“Stories Starting With…” features new works by Lauren Christie, Zaquia Mahler Salinas, Jaime Nixon, and grace shinhae jun with dancers Guillermo Castro, Desiree Cuizon, Marty Dorado, Nicole Oga and Chelsea Zeffiro. These pieces, both live performance and dance film works, connect us to where we come from, where we’ve been, and where we are going.
IMPORTANT: Tickets for this event are presale only (ticket sales end April 30 @ 5pm) – no tickets will be sold at the door. All group ticket purchases must be for members of the same household. All event attendees must be in-state visitors. Masks are required.
The Program
Lauren Christie’s “The space between” is a meditation on space, aloneness, connection, and comfort. This work reflects the seeming paradox of the current moment – a time of tenderness and perseverance, longing for and retreating from, seeing and not seeing. It is a duet that involves deep listening between the performers, Guillermo Castro and Nicole Oga. It invites the audience into a shared sense of time being drawn out and snapped back, and a shared sense of breath being held and exhaled. “The space between” features an original score by musician/composer Shayla James.
Zaquia Mahler Salinas’ “Powerball” (Draft #1) is a dive into characters: a narrator named Eddie from 1946, the lineage of women entertainers like the flapper girls of old and the Vanna White’s of television, plus “the village” – a small town archetype of high-stakes ritual and tradition. Connected through plot points derived from “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, these characters tell the story of America past and present. A commentary on pop culture, politics, and social injustice, this mashup work is a compilation of references that insist we take stock of current events, the long term implications of these, and address the past, present and future through a dystopic lens. This work is in development in collaboration with the dancers Guillermo Castro, Desiree Cuizon, Lauren Christie, Marty Dorado, Nicole Oga, Chelsea Zeffiro, and musician/composer Jonny Tarr.
“In her maiden name” by Jaime Nixon attempts to allow all time to happen at once. As a chart of past, present, future; the body becomes a geographical map of memory. All of this is explored in an attempt at forgiveness. I made this because I believe that through my own assimilation and my mothers struggle to grant me an opportunity for the “American Dream,” I was conditioned to blame her for my failures. While feeling my ambition being tampered with, I develop a language that gives an understanding of the relationship between adversity, trauma, and the love for a mother.
Directed by grace shinhae jun of bkSOUL and performed by Lauren Christie, Desiree Cuizon, Jaime Nixon, and Zaquia Mahler Salinas, “Offerings” is a meditation on reciprocity, exchange, and connection. What is the bond that is created between two souls, between people and the earth, when an offering is made, given, or shared?
Live outdoor performances:
May 1 & 2 @ 8pm in Logan Heights, San Diego
Exact address will be made available after ticket purchase
