Spring 2021 Happenings at PCC
Happy Spring from PCC! We have a lot of exciting online and outdoor in-person offerings coming up in May and June.
To celebrate the launch of our new website and online archive of interdisciplinary works, we are hosting a virtual screening of two short filmed dance works by Ping Chong: I Will Not Be Sad in this World (1991) and Baldwin Now (2017), followed by a conversation between Ping Chong and PCC Board Member Kim Chan on Thursday, May 6th at 7pm. Save the date!
In addition to the productions we will be presenting this Spring, our education program is in underway and in full swing at five NYC public schools and we also launched a new Creative Aging program thanks to the support of the Catalyzing Creative Aging Program. This spring, Ping is also shooting a new video work, Chinoiserie Redux, a new adaptation of the staged music theatre work Chinoiserie – to be premiered next season.
Check back for more details on specific dates, times and event registration information!
SPRING 2021 PRODUCTIONS
22 Square Miles of Soul: Voices of Orange is a new documentary theatre production which will premiere virtually at Luna Stage in May 2021. Part of Ping Chong and Company’s Undesirable Elements series, the piece features the real life experiences of local individuals who grew up in Orange, New Jersey. Bearing witness to the different social, political, and economic forces that shaped the community over the course of the last century, and juxtaposing personal impact, resistance, and resilience in the face of historic disinvestment, 2.2 Square Miles of Soul: Voices of Orange fosters a strong sense of community pride, and deeper understanding between and among Orange and surrounding communities.
Generation Rise is a filmed virtual theater work, sharing real-life stories of six New York City teenagers, ages 16-19, during the year 2020. This new work in the Undesirable Elements series focuses on the voices and experiences of Black and POC teens from across New York City reflecting on their early lives prior to 2020, and the significance of a year of growing up during a global pandemic and renewed calls for racial justice. Generation Rise is written and directed by Sara Zatz and Kirya Traber (co-creators of Generation NYZ), with visual direction by Richard Louissaint. It is commissioned by the New Victory, and created in partnership with Urban Word NYC. Generation Rise will preview in June 2021, followed by an online premiere by the New Victory in Fall 2021.
Creative Fellowship Presentation: Process memoir 6: thenowlater (Heart) created by Johnnie Cruise Mercer and theredprojectnyc, is a free outdoor community dance event curated as an ode to unconditional love, deeper listening, and spiritual freedom. Company members will lead attendees through self-guided movements while futuristic Go-Go music duo The Illustrious Blacks will provide music, in celebration of East Village performance history and Pride Weekend. Johnnie Cruise Mercer and theredprojectnyc will be organizing outdoor events throughout the month of June in collaboration with PCC, New Dance Alliance, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange. The community dance event will take place outdoors on June 27th, at East 11th Street, 11am-2pm, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, as part of NYC Open Streets.
Creative Fellowship Presentation: Color Theory is a short film that examines our perception of color in science, art, and culture as a subtext for how we perceive race. Color Theory critiques how institutional gatekeepers often use people of color as accessories to justify oppressive systems The script is sourced from found texts, and inspired by David Batchelor’s book Chromophobia, which explores the Western art world’s fear of color and glorification of the color white. A free one-time virtual screening and Q&A with the artists, organized by PCC, will take place on Tuesday, June 29th at 7pm.