Here & Now •
Here & Now: 2023
May 11, 2023
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8:00 pm
Details
Dates & Time •
May 11, 2023
•
8:00 pm
Presented by •
Season •
Miami Light Project’s signature commission program is back with an evening of new short-form work from artists working across disciplines. This year’s cohort includes Arsimmer McCoy, Carlos Fabian, Darius Daughtry, Gentry George, and Letty Bassart on the main stage at Miami Theater Center!
DARIUS DAUGHTY: REVERIE IN BLACK
Reverie in Black combines the magic of theater, spoken word poetry and music into a beautiful mosaic. One poet/actor, a musician and DJ engage to tell stories of life, love and everything in between.
- Conceived and Performed by Darius V. Daughtry
- Music by Portia Dunkley and DJ RRickyy
Para ti,
Through its engagement with an urgent, unpredictable and unrepeatable compositional structure, Here, Now aspires to challenge aspects of American consumer-culture internalized by our arts community, one which often prioritizes packaging and distribution.
Through its sinking into mutual trust – Here, Now hopes to be with you, fully, intimately.
- By Letty Bassart (Conception and Performance) and Daniel Bernard Roumain (Music)
Special thanks to unwavering thought partner, Lydia Baird, new/old friend/believer, Petagay Letren, longtime artistic confidant, Achim Nowak, consistently generous collaborator, DBR, Here and Now’s creative/production teams, and to fellow artists, the MLP community and its fierce leader, Beth Boone or their devotion to love-risk -art-now – and, with ineffable thanks to everyone here tonight (in person and in spirit).
If afterward, you would like to know more about tonight’s specific directives, I am happy to share at any time – in person, by phone:/text at 786.797.5902 or via email at [email protected].
love,
lett
Towards Now is a multidisciplinary performance that reflects on the experience of “consciousness” within the current global landscape of virtuality, delusion, and mass communication. Represented in three parts, the piece explores concepts such as detachment, identity, and sensibility, through real and fictional imaginaria; where both characters and performers examine the notion of “present” as an experience of external and inner awareness of reality.
Towards Now is the second chapter of “Ruminations”, a series of live performances that use physical theatre, video projection, dance, spoken word, and real testimonials to explore different concepts and ideas.
- Performance by Carlos Fabián and Gaiya
- Direction by Carlos Fabián
- Visual Design by Muu Blanco
- Sound and Set Design by Carlos Fabián
- Set Construction by Jemel Matias
- Costumes by the performers
Special thanks to Oswaldo Maccio, Mikhaël Levy, Heather Maloney, Corey Silverman, Jair Roldan, Sara Azócar and Fernando Pessoa.
ARSIMMER MCCOY: I’M SO DEPRESSED
I’m So Depressed is an ambitious poetry driven stage play by Arsimmer McCoy about losing her entire life as she knew it during the pandemic, and finding it in an Abner Jay blues album.
- Written by Arsimmer McCoy
- Film shot and Edited by Julien Hyvrard of OUlcollective
- Digital Mapping by Sean Sullivan / SeanWasHere
- “Anchor Me. Blessed Be” Commission for Pioneer Winter Collective
- Choreography by Jessica Gilmore & Clarence Brooks for Bird of Paradise
- Music Production by McCoy International Group
- Original Compositions by Ken McCoy Brian Tuzo, Larry Miller, Jonathan Miller
- Produced by Miami Light Project for Here & Now 2023
Special thank you to Claudens Louie, Mark Delmont, Shayna-Raye Bernard, Portia Dunkley.
Thank you mama. Thank you dad. Thank you Arsimmer Yaheli – you are and will always be, my reason. Thank you Miami Light Project Family for EVERYTHING.
Afro Blue is Gentry Isaiah George’s latest installment from his series Roots & Rhythms, designed to commemorate Black Musicians of the 20th century. Renditions of the Jazz standard Afro-Blue recorded by American jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln and Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria are the centerpieces of the new work.
Harmonizing biography, social history, music, and performance, George’s Zest Collective dance troupe celebrates the beauty and triumph of musical pioneers whose songs rang out despite America’s dark history of oppression.
- Choreography by Gentry Isaiah George w/ Zest Collective
- Music by Abbey Lincoln and Mongo Santamaria
- Costumes by Gentry Isaiah George, Armando Brydson, and Beatriz Garcia Diaz
- Lighting Design by Ernesto Pinto
- Choreographer Assistance by Ashley Moore and Hassan Ingraham
- Company (In Order of Appearance) Deja Darbonne, Nayah Merisier, Armando Brydson, Eleni Gialas, Nicole Pedraza, Jeremiah Paul, and Beatriz Garcia Diaz
Many thanks to Marshall Davis and Eulyce Eason of the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center. Many thanks to Beth Boone and the visionary leadership at the Miami Light Project.
This work is possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor, and the Board of County Commissioners.
Biography
Darius V. Daughtry is a poet, playwright, director, and educator. He is the Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Art Prevails Project, a performing and literary arts organization cultivating community and creating equitable access to the arts through performance, arts education, and community engagement. Darius understands how exposure to and participation in the arts can impact individuals and help shift cultural landscapes to transform communities.
He has been commissioned to write, perform, and conduct workshops for various organization, such as the U.S. Naval Academy, TEDx, the University of Florida, the Poetry Foundation, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the Adrienne Arsht Center, Broward and Miami-Dade and various municipalities throughout South Florida.
Darius’ series of multidisciplinary performance projects, The Happening: A Theatrical Mixtape, Volumes 1-3, explore the intersectionality of society issues and have been presented at Broward Center for the Performing Arts and the African American Research Library and Cultural Center. Darius theatrical writing, directing and producing credits also include A Love Like This, Seeking and a recent reimagining of a Shakespearean classic, Merchants of Venice.
His collection of poetry, And the Walls Came Tumbling, is an introspective poetic memoir and cultural critique
Letty Bassart is a choreographer, director, improvisor, performance artist, researcher, teacher, and caregiver whose work takes many forms. They create performances at the intersection of dance, theater, and visual art.
Letty began to formally infuse energy into devising choreography/performance work in 2003. Since then, they have partnered with esteemed colleagues to generate more than thirty long form and short form works. Highlights include A Symphony Apart, orchestral installation by Musicians of the Charlotte Symphony; Some Ways to Continue, long form performance installation for UCLA’s Room 200 (constructed by every person that entered the space); Un/Nameable One, Two, Three, dance theater work for MLP Here and Now Festival; and GOOD, GOD, GO, evening length dance theater work for Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Currently, she is working on Surplus Reiterations, a collaborative project with Rod Faulds and Tom Scicluna opening at FAU’s, Ritter Art Gallery in September of 2022.
Letty’s artistic efforts have received recognition through four independent Choreographer Fellowships (Miami-Dade); as well as a National Endowment for the Arts dance writing fellowship to attend its Institute for Dance Criticism at the American Dance Festival, and Knight Arts Challenge Award. And have been generously supported through grants, commissions (e.g., Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami Light Project), and residency opportunities.
Carlos Fabián (he/him) is a Miami-based multidisciplinary creative and performer from Caracas, Venezuela. He studied philosophy at the Central University of Venezuela (Universidad Central de Venezuela – UCV) and trained as an actor in the prestigious Experimental Theater Workshop at Centro TET (Centro de Creación Artística TET) where he developed skills in movement and physical theater. His artistic experience also includes key roles as assistant director, stage manager, producer, designer, cinematographer, editor, and teaching artist. Based in Miami since 2019, Fabián has collaborate with local artist and companies in different projects for theater, dance and film. In 2020, his work-in-progress project LITTLE SPACES, was one of the winning ideas of the program Knight New Work created by Knight Foundation.
Arsimmer McCoy is an international poet, teaching artist, cultural worker, and collaborative artist, from Miami, Fl. McCoy McCoy has been a practicing artist for 12+ years, with work that can be seen in several publications, 2 large scale visual art pieces, an anthology, and 3 films. Arsimmer is the founder of the Ms. Mary’s House|Carol City Museum; an art, archive, and community space operating out of her residence, in historic Carol City, Miami. McCoy has been a fellow of the summer cohort artist residency at Bakehouse Art Complex, ACA (Atlantic Center of the Arts) Home and Away fellowship, Locust’s Projects, Women archive artist Miami Residency, and AIRIE (Artist-in-Residence). McCoy is the recipient of the Miami Foundation racial equity grant for impactful creatives, Locust Project’s Wavemaker grant, and the Oolite Arts Ellies Award recipient. Arsimmer utilizes every vehicle, from performance to workshops, to activate conversations around creative writing and its connection to local history and community.
Gentry George is the Founder of Zest Collective and a Professor at Miami Dade College’s New World School of the Arts. George is a recipient of a Level 1 YoungArts award and is featured on HBO’s ‘Masterclass.’ In 2012 Gentry graduated from the Juilliard School and began dancing with Ailey II and later with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. In 2020 George relocated to South Florida and served as Rehearsal Director of the Peter London Global Dance Company.
Gentry choreographed and directed PianoSlam 14, presented by Dranoff 2 Piano and the Adrienne Arsht Center. The work premiered in April 2022.
ABOUT MIAMI LIGHT PROJECT
Founded in 1989, Miami Light Project is a not-for-profit cultural organization, which commissions and presents artists from all over the world and throughout Miami. We support the vanguard in contemporary performance – dance, music, theater and multimedia artists who are internationally recognized for risk-taking innovation, technical virtuosity and thought-provoking content. Our programmatic vision has led the way in establishing Miami as an internationally recognized center for art and culture, with a vibrant locally based artistic community. Miami Light Project’s artistic programs focus on issues of relevance to our community within the context of an evolving global field of art and culture.
FUNDERS
Miami Light Project receives funding for the Here & Now 2023 from: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation; and TD Charitable Foundation.
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