Project Artaud Theater, April 24-May 10, 2008
Presented by ODC Theater, San Francisco
A three part Festival featuring the work of Ledoh, Jo Kreiter/Flyaway Productions, Sara Shelton Mann and Miguel Gutierrez
Part 2.
May 1-3, 2008
“Inspirare” Sara Shelton Mann
“RedGoldSky” (premiere), “Te’lios/Telio’s” (2006), “Inspirare” (2007)
Performers: Yannis Adoniou, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Hana Erdman, Alexander Zendian, Maria Francesca Scaroni
Video/Lights David Szlasa
Sound Calvin L.L. Jones
Live Text Consultant John O’Keefe
http://www.sarasheltonmann.org/
A new element in the evolution of the choreographer Sara Shelton Mann is her voice. Text-based works can sink quickly when the voices don’t match the movement in terms of commitment and power. Mann has a great voice. One can only speculate whether a convergence of substances built this smoky, whiskey-edged, Southern-raised speaking voice, but it doesn’t exactly match the cool intelligence of the text, which is why it works. It is as if years of sweating bodies have rubbed their way into Mann’s larynx. She is someone you want to listen to. I asked Mann in a telephone interview about her new works, but also about dance. These are some of her words:
“My work has evolved from big spectacle into this condensed dance, to a state in 20 minutes that used to take an hour.”
“Sound moves. Words are glued together. Things are woven, they integrate.”
“RedGoldSky” is a spoken word piece with images. I talk about everything, politics, the planet, the extinction of aliens, my childhood, seasons of the year, acid rain.”
“In ‘Inspirare’, Maria Francesca Scaroni is very specific and eccentric. I see it as a layer of crust with all of history underneath it.”
