A masochistic autobiographical meditation on desire, Petra examines race, sex, and power through the lens of service and unrequited love. Moss’ new dance work is inspired by Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s film, “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant”, and features a female immigrant cast that transforms this subversive maternal melodrama, into a wry critique of America’s diversity discourse.

Directed by Dean Moss, with music performed live by composer Samita Sinha, the imagined and real lives of the performers merge, and parallels are drawn between theirs, his, and the film’s queer, anxiety-laced explorations of ambition, subjection and dispossession.

Drawing upon “She whose head is severed” – a Hindu goddess associated with self-sacrifice, spiritual awakening, and the erotic power – Petra features women whose roles are cast in deference to their real life relationships in New York’s contemporary performance scene: Rwandan actor/director, Kaneza Schaal as Petra; Indian vocalist/composer, Samita Sinha as Petra’s lover; Japanese butoh artist/choreographer, Mina Nishimura as Petra’s sister; Finnish contemporary dancer/choreographer, Sari Nordman as Petra’s daughter; and Filipino dancer/choreographer/co-founder of Topaz Arts, Paz Tanjuaquio as Petra’s mother. The family roles are further double-cast to form the singular role of Marlene, Petra’s mute office/personal assistant.

Video performers: Julia Cumming, Sunny Jain, Grey Mcmurray, Marya Warshaw, and Asher Woodworth.