For Immediate Release Contact: Elizabeth Cooke, Communications Manager [email protected] (212) 691-6500 x210 NEW YORK LIVE ARTS presents Big Dance Theater’s Ich, Kürbisgeist October 31 – November 2, 5 - 9 at 7:30 pm Nov 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 10:00pm New York, NY, October 14, 2013 – New York Live Arts presents Big Dance Theater’s (BDT) Ich, Kürbisgeist, October 31 – November 2, and November 5 – 9 at 7:30pm, and November 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 10:00pm, as part of its signature program, the Replay Series. An “impressively inscrutable” (The New York Times) work directed by Paul Lazar, co-directed and choreographed by Annie-B Parson and written by Sibyl Kempson, a playwright of works “authentic, appealing, and…thrill[ing]” (Village Voice), Ich Kürbisgeist returns to the stage just in time for Halloween. “I’m thrilled to kick-off this year’s Replay Series productions with the devilishly smart and deliciously zany mash-up, Ich, Kürbisgeist,” says Carla Peterson, Artistic Director of New York Live Arts. “The Replay Series is designed to bring back outstanding works that recently or in decades past catalyzed new ways of thinking for artists and audiences alike. This work beckons viewers inside its utterly fantastical, language-rich world, and I’m excited for us to have the opportunity to enable more people to experience Ich, Kürbisgeist.” Originally co-commissioned by Performance Space 122 and The Chocolate Factory and premiered at The Chocolate Factory in 2012, Ich, Kürbisgeist is set in a harsh, quasi-medieval landscape facing destruction, populated by a community speaking a rigorous, specific and completely invented language, where each word is a somewhat-recognizable amalgam of English, Swedish, German and Sid Caesar. Partly centered on the annual harvest, the work includes at least 100 pumpkins, with new ones needed for every performance. Featuring New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award nominated costumes by visual artist Suzanne Bocanegra, a mythical set by Joanne Howard, video by Josh Higgason, lighting by Joe Levasseur and sound by Jamie McElhinney and Ben Williams, Ich, Kürbisgeist delivers BDT’s signature blend of performance, text and visual design. Performers Tymberly Canale, Eric Dyer, Cynthia Hopkins, Paul Lazar and Kourtney Rutherford help to bring this strange realm to life. Performances will take place in New York Live Arts’ Theater. Come Early Conversations and Stay Late Discussions will also be featured with two shows, as well as a Stay Late Monster Bash Halloween Dance & Costume party, and a related Shared Practice (see complete schedule below). Tickets are $30 and $15. Tickets may be purchased online at newyorklivearts.secure.force.com/ticket, by phone at 212-924-0077 and in person at the box office. Box office hours are Monday to Friday from 1 to 9pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 8pm. Listing info: Big Dance Theater Ich, Kürbisgeist Oct 31 – Nov 2, 5 - 9 at 7:30 pm Nov 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 10pm New York Live Arts Theater, New York Live Arts Tickets: $30, $15 T: 212-924-0077 | www.newyorklivearts.org 219 W 19th Street, New York, NY 10011 Box Office hours: Monday-Friday 1 - 9pm | Saturday-Sunday 12 - 8pm Schedule of Related Events: Oct 31 Stay Late Monster Bash Halloween Dance & Costume Party with DJ Dway on the ones and twos (come to Big Dance Theater’s opening night dressed in your wildest Halloween drag and win fun prizes) Nov 7 Stay Late Discussion: Big Dance Theater discusses the process of restaging Ich, Kürbisgeist moderated by Carla Peterson, Artistic Director of New York Live Arts Nov 8 at 6:30pm Come Early Conversation: Speaking Kürbis, Sibyl Kempson (playwright) in conversation with Mark Patkowski, Ph.D. (Professor and Director of the Linguistics Program at Brooklyn College) Shared Practice Workshop: Nov 9, 1:00-4:00pm, $20 In Big Dance Theater's shared practice, Company co-founder, director and performer Paul Lazar will teach the ins and outs of performing in another language. And not just any other language, but a made up language! Lazar is a seasoned performer with over three decades of experience on stage and screen. His work has been seen in New York with, among many others, Big Dance Theater, Young Jean Lee, Rich Maxwell and The Wooster Group. On the screen, he has appeared in over 30 films, most notably The Host, Silence of the Lambs, and Philadelphia. Lazar has taught acting at studios across the City, including classes at New York University for the past 15 years. Once you go Kurbis, you won't go back. About Big Dance Theater: Founded in 1991, Big Dance Theater (BDT) is known for its inspired use of dance, music, text and visual design. The company often works with wildly incongruent source material, weaving and braiding disparate strands into multi-dimensional performance. Led by Co-Artistic Directors Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, Big Dance has delved into the literary work of such authors as Twain, Tanizaki, Wellman, Euripides and Flaubert, and uses dance as both frame and metaphor to theatricalize these writings. For over 20 years, Big Dance Theater has worked to create over 20 dance/theater works, generating each piece over months of collaboration with its associate artists, a long-standing, ever-evolving group of actors, dancers, composers and designers. In March of 2014, the company will premiere its latest project, Alan Smithee Directed This Play, at Les Subsistances in Lyon, France. Big Dance Theater received New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Awards in 2002 and 2010; the company was awarded an Obie in 2000 and BDT company members have received five other "Bessie" Awards and an Obie award for their work with Big Dance. In 2007 the company received the first-ever Creativity Award from Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Big Dance Theater has been presented around the world at venues including: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dance Theater Workshop, The Kitchen, New York Live Arts, The Chocolate Factory, Classic Stage Company, Japan Society, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, The Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Walker Art Center, Yerba Buena, On the Boards, UCLA Live and The Spoleto Festival. Internationally, the group has performed in France, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Brazil and Germany. Most recent commissions have been from Les Subsistances in Lyon, Chaillot Theatre National in Paris, The Brooklyn Academy of Music and The Walker Art Center. Big Dance Theater has been supported by individual donors, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts; Rockefeller MAP Fund; National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts; NYFA’s BUILD Program; The Greenwall Foundation; FUSED, a program of the French US Exchange in Dance in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the US, Culturesfrance and NEFA/NDP; Altria Group, Inc.; The Association of Performing Arts Presenters Ensemble Theatre Collaborations Grant Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Theatre Initiative; Asian Cultural Council; Mental Insight Foundation; Mid Atlantic Foundaiton's US Artists International, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Tobin Foundation; The JPMorganChase Regrant Fund and the Editih Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Foundation at A.R.T./NY; the Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation; the New Generations Program, funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for American Theater; LMCC Swing Space Program; Jacob's Pillow Residency Program; and Baryshnikov Arts Center Residency Program. New York Live Arts is a reserved seating house. Tickets are available for purchase by calling the box office at 212-924-0077 and will be available online at newyorklivearts.org. New York Live Arts Members, Associated Artists, Students, and Seniors are eligible for 20% discounts to theater performances. Box Office hours: Monday – Friday 1 - 9pm and Saturday-Sunday 12 - 8pm. Unless otherwise noted, performances take place at New York Live Arts located at 219 West 19th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues. ABOUT NEW YORK LIVE ARTS New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry offering audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation and active engagement with the social, political and cultural currents of our times. At the center of this identity is Bill T. Jones, Executive Artistic Director, a world-renowned choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer. We commission, produce and present performances in our 20,000 square foot home, which includes a 184- seat theater and two 1,200 square foot studios that can be combined into one large studio. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, provides an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people and supports the continuing professional development of artists. Our influence extends beyond NYC through our international cultural exchange program that currently places artists in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Funding Support for New York Live Arts Major support for New York Live Arts is provided by: Bloomberg Philanthropies; The Brownstone Foundation; The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation; Con Edison; The Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; The Ford Foundation; The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; Florence Gould Foundation; Japan Foundation; Jerome Foundation; Lambent Foundation; MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; The New York Community Trust; Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; The Rockefeller Foundation NYC Cultural Innovation Fund; The Jerome Robbins Foundation; The Scherman Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; and the Trust for Mutual Understanding.