(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Choreographer and multimedia performance artist Richard Move will stage a one-night-only work-in-progress showing of “XXYY” in the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA on Friday, January 20 at 8pm. The new collaboration, exploring the multiplicities of the gender spectrum while deconstructing the conventional binaries of male and female, is conceived and directed by Move, with an original sound score by electronic music pioneer Martux_m and costumes by theatre artist Alba Clemente.

The work-in-progress showing culminates a two-week residency at MASS MoCA in collaboration with Jacob’s Pillow Dance.

Move’s newest work “XXYY” is a poetic and otherworldly dance-theater event exploring the multiplicities of the gender spectrum while deconstructing the conventional binaries of male and female. The work combines Move’s highly-stylized choreography with Clemente’s inventive and elaborate costuming to create a provocative, alternative vision of the world. “XXYY” incorporates text from the obscure Autobiography of an Androgyne, written at the turn of the 20th century by Ralph Werther. The original sound score by Italian electronic music pioneer Martux_m includes the Vatican’s Last Castrato, Alessandro Moreschi (1858–1922), the only castrato to make solo recordings. “XXYY” is performed by Move and his longtime collaborators Catherine Cabeen and Katherine Crockett. Lighting design is by Donalee Katz. The work will have its premiere at New York Live Arts as part of the cross-disciplinary series Mx’d Messages in March.

 

Richard Move is a highly acclaimed director, choreographer, filmmaker, performing artist, and artistic director whose work has been called “powerful, iconoclastic theater” (Dance Magazine). Widely known for incarnating modern dance legend Martha Graham in his performances, Move has created work for PARADIGM (Carmen de Lavallade, Gus Solomons, Jr., and Dudley Williams), Italy’s Opera Ballet of Florence, New York City Ballet’s Helene Alexopoulos, Guggenheim Museum/New York, Parrish Art Museum, European Cultural Capitol, Deborah Harry, Dame Shirley Bassey, Isaac Mizrahi, and Martha Graham Dance Company. Move is the recipient of a New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award, among other accolades.

 

 

PILLOW CONNECTIONS

Richard Move’s history with Jacob’s Pillow began in 2001, when he choreographed a segment of the Pillow-commissioned program The Seven Deadly Sins in the Ted Shawn Theatre. Richard Move’s acclaimed Martha Graham performance made its debut in Martha @ the Pillow the following year in the Doris Duke Theatre. Move’s company, MoveOpolis!, made its Pillow debut in 2006 in the Doris Duke Theatre.

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

 

Richard Move is artistic director of the transdisciplinary collective MoveOpolis! He is a TEDGlobal Oxford Fellow, Ph.D. (ABD) in Performance Studies at New York University, and Assistant Professor of Drama, Theatre & Dance at Queens College, CUNY. MoveOpolis! has been presented by Dance Theater Workshop, New York Live Arts, The Kitchen, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and on tour internationally. Move’s films include: Bardo (Jury Prize nominee at Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera Festival), BloodWork-The Ana Mendieta Story (National Board of Review Award/Directors Guild of America), and Ghostlight, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Move has toured globally with his performances as Martha Graham, which received a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie). Martha@…The 1963 Interview, named “Best of 2011” by ARTFORUM International, Time Out and other publications, had its world premiere at New York’s Dance Theater Workshop in March 2011 and returned for encore performances in November 2011 at New York Live Arts. www.move-itproductions.com

 

Martux_m is a musician, producer, and pioneer of Italian electronic music. He began his career in the 1990s with the release of his first CD Meta-Harmonies for the German-Dutch label Staalplaat, under the name Martusciello. He started several electronic art groups with the name Martux_m, including Ossatura, Metaxu, and the Martux_m Crew, producing numerous electronica and electro-jazz CD’s. Martux_m has published more than 20 CDs with the some of the most important international labels. He has collaborated with musicians such as Markus Stockhausen, Arto Lindsay, Eivind Aarset, and Nils Petter Molvaer, among others, and is regularly invited to renowned international festivals such as Sonar (ES), Mutek (CND), RomaEuropa (IT), to name a few.

 

Alba Clemente was born in Amalfi, Italy. In 1991, she performed in Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole, a film by Amos Poe, shot entirely on a boat encircling Manhattan. In 1994, she acted in The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau, and performed the famous monologue at the Waverly Place Theater in a new translation by poet Rene Ricard, directed by John Heys. In 2009, she created costumes and props for choreographer Karole Armitage’s Made in Naples. She has also created costumes for three of director Jay Scheib’s productions: World of Wires (2012); the opera Powders Her Face by Thomas Ades, directed by Scheib for the New York City Opera and performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; and Platonov by Chekhov, adapted and directed by Scheib and performed at The Kitchen. Clemente has written two songs with Pink Martini, “Una Notte a Napoli” in Italian and “Ninna Nanna” in Neapolitan dialect. She has performed her songs with Pink Martini at the Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall in New York, and at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

 

Performance and Ticket Information

Friday, January 20 at 8pm; Hunter Center at MASS MoCA.

 

Ticket prices:

$12 advance, $18 day of, $10 students, $22 preferred, $5 MASS MoCA members

 

To order tickets: 413.662.2111 or MASS MoCA.

 

MASS MoCA is located at 87 Marshall Street, North Adams, MA 01247.

 

 

ABOUT JACOB’S PILLOW

Jacob’s Pillow, celebrating its 85th Festival in 2017, is a National Historic Landmark, recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and home to America’s longest-running international dance festival. Each Festival includes more than 50 national and international dance companies and 350 free and ticketed performances, talks, tours, classes, exhibits, and events. The School at Jacob’s Pillow, one of the most prestigious professional dance training centers in the U.S., encompasses the diverse disciplines of Ballet, Cultural Traditions, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre Dance, as well as an Intern Program in various disciplines of arts administration, design, video, and production. The Pillow’s extensive Archives, open year-round to the public, chronicle more than a century of dance in photographs, programs, books, costumes, audiotapes, and videos. Year-round Community Programs enrich the lives of children and adults through public classes, residencies in area schools, and an extensive schedule of free public events. Through Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion®, a nationally recognized program, Artist Educators work with Berkshire County teachers and students grades K-12, transforming curricula such as biology, literature, and history into kinesthetic and creative learning experiences. Creative Development Residencies, in which dance companies are invited to live and work at the Pillow and enjoy unlimited studio time; choreography commissions; and the annual $25,000 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award all support visionary dance artists and choreographers. During Creative Development Residencies, artists are invited to spend one to three weeks at the Pillow creating or rehearsing new work, with free housing for the company, unlimited use of studio space, and access to the Pillow’s rare and extensive Archives and other Pillow resources. In the beautiful, retreat-like atmosphere of the Pillow, the Creative Development Residencies are rare opportunities for artists to focus on the creative process without distraction. Notable artists who have created or premiered dances at the Pillow include choreographers Antony Tudor, Agnes de Mille, Alvin Ailey, Donald McKayle, Kevin McKenzie, Twyla Tharp, Ralph Lemon, Susan Marshall, Trisha Brown, Ronald K. Brown, Wally Cardona, Andrea Miller, and Trey McIntyre; performed by artists such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Carmen de Lavallade, Mark Morris, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Edward Villella, Rasta Thomas, and hundreds of others. The Pillow’s digital initiatives are aimed at expanding global audiences for dance and offers the opportunity to experience dance and Jacob’s Pillow from anywhere in the world via online interactive exhibits, global video networks, and social media. An important part of the Pillow’s digital presence, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive is a curated online video collection of dance highlights from 1933 to today. On March 2, 2011, President Obama honored Jacob’s Pillow with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government, making the Pillow the first dance presenting organization to receive this prestigious award.