Mar 13, 2007
GATE
The Leah Stein Dance Company and Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site Present a Site-Specific Performance Project
June 8, 9 and 10, and June 15, 16 and 17, 2007.
All performances begin in the early evening (exact time to be announced).
Standard admission $15, Students and Seniors: $10
(Philadelphia, February 2007): The Leah Stein Dance Company and Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site present "GATE," a site-specific dance performance winding through and interacting with the abandoned cellblocks and exterior spaces inside the ten acres of Eastern State Penitentiary. The work will include seven dancers, three musicians the Mendelssohn Club 100 voice chorus of Philadelphia.
"I am drawn to the architectural design, and as always, the relationship between interior and exterior space metaphorically and physically. Also, the idea of a 'stabilized ruin', as the building is called, is curious to me" said Ms Stein. "In particular, though, the fact that the prison holds so many stories and personal histories, gives a richness and depth to the site that I hope to be able to tap into and illuminate".
The performance will lead the audience through the immense space, sometimes as one group, other times divided up into smaller groups with several simultaneous events occurring at the time. The performers will interact with the surroundings to animate, meld into, create tension with, and activate the resonant site. Long time collaborator and percussionist Toshi Makihara will be central to the creation of the live sound score along with musicians Dan Peterson and Anastacia Wilde. GATE represents the second collaboration between the Leah Stein Dance Company and the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia.
All performances begin in the early evening (exact time to be announced).
Standard admission $15, Students and Seniors: $10
(Philadelphia, February 2007): The Leah Stein Dance Company and Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site present "GATE," a site-specific dance performance winding through and interacting with the abandoned cellblocks and exterior spaces inside the ten acres of Eastern State Penitentiary. The work will include seven dancers, three musicians the Mendelssohn Club 100 voice chorus of Philadelphia.
"I am drawn to the architectural design, and as always, the relationship between interior and exterior space metaphorically and physically. Also, the idea of a 'stabilized ruin', as the building is called, is curious to me" said Ms Stein. "In particular, though, the fact that the prison holds so many stories and personal histories, gives a richness and depth to the site that I hope to be able to tap into and illuminate".
The performance will lead the audience through the immense space, sometimes as one group, other times divided up into smaller groups with several simultaneous events occurring at the time. The performers will interact with the surroundings to animate, meld into, create tension with, and activate the resonant site. Long time collaborator and percussionist Toshi Makihara will be central to the creation of the live sound score along with musicians Dan Peterson and Anastacia Wilde. GATE represents the second collaboration between the Leah Stein Dance Company and the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia.