TRY
a queer fantasy of improvised collaboration where body and land meet ancestry and futurity
Choreographed and performed by jose e. abad, Snowflake Calvert, Keith Hennessy, Ishmael Houston-Jones, and Kevin O’Connor with music by Gabriel Nuñez de Arco with jose e. abad in an immersive installation by Monica Canilao & Kendra Azul~írís and lighting design by GG Torres.
TRY explores what Sadiya Hartman calls, “Acts of collaboration and improvisation that unfold within the space of enclosure.”
The TRY team’s collaborative work circles around the crises and potentials of land, healing, movement, consent, ownership and solidarity. We seek a soft experience where land acknowledgement and fascia can be woven into a single conversation. Where bodies are energies and powers at the same time, always entangled within the ecologies from which they emerge.
THEATRICAL PREMIERE PHOTOS
OUTDOOR PHOTOS
* * * * *
the weirdest shit can come true
making difference differently together
beyond beyond beyond
body and land meet ancestry and futurity
opening me up
trying togethering centering relational
collaboration as laboratory during crises of togetherness
circles of overlap growing, circles of separation remaining
these are the questions that haunt me
it won’t be revealed until it’s there
* * * * *
VIDEOS
PRESS
Arts ATL review “Queer performance ‘TRY’ gives powerful shoutout to ancestral land”
https://www.artsatl.org/review-queer-performance-try-gives-powerful-shout-out-to-ancestral-land
Arts ATL preview “Best Bets”
https://www.artsatl.org/best-bets-cinderella-giselle-the-wizard-are-in-town-plus-mozart-little-feat-more/
48 Hills review “With conch and shimmer, a taste of queer fantasy ‘TRY’” by Rita Felciano
https://48hills.org/2021/11/with-conch-and-shimmer-a-taste-of-queer-fantasy-try/
“Try, Try, Try Something Else Again or Follow the Foam…” By Ryanaustin Dennis
Click here to download PDF of the article
“Moving Through” by Claudia La Rocco
Click here to download PDF of the article
New Yorker feature of TRY film screening at Danspace Project
https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/dance/afterwardsness-05-24-21
Danspace Project “a reflection on TRY, a rehearsal” by Maura Nguyen Donohue
https://danspaceproject.org/2021/08/04/a-reflection-on-try-a-rehearsal-donohue
BOFFO interviews Ishmael Houston Jones
Click here to view, scroll down for the interview
CREDITS
Choreographer: Ishmael Houston Jones
Collaborators & Performers: jose e. abad, Snowflake Calvert, Keith Hennessy, and Kevin O’Connor
Sound Designers: Gabriel Nunez de Arco in collaboration with jose e. abad
Visual Designers: Monica Canilao and Kendra Azul~írís
Lighting Designer: GG Torres
Technical Director: Zoe Klein
TRY, a rehearsal video: Cameras: Alex Romania (NYC) and Ainsley Tharp (SF); Sound score: josé e. abad; Editing and cinematography by Alex Romania; Directed by Ishmael Houston-Jones
Photos: An Pham and Robbie Sweeny
Producing Director: Alley Wilde
BIOS
jose e. abad (they/them) is a multidisciplinary performance artist, DJ, and curator based in unceded Ramaytush Ohlone Territory. Born in Olongapo City, Philippines to a Filipina Mother and an Afro-Carribean U.S. Naval Soldier, their work explores the complexities of cultural identity at the crossroads of gender, sexuality, class, and race in the United States. Through dance theater, sonic and visual experimentation, they unearth lost histories that reside in the body, that the mind has forgotten and dominant culture has erased.
Snowflake Calvert (Yaqui, Raramuri, and Tzotzil Mayan heritage) is a Two-Spirit artist who serves as the President of QUIL - Queers United for Intersectional Liberation. She produces queer events throughout California and Oregon that allow her to curate a vehicle for political, social, and cultural activism through the artistry of her radical queerness. In addition, she is a professional dancer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She was a member of The Haus of Towers, is affiliated with the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit Powwow, teaches decolonization through movement workshops, is the former owner/director of The Dance Zone Studio, hosts Two-Spirit talking circles, and is currently expanding her BIPOC collaborative work of "Seeds and Sequins" with Europa Grace.
Keith Hennessy is a frolicker, imperfectionist, and witch working in the fields of dance, performance, activism, affordable housing, and teaching. Raised on Atikameksheng Anishnawbek lands in Canada, living in Ramaytush Ohlone lands (San Francisco) since 1982, Keith tours internationally. Hennessy’s work is interdisciplinary and experimental, motivated by anti-racist, queer-feminist, and decolonial movements. He engages practices of improvisation, ritual, collaboration, play, and protest to respond to political crises and intense feelings. Hennessy directs Circo Zero, co-founded the dance/culture spaces 848 and CounterPulse, and was a member of Sara Mann’s Contraband, 1985-1994. Awards include Guggenheim, USArtist, NY Bessie, and Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and residencies at McDowell, Djerassi, Yaddo, MANCC, Kampnagel, Impulstanz, and Regards et Mouvements. Keith teaches experimental approaches to dance, performance, history, ritual, and healing at dance festivals, universities and independent studios internationally. 2021 gigs include Homo Novus Festival (Riga), ONCA Gallery (Brighton), Ponderosa (Germany), University of Hawaii, CORE (Atlanta), as well as BOFFO (NY) with TRY. With a focus on the politics of relationships, Keith has negotiated shared power with Ishmael Houston-Jones, Snowflake Calvert, Brontez Purnell, Nathaniel Moore, Peaches, Meg Stuart, jose e abad, J Jha, Annie Danger, Ryanaustin Dennis, Dohee Lee & Laterna, Sara Shelton Mann, and Gerald Casel.
Ishmael Houston-Jones’ improvised dance and text work has been performed in world-wide. Drawn to collaborations as a way to move beyond boundaries and the known, Houston-Jones celebrates the political aspect of cooperation. Houston-Jones and Fred Holland shared a 1984 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for Cowboys, Dreams and Ladders, which reintroduced the erased narrative of the Black cowboy back into the mythology of the American west. He was awarded his second “Bessie” Award for the 2010 revival of THEM, his 1985/86 collaboration with writer Dennis Cooper and composer Chris Cochrane. In 2017 he received a third “Bessie” for Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other Works by John Bernd. In 2020 he received a fourth “Bessie” for Service to the Field of Dance. Houston-Jones is the DraftWork curator for works-in-progress at Danspace Project in New York. Also at Danspace, he curated Platform 2012: Parallels which focused on choreographers from the African diaspora and postmodernism and co-curated with Will Rawls Platform 2016: Lost & Found, Dance, New York, HIV/AIDS, Then and Now. He has received awards from The Herb Alpert Foundation, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and United States Artists.
Kevin O’Connor is a multidisciplinary artist working as a dance improviser, circus artist, and installation artist from Ontario, Canada, and now based in the Bay area. He is involved in a decade-long artistic collective exploring participatory de-colonizing performances within polluted watersheds in Ontario. Their collaborative art-making explores practices of togethering across radically different sense-abilities. www.ecologicalbodying.com
Gabriel Nuñez de Arco is a visual artist, composer, sound engineer, lighting designer and DJ from Oakland, CA (Chochenyo Ohlone land) with roots in La Paz, Bolivia (Aymara territory). They have performed and provided technical support at events across Australia, Bolivia and the United States with a focus on queer DIY dance spaces. Their work explores questions of belonging as a queer diasporic person, the contradictions of ancestral reverence in a body with a colonized bloodline, and the (re)formation of decolonized histories as a pathways to a decolonized future.
Grisel Torres / gg (they/she) is a lighting and sound designer, dj, energy and body work practitioner based in Ohlone Chochenyo Territory. They studied Light Design, Stage Management, and Props Design at SFSU’s School of Theatre and Dance and has been a staff lighting designer, carpenter, production manager and venue manager for various theatre companies in the SF Bay Area. gg is currently a freelance lighting and props designer for live and filmed movement-based works. She has established her own style of empathetic-intuitive-adaptive improvisational lighting scores. They see the stage as an altar and light design as a guiding ritual towards catharsis. As an artist and healer, the intention is to open and safely close portals for whole healing and a chance to dance with ancestral relatives. This practice of art ritual healing is also found in gg’s sound and energy work explorations.
Kednra Azul~Irís (they//them) Visions from Luminous non-human~centric Space, as their Vibrant Core Intentions :: Loves Evoking Visceral Spirit & Body Realizations ((Ideally Accessing as many Senses as Possible!)) Azul Weaves Mediums ~ Tangible, Sound Waves, Water, and Digital; with Feelings and Messages of Divine Textural Storytelling :: often Depicting Ephemeral Imaginative Spaces //&\\ Sensations. They Playfully Embody and Reflect Experiences of Being “Between Realms”. An Example such as :: Familial yet Delicate Spaces Between ~<<Wake>>~ <<Dreaming>> ~ <<Sleep>>~ :: They find the most Joy in Illuminating Mystic Qualities of Earth Elements, Spectrum of Colors, Lights, Mythologies & Personification. Azul’s Patterns of Practice & Communication are made with Hopes of Facilitating Safer Spaces, Nurturing Gentle, yet *Profound* Connectivity. When Referencing Human Forms & Experiences, their Deep Roots of Visioning Consistently Reveals Themes of:: Unconditional Love , Honoring Ancestors, Micro/Macro Cosmic Perspectives ~ They are Inspired Allways with Expansive Languages of Vibrant Essence, Uplifting Collective Web Networks & Community <3
Monica Canilao has deep investment in ideas surrounding home, community, and the passage of time. These themes are delicately interwoven into her daily life and throughout her art practice. Fascinated with the imprint people leave behind, Canilao creates a visual record from salvaged objects and weathered images. Her work spans from massive paper and fabric structures, site-specific installations, and murals to meticulous paintings, mixed media works, jewelry constructions, and sculptures. Through her practice and collaborations she attempts to create a visual vernacular that resonates beyond verbal and individual differences. Her vast body of diverse work compiles a living history, creating a narrative that weaves her experiences with physical remnants of past lives. Monica is a Bay Area native and is currently based in Oakland, California. She has played a vital role for over two decades in the San Francisco Bay Area DIY and mission school art scenes and beyond. www.monicacanilao.com
PAST EVENTS
:: TRY/ING Workshop with Movement Research :: ONLINE ::
Part of MR’s Winter MELT January 2021
:: TRY Residency :: IN-PERSON ::
March 1-11, 2021 at Saratoga Springs, Lake County CA (territory of Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake)
:: TRY, a rehearsal Film Screening by Danspace :: ONLINE ::
Fri May 21, 2021 @ 2pm (PST)
:: TRY Residency w. Numerous Public Events :: In-Person ::
July 6 - 25 at BOFFO Fire Island, NY
:: TRY/ING Workshop with Movement Research :: ONLINE ::
July 19-23 @ 1:30pm-3:00pm (PST)
:: TRY Site-Specific Outdoor Performance :: IN-PERSON ::
Sep 3, 2021 on Bernal Hill, San Francisco
:: TRY BIPOC Practice Lab :: IN-PERSON ::
Led by Ishmael Houston-Jones jose abad, and Snowflake Calvert with live music by Gabriel Nuñez de Arco
Nov 2, 2021 @ The Lab, San Francisco
:: TRY Open to All Practice Lab :: IN-PERSON ::
Led by Keith Hennessy, Ishmael Houston-Jones, and Kevin O’Connor with live music by Gabriel Nuñez de Arco
Nov 4, 2021 @ The Lab, San Francisco
:: TRY In-Process Showing :: IN-PERSON ::
Nov 6, 2021 @ The Lab, San Francisco
:: TRY + Alta Fe Collective Function :: IN-PERSON ::
Nov 6, 2021 @ The Lab, San Francisco
:: TRY In-Process Showing :: IN-PERSON ::
Nov 13, 2021 @ Z Space, San Francisco
:: TRY World Premiere :: IN-PERSON ::
Nov 16-20, 2021 @ Z Space, San Francisco
:: TRY Film Premiere :: ONLINE ::
Jan 10, 2022 as part of Kathleen Hermesdorf’s FRESH Festival
:: Artist and Activist Brunch :: IN-PERSON ::
Mar 13, 2022 @ B-Complex, Atlanta produced by CORE Dance
:: Community Class, Artist Talk, and Lunch :: IN-PERSON ::
Mar 17, 2022 @ CORE Studios, Atlanta
:: TRY Atlanta Premiere :: IN-PERSON ::
Mar 18-19, 2022 @ B-Complex, Atlanta presented by CORE Dance
:: TRY Community Workshop :: IN-PERSON ::
Mar 19, 2022 @ B-Complex, Atlanta presented by CORE Dance
FUNDING
TRY is produced by Circo Zero and supported by the Hewlett Foundation 50 Arts Commission, The Kenneth Rainin Foundation, The California Arts Council, The San Francisco Arts Commission, MAP Fund, The Boffo Foundation, Danspace Project, a co-commission as part of the Eureka Commissions program by the Onassis Foundation, The Lab (please consider joining their community of members), and Z Space’s Technical Development Residency Program funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.