Kid Koala RIC SAN (or DJ Kid Koala as he is known) is a master of pushing the SATELLITE boundaries of turntable artistry to THURSDAY, MAY 2, 7:30 PM E incredible effect. In his first visit to Carolina FRIDAY, MAY 3, 8 PM Performing Arts, he puts the imaginative style for SATURDAY, MAY 4, 8 PM which he is renowned on display with two unique CURRENT ARTSPACE + STUDIO experiences. During Satellite, audience members are seated at ROBOT DANCE PARTY stations equipped with a turntable, effects box, SATURDAY, MAY 4, 10 AM & 2 PM and a small crate of color-coded vinyl records. SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2 PM Through subtle lighting changes in the room, the CURRENT ARTSPACE + STUDIO audience is cued to play along with DJ Kid Koala, who leads them from his DJ booth.
The idea for Satellite emerged from Kid Koala’s Music To Draw To series, where he would spin SATELLITE CREDITS calming music for people to draw or write Eric San, Musician / Composer to, creating a powerful creative energy in the Felix Boisvert, Musician / Turn Table room. He wanted to create an experience that Conductor was “deliberately slow, meditative, emergent, Karina Bleau, Chemical Puppeteer and creative, where everyone in the room Brian Neuman, Production / Tour Manager contributed in a small way to create the music.”
carolinaperformingarts.org 55 The audience is an integral part of the show, Kid Koala is a world-renowned scratch DJ, accompanying Kid Koala to create an “ambient vinyl music producer, and an award-winning graphic novelist. orchestra,” melding their individual strains into a He has released four solo albums on Ninja Tune, including fluid body of sound. The goal? To have 50 harmonized 12 Bit Blues. He has collaborated with groups such as turntables create a unique, uplifting, dynamic evening the Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, and The Slew, and toured of light and music. Over the course of the evening, the with the likes of Radiohead, the Beastie Boys, A Tribe ambient music reveals a lyrical narrative revolving Called Quest, and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. around an idea of a couple in the not-so-far future He has contributed to scores for the films Shaun of the who are separated when one of them decides to fly to Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Looper, and The Great another planet, and is unable to return. Gatsby, and composed music for The National Film Board In contrast, Robot Dance Party is a high-energy of Canada, Cartoon Network, Sesame Street, and Adult celebration where donning a costume and dancing Swim. His commissions include music for runway shows is not only encouraged, but practically mandatory. for Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten. Kid Koala’s Known for creating joyous, absurdist atmospheres, Kid unforgettable live shows range from silly touring turntable Koala has taken the idea of a dance club and turned “carnivals” like Short Attention Span Theater (featuring it on its head: inviting families to bring their young turntable bingo) and Vinyl Vaudeville (including puppets children for an afternoon of decorating cardboard and dancers) to quiet-time events like Music To Draw boxes to look like robot costumes and then taking To, his Space Cadet Headphone Experience, and most them for a spin on the dance floor while he DJs a kid- recently, Nufonia Must Fall Live. friendly set. ▪
56 ticket services 919.843.3333 KID KOALA
Satellite Collaborators Ryhna Thompson, producer, has been in the cultural and creative industries for the last two decades. Under the banner of her company Envision Management & Production, she has worked with internationally- known, boundary-breaking artists rooted in music, such as Kid Koala, Bell Orchestre, and Amon Tobin, amongst many others. Her artists have opened tours for Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Jack Johnson and performed in venues such as Madison Square Gardens and Hollywood as the inuit circus artist Guillaume Fall Live). He co-directs a newly- Bowl. Always keen to contribute to Saladin (Artcirq), the electroacoustic built creation and experimentation her communities, Ryhna served for artist Félix Boisvert, the puppeteer space for the in-depth study of many years as President of the Music Justine Macadouz (France/Quebec), multidisciplinary practices. Managers Forum Canada. Nufonia the Théâtre Incliné (Fils Blanc) and Must Fall Live is her latest work as a the geopoet Jean Morrisset. In 2004, Brian Neuman is an established tour multi-disciplinary producer, working she received the international Arlyne and production manager based in alongside longtime collaborator, award for puppet design. Montreal, QC. He co-founded and ran Kid Koala. the local promotion outfit Blue Skies Félix Boisvert, puppet designer, Turn Black for over ten years, as well Karina Bleau, puppeteer, has been puppeteer, has worked as a as owned and operated a successful developing an art practice that melds multidisciplinary artist (puppet music venue. Brian has booked and sculpture, film, and the puppeteering theatre, music, technological promoted hundreds of shows with arts since 2001. In conjunction arts, and dance) for the following artists such as Arcade Fire, Modest with her practice, she co-directs productions: Concerto au sol (2014), Mouse, Sufjan Stevens, Mastadon, an interdisciplinary research space Lune et l’autre (2009), Pas àpas Iron and Wine, Death Cab for Cutie, which promotes the in-depth study (2006), Manu danse (2005). He is John Waters, and many more. During of marginal artistic practices and also a music teacher, mainly of the his time at Blue Skies Turn Black, is dedicated to teaching her art to Fonofone, an instrument he helped the company was voted “Best Local young people. Her work has been to develop, and with which he tours Promotor” in Montreal for eight shown at home and abroad, and she schools across the province of consecutive years. He has since premiered her most recent show, Quebec. He collaborates with many turned his expertise to managing Sacré sucre, in 2016 at the Théâtre les artists and companies hailing from production and tour logistics for Écuries in Montréal. She contributes the varied disciplines of circus arts, artists such as Timbre Timbre, to the practices of artists whose work puppet theatre, film and dance, Patrick Watson, and many others. resists disciplinary boundaries, such including Kid Koala (Nufonia Must
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