REDCAT’s quarterly program of new works and works-in-progress highlights new forms of dance, theater, music and multimedia performance in a wide-ranging evening that celebrates the vitality of LA’s artists making work for the stage. This edition of Studio is programmed by guest curators Sebastian Hernandez and Marsian De Lellis and features a glimpse at projects by Los Angeles artists, including: 

IRONSTONE & JORDI: She Is Trying To Be Born

Dancer and choreographer Ironstone’s dance triptych, She Is Trying To Be Born maximizes the potential of the body by playing with gendered movement to challenge the fluid intersections of expression and identity. With an original composition by Afrofuturist genderfuck transchannel Jordi, Ironstone celebrates the queer family that asks, Can our othered existence in this anti-sexual era make us gatekeepers of love?

KITE: Pȟehíŋ kiŋ líla akhíšoke. Her hair was heavy.

In a sonic sculpture performance, Oglála Lakȟóta artist Kite manipulates a hair braid interface (a computer on a 50-foot braid of hair) to control sonified AI-generated texts in Pȟehíŋ kiŋ líla akhíšoke. Her hair was heavy.  Lakȟóta ontology is an already-established way of being, where seemingly ‘inanimate’ objects can be alive with spirit.  This performance is an experiment in greeting that spirit.

GENNA MORONI: a space devoid of matter

Using highly visceral and textured movement, choreographer and dancer Genna Moroni’s duet a space devoid of matter subverts recognizable tendencies in form by intermixing strength and vulnerability as it wrestles with the dichotomy of beauty and “ugliness.” Raw, physical and unapologetic, this dance finds its expressive power in the unoccupied space of female relationships.

DAVIA SPAIN: Dawning

Combining ambient, acoustic, downbeat, and other electronically manipulated sounds, performance artist Davia Spain’s Dawning uses experimental sound and movement to create an intimate space in which to unfurl autobiographical stories and fictional realities that explore Afrofuturist concepts of non-linear time, healing practices, and the alienation experienced by humans who have been marked as “other.” 

KAYLA TANGE: Dear Mother

Using unconventional practices to investigate the feeling of cultural limbo, performance artist Kayla Tange’s solo Dear Mother investigates sexuality, ritual and cross-cultural upbringing as a Korean adoptee growing up in a Japanese American family. This work is inspired by the journey of defining identity, researching ancestry and examining the politics that caused her and several other Korean children to be put up for adoption since the 1950s.

KRISTINA WONG: Kristina Wong For Public Office

Set against a hand-sewn set, Kristina Wong’s latest work, Kristina Wong for Public Office, is a simultaneous real run for public office and a riotous performance art piece on America’s current political condition. The artist and real life local politician scathingly deconstructs the theatrics that inspire campaigning and civic participation, providing insight on American voting history and the future for women of color in democracy.