KyungHwa Lee, “Malleable Bodies” (photo courtesy of the artist)
Each year, the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) offers summer residencies to several emerging and mid-career Los Angeles-based performers who are pushing the boundaries of their disciplines or creating new hybrid forms. The results are unleashed to the public during the New Original Works Festival, which kicks off this Thursday. Over the course of three weekends, nine new works will premiere, divided between three separate programs, featuring some of today’s most exciting dancers, musicians, and performance artists.
Jasmine Orpilla with Peter Deguzman, “How Many Years Did We Fight the Beast Together” (courtesy King & Club Media)
The first weekend’s program highlights new musical works, including vocalist Jasmine Orpilla‘s collaboration with Peter Deguzman featuring traditional Filipino kulintang gongs and Pangalay dancers; and Eat Your Young, a collaboration between animator and performer Miwa Matreyek and sound artist Morgan Sorne, blending his five-octave vocal range with her inventive shadow play.
Rachel Mason and Oguri, “Singularity Song” ( Photo courtesy of Rachel Mason)
Highlights of the second weekend’s program include Malleable Bodies from media artist KyungHwa Lee, an installation incorporating 3D printing and virtual reality that imagines the human body as architectural space; and Sebastian Hernandez’s Hypanthium, “a pseudo kinship of queer femme moving bodies in Los Angeles,” who struggle to persevere against memories of trauma and a hostile society.
Christine Marie, “Shadows in Stereo” (courtesy of the artist)
The 15th annual NOW Fest closes with a final program including Singularity Song, a collaboration between filmmaker, artist, and performer Rachel Mason and Oguri, a Butoh-influenced dancer and choreographer, who explores the physics of black holes through rapturous large-scale video; and Christine Marie‘s Shadow in Stereo: Antiquated A.R., in which an ensemble of dancers inhabit an immersive 3D world brought to life through refreshingly analog means.
Sebastian Hernandez (Photo by Ivan Padilla)
When: Thursday, July 19–Saturday, August 4 ($20 per night / $40 festival pass)
Where: Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) (631 W. 2nd Street, Downtown, Los Angeles)
More info at REDCAT.
