Coming soon to the Ellen Stewart Theatre lobby: La MaMa Café by Palenque
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Monday, April 8, 2019
Video Preview: 2019 La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival
2019 La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival
April 26 - May 26, 2019
Curated By Nicky Paraiso
Tickets now on sale!
Friday, April 5, 2019
The Trojan Women Project Festival: Memory from Kim Ima
Sitting on the floor in a circle. A hand begins a beat. Tum tum tum tum. A rhythm begins. Repeat after me. One word. A few words. A string of words. Repeat after me. The beat tum tum tum tum pulsing by fingers, toes and bodies. Back and forth, more words strung together in call and response. These words are not in English or from any known language. A mix of ancient Greek, Navajo, Latin and more. The words, the music, the rhythms are new and wonderful.
In 1996, a company of original members from the 1974 La MaMa production of The Trojan Women along with a new generation of performers was assembled. The original creative team of director Andrei Serban, composer Elizabeth Swados and producer Ellen Stewart revived the show with the desire to share it with a new generation of artists and audiences. The lead roles were shared in rotation between older and younger generation performers, and everyone performed each night in the chorus. Following the run, Ellen and members of this newly assembled intergenerational company took the production to international festivals, continuing what had begun in 1974.
I was one of the new cast members, invited in 1996 to learn La MaMa’s Trojan Women from the original company. My strongest memories are of sitting or standing in a circle, learning songs and spoken choruses from the original members. If there was a question about a word or phrase, out came little notebooks or perhaps an old date book with chicken scratch notes in the margins, from their original rehearsals in 1974 or perhaps from over the years. A complete script did not exist, as far as I knew. Typed pages of text would be shared, only after we had already begun to learn the piece, and eventually a stack of pages with most of the words that could pass for an almost complete script. Mostly, we learned by oral tradition. Tum tum tum tum. We, too, got a chance to write down our chicken scratches of our own. How does it sound to you? They might ask. Write it down. Then we would continue. A hand or a drum setting a beat. Liz sitting in the room, listening, encouraging, stepping into the circle to lead us in what felt like an expedition into the wilds of a jungle, a world of sound, song, chants, exclamations in ways only Liz could do.
And now we continue this oral tradition today in the Trojan Women Project.
Sitting on the floor in a circle. My hand begins a beat. Tum tum tum tum. A rhythm begins. Repeat after me, I say. One word. A few words. A string of words. Tum tum tum tum, we chant.
And a world opens up.
The Trojan Women Project will celebrate five years of work in Guatemala, Cambodia and Kosovo with an eleven day festival at La MaMa, December 5th-15th, 2019. The Trojan Women Project was born out of the desire to share the production not only with international audiences, but with a new generation of international artists. How can they, and we, carry the legacy of this special show in our bodies, voices and collective memories?
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
DOWNTOWN is talking about "now my hand is ready for my heart"
“Nicky Paraiso’s new performance, now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories is breathtaking, offering his life story as sail to illuminate matters of heart, mind, body and spirit…Go Now!”
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“Sharply honest with wry humor and many laugh out loud moments, we travel Nicky's road that never turns maudlin, a story of how we create new famillies without disowning the ones we are born into.”
Penny Arcade, performer
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“Nicky Paraiso’s show “my hand is ready for my heart,” at La Mama is brilliant. Nicky is brilliant. And John Jesurun’s direction is pitch perfect. Go see it. It’s an homage to a life spent in NY Downtown Theater. Every young performer needs to understand how and who carved the paths for you.”
Ralph Pena, Artistic Director, Ma-Yi Theatre Company
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The “writing was raw, bracing, honest, witty, simple & powerful. What writing should be…the piece was political in the most organic way.”
Jessica Hagedorn, writer and performer
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“(Nicky) tells his story with humor, warmth and ironic gesture. Most of all he reminds how the downtown world and most especially La Mama was created from a wild love of risk and of the people willing to take it. Spend an evening in his presence”
Karen Malpede, playwright
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Only 4 more performances to catch now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories @ La MaMa.
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La MaMa
in association with Mount Tremper Arts
presents
Written by Nicky Paraiso
Directed by John Jesurun
With Nicky Paraiso, Irene Hultman, Jon Kinzel, Vicky Shick, Paz Tanjuaquio
now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories is the newest work from Nicky Paraiso, an award-winning 40-year veteran of the New York City performance community. In a deep exploration of an artist’s life, Paraiso investigates aging, identity, sexuality, class and race. Directed by MacArthur Fellow John Jesurun, this world premiere is a multi-disciplinary celebration of an artistic community as it grows older and continues to make work, both individually and with each other. Paraiso is joined by choreographer / dancers Irene Hultman, Jon Kinzel, Vicky Shick, and Paz Tanjuaquio in performance and as collaborators.
Thursday - Saturday at 7pm; Sunday at 3pm
The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa
66 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
Tickets: $30 Adults; $25 Students/Seniors
For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE
Monday, April 1, 2019
2019 La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival Announced!
The 2019 La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival line-up has been announced!
Marco Valerio Amico & Rhuena Bracci
Mia Habib
Colleen Thomas
Yin Mei
Hari Krishnan/inDANCE
Bobbi Jene Smith
Dan Safer/Witness Relocation
Jesca Prudencio & Ping Chong + Co.
Sin Cha Hong
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