MeMoSa: [ ] by Artist in Residence Adrienne Westwood
[ ] is a corporeal and sonic exploration into histories of femme ancestors co-created by choreographer Adrienne Westwood and composer Angélica Negrón. Together with six performers, they develop an embodied exploration of untold and imagined histories. Weaving throughout a sonic sculpture, the group uses performance’s hyper-attentive care to call in and hold experiences of private and personal memories of family lore, real and imagined histories, and womxn’s visible/invisible labor, ultimately asking “what is long ago, but still right now?”
[ ] is anchored by an interactive, sonic sculpture, from which “objects of memory,” a compiling of simple, referential cut- out golden objects, are suspended. It evokes associations of a mobile, a planetary model, the branches of a tree, a constellation map, a memory palace, a machine. This sonic sculpture calls upon Negrón’s changing sound banks through use of MIDI technology, and production design incorporates moments of video (including live-feed) using the same technology to emphasize the feel of a collective experience. Alternating dynamically synchronous movement with individual, intimate isolation, the six performers swing, propel, pause, and enfold through the sculpture, activating the “objects of memory” tone by tone. Each fills the space with its own resonance, thus summoning our memories through, by, and for the performers.
MeMoSa begins 5:30 PM
Capacity in the lab is capped at 35 audience members. Attendees who have RSVP'd before the event will have priority, and admission will be determined on a first come first serve basis on arrival. If you RSVP before the event but you arrive late, we reserve the right to give your spot to someone on the waitlist.
Attendees who have not RSVP'd will be put on a standby waitlist if they arrive in-person before the event.
![looking up at the "[ ]" hanging sonic sculpture and 5 dancers](/sites/default/files/2023-07/Adrienne_Westwood_Baranova-9295.jpg)
[ ] is supported through intersectional co-discovery with performers: Rebecca Fitton (also audio describer), Solana Hoffmann-Carter, Amanda Kmett’Pendry, Kathryn Logan (also video dramaturg), Katie Swords Thurman, Marissa Truitt, Laura Witsken and Sugar Vendil. Collaborators devise movement from improvisation prompts-turned scores, draw from real and imagined memories and family stories, and respond cyclically to the triggered sounds. This process is additionally supported by instrument designer Nick Yulman and production designer Seth Easter.
[ ] Lead Artist Bios
Adrienne Westwood is a Brooklyn-based dance artist whose multi-layered work incorporates objects into embodied explorations of memory, bringing traces of other times and places into the present moment. Her work has been presented widely in NYC and at Jacob's Pillow, CCN-Ballet de Lorraine (France), WUK (Vienna), The Firkin Crane (Ireland), and The Philly Fringe Festival. She was a 2020-21 BRIClab artist through which she began [ ] in radical collaboration with composer Angélica Negrón.
As a CUNY Dance Initiative recipient, she created “s o u n d i n g line” for Snug Harbor’s historic Gardener's Cottage in 2019; it was described as “an evocative new multimedia dance performance” (BroadwayWorld.com). She is a 2023 Lead Artist at the Mercury Store, and was a 2022 Lincoln Center Space Grant recipient and MOtiVE Brooklyn Artist in Residence. Additional support includes a 2022 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant for [ ] and the pilot Parent-Artist Space Grant from Brooklyn Arts Exchange through which she developed her work “Record” in 2012. Her ongoing project “calling,” initiated during the pandemic as a way to connect across distance, still lives at (917) 397-0954.
Her work has also been called “a finely crafted progression” (Lisa Kraus, The Philadelphia Inquirer) and noted for its “precision, attention to detail and unspecific but tangible sense of the barely remembered” (Andy Horwitz, Culturebot). From 2011-2018, she served on the selection committee for “The Bessie” NY Dance and Performance Awards. She holds an MFA from Hollins University/the American Dance Festival where she studied under the close mentorship of Donna Faye Burchfield, and a BFA from University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón writes music for accordions, robotic instruments, toys, and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles, orchestras, choir, and film. Her music has been described as “wistfully idiosyncratic and contemplative” (WQXR/Q2) while The New York Times noted her “capacity to surprise.” Negrón has been commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Kronos Quartet, Prototype Festival, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Sō Percussion, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, the Louisville Orchestra and the New York Botanical Garden, among others.
Angélica holds a master’s degree in music composition from New York University where she studied with Pedro da Silva and pursued doctoral studies at The Graduate Center (CUNY), where she studied composition with Tania León. She has collaborated with artists like Sō Percussion, Lido Pimienta, Mathew Placek, Sasha Velour, Cecilia Aldarondo, Mariela Pabón & Adrienne Westwood and is a founding member of the tropical electronic band Balún. As Artist-in-Residence at WNYC’s The Greene Space working on El Living Room, she created a 4- part offbeat variety show and playful multimedia exploration of sound and story, of personal history and belonging. She was the recipient of the 2022 Hermitage Greenfield Prize. Upcoming premieres include works for the Seattle Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra and NY Philharmonic Project 19 initiative and multiple performances at Big Ears Festival 2022. Negrón continues to perform and compose for film.