Edisa Weeks/Delirious Dances at Topaz Arts

TOPAZ ARTS is pleased to host choreographer Edisa Weeks for a dance residency and a showing of new work by DELIRIOUS Dances in the development of her trilogy THREE RITES.

Please join us for a showing by Edisa Weeks/ DELIRIOUS Dances
Saturday, June 29, 2019, 2-4pm
TOPAZ ARTS, 55-03 39th Avenue
> directions
free admission, followed by a reception with the artists

rsvp on Facebook >

THREE RITES integrates live music, dance and visual installations to interrogate how life, liberty and happiness are guaranteed and pursued in America; and how these rights manifest in the body. The Full work will premiere in June 2020. See the work in progress on Sat, June 29th, 2-4pm.

Through their June residency at TOPAZ ARTS, DELIRIOUS Dances has been developing movement material for THREE RITES: Life, with Devin Oshiro, EmmGrace Skove-Epes, J’nae Simmons and Noni Byrd-Gibbs. THREE RITES: Life is a durational performance installation that questions America’s dependency on oil and emphasizes being stewards of and living in harmony with nature. In the work, four people, whose eyes are sealed shut, blindly and repetitively alternate between creating artificial flowers out of found objects and performing a ritualized dance.

Martin Luther King Jr. in his “Beyond Vietnam” speech (1967), connects America’s commitment to war with the abandonment of social justice commitments at home. He stated that “We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.” and called for a “shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society.” THREE RITES: Life  advocates for a radical revolution of values.

About the Artist:
Edisa Weeks is a choreographer, educator and founder of DELIRIOUS Dances. She creates multi-media interdisciplinary works, that merge theater with dance to explore our deepest desires, darkest fears and sweetest dreams.

Her work has been performed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Emory University, Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow, Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum, Harlem Stage, The Kennedy Center, The Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, Materials for the Arts, The Mermaid Parade, Mount Tremper Arts, The National Black Arts Festival, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Summerstages Dance Festival, as well as in swimming pools, storefront windows, senior centers, sidewalks and living rooms, including living rooms in Berlin, Germany, as part of Haus der Kulturen der Welts 50th anniversary celebration. She appeared in the movie “Rachel Getting Married”, Dir. Jonathan Demme, and has been on the cover of several magazines including Wired and La Fotografia. She grew up in Uganda, Papua New Guinea and Brooklyn, NY. She has a BA from Brown University, and received a full fellowship to attend New York University’s TISCH School of the Arts where she obtained an MFA in choreography. She has had the pleasure of performing with Annie–B Parsons Big Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co., Dance Brazil, Jane Comfort, Jon Kinzel, Muna Tseng, Reggie Wilson Fist & Heel Performance Group, Sally Silvers, Spencer/Colton Dance, among others. She is on the Board of Directors for Movement Research, and has served as a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage and more. For several years she was on the Bessie Committee which recognizes outstanding dance and performance in NYC. She is an Associate Professor and the Director of Dance at Queens College, where she teaches modern technique, improvisation, choreography and mentors students. www.deliriousdances.com

photo by: Julie Lemberger

This event and TOPAZ ARTS’ Choreography Residency Program is made possible by TOPAZ ARTS, Inc. with support from NYS DanceForce with funds from NYSCA Dance Program.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 19th, 2019 at 12:56 pm. It is filed under Latest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.