RUTH DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
"Inordinately engaging ... sprinkled with jewels
of movement sequences, striking visuals and thought-provoking moments."
—The Washington Post
Inspired by the career of modern dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis, Ruth Doesn’t Live Here Anymore addresses acts of cultural sourcing, representation and transmission. With wit, piles of fabric, a microphone, three dancers, two musicians, and a leaf blower, Lionel Popkin asks: was St. Denis’ Orientalism an act of cultural appropriation or a legitimate examination of sources of dance? Can a century of perspective help a contemporary choreographer reach his own point of equilibrium?
CREATIVE TEAM
Choreography: Lionel Popkin
Original Score: Guy Klucevsek
Performed: Lionel Popkin, Emily Beattie, and Carolyn Hall
Costumes and Set Design: Marcus Kuiland-Nazario
Lighting design: Christopher Kuhl
Video Design: Cari Ann Shim Sham*
PERFORMANCE HISTORY
Abrons Arts Center, New York, NY
REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA
ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA
Dance Place, Washington, DC
PS 21, Chatham, NY
The Painted Bride, Philadelphia, PA
Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pittsburgh, PA
Alverno Presents, Milwaukee, WI
Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, OK
Helena Presents, Helena, MT
University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC
COLLABORATOR BIOGRAPHIES Guy Klucevsek (composer/accordion) is one of the world’s most versatile and highly-respected accordionists. A composer, accordion virtuoso, and improvisor, he has been a major contributor to the accordion renaissance of the last 25 years. His music reverberates with sounds of the ballroom, the beer garden and the concert hall, fusing elements of regional accordion styles with jazz and avant-garde music. His performances include Ten Days on the Island (Tasmania), the Adelaide Festival, the Berlin Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center, Spoleto Festival/USA, BAM Next Wave Festival, international accordion festivals in Vienna, Cotati (CA), and San Antonio, and the long-running children’s television show “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Klucevsek has released over 20 recordings as soloist/leader on Tzadik, Winter & Winter, Innova, Starkland, Review, Intuition, CRI, and XI. He can also be heard on John Williams’s orchestral scores for the Steven Spielberg films, “The Terminal,” "Munich," “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” and “The Adventures of Tin-Tin,” and on A. R. Rahman’s score for “People Like Us.” He is the recipient of a 2010 United States Artists Collins Fellowship.
Emily Beattie (Performer) is originally from Fredericksburg, Virginia and currently works as a performer and choreographer in Boston. Her collaborative performance and technology work has been supported and performed nationally and internationally since 2003. Thanks to Lionel, Guy, Chris, Cari Ann, Marcus, Carolyn, Mary, Todd, and Adam for a rich process that truly raised the RUTH. Many thanks also to friends and family for their incredible, incredible support.
Carolyn Hall is a Brooklyn-based freelance dancer originally from Los Angeles. She has performed nationally and internationally with numerous choreographers/directors and was awarded a New York Dance and Performance Award or "Bessie" for performance in 2002. Most recently she has performed with Third Rail Projects, Lionel Popkin, Rebecca Davis, and Clarinda Mac Low. She is also a marine ecologist and enjoys exploring ways to combine her art and science halves.
Christopher Kuhl is a lighting, scenic, installation and conceptual designer for new performance, theatre, dance and opera based in Brooklyn. Recent work includes Straight White Men (Young Jean Lee’s Theatre Company,The Public Theatre, Wexner Center); This Was The End (Mallory Catlett, The Chocolate Factory); The Elephant Room (Edinburgh Fringe, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Philly Live Arts, Arena Stage, MCA Chicago); Quartier Libres with Nadia Beugré (New York Live Arts, Walker Art Center); Soldier Songs (Holland Festival); Ethel’s Documerica (BAM); John Cage Song Books (SF Symphony, Carnegie Hall). Chris has also had the pleasure of working and making art at On the Boards, The Fusebox Festival, The Kennedy Center, YBCA, Jacob’s Pillow, Beijing Music Festival, Queer Zagreb, KVS Belgium, MAC France, and Santiago a Mil Chile. Kuhl was also the Production Manger and Lighting Director for Ralph Lemon’s How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere? In 2011 Chris was the recipient of the Sherwood, Drammy, Horton, and Ovation Awards. In 2014 Chris was nominated for a Bessie Award for Outstanding Visual Design and was a finalist for the Rolex Mentor Protégé Award. Chris is originally from New Mexico, a graduate of CalArts, an associate artist of Hand2Mouth Theatre, and Co-Director of Live Arts Exchange (LAX).
Marcus Kuiland-Nazario (set/costume designer) has provided costume design/wardrobe styling and art direction for fellow performers including Elia Arce, Nao Bustamante, Meg Wolfe, Gregory Barnett, Cid Pearlman, Kristina Wong, Keith Glassman, Maria Gillespie, Ruben Martinez, Prumsodun Ok and Lionel Popkin. He has been guest lecturer at UCLA’s World Arts and Cultures department, presenting on costume and fashion. Kuiland-Nazario is a founding artist of the 18th Street Art Center, Highways Performance Space and Clean Needles Now, and has toured his performance works both nationally and internationally. His design team includes designer Sybil Moseley, and artists Johnny Tellez and Kirk Wilson.
Mary Rowell (violin) has carved an indelible place in the world of contemporary music. She performs internationally as soloist and chamber musician and has collaborated with composers and artists from many genres including Sheryl Crow, Joe Jackson, the Tango Project, Kenny Rogers, Philip Glass, John Cage and a myriad of today's classical contemporary composers. She is a co -founder of the string quartet ETHEL, concertmaster of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show Orchestra and currently teaches violin at Middlebury College.
Cari Ann Shim Sham* is a wild new media artist who loves hunting edible mushrooms, collecting antique doorknobs and recently left la la land for NYC. Her video art has shown nationally, at notable venues such as Jacob's Pillow, PS 21, Peak Performances, and the Joyce Soho. Her film work has screened at Laemmle Sunset 7, Mann Chinese Theater, and the United Nations General Assembly, 190+ festivals internationally garnering numerous awards. She is the recipient of the Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowship and Chime's Choreographer Mentorship Exchange. Current projects include directing a VR 360 episodic Opera Horror Film project for Opera on Tap, designing video art for three touring dance theater shows (Roussève, Popkin & Williamson), Director of Photography on a feature dance film by David Roussève and Filmmaker/Photographer for the NYU Global Institute of Dance and Music, a global investigation into dance and music at cultural, geographic & economic borders. She is over the moon happy teaching Dance & New Media at NYU TISCH Dance. www.cariannshimsham.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funded in part with generous support from the National Performance Network (NPN) Performance Residency Program, and the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. With Additional funding from the Center for Cultural Innovation and the Santa Monica Artist Fellowship. Ruth Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is an NPN Creation Fund/Forth Fund Project co-commissioned by REDCAT in partnership with Alverno Presents, Dance Place and NPN. For more information, visit npnweb.org.
Photos by John Altdorfer, Steven Gunther, and Cristal Jones