"CHOREOGRAPHER CATHERINE GALASSO USES CESAR PELLI'S STAIRCASE AS A SINGULAR STAGE."
Gia Kourlas, The New York Times
Brookfield Place
River to River Festival
45 minutes
4 performers
9 chorus members
Co-commissioned by Arts Brookfield and LMCC, OF GRANITE AND GLASS took place at Brookfield Place and opened the 2018 River To River Festival. The dancing area for this work occupied a gigantic marble staircase, with audiences of 500+ watching from a seating area at the base of the stairs and the surrounding mezzanine.
OF GRANITE AND GLASS: PALM SPRINGZ was created for the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, a cavernous temple to consumerism, featuring a gaudy grand marble staircase as the architectural center piece, vaulted glass ceilings and manicured palms. The movement folds itself into the topography of the stairs. The work confronts the cacophonous nature of this public arena with two extremes: slower, quieter tableaux followed by bombastic scenes, pop music, and a surprise cast of interlopers with beach balls and slinkies.
OF GRANITE AND GLASS is the 2nd installment of Galasso's OF IRON AND DIAMONDS series, loosely inspired by Boccaccio’s Decameron. The works in this series were standalone pieces with distinct casts and choreography, but with overlapping themes: quotidian gesture, an “everyman” approach to casting incorporating a wide age range, and the use of art as a release from the grim conditions of our time.
The other chapters of this series include OF IRON AND DIAMONDS v1 performed at BAX in 2017 with a cast of 6 including an 8-month old baby and a senior former dancer with Parkinsons, as well as ALONE TOGETHER commissioned by ODC Theater in San Francisco (2018).
“GALASSO BUILDS A CONVERSATION BETWEEN BUILDING AND BODY STRUCTURES [WITH] A DELIGHTFUL PLAYFULNESS THAT AMPLIFIES THE TRANSFORMATION OF THIS PLACE.”
~ Melanie Greene, dance-enthusiast.com
OF GRANITE AND GLASS
Choreography
Catherine Galasso, in collaboration with performers
Performers
Doug LeCours, Jordan D. Lloyd, Ambika Raina, Mei Yamanaka
Music
Dave Cerf
Costumes
Karen Boyer
Lights
Robert Henderson
Supporting Cast
Kate Athol, Abram Blau, John Gutierrez, Ryan Hudzik, Kayla Juntilla, Beckett Melville, Tyaela Nieves, Oliver Prose, Emery Schaffer, Keith McDermott, Atlas Green
Support
Co-commissioned by LMCC and Arts Brookfield, with additional support provided by the Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, ODC Theater, and the Assets 4 Artists Program. This project was funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The project was developed through residencies at BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, ODC, and through the LMCC’s Extended Life Dance Development program made possible in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.