Choir of the Slain (Part X)

Artist Meet & Greet & Audition

When: Saturday December 15th, 2018

Location: Performance Space New York, 150 First Avenue

Time: 12pm-6pm

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Choir of the Slain (Part X) is a capsule version of the eponymous evening-length Black opera created by niv Acosta and Fannie Sosa. A two night activation of Black Power Naps’ many surfaces, the performance plays with multiplicitous states of being idle. Protesting the necropolitics of the night, which deprive people of color rest, Sosa and Acosta soothe and still waters, animating lace front units, bedroom negligé and other gender and sound technologies. Playing the structures of the installation as instruments the artists create a choir from the beds of Black Power Naps.

THE CALL: On Jan. 9th & 11th 2019 there will be a presentation of Fannie Sosa & niv Acosta’s collaborative performance named “Choir of the Slain (Part X)” at Performance Space New York in the East Village, as part of their No Series. We are casting 3-5 performers to join Sosa & niv in singing/performing from the beds of the installation. (Performance and Rehearsal Fees will be commensurate with contribution of time & content)

BACKGROUND ON THE INSTALLATION: In our society, relaxation and rest is a luxury reserved for the privileged and rich. Recent studies have shown that the distribution of rest is determined by race, with people of color regularly getting less sleep than white people. niv Acosta and Fannie Sosa’s Black Power Naps is a direct response to the Sleep Gap, which the artists see as a continued form of state-sanctioned punishment born from the ongoing legacy of slavery. Reclaiming idleness and play as sources of power and strength, this installation takes over Performance Space’s large theater and invites people of color to break with constant fatigue by slowing down, resting, and interacting with soft, comfortable surfaces. Our culture has required that people of color present themselves as extraordinary performers, athletes, or entertainers in order to exist in the public realm, Black Power Naps refuses institutionalized exhaustion and demands the redistribution of idleness, down time, and quality sleep.

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ELIGIBILTY & REQUIREMENTS:

•Video Links of previous performances or rehearsal footage (**Best sound quality please)

•Social Media Username (if applicable) &/or a Headshot

•Proficient knowledge of music, vocal & choral arrangements.

•Please note what physicality you feel most & least comfortable with.

•Identify within the Afro-Diaspora

•We are centering the experiences of queer/trans/gender non-conforming/non-binary folx with disabilities.

•Comfort with high pressure production schedule & performing for up to 400 audience members at once.

•Must be available from December 17th 2018 through Jan 11th 2019 (minus holiday break for Xmas & New Years)

•Commit to 4 Rehearsals (max) & one Technical Rehearsal (week of show) & two performances on Jan. 9th & 11th. Rehearsal dates TBD.

Please e-mail all materials to programming@performancespacenewyork.org with "CHOIR OF THE SLAIN" in the subject.