Curated by Caden Manson and Jemma Nelson, the Special Effects festival is a brick and mortar articulation of their online Contemporary Performance Network — a forum where artists, presenters, scholars and festival organizers can meet, share work and collaborate.
Contemporary Performance fest burns bright for three nights
This three-day event at the Wild Project gathers its talent from artists dedicated to traversing, merging and/or reaching beyond the fields of experimental theatre, dance, video art, visual art, music composition and performance art.
THE SPECIAL EFFECTS FESTIVAL
January 8–10
At The Wild Project
195 E. Third Street
(btw. Aves. A & B)
Tickets: $15
Reservations: 212-352-3101
or visit thewildproject.com
More info at
contemporaryperformance.com
The Jan. 8 opening night party, curated by Heather Litteer, features “performative interviews” of female legends from the Downtown arts scene. Later that same night, then again on Jan. 9, Adrienne Truscott (of the Wau Wau Sisters burlesque duo) performs her Edinburgh Fringe award-winning solo show. A mix of stand-up, video, nudity and a little whimsical dance, “Asking For It” has Truscott confronting taboos surrounding rape — including the requisite somber attitude that surrounds its discussion in polite circles.
On Jan. 9, Ben Gansky (of the Brooklyn performance space Cloud City) curates “Gray Spaces” — an evening of new and in-progress “marginal zone” performance work existing in the zone between black box theatre and white room art museum mentalities.
There’s more Brooklyn-to-East Village crossover on Jan. 9, when composer/vocalist/choreographer Colin Self’s “Vocal Test” explores vocality, corporeality and familial systems as a site for energetic transformation.
Jan. 10, “group” is research clinic Institute for New Feeling’s 90-minute, immersive live music and video experience that requires cardiovascular, breathing and physical contact exercises from audience members.
—Scott Stiffler
