Triskelion Arts Presents... 277 Dance Project's "Cardboard Stage"

October 18 – 20, 2018 at 8pm

Triskelion Arts’ Muriel Schulman Theater

106 Calyer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222 – Enter on Banker Street

Tickets: $18 in advance | $22 at the door

Purchase: www.eventbrite.com/e/triskelion-arts-presents-277-dance-project-tickets-48739280500

Triskelion Arts is pleased to present "Cardboard Stage", a new work by 277 Dance Project’s Nicole Philippidis. Cardboard Stage, a cross-media work featuring dance, video, live music, and spoken word, is a culmination of a two-year collaborative experiment in urban immersion. In 2016, Nicole Philippidis and her performers teamed up with cinematographer Jennifer Klein for a dance film, shot in a working perfume factory in The Bronx. Unexpectedly thrust into a diverse urban landscape – vibrant and gritty in equal measure – the choreographer was compelled to delve into social inequities still plaguing the American metropolis. The resulting work is a story about power and powerlessness, told in six chapters, focusing on different facets of urban life in the shadows of what lies in the glamorous spotlight of the mainstream media.

How does the privilege and lack of accountability perpetuate the status quo? How does the experience of disenfranchisement affect the sense of self-worth, but also the possibility of communicating with and relating to others? In close creative collaboration with a diverse cast of performers, Philippidis –  a native New Yorker and a keen observer of Big Apple’s intimate moments of communion and loneliness –  tackles these questions. The resulting piece works as a mirror, asking the viewer to examine challenges facing the society based on a trickle-down power structure in a city overrun by gentrification and a country struggling to acknowledge and deal with the racial and economic rifts. The title of the piece alludes both to a homemade protest sign and to a makeshift performance area one sees in the streets of New York City. “When I think of cardboard, I think of all the people who boldly and bravely use it to build a platform to be heard,” explains Nicole Philippidis. 

Original music and sound score for "Cardboard Stage", created and performed live by Nicole’s brother John Philippidis (of the award-winning indie folk band Burlap to Cashmere), captures the stark industrial mood of the inner city. The soundtrack – which will be played live at every performance – is colored with rhythmical percussion, keyboard, and guitar. Intense physicality of Nicole Philippidis’ choreography is sculpted against the immersive video environment created by Jennifer Klein, who has been collaborating with the company on this project since its very inception in 2015. The six-person cast includes longtime company collaborator Mika Yanagihara as well as dancers Stephen Galberth, Christopher Makens, Elisa Schreiber, Emily Tellier, and Eric Parra.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Under the direction of Artistic Director/Choreographer Nicole Philippidis, 277 Dance Project creates emotionally driven work, exploring the balance between chaos and stillness, the intersection of lives, and the eternal human struggle to connect and to survive. We begin making work from a thematic strand, which over time branches out into multiple ideas, intensely explored and deconstructed until they coalesce in the realm of physicality and imagination. We work with both improvisational and fixed scores to establish intricate relationships between movement, soundscape, and film. Through the process, we uncover and highlight the very essence of empathy: what makes us care for other people, feel compassion, love, responsibility, and loss. What makes us human?

More Info: triskelionarts.org/277-dance-project