READYMADE

 

With the mission of conveying the power of perspective and appreciation, Readymade is an evening-length dance inspired by Marcel Duchamp's 1917 art theory by the same title. An hour long, the show involves ten performers, commissioned costume and lighting design, and hundreds of rolls of toilet paper.

 

In 1917 Duchamp turned a porcelain urinal on its side at an esteemed exhibition and titled it Fountain. He did nothing to the object except present it for contemplation. The infuriated art world argued that dignifying commonplace objects did not make them works of art. Duchamp's actions prompted a philosophical movement that challenged society's idea of what art should be and how we view the world.

 

Now a century later as society becomes ever more reliant on our technological existence and trends towards ingratitude, Duchamp's theory of the readymade is relevant today more than ever because it reminds us to acknowledge our surroundings, and in turn our lives, with a positive, open-minded lens. Readymade is not about Duchamp's work, but instead aims to invoke his iconic idea of do-it-yourself power to reshape one's own life by changing how we view things.

 

Choreography:

Tanya Chianese

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Performers:

Kelsey Gerber, Mallory Markham, Maddie Matuska, Amy McMurchie, Rebecca Morris, Linda Phung, Emma Salmon, Vera Schwegler, Brittany Tran, Oona Wong-Danders

 

Lighting Design: 

Linda Baumgardner

 

Costume Design: 

Carol Salmon (designer), Emma Salmon + Mallory Markham (crew)

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Score:

Lawrence English, Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm, ISAN, Clogs, Peter Broderick, Ezio Bosso, Colleen,Balmorhea, Trio Mandili, Bruno Coulais, Keith Kenniff, Michael Nyman

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Text:

Marcel Duchamp, David Batchelor

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Prop and Scene Design:

Tanya Chianese

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Support:

Readymade was supported in part by the Lighting Artists in Dance Award, a program of Dancers' Group, as well as the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation.