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THE MAD SCENE

(June 2022)

THE MAD SCENE, an 80-minute, darkly absurdist dance-drama, dives into the human longing for fame. THE MAD SCENE is pop fiction meets black comedy, exploring themes of celebrity, desire, power, fantasy, and the mercurial strands of the human psyche. 

Fame: who doesn’t want it? It means being adored, envied, desired, even feared. With the democratization and ubiquity of social media, the collapse of a private world, and the rise of the “influencer,” we all have the opportunity—or misfortune!— to realize our “15 minutes of fame.” And yet, the longing for fame is timeless. As France’s Louis XIV, the self-titled “Sun King” and the man who popularized classical ballet once said, “In my heart I prefer fame above all else, even life itself.” Louis XIV’s sentiment rings contemporaneously in our attention-yearning present day.

Skipping through time periods and rollicking in anachronisms, THE MAD SCENE begins in the 17th century court, makes a pit stop mid-20th century, comes to a screeching halt at our current internet-fueled celebrity culture, and in the process, skewers the veneer of performance, propaganda, and artificiality. Follow this work’s ten characters as they battle to win your attention.

BLUEGRASS JUNCTION

(October 2021)

Performa/Dance’s return to the live performance stage with special musical guests Greenlawn Rangers and the unique venue of Pioneer Farms was a heartfelt intersection of music and dance. Award-winning choreographer Jennifer Hart invites you to explore an important piece of Americana and a time when live music and dance brought communities together to celebrate the human experience and the important phases of life.

performa/dance ON FILM

(November 2020)

For On Film, artistic director Jennifer Hart commissioned eight choreographers to explore manifestations of current realities using the unique assets of the dance film genre. Artistic Director Jennifer Hart says, “Film offers a path for choreographers to explore the relationship of movement to process. Film has the unique capability of controlling the what and where of the dance: guiding the viewer’s perspective through varying locations and camera angles, and creating narrative and phrasing through editing. Film can free choreography from the constraints of time, place, and subject.” Hart adds, “Emerging themes include expressions of phenomena: real versus imagined, internal versus external, and the liminal space between being awake and sleeping.”

ARTIST and MUSE

(June 2018)

Performa/Dance's fourth evening-length production featured work by women about the female experience. Camille: A Story of Art and Love by Artistic Director Jennifer Hart, which premiered to rave reviews in 2016, returns to the stage with an expanded cast. Guest choreographer Wynn Fricke presented her work Two Fridas, danced by two guest artists originally from Venezuela. Also on the program were two more pieces by Hart: The Beast and Murmuration.

MIDSUMMER OFFERINGS: Three Dances

(June 2017)

Our third major production: paring innovative, local artists with award-winning, nationally recognized masters of dance in a trio of world premieres. The evening was recognized as one of Robert Faires' Top 10 Dance and Classical Treasures of 2017 and guest choreographer Magdalena Jarkowiec's piece Overseas Phone Call, 1987 was listed as one of Jonelle Seitz's Top 10 Thrills (No Frills) in Dance of 2017.

photography by Anne Marie Bloodgood

4x3: Four Works by Three Choreographers

(June 2016)

For our second production we presented two pieces by Artistic Director Jennifer Hart in addition to sharing our stage with local multimedia performance group ARCOS and Minneapolis based gay rights activist Nic Lincoln. The premiere of Hart's Camille: A Story of Art and Love was nominated for multiple Austin Critics' Table Awards and won Best Short Work (Dance.)

In rehearsal for Camille: A Story of Art and Love
photography by Anne Marie Bloodgood
 

IGNITE: Three Works

(June 2014)

Our first production featured a trio of pieces, old and new, by Artistic Director Jennifer Hart. Lightspace, which explores ideas of community inside a rigorously defined pool of light, On Truth and Love, which investigates the boundaries of domestic relationships, and Variations on Surrender, a widely varied series of vignettes all with a different take on "surrender."