Dance, Plants, and Phonetics
Center for Performance Research presents O.O.F. 3.0 (studies in the opposite of fear), the latest iteration of a project by Parijat Desai, which brings together dance, living plants, and a foray into phonetics, to explore ways to navigate the anxieties and xenophobia of our political moment.
Desai, who "moves with lush attack" (Siobhan Burke, New York Times, May 30, 2018), begins the evening with a solo, arranging potted plants in the space and dancing among them. A voice echoes, "Go back to your country," but she persists, channeling frustration and anger into spiraling arms that solidify into a stance of determination.
Desai travels through various hybrid movement vocabularies, creating a meditation to process her emotions as a South Asian American immigrant. She also interrupts this ritual with an intriguing linguistic proposal, calling on the audience to participate.
Collaborators
In a new section, Desai is joined by dancer/collaborators Trinity Dawn Bobo, Quentin Burley, Stanley Gambucci, Annie Wang (Reggie Wilson Fist and Heel Performance Group), and Carlo Antonio Villaneuva (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company). Meet the dancers!
Trinity Dawn Bobo, Stanley Gambucci, Annie Wang, Quentin Burley
Lighting for O.O.F. 3.0 is designed by Bessie award-winning artist Tuce Yasak (Marjani Forté-Saunders, David Dorfman, Raja Feather Kelly), Gian Marco Lo Forte (Director, Pioneers Go East Collective) provides set design and directorial support. (Meet the designers!)
The performance features a collaged audio score with music by experimental vocalist Samita Sinha, composer Seth Warren-Crow, and Gujarati singer Hemant Chauhan. Guest artist Philip Mayer (The Band’s Visit, Seyyah) performs on percussion live.
There will be a pre-show screening in the CPR lobby of The Palace Is Dreaming, a short film shot at Islamic architectural sites in New Delhi, India.
Supporters
These performances of O.O.F. 3.0 are supported in part by a Technical Residency at CPR - Center for Performance Research, a Mertz Gilmore Foundation Late-Stage Production grant, and a rehearsal residency at Lehman College through CUNY Dance Initiative.
"CPR - Center for Performance Research is thrilled to welcome Parijat Desai as its Fall 2018 Technical Resident and Mertz Gilmore Late Stage Production Recipient. It is an honor to support Parijat's incisive engagement with contemporary social issues through her sophisticated choreographic practice" (Charlotte Farrell, Director, CPR). Desai began early stages of this project in 2017 as an artist-in-residence with Movement Research in collaboration with avant-garde composer Manjunan Gnanaratnam.
Parijat Desai is an NYC-based choreographer trained in Indian classical, contemporary, and other movement forms. She was a recipient of the Lester Horton Dance Award for Individual Performance and Fulbright-Nehru Scholar/Artist Award; and of grants from NYFA, Foundation for Contemporary Art, California Arts Council, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Desai was also nominated for a 2019 United States Artist Fellowship.
