With: Aarron Ricks, Akanbi, and Ley
In the Valley Pools our Sorrow is inspired by nightclubs as communal spaces of care, emotion, and expression. On December 1, we will together open a valley within the relentless pulses of daily life.
Our world today is possessed by extraordinary change and turmoil–climate crisis, political upheaval, and an ongoing pandemic create difficult, often violent, conditions for life. Amidst these conditions, capitalist expectations for unceasing production continue. We are driven to continue without pause despite our pain.
Instead, we make space to pause and feel together. In the heart of this valley, we allow our sorrow, anger, hope, exhaustion and drive to keep trying to pour into the fore. These feelings are our sanity.
Nocturnal Medicine creates a deconstructed nightclub that repositions essential elements of the nightclub experience–deep listening, collective movement, and catharsis. An immersive soundscape invokes reflection while a series of cues performed by Aarron Ricks invite guests into stillness, movement, and expression. A ritual sculpture is co-created over the course of the night. In the second half of the evening, DJ Akanbi takes the helm for a potent set, moving us from a meditative state to a high-octane, cathartic dance.
With In the Valley Pools our Sorrow, we acknowledge the painful challenges we face. We honor the strength it takes to weather them. We weave connection to our bodies, one another, and our world.
Using the Octopus’s decentralized nervous system as an inspiration for Performance Space New York’s curatorial practice, the John Giorno Octopus Series invites artists and guest curators to organize an evening-length program with several artists working in any number of disciplines. The series is named after legendary performance poet, John Giorno, and continues Performance Space’s legacy of artist-centric programming and creating space for risk-taking.
