lars Jan / Early Morning Opera Luis Garay Mariano Pensotti Markeith Wiley Michelle Ellsworth Morgan Thorson/Low Niwa Gekidan Penino Okwui Okpokwasili & Peter Born Palissimo/Pavel Zuštiak Pat Graney Radiohole Radosław Rychcik Ralph Lemon Reggie Watts & Tommy Smith Rude Mechs SuttonBeresCuller Tanja Liedtke Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes Teatro Linea de Sombra Temporary Distortion Tere O’Connor Theatre Replacement & Newworld Theater Tina Satter Wunderbaum Young Jean Lee zoe | juniper

OntheBoards.tv is currently funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Building Demand for the Arts Grant, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Robert Chinn Foundation, the Norcliffe Foundation, 4Culture, and individual art lovers like you.

ONTHEBOARDS.TV

35

Amber lighting flatters both people and food; the rest of the room fades into darkness, creating intimacy and a little mystery. There’s the slight undermining of reality as the table sways slightly on its cables and as wineglasses are refilled, sometimes so stealthily that they seem actually bottomless... As the platters are passed, the room gets happy and loud, united by the common causes of food and art. It is very rare that anyone has their phone out. “I feel like this is the best dinner party in town,” I heard one diner remark.

Photo: Stefano Altamura

COME OVER TO OUR HOUSE FOR SUPPER!

On select opening nights, On the Boards hosts hugely popular family-style meals prepared by our favorite Seattle chefs and served upon giant, magical, floating tables. These pop-up dinners are offered on a sliding scale ($25-$100) and guests pay after dinner.

In 6 years, On the Boards has hosted 62 dinners (about 3000 covers); raised over $60,000 for local, national, and international charities; featured 6 James Beard Award winners; and enjoyed about 150 hours of connection around food, art, and friends.

This season, Studio Suppers will benefit art, artists, and programs at OtB.

To make a reservation, sign up for the supper email list at: ontheboards.org/ studio-suppers Reservations are only available via this email list.

Please note: you must have a ticket to the evening’s performance to attend a Studio Supper.

Suppers fill up quickly — get early notice about Studio Supper reservations by upgrading your Subscription to A-List (read more on p.9) or join OtB’s 3 Year Club (p.42).

18/19 STUDIO SUPPERS SCHEDULE Thu, Oct 4 Opening night of Solo: A Festival of Dance Thu, Oct 25 Opening night for Andrew Schneider: AFTER Thu, Dec 6 Opening night for Okwui Okpokwasili Thu, Feb 14 Opening night for Nicola Gunn May 2019 Opening night for Ligia Lewis (To be announced Fall 2018)

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR STUDIO SUPPER PARTNERS Tomlinson Linen Service

SEASON SHINDIG WED, SEP 12, 6 PM

On the eve of our 18/19 Season, help us launch the year in style. This one-of-a-kind celebration brings artists, art-lovers, and food-lovers together to support performance at On the Boards. We’ll be joined by our Artists-in-Residence, and guests will enjoy a private performance by Rachel Mars; cocktails, wine, and dinner prepared by Julian Hagood of Harry’s Fine Foods.

Tickets: $150 and $300

Tickets include cocktails, dinner and wine, entertainment, and more.

This is a 21+ event.

RSVP: Beth Raas-Bergquist, Dir. of Development, beth@ontheboards.org

—Bethany Jean Clement, Seattle Times

36

STUDIO SUPPERS

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/STUDIO-SUPPERS

37

OtB + Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea Cottage School of the Arts is a school founded on the belief that the arts are a crucial part of child development. Their dedicated staff, expertise, and mission make them a perfect partner for OtB. sweetpeacottage.org

BRING THE KIDS TO OtB! ARTS WORKSHOPS DURING PERFORMANCES Sun, Sep 16, 5 pm Paint Your Heart Out (During Rachel Mars: Our Carnal Hearts) Sat, Oct 27, 3 pm GLOW (During Andrew Schneider: AFTER) Sun, Dec 9, 5 A Portrait of (During Okwui Poor People’s

pm Me Okpokwasili: TV Room)

KIDS

Spring 2019 workshops to be announced Fall 2018.

We know finding affordable and convenient childcare can be a struggle, so we’re working with Sweet Pea to provide on-site, arts-related programming for children ages 2-10. During one performance of each show in the OtB Subscription Series, Sweet Pea will lead an arts workshop in the OtB Studio Theatre so kids can enjoy crafts and activities while their parents/guardians watch the performance upstairs. Sweet Pea staff will be in the Studio half an hour before the performance until half an hour after, for easy drop-off and pick-up A complete list of workshop dates and topics is available at ontheboards.org/kids. Parents can add workshops to their ticket orders online or over the phone, for just $26 per child.

SWEET PEA COTTAGE’S THEATRE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN Sun, Sep 23, 10 am Sun, Dec 16, 10 am

38

Sat, Jan 26 Make Joyful Noise!

(During a workshop by Marginal Consort. Time to be announced Fall 2018)

Sweet Pea Cottage returns to On the Boards this season with their performances just for kids! Sweet Pea believes that everyone should be exposed to live performance. They build community by partnering with organizations like Seattle Parks & Recreation and Seattle Public Libraries to bring professional actors to perform for children and families in easily accessible neighborhood locations, parks, and community centers. Sweet Pea Cottage produces these short plays, games, and activities specially developed for children ages 2–10. Join us for these entertaining performances for the next generation of art lovers.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/KIDS

39

SUPPORT

Dani Tirrell: Black Bois. (Apr 2018). Photo: Naomi Ishisaka

ART HAPPENS BECAUSE OF YOU! We program based on artistic risk—not box office receipts—and we work hard to keep tickets accessible for everyone. Your donations make this possible. Over a third of our costs each season are covered by gifts from generous audience members like you.

Want to join our team and fuel the art? We’ll make it as easy as possible, whether you’d like to give in a lump sum, in monthly installments, as a 3 Year Club donor (see next page), or as an A-List or OtBFF Subscriber (see pp. 8-9)! Just give, and keep the art coming at you, all year long.

How to donate Online: ontheboards.org/donate By phone: Beth Raas-Bergquist, Director of Development, 207-217-9886 ext.1023 Mail: PO Box 19515 Seattle, WA 98109

Alice Gosti: Material Deviance in Contemporary American Culture (Mar/Apr 2018). Photo: Devin Munoz

40

SUPPORT

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/DONATE

41

SUPPORT

CREATIVE COMMUNITY PARTNERS Creative Community Partners (CCPs) are exactly that—our partners within the arts community! CCPs can come in many forms—community organizations, private businesses, entrepreneurs, and more.

CCPs are individuals or groups interested in sharing their On the Boards experience with their staff, clients, friends, and greater King County community. CCPs also have the chance to educate OtB’s audience on their work through our printed show programs, signage in the lobby, and in publications just like this one.

Starting at $2,500, you or your group will get: — 24 tickets to use however you please throughout the season — Recognition in printed programs, our winter brochure, our website, and our lobby — Early invitations to each Studio Supper (these sell out fast and you’ll be invited 24 hours before the general public!)

— Two complimentary seats for a Studio Supper — A receipt for your tax-deductible donation of $1,748 — And MORE!

RAISE YOUR GLASS AND LEND A CHEER—OtB’S 39TH BIRTHDAY IS ALMOST HERE!

Join these businesses in supporting art and ideas!

Sun, Oct 28, 6 pm Tickets: $150 and $300

3 YEAR CLUB Passionate about new art?

Dedicated to supporting artists? The 3 Year Club is an inner circle of art enthusiasts who help give us the sustainability to support our programs for multiple years. Each member commits to supporting OtB with an annual donation of at least $500 a year for three years.

3 Year Club benefits include invitations to exclusive events, special access to tech rehearsals, sneak peeks of works-in-progress and discussions with artists, and your own personalized drinking glass behind the FUBAR.

To learn more about becoming a Creative Community Partner or joning the 3 Year Club, contact Beth RaasBergquist, Director of Development, at beth@ontheboards.org or 206-217-9886 ext. 1023

42

SUPPORT

Tickets include cocktails, dinner and wine, entertainment, and more.

This is a 21+ event.

RSVP: Beth Raas-Bergquist, Dir. of Development, beth@ontheboards.org

This October, On the Boards is 39 years old.

On the brink of 40, and in our prime— we want to mark this occasion with a celebration! We’re celebrating Sun, Oct 28 with a special dinner by Renee Erickson’s Eat Sea Creatures, live entertainment, astrological forecasting, and OtB origin stories from our founders and some of the artists who have been with us since our auspicious beginning.

This special evening will raise support for the next 39 years of art and artists at OtB.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

43

We’re grateful for the generous support of the following organizations

WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC PROJECT SUPPORT The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation OntheBoards.tv National Performance Network keyon gaskin & Michelle Ellsworth

Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation

New England Foundation for the Arts/National Dance Project Michelle Ellsworth

Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) Andrew Schneider & Marginal Consort The Japan Foundation Marginal Consort

The Norcliffe Foundation

WHERE TO FIND US Nesholm Family Foundation

100 West Roy Street Seattle, WA 98119 206-217-9886

OTB_SEA ONTH E B OAR DSSEATTLE ONTH E B OAR DS

ontheboards.org

BOX OFFICE

Wyman Youth Trust

Tomlinson Linen Service

boxoffice@ontheboards.org 206-217-9886 ext.1019 Hours: Tue–Fri, 12–4 pm The Lobby Box Office opens 1 hour before performances for will call and walk-up sales (subject to availability).

Garneau-Nicon Foundation

STAFF & LEADERSHIP

IN KIND & MEDIA SPONSORS Dave Holt

Denise

44

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

Betsey Brock, Executive Director Rachel Cook, Artistic Director Rich Bresnahan, Technical Director Sara Ann Davidson, Operations Manager and Office Witch Jenny Gerber, Finance Manager Clare Hatlo, Associate Producer Alexandra Harding, Assistant Technical Manager Kim Lusk, Bookkeeper Mark Meuter, Production Manager Pamala Mijatov, Director of Audience Services Eze-Basil Oluo, House Manager Beth Raas-Bergquist, Director of Development Erica Bower Reich, Patron Relations Specialist Charles Smith, Director of Program Management Jayme Yen, Director of Design and Communications

BOARD Ruth Lockwood, Board President Tyler Engle, Past President Davora Lindner, Vice President John Robinson, Treasurer Michaela Hutfles, Secretary Tom Israel, Member at Large Norie Sato, Member at Large Kristen Becker, John Behnke, Kim Brillhart, Maryika Byskiniewicz, Jeanie Chunn, Florangela Davila, Caroline Dodge, Jeffrey Fracé, Rodney Hines, John Hoedemaker, Zack Hutson, Chiyo Ishikawa, Tina LaPadula, Mari London, Lance Neely, Emily Tanner-McLean, Kate Murphy, Mary Ann Peters, Spafford Robbins, Jimmy Rogers, Ginny Ruffner, Robert Stumberger, Annette Toutonghi, Josef Vascovitz, Bill Way

CONTACT

45

Starting with the 18/19 Season, we’re using the online platform Submittable for our festival open calls, Performance Lab proposals, and Lecture Series studio visits. Submittable allows artists to create a free profile and edit submissions as needed before deadlines. Artists can also use the site to discover open calls from other organizations. ontheboards.submittable.com/submit

Our new quarterly series for theater, music, film, installations, and more.

Performances take place in both the Merrill and Studio Theaters. See previous page for more details.

Visiting curators in our new Lecture Series will be conducting 5-8 studio visits while in town. To learn more see pp. 32-33.

PERFORMANCE LAB

STUDIO VISITS

Application deadlines: — Sep 10 for Fall studio visits — Dec 10 for Spring studio visits

Application deadlines: — Aug 22 for performance Sep 20 — Nov 1 for performance Dec 15

2019 NW NEW WORKS FESTIVAL Since 1983, the NW New Works Festival (NWNW) has showcased artists from all performance disciplines and been a space to celebrate the dynamic arts community of the Pacific Northwest. The festival has featured established artists from a variety of performance disciplines, upholding its goal to create a platform for artists within our region’s creative community.

The Pacific Northwest is situated between the ocean and mountains, but otherwise has no universally agreed-upon borders. This year’s festival will explore the history,

geography, and culture of this changing area and include video screenings, artist talks, and opening and closing celebrations highlighting the festival’s 36-year history.

Works featured in the festival are new and/or in-progress multidisciplinary performance works, all under 20 minutes in length. NWNW is selected by a panel of curators and artists from across the region.

Festival participants receive an honorarium, performance documentation, and rehearsal time at On the Boards.

Application deadline: Mon, Oct 29 ontheboards.org/nw-new-works-festival

A18

OPEN CALLS

Since the beginning of this decade, Seattle’s population has grown almost 20% — or 114,00 people. The city is rapidly changing around us and open space for artists is becoming more difficult to find.

Artists can now submit requests to use OtB for rehearsals throughout the year. Our building is a valuable resource, and we want to share it with our community of artists as much as we can. We’re also developing more transparent and equitable ways to share opportunities, and clarifying how artists can better connect with our curatorial team.

Upcoming Performance Labs Thu, Sep 20, 7 pm Sat, Dec 15, 3 pm

Since its founding, On the Boards has hosted various series for local artists to showcase new works and works-in-progress. The names evolved over time — from Choreography, Etc., to Second Sunday Series, to 12 MINUTES MAX, a Performance Exhibition, to Open Studio — but the idea remained the same: a chance for both seasoned artists and artists at the beginning of their practice to show work, test a new idea, discuss their work with an audience, and receive feedback. The philosophy was to provide a

unique opportunity for regional artists to experiment in an informal performance setting.

In the eighties, lively audience discussions and feedback sessions after each presentation contributed to the artists’ understanding of their work. The conceptual thread remains consistent, a series of experimental performances, collectively organized for audience members, and a community of artists who want to participate in the process of creating art.

This is how we build collective change, how we create bold social and artistic movements, and how we grow to love the relationships we are building through gathering together in a space to be present with one another and artists’ ideas.

What began as a dance program shifted to include theater, music, film, installations, and much more. This season OtB is relaunching this program and titling it Performance Lab, a quarterly series which will be curated by local artists and Charles Smith, Director of Program Management. Each series will have facilitated artist feedback along with an opportunity for each artist to discuss their performance with the audience. Additionally, this quarterly series will be presented in both the Merrill Theater and the newly refreshed Studio Theater. ontheboards.org/ performance-lab

ontheboards.org/rehearsal-space-and-artist-inquiries

We are working towards greater transparency around On the Boards’ curatorial practices. If you have a general inquiry about how OtB can support your artistic practice, please submit an inquiry using the online form at bit.ly/otb-artist-inquiry.

Our theaters are now open to be used as rehearsal space throughout the year. Use the online form at bit.ly/otb-rehearsal-space to make a request; we’ll do our best to respond within a timely manner (7 days). Please note that requests by artists participating in the current season, festivals, and Performance Labs are given priority before artist community requests.

Artist inquiry

Request Rehearsal Space

A16

Choreography, Etc. (1978) “Because Choreography, Etc. is rapidly expanding to include more genres than dance, the title no longer adequately describes the program. We’re looking for a new name.” — 82/83 program Second Sunday Series (1983) “On the Boards’ showcase programs such as the Second Sunday Series and Choreography,

Etc., provide a regular forum for area performers wanting to share new work in an informal atmosphere.”

— 85/86 program 12 MINUTES MAX, a Performance Exhibition (1985) “Several hundred regional performers have used On the Boards’ showcase program to share new works or works in progress with an audience in an informal atmosphere.

The program has gone

ARTIST RESOURCES

through many changes (it was formerly known as the Second Sunday Series and Choreography, Etc.), but continues to give performers an opportunity to test new work, and Seattle audiences an inexpensive way to see a variety of adventurous performances.”

— 86/87 program Open Studio (2014) “The Open Studio program will morph and shape-shift to allow for a

range of projects to occur: a shared bill of dance, a new music cabaret, visual artists making a performance installation, three sets by three bands, a really long piece of performance art, or six to eight artists each performing twelve minutes or less of material. All projects must be self-contained and technically constrained.

We’ll turn the lights on and off; artists must be prepared do the rest.”

— 2014 program

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG

A17

A14 ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

MARKEITH WILEY

They are the evidence of the actions that take place in “live performance"—so are they not a part of the performance itself?

At what point does the audience stop being a spectator & become an important part of the happenings in front of them?

If you are at a dance party, at what point can or does it become something else?

I’m also interested in disruptions in places of comfort. If the audience exist as objects in space, what keeps them from changing physically?

The Cover Up is a way for me to explore the many masks that I/we wear on a daily basis. Some masks are too familiar & others go unrecognized by the wearer.

Two parts dance party!!!

One part mask work

One part autobiography

THE COVER UP (working title)

California native Markeith Wiley is a multi-dimensional art maker, who creates out of necessity. His vast movement vocabulary spans a lifetime of influences. As of late this anti-social extrovert dabbles in dance, sound, theater, a combo of all three or none of the above. Wiley has been an arts educator in Seattle for a while now. When they are not in the studio you can find Markeith at Rainier Dance Center in Rainier Beach or on Capitol Hill as a managing artist director at Studio Current or choreographing with both Seattle Children’s Theatre & 5th Avenue Theatre.

Markeith holds a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts and has performed or collaborated with too many national/ international artist to name. In the evenings Wiley hosts a DJ event at Vermillion Art Gallery & Bar with fellow music enthusiast Alice Gosti and has started a monthly performance party at Studio Current called SC Sessions. Wiley was a member of the 2014 City Arts Future List & also graced the cover of the magazine in 2016.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

A15

A12

I hope to energize the idea of art as sacred practice. To consider the earliest roots of art which arose out of the search for expression of the divine and the sacred, but to remove that pursuit from the traditional confines of organized religion. To break down institutional spiritual authority.

In Indigenous circles, I practice a form of intuitive healing work, which rises in the moment, often an improvisation. I have tools and techniques to fall back on; more often what comes is a new creation based in what is available. Increasingly my art practice and my spiritual practice are bound together. My art practice starts with an intuitive impulse. Along the way I ask, what do I need from this place I have found myself? Can I find a way to integrate Spirit into the craft of creating the possible solution to my need? How can I serve community and support healing? How can I imbue this solution with beauty? What is this solution’s connection to traditions: ancestral, artistic, and my personal creative tradition? After all the thinking, I go back to the cliff, and dive.

TIMOTHY WHITE EAGLE

ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

Timothy White Eagle was born in Tucson, AZ. His mother was White Mountain Apache. He was given up for adoption at birth and raised by a working class white family in Washington state. He graduated from University of Utah with a BFA in Theater.

White Eagle has worked extensively in the past two and half decades exploring Native American, Pagan, and other earth-based Spiritual practices. In 1995, he began an ongoing mentor/protege relationship with Shoshone Elder Clyde Hall. In 2006 White Eagle began collaborating with photographer Adrain Chesser. Their work together has been displayed and published nationally and internationally.

In 2014, he and Adrain released their book, The Return. He dances at a unique crossroad between art and ritual.

In 2015, he was the indigenous advisor for Taylor Mac during the creation of A 24-Decade History. In 2016, White Eagle was one of the Dandy Minions in the 24-hour marathon performance of A 24-Decade History performed in New York City and has been on tour nationally and internationally with Taylor Mac as the Artistic Director for the Dandy Minions. whiteeagle.me

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

A13

A10

ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

Salvage Rituals is a meeting point of many years and layers of our artistic practice, history, and friendship. Salvage Rituals investigates the labor of queer bodies as performers dance exhaustively on a platform of piezoelectric tiles, actively powering the stage lights. As our society moves toward an increasingly unstable future, this work is a process of salvaging technologies and re-making mythology towards the construction of communal rituals that may embody what it takes to sustain our literal and spiritual light.

TIM SMITH-STEWART & JEFFREY AZEVEDO

Tim Smith-Stewart is a queer interdisciplinary artist who uses text as his primary medium for creating installations and performances. He was recently a resident artist in the spring 2018 PICA Creative Exchange Lab cohort.

Jeffrey Azevedo is a Seattle-based theater artist and the managing director of Washington Ensemble Theatre. As an actor Azevedo has performed in the Washington Ensemble Theatre’s productions of Cherdonna’s Doll’s House, The Things Are Against Us, and Teh Internet is Serious Business. He holds degrees in Theater Arts and Electrical Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

In 2017, Smith-Stewart and Azevedo premiered Awaiting Oblivion... at On the Boards and The Perpetual Insurrection of Claude Cahun at the Henry Art Gallery. They have also presented performances at OtB’s NW New Works Festival, Risk/Reward (Portland), Velocity Dance Center, and Fresh Oysters Performance Research (Minneapolis), as well as installations at New Tomorrow, Erasure (curated by Lion’s Main Art Collective), and the Lofi Arts Festival. From 2010-2013 they co-created The Eternal Glow Project—a four part performance/installation which premiered work at The Seattle Center Next50, On the Boards’ NW New Works Festival, and the Lofi Arts Festival. timandjeffmakeart.com A11

A8 ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

AHAMEFULE J. OLUO

Over the next year I plan to experiment with new methods of music arrangement and orchestration and am hoping to have several work-in-progress performances to test out what I learn. After a long hiatus from stand-up comedy, I am performing again specifically for the purpose of developing material for this upcoming work. I am taking acting lessons to broaden my performance skills and I am working to strengthen certain aspects of my trumpet playing, as it will be an integral part of the musical ensemble, and the music is shaping up to be challenging and will stretch my abilities as a player. I am interviewing my mother and other family members for research. My goals are to diligently refine each individual aspect, the music, and the stories, so that they can each stand up on their own merit.

Ahamefule J. Oluo is a Seattle-based musician, composer, writer, and stand-up comedian. Oluo is a founding member of and trumpet player in the Stranger Genius Award-winning jazz-punk quartet Industrial Revelation, and was featured in City Arts magazine’s 2013 Future List as one of Seattle’s most promising artists. Oluo has collaborated with such diverse acts as Das Racist, Macklemore, Hey Marseilles, and TacocaT. He was a semi-finalist in NBC’s Stand Up for Diversity comedy competition, and co-produced comedian (and writing partner) Hari Kondabolu’s albums Waiting for 2042 and Mainstream American Comic, for Kill Rock Stars. He was the first ever artist-in-residence at Seattle’s Town Hall, and in 2015 he appeared on This American Life and received a Creative Capital Award. In 2016 Oluo was awarded Artist Trust’s Arts Innovator Award, and the performance of his autobiographical musical Now I’m Fine at the Public Theater in New York City was called “dizzying,” “engaging,” and “grand” by the New York Times. nowimfine.com

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

A9

A6

Left to right: Heather Kravas and Victoria Haven

SOLID OBJECTS will be an accumulation of evidence resulting from an existing conversation between two friends. The following is a list of departure points established over many years of discussion around their shared inquiries: Perception/Perspective: Solid Objects by Virginia Woolf Stacks: Paper like Felix Gonzalez-Torres; Castell human towers Pointing: Pointing to objectify. Pointing becoming object Levitation: Abbie Hoffman group action to levitate the Pentagon; Bruce Nauman’s failure Human Architecture: Emerging Brutalist Forms Ingesting Abstraction: Pancakes Painted Actions: Critique of Yves Klein’s Anthropometry Repetition: Song by The Fall Liquid: Ink, Tears, Sweat, Pee, Blot, Blood Orbit: Utopic Ballet VICTORIA HAVEN & HEATHER KRAVAS

Whether tracing the corridors of real or imagined space, polygonal shapes or three-dimensional forms, Victoria Haven’s practice revolves around drawing, but is rarely confined to lines across a single plane. Often based on walks near her native Seattle, personal narratives, and musical or filmic references, her works nevertheless sit squarely within the abstract register. Recent exhibitions include Blue Sun (commissioned for the Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle), Line at Lisson Gallery (London), and Abstract Drawing at The Drawing Room (London), among many others. She is the recipient of numerous awards including two PollockKrasner fellowships, Seattle Art Museum’s (Betty Bowen) Award, The Neddy at Cornish School of Art, residencies at MASS MoCA, Jentel (WY), and MacDowell Colony (NH). vichaven.com

ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

Heather Kravas is a choreographer and performing artist. Since 1995, she has investigated choreographic, improvisation, and collaborative practices in contemporary dance to explore the limits of the form and her abilities as an artist. Combining recognizable traditions, tasks, and somatic methods, her dances grapple with structural idealism and uncontainable emotions. Punk, feminist, precise, and extreme — they renounce commercial spectacle to illuminate the actions of labor, listening, concentration, failure, and presence.

Kravas has received support from Creative Capital, the Doris Duke Impact Award, Foundation for Contemporary Art, The Guggenheim Foundation, MAP Fund, National Performance Network, Seattle Arts Commission, and 4Culture, among many others. Her choreography has been presented at venues including American Realness, Base, Chez Bushwick, The Chocolate Factory, Danspace Project @ St. Mark’s Church, and Velocity Dance Center, as well as internationally.

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

A7

A4

The third part of the House of Mind Trilogy, ATTIC, follows Girl Gods, which was the ‘basement’ of the House, and was about women and rage. The first work, House of Mind, was a large-scale installation with performance at its center. ATTIC is the top of the house and will explore visions of violence, beauty, and the Afterlife.

ATTIC investigates rape culture. The sexual assault of young women and their often-downward spiral into destruction and suicide threads throughout the work. In ATTIC, the movement is based on falling, almost hitting the floor, but regaining balance. The visual environment will be stark, disheveled and dark—on top of which will be large bright areas. This environment alludes to the ‘afterlife,’ in which the survivor imagines safety and relief.

PAT GRANEY

ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

ONTHEBOARDS.ORG/ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

Seattle-based choreographer Pat Graney has received Choreography Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as from Artist Trust, the Washington State Arts Commission, the NEA International Program, National Corporate Fund for Dance and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. In 2008, Ms. Graney was awarded both the Alpert Award and a US Artists Award in Dance.

She has received an ‘Arts Innovator’ Award from Artist Trust. In 2013 Ms. Graney was one of 20 Americans to receive a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. In 2017, Ms. Graney was selected as one of 8 individuals to receive the ‘Crosscut Courage Award’ from KCTS Public Television for her 25 years of working with women in prison. patgraney.org A5

On the Boards is developing a series of new program initiatives and organizational practices to respond to the changes in our growing city. These structural changes are rooted in a reevaluation of our mission and values. We’re deepening our support for Seattle’s artistic community by becoming an incubator for art in Seattle and providing greater transparency about our institutional practices. We’re offering more opportunities for artists to connect with On the Boards — by requesting rehearsal space, submitting inquiries, or responding to open calls for festivals and more.

Audiences, too, will get a chance to see artists at all stages of work on new projects, through both conversations and showings with our new cohort of Artists-in-Residence (see opposite page) and our ongoing Performance Lab (formerly Open Studio) series.

The 18/19 Season marks the start of our new Artists-in-Residence program. This inaugural cohort includes Pat Graney, Victoria Haven & Heather Kravas, Ahamefule J. Oluo, Tim Smith-Stewart & Jeffrey Azevedo, Timothy White Eagle, and Markeith Wiley.

The Artists-in-Residence program will give Northwest-based artists time, access, and support for rehearsal and technical experimentation. OtB will also provide expertise around production and fundraising, as well as curatorial guidance around projects in development. This residency will give artists resources to create new work and support connections between artists in the cohort.

Throughout the season, the Artists-in-Residence will present works-in-progress and open rehearsals, offering our wider community a look at the creative processes of artists working in our city. Check the website for more specific times and dates for these in-progress conversations and showings.

To keep up with the Artists-in-Residence and learn about upcoming events, visit ontheboards.org/artists-in-residence

All portraits of the 18/19 Artists-in-Residence are by Naomi Ishisaka. Ishisaka is a photographer and journalist with a focus on racial equity, social justice, and queer and trans people of color. naomiishisaka.com

A2

INTRODUCTION

A3

Introduction

A2

Artists-in-Residence

A3

Artist Resources

A16

A18

Open Calls

This page, left to right: Artists-in-Residence Heather Kravas and Victoria Haven. Back cover: Artist-in-Residence Ahamefule J. Oluo. Both photos

by Naomi Ishisaka