Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith (NYC)
Basketball
Basketball reinvents past shames as colorful, sculptural and textural expressions. Engulfing one another with fully embodied presence, Lieber and Smith move backward and forward through time and space in a dreamlike reimagining of personal histories. Improvisation acts as an empowerment of physicality and emotionality, viscerally felt as you observe the intimate, raw nature of their bodies in space.
“These women are tied together. One would carry the other across a desert, it seems, if they didn’t kill each other first.” – Brian Seibert, The New York Times
Commissioned by PS122
Co-presented with Baryshnikov Arts Center
Jan 7 – 7pm
Jan 8 – 4pm, 7pm
Jan 9 – 4pm
Jan 10 – 7pm
60 minutes
at Howard Gilman Performance Space,
Baryshnikov Arts Center,
450 West 37th Street, Manhattan
$20
Coil Pass Holders:
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Choreography and Performance: Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith
Sound Design: James Lo
Set Design: Liliana Dirks-Goodman
Costume Design: Claire Fleury
Lighting Design: Thomas Dunn
Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith have been making experimental dances together in New York since 2006. Their work is unique in that it is an equal collaboration between the two choreographers, always within the duet form, always performed by Molly and Eleanor. Their most recent work Rude World, was their third project together over the past three years and premiered through PS122 and The Chocolate Factory Theater in PS122’s Coil 2015 Festival. Their work is recognized by the tension of a powerful yet submerged inner world, cultivated through a brave and continuous study of duet improvisation. Recent works include Tulip (Roulette, 2013, Judson Now at Danspace Project, 2012), and Beautiful Bone (The Chocolate Factory Theater, 2012). They were a 2015 Rosas Summer Studios Residency Artist, were among the inaugural season of PS122’s 2014/2015 Ramp Residency artists, a 2014 Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) Artist in Residence, were nominated for a 2013 New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Award for Emerging Choreographer, and received the 2013 NYFA Fellow Finalist Award. Molly and Eleanor had the pleasure of being Guest Artists in Residence at Connecticut College in September 2015.
Baryshnikov Arts Center (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, please visit www.bacnyc.org.
Featured Image by Molly and Eleanor.
Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith’s Basketball is commissioned by Performance Space 122 with support from the Jerome Foundation and Mertz Gilmore Foundation. Residency support provided by Baryshnikov Arts Center and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
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