Olga Bell

River to River Festival 2016 lineup & schedule

The 15th annual River to River Festival returns in 2016, presenting a bunch of free events across lower Manhattan and Governor’s Island from June 16-26. The events this year encompass music, dance, theater and visual art. For indie music fans, Olga Bell (who also participated last year) returns on June 22.

As usual, all events are totally free, but some require RSVP. RSVPs open June 1. Check out the full schedule with descriptions of each event and piece, below.

RIVER TO RIVER 2016 FULL SCHEDULE:

SAYA WOOLFALK
CHIMATEK: CHIMACLOUD CONTROL CENTER

June 16–26
Fulton Center
Commissioned by LMCC

ChimaTEK: ChimaCloud Control Center exists at the intersection of dance, video, animation, and contemporary art (sculpture, installation and performance art)—see below for information on live performance dates and times. When live performances are not taking place (see below for schedule), audiences may view content on the video screens inside Fulton Center and interact with other new media components throughout the entire River To River Festival.

The piece is presented in partnership with Times Square Arts and Times Square Advertising Coalition’s Midnight Moment (daily between June 1–30), where the electronic billboards in Times Square will be turned into large pulsating transportation devices—with Fulton Center acting as control center.

MICHAEL RICHARDS: WINGED
June 16–June 26, 12–5 p.m.
Governors Island: LMCC’s Arts Center

LMCC’s 2016 summer exhibition is dedicated to late artist Michael Richards (1963–2011) and includes a range of his work in sculpture and drawing as well as documentation and ephemera of his art and life—some of which has not been on public view for over 15 years. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Richards was working in his LMCC World Views studio on the 92nd floor of World Trade Center, Tower One, when the first plane struck, taking his life along with the thousands of others who passed away in the tragic events of that day. At the time of his passing, Richards was an emerging artist whose incisive aesthetic—always provocative, at times playful, yet never without a critical bent—held immense promise to make him a leading figure in contemporary art.

In light of the devastating circumstances that took Richards’ life, the airplanes, wings and aviation imagery that recur throughout his body of work take on a prescient resonance. Richards poetically described the notion of flight in his practice: “The idea of flight relates to my use of pilots and planes, but it also references…the idea of being lifted up, enraptured or taken up to a safe place—to a better world.”

Curated by Alex Fialho & Melissa Levin

CREATIVE INSIDER’S GUIDE TO LOWER MANHATTAN
June 16–June 26
Water Street between Wall Street and Maiden Lane
Sponsored in part by Lower Manhattan HQ

Take a peak into the idiosyncratic history of Lower Manhattan by walking down Water Street and exploring images and brief descriptions from the Creative Insider’s Guide to Lower Manhattan. The guide, expanded online, provides insight into groundbreaking artists such as Keith Haring, Laurie Anderson, Pope. L and others who have made public art in the area.

KANEZA SCHAAL
GO FORTH

June 16–17 at 4:30 p.m.
Jun 18–19 at 2:30 p.m.
Governors Island: LMCC’s Arts Center
Free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required and will open June 1

GO FORTH is a performance and photo installation (see below for installation details) by Kaneza Schaal. Drawing inspiration from The Egyptian Book of the Dead, GO FORTH creates a new translation of the ancient series of spells and incantations. The work considers how we make space in our lives for the presence of the absent, imagined and longed for.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead was originally intended to provide the deceased with a blueprint to the after life. An individual would select chapters from the canon to compile a unique scroll with which to be buried and to provide their script for the after life.

SAYA WOOLFALK
CHIMATEK: CHIMACLOUD CONTROL CENTER

June 16 & 21 at 7 p.m.
June 23 at 5 p.m.
Fulton Center
Commissioned by LMCC

ChimaTEK: ChimaCloud Control Center exists at the intersection of dance, video, animation, and contemporary art (sculpture, installation and performance art). Audiences at Fulton Center will engage with live performers from different ethnic backgrounds and dance traditions while they are surrounded by fantastical digital animation. When live performances are not taking place, the site will be activated by video and audiences at the Center will be able to interact with other new media components throughout the entire River To River Festival (see above for details).

The piece is presented in partnership with Times Square Arts and Times Square Advertising Coalition’s Midnight Moment (June 1–30), where the electronic billboards in Times Square will be turned into large pulsating transportation devices—with Fulton Center acting as control center.

M IS BLACK ENOUGH
AN EVENING OF MUSIC AND POETRY

June 17 at 6 p.m.
Poets House
Co-presented with Poets House

An evening of music and poetry with artist collaborative M is Black Enough: Jeffrey Zeigler (cello), Sean Dixon (steel pan), Roger Bonair-Agard (poet) and Andy Akiho (composer).
Please note that there is adult language in this performance.

DANCE HEGINBOTHAM
June 17 at 7 p.m.
June 18–19 at 5 p.m.
Winter Garden, Brookfield Place
Co-commissioned & presented with Arts Brookfield

Dance Heginbotham performs a three-part, site-specific piece where musicians and dancers will move throughout the Brookfield Place Winter Garden, culminating in a dynamic, razor-sharp finale. The performance is set to Erno Dohnanyi’s Serenade in C Major for String Trio, solo guitar music by Heitor Villa-Lobos and the “Fandango” from Luigi Boccherini’s Quintette No. 4 in G Major, III.

EIKO OTAKE
INSTALLATION: A BODY IN PLACES

June 18–19 & 25, 12–4 p.m.
Governors Island: Nolan Park

This installation of A Body in Places uses video material edited by Eiko. Video footage includes excerpts of performances in Hong Kong, Chile and, most recently, New York City, with shots that were taken during Eiko’s performances in the East Village as part of Danspace Project’s Platform series.

KANEZA SCHAAL
INSTALLATION: GO FORTH

June 18–19, 12–2 p.m. & 3:30–5 p.m.
June 25, 12–5 p.m.
Governors Island: LMCC’s Arts Center

GO FORTH is a performance and photo installation (see above for performance details) by Kaneza Schaal. Drawing inspiration from The Egyptian Book of the Dead, GO FORTH creates a new translation of the ancient series of spells and incantations. The work considers how we make space in our lives for the presence of the absent, imagined and longed for.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead was originally intended to provide the deceased with a blueprint to the after life. An individual would select chapters from the canon to compile a unique scroll with which to be buried and to provide their script for the after life.

The photographic installation is a collaboration with artist Christopher Myers. The pictures and sculptures create a funerary mural and guide to the mythological landscape of the text.

OKWUI OKPOKWASILI
WHEN I RETURN WHO WILL RECEIVE ME

June 18–19 at 1:30 p.m.
Governors Island: Fort Jay Magazine
Commissioned by LMCC

when I return who will receive me is an ongoing installation springing from research into creating the performance piece Poor People’s TV Room. Merging performance art, theater, dance and music, when I return who will receive me is inspired by embodied protest practices of Nigerian women in the 1920s, forgotten narratives of resistance, speculative fiction and the Nollywood cinema industry of Nigeria.

OLD SEAPORT ALLIANCE’S NIGHT MARKET
June 18, 6–9 p.m.
South Street Seaport
A monthly event in the South Street Seaport that features works by local artisans, light refreshments and small bites from local restaurants.

EIKO OTAKE
A BODY ON GOVERNORS ISLAND

June 19 at 4:30 p.m.
Governors Island: Nolan Park

A Body in Places is the omnibus title of Eiko’s solo project, which involves going to a place of her choice, studying it and performing at the site without lighting, sound or other theatrical conventions. During this performance, as she takes hesitant steps across Nolan Park on Governors Island, Eiko will make eye contact with both intentional audience members and chance passersby, striving to tear down the walls of human alienation.

ALICIA HALL MORAN
BLACK WALL STREET

June 19–20 at 7 p.m.
Federal Hall
Free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required and will open June 1

Black Wall Street is a staged concert about complex relationships in the work place, the contemporary politics of money and the nature of ambition. Created and performed by Alicia Hall Moran, Black Wall Street depicts a history of Black American finance in New York City and beyond. With humor, poignancy and depth, Moran makes a musical, poetic adventure of the office. Jazz, rock, classical and Indian Carnatic musicians join Moran to explore commonalities and intersections of the streams of narrative—expressed and unexpressed—and the streams of history—known or unknown to us—that we each bring to work with us everyday.

Alicia Hall Moran is the daughter of an African American former Wall Street CEO and New York City editor and publisher.

EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE
RIFF THIS, RIFF THAT

June 20 at 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.
June 21 at 3 p.m.
33 Maiden Lane
Commissioned by LMCC

Riff this, Riff that is a first-time collaboration between dancer/choreographer Ephrat Asherie and jazz pianist/composer Ehud Asherie. Although born in Israel and raised by parents with strong Israeli identities, the siblings naturally gravitated towards two different, quintessentially American art forms that stem from the African American community: jazz and hip-hop, respectively. Developed as part of LMCC’s Extended Life Dance Development program, Riff this, Riff that will use movement and live music to explore the connections between these styles and the myriad rhythms—both musical and motional—that continue to exist and expand within and around these forms.

WILL RAWLS
THE PLANET-EATERS: SECONDS

June 20 at 5 p.m.
June 21 at 1 p.m.
June 22 at 4 p.m.
Diker Pavilion, National Museum of the American Indian
Free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required and will open June 1
Commissioned by LMCC

Part dance, part concert (with music by Chris Kuklis), part travelogue, The Planet-Eaters: Seconds explores a duet as an intimate exchange of rhythms. In this reconfigured study of the original The Planet-Eaters, Rawls brings new material to his reflection on Balkan folklore and the exhilarating failures of becoming self and other. What starts as a game of counting for two performers (Rawls and Kuklis) finishes with a fragmented encounter of themselves that is epic, incidental, singular, plural and neither here nor there.

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUMS
June 21, 4–8 p.m.
Various locations, see website for details

Enjoy free admission at 16 distinctive museums and historic sites in Lower Manhattan as part of the 2016 River To River Festival. Discover where New York City’s history and culture begin. Participants include: African Burial Ground National Monument, The Anne Frank Center USA, Federal Hall National Memorial, Fraunces Tavern® Museum, Museum of American Finance, Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, National Archives at New York City, National Museum of the American Indian—Smithsonian Institution, National September 11 Memorial Museum, 9/11 Tribute Center, Poets House, The Skyscraper Museum, South Street Seaport Museum and Wall Street Walks.

EIKO OTAKE
A BODY ON WALL STREET

June 21 at 5 p.m.
June 22 at 2 p.m.
Wall and Broad Streets

A Body in Places is the omnibus title of Eiko’s solo project, which involves going to a place of her choice, studying it and performing at the site without lighting, sound or other theatrical conventions. Lower Manhattan, especially the Wall Street area, is symbolic for a body relating to the larger capitalistic world. The body is fragile, unrecoverable and irreplaceable, all of which is in stark contrast to the world of money and investment. Lower Manhattan also plays a significant role in the history of immigration and immigrants—a group to which Eiko belongs and a source of feelings of personal connection to the area.

OLGA BELL
KRAI

June 22 at 8 p.m.
28 Liberty Plaza
Co-presented with New Amsterdam Presents

Krai (край) is the Russian word for edge, limit, frontier or hinterland. Present-day Russia is divided into myriad “federal subjects,” including nine krais. In this capacity the term is a political designation, like “territory,” but for the earliest Russians these places represented both the promise and terror of the vast unknown.

While much has been written about Russia’s major cities, Olga Bell’s Krai is a composition dedicated to the rest of the map: the wilderness, the towns, the inhabitants and their stories. From the Cossack melodies of Krasnodar Krai in the West to the Chukchi drumming of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, Krai is a forty-minute journey across the Eurasian landmass.
This performance marks a final encore presentation of the original twelve-person arrangement (premiered to a sold-out Walker Art Center crowd in 2014), featuring instrumentalists from the original recording and five guest vocalists, including members of Roomful of Teeth.

R2R LIVING ROOM: YEMAYA
June 22 at 8:30 p.m.
June 26 at 6 p.m.
South Street Seaport (exact location TBA)

R2R Living Rooms give artists, partners and audiences an opportunity to come together, socialize, dance, experience after-hours programming and discuss/absorb the River To River offerings experienced during the day.

This year, audiences can experience Yemaya, an immersive, site-specific installation that brings together video collages and sound performances focusing on the fragility of our environment. Concept & performance by ALLGOLD and KUNQ.

Stop by Vbar Seaport before and after to eat, drink and dance the night away with fellow festival-goers, partners and artists.

WALLY CARDONA, JENNIFER LACEY, JONATHAN BEPLER
THE SET UP: KAPILA VENU

June 23–24 at 9 p.m.
Jun 25 at 8 p.m.
The Set Up series is commissioned by LMCC
South Street Seaport: Melville Gallery, South Street Seaport Museum

The Set Up: Kapila Venu is the seventh installment in a series of seven full-length dances that invests in “unknowing.” Initiated in 2012, each installment launches with “American contemporary” artists meeting a “master” of an existent form. This installment began in Kerala, India with Kapila Venu, Kutiyattam practitioner and disciple of the legendary Kutiyattam maestro Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar. Original sound score by Jonathan Bepler.

The six other master artists of The Set Up are Junko Fisher (Okinawan), Proeung Chhieng (classical Cambodian), Jean-Christophe Paré (French Baroque), Heni Winahyuningsih (Central Javanese), Nyoman Catra (Balinese Topeng) and Saya Lei (Burmese classical, Mandalay-style).

JILLIAN PEÑA
PANOPTICON

June 24–26, exact dates/times TBA
Federal Hall
Free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required and will open June 1
Co-commissioned by LMCC, PS122 and The Jerome Foundation

Panopticon, a duet performed by Alexandra Albrecht and Rebecca Warner, takes inspiration from Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, Panopticism. The dance fuses existential murmurings with spiraling movement structures filtered through a balletic sensibility. Diving further into Peña’s fascination with unison and mirroring, Panopticon investigates how identity can only be asserted in relation to another. Through reflection and multiplications, a kaleidoscopic arena of bodies is created revealing everything at all times.

OPEN STUDIOS WITH PROCESS SPACE ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE
June 25, 1–4pm
Governors Island: LMCC’s Arts Center

Join LMCC and River To River for Open Studios with Process Space artists-in-residence at Governors Island. Visit with visual and performing artists and writers who have been working in the Arts Center at Governors Island since March. The weekend will feature behind-the-scenes access to 20 multi-disciplinary artists’ studios.

OPEN STUDIOS WITH KANEZA SCHAAL
ARTIST TALK

June 25 at 2:30 p.m.
Governors Island: LMCC’s Arts Center
Free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required and will open June 1

Join us for a special opportunity to hear from this year’s River To River artist Kaneza Schaal, creator of GO FORTH. Learn about the inspiration behind and process of creating the acclaimed performance and installation project, which draws inspiration from The Egyptian Book of the Dead.

LUCIANA ACHUGAR
AN EPILOGUE FOR OTRO TEATRO: TRUE LOVE

June 26 at 3 p.m.
Front Street between Beekman Street and Peck Slip
Commissioned by LMCC

An Epilogue for OTRO TEATRO: True Love is luciana achugar’s continuing search for another kind of theater: one that connects us to our central desire to move and to the primal and basic, but profound desire to dance to and with music. As in all of achugar’s works, this piece is concerned with the post-colonial world, searching for an undoing of current power structures from the inside out. It sets free a new “post-civilized” self that resists Western assumptions of beauty and order.

It is also a love letter to New York house music through a long-form performance communion ritual, where the audience is moved from apathy to empathy by sharing the music and space with the performers and where they get to choose how to view or interact with the piece whether sitting still, walking around, dancing or coming and going as they please. It is an occasion for communion and healing that viscerally activates the passive spectator. It is a ritual of growing into a sensational, connected and decolonized collective body, full of love and magic that grows into a “post-civilized” utopian collective for audience and performers.