International Human Rights Arts Festival
Tickets: $20
FOR MORE DETAILS/CREATIVE & CAST INFORMATION VISIT ihrf.org
MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 7:30 PM
ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERS (THEATRE)
Emma Goldman-Sherman, Abraham’s Daughters. Although Abraham is a Jew from Flushing, and he only has one daughter, Maxine, and her only daughter Racie is a lesbian, Abraham still believes he’ll be the Father of Nations. He moves to Tel Aviv in search of his first love, Haajar. When he discovers Haajar’s daughter has five Palestinian Muslim sons, he goes to Nablus in the midst of the first Intifada to claim them as his own. Abraham’s Daughters is a mythic play about colonialism and identity.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 7:30 PM
SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL (THEATRE)
J. L. Diamond, Slicing an Onion. Pria strives to find peace after surviving a shooting at her Sikh temple, and struggles to forgive, despite having been the target of xenophobic hatred and violence. She can forgive, but at what cost?
Joseph Bulvid: If Only . . .: Michael is a successful actuary, married with twin children, who has long buried his true feelings about who he really is. Seeing Mason triggers a vivid vision where only love is love matters. Is it all just a dream, or a remembrance?
Eugene Grygo, Graduation. This is the story of two roommates —Lucas, played by Chase Naylor, and Aaron, played by J.J. Parkey — in 1983 who are sorting out their future together after college. However, their dream is threatened when one of them wants to deny the love that will define their lives.
David Meyers, The Secret Keeper. Ahmad is the groundskeeper at a cemetery in Afghanistan. When a local mother visits the cemetery, she befriends Ahmad and unearths a troubling secret that unites them both.
Hope Shangle, The Problem with Phantasms Is. What if the one person in the whole world who understands you is the one thing the whole world doesn’t understand?
INTERMISSION
Yasmine Rana, Leena and Rose at the Barre. With the looming reality of deportation and loss, Leena from Syria and Rose from El Salvador seek humanity and refuge at a New York City ballet studio as both women share their fear of disappearing and their solace in dancing. Y
Rachael Carnes, Permission. Permission offers an intergenerational #MeToo conversation, between a mother and daughter. What will these two family members reveal to each other, and to themselves?
Monica Raymond, Ernesto: undocumented and always wanting to be a doctor, Ernesto escaped gang warfare in El Salvador to come to the US. But what can his English teacher say about him that won’t give him away?
Ivan Faute, Lost Sock Laundromat, Astoria, Queens. When a recent immigrant from Lebanon shows up at their corner laundry, a first generation Mexican-American and second-generation Greek-American must decide how to respond. As laws change around them, the women build friendships and community while negotiating their own lives at a corner laundry in Queens.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 7:30 PM
SHALOM/SALAAM IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MUSLIM JEWISH SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE
(THEATRE, MUSIC AND STORYTELLING)
Zizi Azah Abdul Majid: Being In Time follows Hajar and Sarah, wives of Abraham and matriarchs of Islam and Judaism, as they move from patriarchs’ time to the peaceful metropolis of 11th Century Cordoba to present post-Sept 11th NYC, questioning the nature of the world they gave birth to.
Zafer Tawil: Jerusalem-born Tawil will be playing the oud and singing music from the Syrian tradition Mowashahat.
Daphna Mor and Rachid Halihal: They will perform together gems of traditional Moroccan-Andalusian music. Rachid will sing the Moroccan original text, Daphna will add the liturgical Jewish text, often sang by the Moroccan Jews borrowing the melodies of the popular songs, and adding Hebrew words.
Hannah Goldman, In the Kitchen. In the Kitchen is a community-based project that brings together Jewish women with heritage in Arab lands. The performance is part supper, part oral history, and part movement piece. The audience is invited to dwell on the themes of food, cultural labor, and the divine feminine, and engage in conversation over Moroccan tea at the end.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 7:30 PM
INCARCERATION, WOMEN AND REENTRY
(POETRY, MUSIC AND PANEL DISCUSSION)
Darian Dauchan, Songs and Excerpts from The Brobot Adventure: Wrath of the Wackness. The follow up show to The Brobot Johnson Experience, where an alien Hip Hop android named Flobot Owens, legendary Brobot MC, “abducts” an audience of humans from Earth for a Sci Fi Hip Hop dance party to eradicate the wacknesss that’s slowly plaguing his planet. Intricate live looping that combines verses with beatboxing, vocal melodies, and sound effects while mixing socially conscious lyrics in the genres of Hip Hop, Afrofuturism, and Afrobeat.
Helena D. Lewis, We Are Still Human: Women, Incarceration, and Reentry. Over the past three decades, the number of women incarcerated has increased by eight-hundred percent. This increase can be attributed to untreated mental illness, substance abuse, social and economic disparities, and tougher sentencing laws for women’s drug offenses. However, the current correctional system does not take into consideration the gendered needs of women who are incarcerated and how their reentry into society can be hindered by unresolved grief and loss. We Are Still Human explores through narrative story telling, poems, and monologues the marginalized voices of incarcerated women.
Panel:
Jada Fulmore, Director New Jersey Reentry Corporation, Paterson, NJ
Emilly Tully, BA Community Corrections and substance use counselor
Tonya Tucker, MSW (works with formally-incarcerated and incarcerated men and women)
Ms. Melanie Holmes, Director of Fly Women’s Network (provides housing to formall-y incarcerated women)
Helena D. Lewis Master in Social Work (MSW) from Rutgers University and is a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) and a Licensed Clinical Alcohol Drug Counselor (LCADC).
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 7:30 PM
DANCE FRIDAY
mignolo dance, Conjoined: Conjoined is duet which explores the chronic exploitation of conjoined twins, especially in relation to the world of entertainment. The idea of acting / dancing as “normally” as possible (as though not attached) is often employed in order to de-sentimentalize the concept and allow the physicality to speak for itself.
Catey Clark, CoHERence: Is the reality we perceive the reality we see? Through vibrant gestures, vigorous physicality, and spoken text, coHERence explores a fragmented reality. ” …an archipelago of choreography and connections”-
Linda Kuo Dancers Unlimited 3017: Time & Again: Time and Again reflects upon human conditions and humanity. We imagine what our collective future will look like in a thousand years, through the lenses of our ancestral wisdom. By with our own past, we grow collectively through resilience, faith and love that are innate to humanity. I’mMigration: Currents: I’mmigration: Currents is an excerpt of an immersive dance & art installation that explores the challenges and promises that are attached to being an immigrant, and being a body on a foreign or unfamiliar land. Each dancer’s (im)migration narrative is weaved into the choreography, and the movements represent how our experiences shape our identities and perspectives.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 9:30 PM
LATE NIGHT AT THE IHRAF: SHORT STACK ALLSTARS (FUNKY TUNES AND DANCE PARTY)
Tickets: $11 (includes 1 drink)
Short Stack Allstars, Dance Party! The Short Stack Allstars return to the IHRAF to groove at the intersection of jazz and hip-hop. Short Stack All Stars is Keston McMillan (vocals), John Filmanowicz (vocals), Peter Enriquez (bass, guitar), Grant Meyer (keys, synth bass) and Zack Pockrose (drums)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1:30 PM
ASEEMKALA INITIATIVE (INDIAN DANCE AND WORKSHOP)
Aseemkala Initiative, Traditional Indian Dance meets Contemporary Healthcare Concerns. Aseemkala Initiative returns to the IHRAF with four dances and a workshop!
1. Matangi’s Skin: Is it Race or Racism? This piece explores the impact of bias on outcomes for women of color in the healthcare world by paralleling the story of Mahavidya Matangi, the goddess of knowledge with dark skin. Choreographed and performed by: Sriya Bhumi.
2. Chinnamasta’s DNR: Choosing to end life is fraught with ethical complexity in the ICU. This piece parallels the story of a physician and a patient who disagree on her DNR order and parallels this story with the Mahavidya Chinnamasta, who sacrificed parts of herself to help her loved ones embraces the theme of minimalism and simplicity. Choreographed by Rohini Bhatia and Shilpa Darivemula; Performed by: Sophia Salingaros and Shilpa Darivemula; Music: Anoushka Shankar’s Lasya.
3. Reflection: This piece explores eating disorders in dancers and the stress to achieve physical perfection. Through Bharatantaym, Sophia tells a story based on interviews with fellow Ballet and Bharatanatyam dancers on how food impacts our relationships to our bodies. Choreographed and Performed by: Sophia Salingaros
4. Dhumavati’s Waiting Room: This piece explores three stories in a waiting room, mixing contemporary styles with traditional dances from Puerto Rico and India to explore what the Mahavidya Dhumavati has always known–that it is always harder on those waiting. This piece features choreography and performance by Teresa Cuevas and Sayoko, dancers from the Indorican Multicultural Project. Music: Boat to Nowhere by Anoushka Shankar. Choreographed by and Dancers: Shilpa Darivemula, Sayoko, Teresa Cuevas.
Workshop: Using Dance to Transform Healthcare: How to Perform a Story
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 3:00 PM
FILM LAB (FILM AND TALKBACK)
Film Lab, Mirror/Mirror. Mirror/Mirror is a sitcom pilot, created by Jennifer Betit Yen and produced by the Film Lab, that uses comedy to address the very real and very pervasive gender bias women, and particularly women of color, endure every day in the workplace. The screening will be followed by a talkback with a panel of cast, crew and experts in the field on gender bias in the post #MeToo world – how far we’ve come (or haven’t) and what we can proactively do to address implicit and explicit gender bias in ourselves and others.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 5:00 PM
FARM ARTS COLLECTIVE (STREET THEATRE)
PELE BAUCH (DANCE/PERFORMANCE)
Farm Arts Collective, El Viento was developed with performers, designers, stilt-walkers, and singers, explores the immigrant experience of crossing borders, leaving hardship, and building a new life. Using broad humor and heart-felt text, El Viento ends on a positive and beautiful note.
Pele Bauch, A.K.A. Ka Inoa is a montage of supple movement, vivid characters, and personal story, woven together with rolls of red ribbon. Pele Bauch mines her experiences as a multiracial New Yorker with Hawaiian ancestry who carries the weight of being named after Hawaii’s most significant and beloved deity. This interdisciplinary performance unpacks our attachment to cultural identity and pushes it against the needs of personal identity. Ka inoa is Hawaiian for the name, the namesake, the name of a chant or song, and an affectionate term for relatives not related by blood.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 8:00 PM
CELEBRATION OF WOMEN (DANCE AND PERFORMANCE)
Loretta D. Fois, With only the clothes on our backs (dance-theater). With only the clothes on our backs explores anti-immigration rhetoric and policies in the United States throughout history, juxtaposing it with the work of Hildegard von Bingen, a medieval composer whose work hinges on mercy and acceptance. The character, an uber-American speaker at a National convention, slowly unravels as the inevitability of immigration comes to the forefront and the idea of “americanizing America” becomes a hysterical proposition.
Oxna Chi Dance, Killjoy (lecture-performance). Killjoy is dedicated to the French artist and activist Claude Cahun (1894-1954), and her partner Marcel Moore. Oxana Chi’s performs series of vignettes reminiscing of the queer duo’s avant-garde work. The blend of diverse dance aesthetics, combined with theorist Sara Ahmed’s idea of “feminist killjoy,” generates a deeply moving embodied archive that resonates with contemporary topics of activism and resistance. Layla Zami’s introductory talk will give us a brief contextualizing insight into Cahun’s biography.
Christiane Emmanuel, Lumina…one day (dance). Lumina Sophie, born Marie Philomène Roptus, and also known as Surprise, is a major figure of the resistance against oppression in the Caribbean plantation society. She was called the “flame” of the 1870 revolt on the island of Martinique, and died in detention in French Guiana, where this performance was premiered in 2013. This piece is a choreographic tribute to her painful and courageous life.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14,10:00 PM
THEATRE OF WAR (THEATRE)
Theatre of War, Little Wing: loosely uses Octavia E. Butler’s final novel, “Fledgling” as source material for a startling theatrical exploration of survival and self-preservation. Also combining originally devised text, found text, object, 70s Blaxploitation films such as Blacula (1972) and Ganja & Hess (1973), movement, as well as popular tropes drenched in the tradition of gothic horror, we seek to use the vampire genre as means to create and explore this hallucinatory meditation of Black Otherness in present/past day America. Little Wing is an existential vampire dram-edy pushing the limits of what it means to be human and how far one is willing to go to completely purge oneself of ignorance and confusion. Featuring: *Jehan O. Young, Jonathan Schenk, Lilja Owsley, Chet King, Robert M. Stevenson, and *Merritt Janson [*Members of Actors Equity Association]
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1:30 PM
GOOD MOTHER (PERFORMANCE)
Karen Cellini: The Good Mother reveals the phantasmagorical world of ‘Glow in the Dark Mary’. Moonlight on water summons Mary to visit her earthly twin, guiding her from invisibility to visibility. In a solo show of heightened realities, immersive audio and visual effects, Karen Cellini as Mary leads the besieged Mother through a kaleidoscope of memories, broken dreams, and grief, determined to break their family’s legacy of female victimization and male rage.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 3:00 PM
THREE THEATRE PIECES (THEATRE)
Sora Baek, I Am From North Korea is inspired by the true stories of North Korean defectors and their journeys risking everything to find freedom in South Korea. The piece was created in hopes of being the voice of the people of North Korea: raising awareness about the hardships they face in their home country and helping to bring support to defectors.
Mark Lanham, Anything Helps. The play starts with one man’s decision to reject passivity about the 70,000 homeless people in New York City. A simple choice—buying a big pump-top thermos and serving coffee one-on-one to Union Square’s homeless–puts him on a path that explores the true nature of charity—why we give, and why we often hold back. This transforming experience shows the power kindled when you say “yes” to the call of service, and a surprising paradox of the rich experience that results from eye-level contact with the poor.
Tom Block, Let’s Pretend. The play concerns two children playing with modeling clay, building a world. It begins with a Japanese toilet and ends with a bullet-proof backpack and a belt-fed rifle, the SFS BFR. One of the little modeling-clay creations is an adopted Chinese Jewish baby with brittle bone disease.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 5:00 PM
LAUREL SNYDER CURATES (DANCE)
Laurel Snyder, To What End. To What End is an interdisciplinary exposition of the inner dialogue through movement, voice, melody and harmony. This solo-work illuminates the inherent dissonance between the inner and outer landscapes of the body and mind and intends to inspire understanding and reinforce the importance of listening to an individual’s story to unearth key elements of one’s own.
Ariel Lembeck, Pool of Vibrations. This work explores the push and pull of self-reflection — examining both the rawness and grotesqueness of personal inquiry reveals what acceptance and obsession look like. Through the use of materials the work plays with physically and metaphorically indulging in both image and perception to reach a point of deeper awareness. The works asks: if we allow others to see us in a place of uncensored vulnerability do we simultaneously allow them to witness us into our full potential?
Jessie Young, smoke not fog. smoke not fog is a solo work that navigates endurance, constraint, energetic distribution and deals with the cartography of the Pacific Northwest, specifically in relationship to image of the “grotesque”, landslides, fault lines and the materiality of the body.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 7:00 PM
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
(THEATRE, MUSIC, PERFORMANCE)
IHRAF brings a selection of Columbia University students from the IHRAF Columbia Festival (which took place on November 14-15, 2019, produced by Columbia student Noa Levy Baron), to share their talents with us at the Wild Project.
Featuring: Alex White, Charlie Blanc, Phanesia Pharel and Mamadou Yattassaye
FOR MORE DETAILS/CREATIVE & CAST INFORMATION VISIT ihrf.org