What for? Why not? - Guest curated series by Peter Kyle

March 30 - April, 1, 2017 & April 6 - 8, 2017

Muriel Schulman Theater at Triskelion Arts

106 Calyer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222

All shows are at 8pm

Tickets: $18 in advance / $22 at the door

Ticket Packages: 2-Day Pass for $30 / 3-Day Pass for $40 (*Packages must be purchased online and in advance.)

Purchase: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/triskelion-arts-presents-guest-curated-series-peter-kyle-tickets-31895323772

"What For? Why Not?" is a series of six one-of-a-kind, shared-evening events over two weekends celebrating the capricious, the changeable, and the variable by juxtaposing dance, music, spoken word, and visual art. Curator Peter Kyle (Artistic Director/Choreographer, Peter Kyle Dance) pairs wide-ranging, respected artists together to encourage dialogue, to share contrasting whimsies and artistic compulsions, and to bring audiences from different areas together in one spot, if for no other reason than simply to see what happens. If the results include some gentle pushing against real and perceived disciplinary boundaries, all-the-better. Kyle selected these artists for the uniqueness of their vision and for their exquisite artistry. In most cases, these artists do not know each other and have been invited to intersect their material in any way they choose, if at all. 

WEEK I

Thursday, March 30: Caleb Nussear (visual art) / Ryan Keberle (music)

Friday, March 31: Martin Dockery (spoken word) / JJ Sulin (visual art)

Saturday, April 1: Holley Farmer (dance) / Scott Giguere (spoken word)

WEEK II

Thursday, April 6: Jaanika Peerna, Christine Sciulli & Qian Yi (visual art-movement-music) / Jason Walker (music)

Friday, April 7: Patti Bradshaw (dance) / Vienna Carroll & Keith Johnston (music)

Saturday, April 8: Michael Bellar (music) / Marielis Garcia (dance)

PROGRAM INFORMATION:

Thursday, March 30, 2017: The What For? Why Not? series opens with a visual-acoustic installation and performance featuring visual artist Caleb Nussear and musician Ryan Keberle. Nussear’s intricate folded paper screens emblazoned with slide projections inspire Keberle’s live trombone, analog synthesizer, and pre-recorded music composed especially for this event.

Friday, March 31, 2017: Well-traveled solo performer and playwright Martin Dockery shares the evening with photographer and installation artist, JJ Sulin. Dockery’s The Dark Fantastic, described as "an incredible feat of storytelling" by the CBC, is a wild, darkly humorous tale of an artist trying to “make it big.” Sulin’s Acey Deucey transforms the Triskelion Arts stage into a mixed- media installation of photography and objects that balance the ephemeral with the everyday.

Saturday, April 1, 2017: The closing performance of Week I features Bessie Award winning dancer Holley Farmer and actor-director-marathon runner, Scott Giguere. Farmer presents a dream state solo investigation of Homer Proteins and memory-making, while Giguere offers For Miles, a solo piece about the mechanics, psychology, and metaphysics of running and geolocation.

Thursday, April 6, 2017: Week II of the What For? Why Not? series kicks off with a program showcasing the multi-disciplinary team of Jaanika Peerna, Christine Sciulli & Qian Yi, and “folk-soul” singer-songwriter Jason Walker. Walker employs his velvety-smooth, honey-sweet voice in readings, music and spontaneous stage commentary to address the question: why do we obey laws written for our own destruction? Estonian artist Peerna, award-winning light installation artist Sciulli, and Chinese opera star Yi merge light, voice, and drawing to create an environment in constant stretch and flux punctuated by questions and quest of truth.

Friday, April 7, 2017: Choreographer and puppeteer Patti Bradshaw shares the evening with singing storyteller duo, Vienna Carroll and Keith Johnston. Bradshaw’s Flowers in Space uses dance, puppetry, and slide projections in a solo for dancer Valerie Striar inspired by the turn of the twentieth century painter, poet, set designer, and subtle social commentator Florine Stettheimer, (1871-1944). In Folk First: Black Roots Music, Carroll as griot and Johnston as guitarist celebrate the spirituals, work songs, prison blues, and sea shanties of antebellum African Americans, and their links to contemporary artists like Biggie Smalls and Pharrell Williams. 

Saturday, April 8, 2017: Closing night of the What For? Why Not? project features exuberant dancer-choreographer Marielis Garcia and never-the-same-way-twice pianist, Michael Bellar. Garcia offers a solo inspired by Stan Douglas's photograph Shoes, and Bellar, playing solo, uses every limb of his body to create as much rhythm, melody, and harmony in one live moment as possible.

Visit triskelionarts.org for more information on the artists.