The Meta/Pina Project: Blind Dreamers

Photo by Robin Doty

YES! WE ARE AIR-CONDITIONED!

Tickets are $20 general admission/$15 student and seniors ages 65+. We are no longer accepting advance reservations. Tickets are available at the door beginning at 7 pm. Doors open at 7:30 pm for general seating. All tickets are payable by cash or check to “NCFA.”

This original physical theatre production by Serious Play! pays homage to Pina Bausch, visionary German choreographer and creator of Tanztheater Wuppertal. Utilizing Bausch’s unique rehearsal processes, co-directors Sheryl Stoodley and Toby Bercovici present a dreamlike family portrait emerging from the work of ten performers

Bausch, who died at age 68 in 2009, used a variety of “actor-tasks” in making her company’s work. Through physical action, relationships are revealed and developed. And physical actions, perhaps repeated or changing in tempo, communicate a variety of meanings. The way a gesture is performed begins to define a relationship and connects to larger themes of tenderness, trust, attraction, insecurity, betrayal, loss, despair and violence.

In Blind Dreamers, family members strive for connection while struggling to meet familial and societal expectations. Through actor-tasks assigned by the directors, structured improvisational compositions, and the development of gesture, a physical language emerges within the ensemble. As with Pina’s work, Blind Dreamers is built on elements of ensemble members’ own experiences, translated into gestures of connection, personal struggle, and striking interaction.

The Blind Dreamers ensemble is Grace Booth, Carissa Dagenais, Jay Dolan, Rachel Garbus, Dunan Herman-Parks, Daniel Kinsey, Constance Leslie, Carolyn Sadeh, Kaliis Smith, and Ren Steger. Music is composed and played by John Sheldon. Lighting is designed by Kathy Couch. Special dance choreography is by Lisa Enzer and swing dance choreography by Emily Fox.

The co-directors have a long shared history. Sheryl Stoodley is the Artistic Director of Serious Play!, which she founded in Northampton over 20 years ago. Toby Bercovici, who received her MFA in Directing last year, began her theatre training with Serious Play! when she was a 15-year-old student at Northampton High School.