2016-2017 Art of Performance

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THE PANTHER

by Rainer Maria Rilke

His vision, from the constantly passing bars, has grown so weary that it cannot hold anything else. It seems to him there are a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.

As he paces in cramped circles, over and over, the movement of his powerful soft strides is like a ritual dance around a center in which a mighty will stands paralyzed.

Only at times, the curtain of the pupils lifts, quietly—. An image enters in, rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles, plunges into the heart and is gone.

English translation by Stephen Mitchell

Cover image: Dancers, top to bottom, left to right: Alasdair Stewart, Junior Cunningham, Rebecca Williams, Martina Bussi. Left: Junior Cunningham, Rebecca Williams (just visible), Martina Bussi, Alasdair Stewart. Photos by Katja Ogrin

Dancers, left to right: Junior Cunningham, Alasdair Stewart, Martina Bussi, Rebecca Williams. Photo by Katja Ogrin

Four dancers perform this exciting blend of dance, acrobatics and aerial work inside a large cage. Disorientated and shaken, the performers use their skill and instinct to survive in this emotionally charged and athletic piece.

Inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem The Panther, this extraordinary outdoor show explores notions of captivity.

Following on from the hugely successful shows Underground and Cascade, Captive has been touring the UK and Europe to widespread acclaim since spring 2013.

DANCERS PERFORMING IN CAPTIVE:

Martina Bussi Junior Cunningham, Rehearsal Director Christopher Knight Rebecca Williams Created and Directed by Kevin Finnan, MBE and the company.

2016-2017 ART OF PERFORMANCE SPONSORS DIRECTOR

Huisking Family Fund of Community Foundation of Sarasota County Publix Super Markets Charities PATRON

Lucia and Steven Almquist

Tina Shao Napoli and Dan Napoli

Kathy and Michael Bush

Dick and Betty Nimtz

Tom and Ann Charters

Ina Schnell

Cumberland Advisors

Stephen and Judith Shank

Icard Merrill

SunTrust Private Wealth Management

Dorothy and Charles Jenkins, Jr. Macy’s

Willis A. Smith Construction

HOSPITALITY

SpringHill Suites by Marriott MEDIA

Herald-Tribune Media Group

SRQ Media Group

Sarasota Magazine

WEDU/PBS

Scene Magazine

WUSF Public Media

Support for the Art of Performance, was provided in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues.

Additional support was provided by the Amicus Endowment and The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation.

Captive is created with support from Arts Council England, Birmingham Hippodrome, Without Walls, Swindon Dance, and Bristol City Council.

Motionhouse is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

SEESAW ILLUSTRATES THE DELICATE BALANCE OF OUR WORLD TODAY— HOW A PERSON’S ACTION IN ONE PLACE DIRECTLY IMPACTS SOMEONE’S IN ANOTHER, AND HOW ALL OF US ARE STRUGGLING INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY TO FIND BALANCE AND CONNECTION WITH OTHERS IN A CHAOTIC AND CHANGING WORLD.

WELCOME TO

High-flying acrobatic artists on a perilous journey towards hope

FEB 17 & 18, 2017 MUSEUM OF ART COURTYARD Supported in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues.

SeeSaw has received funding from generous private donors as well as the Santa Fe Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, The McCune Foundation, New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, The Just Woke Up Fund from the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Century Bank, Los Alamos Bank, and New Mexico Bank and Trust.

THE JOHN & MABLE RINGLING MUSEUM OF ART

PERFORMANCES AT 7:30 & 9:00 Between performances, check out the many activities throughout the courtyard!

SeeSaw follows the encounters of five disparate individuals struggling for balance, power and connection in a world knocked off kilter by mechanisms beyond their control. From imbalance to counterbalance using aerial apparatus, Wise Fool New Mexico (WFNM) is an award winning physical theater company that produces

each other’s bodies and the sculpture itself, the acrobats fly, jump, climb and tumble their way through a formidable frontier, discovering resiliency, adaptation, collective creativity, and mutuality along the way.

highly visual performances and

The development of SeeSaw involved

climate change, and endless military

public spectacles. It is WFNM’s

numerous collaborators from various

and economic warfare influence

mission to ignite imagination,

artistic mediums and cultural

patterns of migration, affecting the

build community, and promote

backgrounds working together and

areas and communities people flee

social justice through

apart over the course of 2 years.

and where they seek refuge. We

performances and hands-on experiences in the arts of circus, puppetry, and theatre. Our commitment to accessibility of the arts leads us to focus

SeeSaw’s diverse creative team, through research, discussions and exercises delved into the myriad of issues and ideas surrounding

had to ask ourselves, “what is our responsibility as artists in the current dialogue about immigration and how can we effect meaningful change?”

migration and the concept of “home”,

One of the overarching threads

initially setting out to create a

that became apparent within the

physical theatre piece that grappled

dynamics of the performance is the

For more information, visit

with the history, ideas, policies,

inherent theme of “cause and effect”.

wisefoolnewmexico.org

and fears surrounding the complex

The tipping and spinning apparatus

issue of migration, particular to U.S

utilized in SeeSaw illustrates the

immigration experiences. Looking

delicate balance of our world today,

through the legacy of colonialism

how a person’s action in one place

in which we reside played a large

directly impacts someone’s in another

on creating work for outdoor events and alternative venues.

part in the creative development of

and how all of us are struggling

Kristina Francisco | Elise Southwick | Alejandra Taylor

this performance, posing various

individually and collectively to find

SEESAW CREATIVE TEAM Alessandra Ogren, SeeSaw Director, Wise

questions such as “whose home is

balance and connection with others in

this anyway?” or “what causes people

a chaotic and changing world.

SEESAW CAST MEMBERS Freyr A Marie | Celestina Mancha |

Fool NM co-founder, Peñasco Theatre Collective | Rebekah Tarín, SeeSaw

to want to uproot themselves from

Creative Consultant, Writer, Peñasco Theatre Collective | Deirdre Morris,

their home and risk their lives only

SeeSaw Assistant Director, Choreographer | Amy Christian, Wise Fool New

to end up in a hostile environment

Mexico Co-founder and Artistic Director | Christian Ristow, Kinetic and

without any legal protections?”

Robotic Sculptor | Christina Sporrong, Kinetic Sculptor and Founder of

We understood theoretically the

Spitfire Forge | Ginger Dunhill, Musical Director, Soundtrack Composer |

complex power dynamics surrounding

Cannupa Hanska, Visual Artist | Nina Silfverberg, Costume Designer

issues of migration and the resulting

| Kim Epiphano, Guest Choreographer | Ian Rosenkranz, Technical Director |

negative and life threatening impacts

Ben Wright, Sound Engineer | David Nieto, Technician

on families and communities and how imperialism, global corporatism,

Ultimately the creation of SeeSaw provided a space to challenge ourselves and each other, to push at the edges, balance our perspectives and quite literally our bodies, experiment with ideas, try new modalities, pull things apart and generate movement and dialogue.