CITY OF WOM_N: HARBOR is part of Catherine Galasso’s ongoing five-borough series, in which historical memoir, contemporary interview, and abstract tableaux combine to form portraits of female luminaries, interrogating the criteria for who is remembered and how.
The first borough-specific installment, for Staten Island, will be co-presented with the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor in May 2023.
Preview: Saturday, May 6 | 8:00 PM Premiere: Friday, May 12 and Saturday, May 13 | 8:00 PM WHERE: Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, Building G
The team also includes Staten Island-based performers Rosita Roldan and Bea Abbate, as well as Indah Mariana as choreographic advisor, Sheryl Sutton as dramaturg, Christina Tang as lighting designer, Emma Rose Brown wtih research assistance, and KC Athol and Erin Gray with production support.
CITY OF WOM_N: HARBOR is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. CITY OF WOM_N the series has also received support from the Guild Hall of East Hampton: William P. Rayner Artist-in-Residence Program, and from Dance in Process at Gibney.
EARLIER ITERATIONS OF CITY OF WOM_N
In March of 2022, we presented a rough sketch of an evening-length "proof of concept" for CITY OF WOM_N, with scenes built around movement and monologues based on 12 different historical women of New York City. The sketch was developed with and performed by a core group of collaborators: Martita Abril, Antonia Carlson, Indah Mariana, Sheryl Sutton and Saori Tsukada. jess pretty was also influential in the process in early 2020. These collaborators played a critical roles in the initial research and development of the CITY OF WOM_N series, through our first residencies at Gibney, Snug Harbor and Guild Hall in 2020, 2021 & 2022. The proof of concept for CITY OF WOM_N was built with and around them. Several of them continue to remain involved in the project as advisors.
Photos of Guild Hall Raynor Residency showing by Jessica Dalene. Video stills by Joe Brondo.