TOPAZ ARTS is pleased to present an Open Showing featuring

Molissa Fenley and Company
in an Open Rehearsal of Cosmati Variations

Saturday, November 6, 2021 at 6pm
Admission is free – please register here >
Limited seating: please pre-register in advance
Proof of vaccination will be required and face masks worn at all times indoors.

TOPAZ ARTS, 55-03 39th Avenue in Woodside, NY > directions

Molissa Fenley and Company will share Cosmati Variations – 2008-19 (Variations 1 and 4)

Choreographer: Molissa Fenley

Music: John Cage, as played by the Donald Knaack Percussion Ensemble

Dancers: Christiana Axelsen, Betsy Cooper, Molissa Fenley, Kristen Foote, Cassie Mey, Timothy Ward

Variation 1 – Basilica di Santa Maria, Music by John Cage, First Construction in Metal (1939)

Variation 4 – Niobe, Music by John Cage, Forever and Sunsmell (1944)

Download Program

About the work:
Each variation is inspired by aspects of the 11th century Cosmatesque mosaic pavements present in many of the basilicas and churches in Rome. These inspirations are in terms of design: T-square and serpentine eyelets; in terms of measurement: movements or spatial travel that require three feet of space; in terms of ardor: demand of execution; and in terms of form: triangles nested inside of squares.

About the artist: molissafenley.com
Molissa Fenley founded Molissa Fenley and Company in 1977 and has since created over 85 dance works during her continuing career.  She grew up in Ibadan, Nigeria traveling there with her family in 1961, completing all of her early education there in International Schools and her last two years of high school in Spain. She returned to the US in 1971 to study dance at Mills College in Oakland, California. Upon graduation in 1975, she moved to New York. With her company, Molissa Fenley and Company, and as a soloist working in collaboration with visual artists and composers, she has performed throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.  Her work has been commissioned by the American Dance Festival, the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, the Dia Art Foundation, Jacob’s Pillow, the Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center, the New National Theater of Tokyo, The National Institute of Performing Arts in Seoul, The Kitchen, and Dance Theater Workshop/New York Live Arts. Both Cenotaph and State of Darkness were awarded a Bessie for Choreography in 1985 and 1988 respectively.  Molissa has also set many works on ballet and contemporary dance companies, most recently for the Oakland Ballet (Redwood Park), Pacific Northwest Ballet, (State of Darkness), Repertory Dance Theatre (Energizer), Barnard/Columbia (Amdo), Robert Moses’ Kin (The Vessel Stories), and the Seattle Dance Project, (Planes in Air). She is a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, has enjoyed residencies at Yaddo, the Bogliasco Foundation, the Baryshnikov Art Center, Djerassi and is a twice recipient of awards from the Asian Cultural Council to visit Japan. Molissa is Professor of Dance at Mills College, in residence in the spring semesters, and often teaches choreographic and repertory workshops at other universities, most recently at Bennington, Barnard/Columbia and Hunter. Seagull Press/University of Chicago recently published Rhythm Field: The Dance of Molissa Fenley.

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HEALTH AND SAFETY PROTOCOLS
To comply with health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19, face masks are required to be worn at all times during the event. At check-in, you will be required to show proof of full vaccination for admittance (hard copy or photo of your vaccination card). All attendees (including performers, staff, volunteers, and audience) must be fully vaccinated. Thank you!

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This event is made possible, in part, by Restart NY from New York State Council on the Arts
with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.