COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

She Walks the Air IX - Casting Notice

by Chaesong Kim

 

About the Project                    

Can one heal through joyfully playing with anger?

She Walks the Air has been walking with me since 2017. It took off with me cutting out a line of The Water Station written by an avant garde Japanese theater artist Ota Shogo. In describing a woman's movement across the stage to a water pump in extreme slowness, it used the words "she walks the air." Very interested in expanding the space between she “walking” the air like walking on the road versus walking the dog, I’ve put this question into different shapes by deconstructing and reconstructing with artists from various disciplines. She Walks the Air has been a site specific performance installation at Bearnstow in Maine, multi media performance at Green Street Studios in Boston, fabric art at SAIC in Chicago, audience interactive performance at MERDE in NYC, multidisciplinary experiment at Seoul Dance Center in South Korea, and animation at EstroGenius Festival in NYC. In December 2021, it "happened" as an ensemble ritual.

Through this process, my questions have been morphing from boundaries and liminality to making puncture in human belief in linearity to decolonization. Recently, I’ve been reveling in the initial deep need I felt as a nonbinary Korean woman to both sabotage a cis Japanese male voice hailed up so high, while at the same time, immensely respect this nearly impeccable masterpiece of a non western practitioner. I am looking for a community of interdisciplinary performance artists to process such love and hate for the new chapter of She Walks the Air. How do we inherit a deeply problematic baggage? How do we make space for our generational trauma to wail at times? How do we create tender moments of intimacy in the site of such trauma?

This iteration of She Walks the Air is a paid, non-union production at Columbia University's School of the Arts as a part of the fulfillment of M.F.A. in Theater Directing. Performances will be held in the Lenfest Center for the Arts. Hope you can join us in finding strength in celebration of fluidity that permeates boundaries.

                        

Casting Details

We are looking for 3-5 interdisciplinary performers ideally with the following qualities:

1) embodying a sense of travel, whether that be immigration or forced dislocation;

2) has a strong somatic background;

3) open minded, collaborative, and passionate about community building;

4) ruminates about puncturing linearity out of joy and/or anger;

5) not required, but a great plus if with background in embodied sound making, devised ensemble theater, puppetry or non western performative practices.

 

Timeline                        

Audition Submissions: Monday, January 24, 2022 - Friday, January 28, 2022

Online Auditions: Saturday, January 29, 2022 - Sunday, January 30, 2022

Rehearsals: Thursday, February 17, 2022 - Thursday, March 17, 2022

Tech Rehearsals: Friday, March 18, 2022 - Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Performances: Thursday, March 24, 2022 - Sunday, March 27, 2022

 

Auditions                 

By 6pm Friday, January 28th, fill out this Google Form. In case you have trouble accessing the hyperlink, copy and paste this to your browser window: https://forms.gle/eQzfLpJLwX2e8vxo7

Callbacks will be held between January 29th and 30th via Zoom. Non-AEA only, but SAG-AFTRA actors are eligible. 

 

Covid-19                        

Production will follow Columbia University’s Covid-19 policies and protocols. All participants will be required to show proof of full vaccination. A Booster is strongly encouraged. At this time, rehearsals will begin online, and all in-person rehearsals will be masked until our final dress rehearsal. All actors will be maskless onstage during performances but audiences will be masked.

Upon moving into the theater on March 15th as a part of the rehearsal process, actors will be required to take regular PCR tests. Actors will have to present negative results within 72 hours of coming into the theater. These results will be checked each day upon arrival. Actors are welcome to use the Columbia University testing services, but they may also use non-Columbia services to take PCR tests.

Health and safety policies are consistently updated based on New York State, New York City, and Columbia University guidelines and are subject to revision at any time. Audience will be restricted to Columbia affiliates (students, staff, professors, etc) but performances may be filmed and/or streamed. 

 

Equity Statement

“She Walks the Air” values Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity as one of our primary guiding principles. 

We are committed to sustaining a diverse, inclusive, and equitable space where everyone feels valued and respected regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, education, or ability.

We contribute to the Columbia University, New York City, and New York State regions by providing diverse art forms that respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages.

We are committed to using inclusive practices to attract and retain talented performers and to providing equal opportunity for development and advancement in all our worksites.

We build a stronger company by ensuring that all voices have an opportunity to be heard and a safe environment to share ideas.