Announcing the 2020/2021 Elevator Project Season

The Center is pleased to announce the 2020/2021 season of The Elevator Project, featuring the diverse work of small and emerging arts groups performing on the Center’s campus in the Dallas Arts District. The Elevator Project’s new season will feature productions from eight Dallas-based performing arts companies:

• Bombshell Dance Project
• Flexible Grey Theatre Company
• mixtamotus
• Prism Movement Theater
• Tejas Dance
• Vena Cava Productions
• Verdigris Ensemble
• Very Good Dance Theatre

The art forms include dance, theatre, music, multi-media, and several explore themes of race, gender and LGBTQ equality. The performances will take place in Hamon Hall in the Winspear Opera House, 6th Floor Studio Theatre in the Wyly Theatre, or outdoors in Sammons Park or Strauss Square.

Due to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 restrictions, the entire 2020/2021 season will be performed next year in 2021. Exact dates will be announced later.

“The Elevator Project is a passion for us at the AT&T Performing Arts Center,” said Debbie Storey, president and CEO of the Center. “Despite the pandemic crisis, the Center is committed to moving forward with this innovative, exciting and very relevant work, following all CDC guidelines to ensure the health and safety of our artists, staff, and patrons.”

Additionally, the 2019/2020 Elevator Project season, which was interrupted midway by the COVID-19 closures, will resume with two of the remaining four productions next month outdoors in Strauss Square.

• Flamenco Fever’s Memorias Flamencas will be presented on Friday, September 11, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.
• B.MOORE.DANCE will present its world premiere of ROOTED: Envisage Dance Installations on Friday, September 25, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.

Tickets for these two productions are on sale now at www.attpac.org.

The Center is working with the other two remaining 2019/2020 Elevator Project organizations, Indique Dance Company and Das Blümelein Project, to move their performances into 2021.

“COVID-19 is presenting us with tough challenges,” said Storey. “But our team at the Center and these artists are all very creative people, and we are trying to ensure every one of these groups has an opportunity to safely present their work on our stages here in the Dallas Arts District.”

This is the sixth season of The Elevator Project which started in 2014 to provide much- needed performance space in the Arts District. Each season is curated by a five-person peer-review panel of arts professionals and advocates. Some of the guiding criteria include an emphasis on new works, diverse genres, themes, artists, and ethnic art forms; unusual use of performance space; supporting groups without a home; and more. 33 groups or artists submitted applications for the 2020/2021 season.

This year’s Advisory Review Panel members were:

• Sasha Davis, Big Thought; actor, director, playwright
• Gillian Friedman-Fox, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Director of Contemporary and SOLUNA programs
• Leonor Marquez, CEO, Los Barrios Unidos Community Clinics; Board Chair, Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico
• Anastasia Muñoz, Arts Mission Oak Cliff, Artistic Director and Education Director
• James N. White, former Dallas Cultural Affairs Commissioner; former theatrical producer

The Advisory Review Panel recommendations were reviewed and approved by:

• Sam Santiago, Chair, Dallas Arts and Culture Advisory Commission
• Jennifer Scripps, Director, City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture
• Debbie Storey, President and CEO, AT&T Performing Arts Center

Due to the scheduling uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tickets for the 2020/2021 season will go on sale later this fall.

When they do go on sale, general admission tickets for each show are $29 each. With the flex-pack purchase of four or more shows, the ticket price is $22.75 for each show.

Purchasers of four or more shows may also purchase a deeply discounted parking option for only $5 per show, if bought in the ticket purchase path.

The Elevator Project is presented with support from the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment of the Arts and TACA.

THE ELEVATOR PROJECT 2020/2021 SEASON

BOMBSHELL DANCE PROJECT

The Great 30
Inspired by the experimental nature of the Elevator Project, the production proposed is an interactive, site-specific, dance performance taking place on a complete tour of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Using the entirety of the campus as a stage, Bombshell Dance Project will lead audiences on an active tour of the Center, including its outdoor spaces, during which they not only change locations with the performers, but also move with them. In many parts of the show, the audience will be asked to move with the performers through very simple choreographed exercises designed to both get the audience moving and activate their creative minds. The show’s title, The Great 30, refers to 30 movements used throughout the performance, although no memorization will ever be necessary. Throughout the performance, the audience will travel with the performers to each location, sometimes moving and sometimes watching pieces of site-specific dance work created by choreographers Emily Bernet and Taylor Rodman to fit these unique spaces. The choreographers are working to be inclusive of a variety of mobility levels and will collaborate with Center staff to ensure seating, assistance moving between locations, and adherence to all ADA regulations.

About Bombshell Dance Project:
Bombshell Dance Project was founded under a mission to investigate and empower the female choreographic voice. With a focus on collaboration, the company aims to create connections between artists and audiences. Today they are focused on creating projects that engage audiences in new ways as they continue to study human stories from a fresh female perspective.

FLEXIBLE GREY THEATRE COMPANY

Bridges: Sisters of Salem
Bridges: Sisters of Salem is the third iteration of Flexible Grey’s popular interview play series, Bridges. Sisters of Salem will focus on women in power and how opinions could sometimes lead to being burned at the stake. Bridges: Sisters of Salem shares stories from modern day women in power and compares their stories to past women who were persecuted for using their own voice. Throughout history, people were hung for often- baseless offenses, and real witchcraft was severely misunderstood. Anyone who was deviant from the expected norm of society was at risk of being accused, often disproportionately poor women and women of color, who still stand to suffer the most today. The image of the witch has persisted both in fear of magic and fear of women themselves; women in leadership positions are still painted this way. This play will be based largely around local women, conducting interviews with female leaders in the Dallas area about their experiences, and how they relate to our society and city. The monologues will be delivered by local actors. This production will serve the Dallas community by lifting local, often-marginalized voices and giving them control of their stories, which will reach beyond traditional theater audiences. Flexible Grey’s use of the Donor Reflecting Pool is intended to be reminiscent of the era where women+ were drowned as punishment and proof of their offenses.

About Flexible Grey Theatre Company:
Flexible Grey Theatre Company is a safe haven for emerging artists standing together to create art the reflects voices which are often cast aside. With a focus on LGBTQ+ issues, minorities, and women, the company strives to present accessible theatre in unconventional spaces and to provide entertainment geared towards millennials.

PRISM MOVEMENT THEATER

Lucha Teotl
Lucha Teotl is a new production from Prism Movement Theater featuring a mix of local Dallas acting talent and local luchadores, or wrestlers. Lucha Teotl is an immersive experience, with the audience ringside watching luchadores wearing the masks of Aztec gods, playing out a sincere and exciting wrestling storyline.

This bilingual show follows a young rambunctious male luchador teaming up with a more experienced female luchador to gain the championship title, evoking the epic, multi-year storylines that occur throughout lucha libre. Prism’s goal is to respectfully reflect the high drama and rich cultural history of lucha in a theatrical narrative. They are working with seasoned lucha libre performers in authentically creating the production to represent the community and the craft of this popular entertainment.

About Prism Movement Theater:
Prism Movement Theater is a small theater company creates unique performance experiences that are inclusive, diverse, and affordable, through compelling storytelling, education and community outreach.
The company’s forte is utilizing a combination of movement arts, including stage combat, circus skills, dance, clowning, and more to tell intricate physical narratives. This would be their second show in Elevator Project.

TEJAS DANCE

kadAcit-Once Upon a Time

Tejas Dance will transport audiences to a far-away mystical land in India, at a time when humans lived in harmony with nature and our lives were intertwined and cohesive. kadAcit will provide a passage to a world where rules and principles were governed by something much simpler – Love.
Tejas Dance will premiere a theatrical dance production, in Bharatanatyam margam format with an exciting brand-new score. Come experience the whimsical journey through inspiring and exciting stories and poetry.
A traditional Bharatanatyam (Indian classical dance form) repertoire is called a Margam. This framework was created in South India in the early 19th century. It is a well-thought- out plan to approach a dance performance in Bharatanatyam. Margam, literally means a path. The sequence of dances in the Margam are set to facilitate the physical and spiritual journey towards self-discovery.

About Tejas Dance
Tejas Dance offers traditional Bharatanatyam performances based on concepts and themes that audiences across cultures can enjoy, relate to and appreciate. Artistic Directors Chintan Patel and Bhuvana Venkatraman are enthusiastic dancers and choreographers, strongly rooted in tradition, and striving to give new meaning to Bharatanatyam techniques and themes.

mixtamotus

#DigitalConnection

#DigitalConnection is presented by mixtamotus, a human-digital interface art exploration. It is a diverse collaborative work that blends dance, music, and video mapping to create a weekend-long immersive installation in the 6th Floor Studio Theatre in the Wyly Theatre. The performance concludes with a post-show, behind-the-scenes experience educational component including a facilitated Q&A with the collaborators, photo/video opportunities, and technology playtime. This new work was conceptualized in response to the current siloed social environment in the United States. mm offers #DigitalConnection as commentary on the importance of human connection, community, and creativity in the digital age. We acknowledge the impact of the digital age and create an opportunity to experience and discuss the impact of technology on art, art-making, artists, and our world. Content for this project is sourced from the digital space including Instagram polls, Instagram/Facebook Live conversations, and Instagram Stories ‘Questions’. Connect and contribute to our creative process online. @mixtamtous #DigitalConnection2021 #mixtamotus mixtamotus.com

About mixtamotus:
mixtamotus (mm) is a human-digital interface art exploration in collaboration with artists Martheya Nygaard, Reyna Mondragon, Joel Olivas, and Lucas Reader. mm redefines the possibilities for connecting and creating art by blurring the lines between movement, music, and media. To do so, mm creates art sourced from the online world presented in live performance, challenging the possibilities of interpretation. mm presents performer-specific works that interact and manipulate the digital, social, and auditory environments in which they preside. mm further explores the unique connection between live and digital art forms as they utilize human and machine interaction to offer exciting perspectives, challenge societal norms, and represent what is possible when venturing into the unknown.

VENA CAVA PRODUCTIONS

Animal Crackers

Set shortly after the 2016 election, Animal Crackers is an absurdist drama about what happens when white people assume that political correctness equates social awareness.
De’Von is your average young black man home from school for fall break. Caroline, his adoptive white mother, is thrilled to have her baby back. However, after a racial slur is spray-painted onto her home, she becomes determined to prove to De’Von that the world is changing for the better, and she and De’Von’s siblings plot to catch whoever did it to make them suffer.

About Vena Cava Productions:
Vena Cava Productions is a multimedia artistic company that focuses on telling stories that stride confidently off the beaten path in terms of subject matter, style, and approach. This will be their first show in the Elevator Project. Zoe Kerr is an emerging female playwright and director with extensive acting experience throughout Dallas. She is currently studying under Dallas Theater Center’s Playwright-in-Residence Jonathan Norton and is developing Animal Crackers under his mentorship. And during the pandemic, she is also touring her drive-in movement play Everything Will Be Fine with Prism Movement Theatre through the D-FW Metroplex.

VERDIGRIS ENSEMBLE

the national anthems

We were slaves. We were scorned. But now, our future is ours.
In his piece the national anthems, David Lang brings together excerpts of every national anthem to form a sweeping picture of the common human hopes that underpin national identity and ambition. Dallas’ most exciting choral ensemble returns to AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project to perform the TEXAS PREMIERE of David Lang’s the national anthems. Through never-before-seen video projection and choreographed movement, Verdigris Ensemble envelops audiences in innovative multi- sensory storytelling. Relive our shared human history. Experience our collective truth.
We have one wish. We have one goal. And we hear her call.

About Verdigris Ensemble:

Verdigris Ensemble is a professional ensemble of vocal artists exploring the boundaries of the choral medium. They use choral music to tell shared stories of the human condition, weaving intricate choral programs into multi-layered experiences. Both in concert and outreach, their mission is to enrich, inspire, and invest in the community through honest choral storytelling, meaningful outreach initiatives, and collaboration. For National Anthems, Verdigris will collaborate with the Julius String Quartet.

VERY GOOD DANCE THEATRE

TENANTS/TENETS

TENANTS/TENETS is a futurist dance theatre performance that spontaneously generates a fully functioning society in which its community must determine their responsibility to each other, based on their individual identities, in 90 minutes.
Technology (i.e. projections, interactive social media elements, responsive sound cues) will assist in creating the society in which the performance will occur. Throughout the process of creating this work, an interview process will devise the performance which will also create an experiential encounter for the audience, revealing the process behind the performance through engaging the audience in the interview process. This will inform the actions of the performance by both the audience and the performers, while blurring the lines between witness and participant.

About Very Good Dance Theatre:
The mission of Very Good Dance Theatre is to be a collective of performance artists who encourage conversation about the uncomfortable truths in our society through a playful approach to experimental dance and theatre. Their hope is that their creations will constantly challenge perceptions of what is good, what is dance, and what is theatre. Very Good Dance Theatre is a newer group but had a successful 2019: their production The First Annual Gay Show was the top selling event at the Festival of Independent Theatres.