NYC Arts: Baryshnikov Arts Center Announces Spring 2021 Digital Season

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) announces the Digital Spring 2021 season of free online presentations, featuring seven premieres of new works for online presentation commissioned by BAC and streaming free on demand at BACNYC.ORG beginning February 1, 2021.

 

Through the BAC Artist Commissions initiative, which was established September 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, BAC has continued supporting the development of new work by providing resources for artists to realize their creative visions specifically for online presentation.


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The resulting projects from seven mostly New York-based artists innovating in dance, music, and multimedia will be released beginning February 1, 2021 and continuing through June 21, 2021 at bacnyc.org. The spring also includes the fourth installment of PlayBAC: Performances from the Archive, a series of video recordings from 15 years of live performances presented at BAC.

The Digital Spring 2021 season launches February 1 with one of the seven BAC-commissioned works, which will be released on Mondays at 5pm EST and free and available to watch on demand at bacnyc.org for two weeks. A schedule of live-streamed conversations with the artists to discuss their projects and creative processes will be announced in conjunction with the premieres.


The first premiere, available February 1—15 is Vibhanga, a work conceived and choreographed by classical Indian dancer Bijayini Satpathy, who performs to a reimagined score of traditional South Indian music. The program offering includes a live-streamed conversation with Satpathy, who is based in Bangalore, hosted by contemporary dance choreographer Mark Morris. Free registration for the live Zoom conversation on Wednesday, February 10 at 8PM EST will be available beginning February 1 at bacnyc.org.


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Next, February 15—March 1, music and sound artist Justin Hicks premieres Use Your Head For More. Presented as a series of audiovisual portraits, the work incorporates the transcript of a conversation between Hicks and his mother in a performance of found sound and personal archive. 

Choreographer Mariana Valencia's brownout, a visual essay of movement and sound scores, premieres March 1—15. Shifting the frame from one camera lens to the next, the work explores changes in electricity, visibility, and perception.

Next, the March 15—29 premiere of Museum of Calm by Holland Andrews is a vocal music, meditation, and performance art video. Filmed at BAC's John Cage & Merce Cunningham Studio in November 2020, the work generates interior worlds to offer strategies for survival in a reforming society.

The premieres continue May 3—17 with choreographer Stefanie Batten Bland's Kolonial, performed within a large scenic installation on the stage of BAC's Jerome Robbins Theater, filmed in December 2020. The work of dance cinema examines behaviors of self and community through transparent COVID barriers of isolation. 

Next is multimedia artist Tei Blow premiering May 17—31 The Sprezzaturameron, a digital installation with music and video by Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble, of which Blow is a founding member. To be filmed at BAC's Jerome Robbins Theater in January 2021, the work follows a group of artists who confront the precarious nature of art-making in an apocalyptic near-future.

The final premiere June 7—21 is STELLAR by choreographer Kyle Marshall—to be filmed at the Jerome Robbins Theater in March 2021. This dance of speculative fiction features five movement artists performing choreography based on virtual improvisation sessions led by Marshall.

Rounding out the season of digital offerings is the fourth installment of PlayBAC: Performances from the Archive, featuring never-before-seen, high-quality recordings of live performances at BAC. The new PlayBAC series kicks off April 8—15 with the 2019 N.Y. Premiere of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's Verklärte Nacht, a powerful duet by the renowned Belgian choreographer presented in the Jerome Robbins Theater.


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The series continues April 15—22 with BAC Salon: Szymanowski, Berio + Debussy, a 2018 concert performed in the intimate Howard Gilman Performance Space featuring the refined Tesla Quartet and Canadian soprano Alexandra Smither in what was her first New York appearance. PlayBAC Series 4 concludes April 22—29 with the celebrated Chilean theater company Bonobo performing the U.S. Premiere of Tú Amarás, a timely work of political theater developed in residence at BAC and presented in the Jerome Robbins Theater in February 2020. PlayBAC videos—which include special introductions from Mikhail Baryshnikov and the featured artists—are free and available to watch at bacnyc.org beginning at 5PM EST on Thursday until the following Thursday at 5PM EST.

About Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC)
BAC is the realization of a long-held vision by artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov who sought to build an arts center in Manhattan that would serve as a gathering place for artists from all disciplines. BAC's opening in 2005 heralded the launch of this mission, establishing a thriving creative laboratory and performance space for artists from around the world. BAC's activities encompass a robust residency program augmented by a range of professional services, including commissions of new work, as well as the presentation of performances by artists at varying stages of their careers. In tandem with its commitment to supporting artists, BAC is dedicated to building audiences for the arts by presenting contemporary, innovative work at affordable ticket prices. For more information visit bacnyc.org.


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BAC is grateful for the support of its generous individual and institutional annual fund donors in 2018–­­–20 including Anonymous (2); Pierre Apraxine; Joanne and Tuvia Barak; Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lisa Rinehart; Simon Basner; Carol Baxter and Loren Plotkin; Michael Benari; Ray and Jane Bernick; Jamie Bishton; Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Borer; Catherine Brennan; Dino Buturovic and Mirjana Ciric; Pamela Ceglinski; Frank and Monique Cordasco; Nancy Dalva; Richard and Jennie DeScherer.

Additional donors include Janet Dewan; Joseph and Diana DiMenna; Estate of James H. Duffy; Cheryl Lee and Steven C. Dupré; William James Earle; Alan and Judy Fishman; Barbara G. Fleischman; Anne and Chris Flowers; Sandra Foschi; Eve R. France; Alex and Jenia Fridlyand; Randy Gaugert; Carol Giles-Straight; Jon Gilman and Brad Learmonth; Denise L. Stefan Ginascol; Slavka B. Glaser; Michael Goldstein and Carolyn Katz; Peter Greenleaf; Cynthia Harvey; Kim Hendrickson and Grant Delin; Jeffery Hentze; Jano Herbosch; Joan Hooker; In Honor of Roger Hooker; Sarah Hooker; Huong Hoang; Fred Humphrey; Yukiko Inoue; Susan Israel; Bobbo Jetmundsen; Carine Joannou; Stephanie Joel; Colleen Keegan; Leo and Nadine Keegan; Donald M. Kendall; Herman E. Krawitz.

We also acknowledge the generous support from Iya Labunka; Nicole Leibman; Lisa and Anton LeRoy; Jarrett and Maritess Lilien; Julie Lilien; Topper Lilien; Bruce Lipnick; Marianne Lockwood and David Bury; Nick and Cass Ludington; Sarah and Alec Machiels; The Honorable and Mrs. Earle Mack; Deanna Maclean; Maia Mamamtavrishvili; Elizabeth Manigault; Paul and Caroline McCaffery; Karen McLaughlin and Mark Schubin; Gary Miller and Valerie Beaman; Bob and Carol Morris; Brooke Garber Neidich and Daniel Neidich; Alessandra Nicifero; Ingrid Nyeboe and Louise Fishman; Zoya and Anna Obraztsova; Alvise Orsini; Denis Pelli; Ray Pepi and Karen Arrigoni; Alvin Perlmutter; Steven and Michèle Pesner.

Additional donors include Georgiana Pickett; Ronnie Planalp; Noni Pratt; Christina Repetti: Piedad Rivadeneira; Laila Robins; James Roe; Isabella Rossellini; John Sansone; Sophia Schachter; Hillary Schafer and Mark Shafir; Dorothy Scheuer; Natasha Schlesinger; Laura Schoen; Vernon Scott; Dawn Sequeira; Dennis T. Serras; Joel Shapiro and Ellen Phelan; Wallace Shawn and Deborah Eisenberg; Sandy Siegel; Jeremy Smith; Gus Solomons; Ellen Sorrin and David York; Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G. Farley.

Also Christina Sterner and Steve Poses; Angele Surault; Lev Sviridov; Anne and William Tatlock; Michael Tersigni and David Palachek; Jennifer Tipton; Deidra Wager; Robert and Kathleen Wallace; Robert  Warshaw and Debbie Schmidt; Mary R. Waters; Suzanne Weil; Roger Weisberg and Karen Freedman; David N. White, Edgar Wilson; Michael Worden

BAC is grateful for the support of its generous individual and institutional annual fund donors including Affirmation Arts Fund; Altman Foundation; Amazon Smile Foundation; American Chai Trust; Anonymous (2); Rose M. Badgeley Residuary Charitable Trust; Bay and Paul Foundations; Blavatnik Family Foundation; Bloomberg Philanthropies; Dance/NYC's New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy  Program, made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Additionally, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; DeWitt Stern/Risk Strategies; The Enoch Foundation; Ford Foundation; Howard Gilman Foundation; Harkness Foundation for Dance; Irving Harris Foundation; Francena T. Harrison Foundation Trust; Dubose & Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund; Consulate General of Israel in North America; Japan Foundation; Jerome Foundation; Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation; Sean Kelly Gallery; Kent Van-Alen Fund; The Frances Lear Foundation; The Lupin Foundation.

Additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts Dance Project with lead funding from the Doris  Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Stavros Niarchos Foundation; North American-Chilean Chamber of Commerce; Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation; NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund in The New York Community Trust; Muriel Pollia Foundation.

We also acknowledge the generous support of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA; Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; The Reed Foundation; The Jerome Robbins Foundation; Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund; Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; The Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation; Soros Fund Charitable Foundation; Consulate General of Switzerland in New York; The Thompson Family Foundation; Trust for Mutual Understanding; Twin Beeches Foundation.

Baryshnikov Arts Center is also grateful for support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Funding is also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Yamaha is the official piano of the Baryshnikov Arts Center.


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