09/29/2012 7:30 & 9:30pm One Financial Plaza (Fulton & Exchange Streets)
Bandaloop (Oakland, CA) "Bound(less)" excerpts
Bandaloop turns gravity sideways 30-stories above Greater Kennedy Plaza in a jaw-dropping nighttime spectacle! Under the artistic direction of Amelia Rudolph, these dance pioneers perform dynamic, unforgettable, elegant choreography as they fly and spin through the air, mesmerizing audiences below. Their exhilarating site-reactive performances have been staged from the cliffs of Yosemite National Park to the Seattle Space Needle. Bandaloop joins FirstWorks for 5 days to share its mix of dance and climbing that celebrates community and the environment. With original music composed by Dana Leong, excerpts from "Bound(less)" explore the paradox of how, when bound to each other, we are free to soar as individuals.
"The work achieves a kind of sublime alchemy. Art and sport-instead of diluting or neutralizing each other-meld to create something greater, something bracingly original." Oakland Tribune
09/29/2012 4:45 & 10:00pm Plaza Stage
Nan Jombang (Padang, Indonesia)
Imagine yourself transported to the middle of a Nan Jombang’s lush tropical landscape, at the center of some serious cultural evolution in the heart of Kennedy Plaza. The island of Sumatra is home to Nan Jombang, artists whose work is a compelling mix of martial arts, folk theater, and body percussion traditions of their matrilineal culture, with fiery grace and striking clarity. The dancers of Indonesia’s leading contemporary dance company “practice the 14th century old martial arts, Silat, every day. They train until their feet bleed, developing extraordinary physical control.” Breathtaking and beautiful, bodies become lithe musical instruments, and motion expresses complex bursts of history and longing.
*Nan Jombang is on tour as part of Center Stage SM
In a country with world-renowned puppetry traditions, the young, expert artists of Papermoon are extending the form with their mixed-media productions, creating works that imaginatively explore identity, society and Indonesia’s recent past. Using Japanese wagon puppetry, Papermoon will mingle with festival-goers for spontaneous encounters with puppeteers who draw on the hip, youthful vibe of Indonesia’s preeminent hotspot.
*Papermoon Puppet Theatre is on tour as part of Center Stage SM
These days, you are as likely to find Red Baraat throwing down at an overheated warehouse party in their Brooklyn neighborhood as you are at Lincoln Center—or, the Montreal Jazz Festival. Red Baraat is a bhangra funk, dhol‘n’brass band that hails from Brooklyn by way of India. The 9-piece ensemble melds the infectious North Indian rhythm, bhangra, with a host of sounds—funk, go-go, Latin, and jazz—leading an audience as joyous and diverse as the band itself.
New York style and sophistication meet Afro-Caribbean rhythm and passion with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra—the musical embodiment of the steamy, culturally rich neighborhood of Spanish Harlem comes to Downtown Providence! Directed by world-renowned pianist, arranger and producer Oscar Hernández, this explosive 13-member, Grammy award-winning ensemble has reintroduced the classic sounds of New York City salsa to music lovers worldwide. You’ll literally be dancing in the streets to the irresistible rhythms of salsa!
Pre-festival workshop on the history of Salsa and Latin Jazz - Plaza Stage, 2:30pm
“Double-dares you not to move.” The Associated Press
09/29/2012 5:00, 8:00 & 10:00pm City Hall Plaza
Squonk Opera (Pittsburgh, PA) "GO Roadshow"
Expect masterly mayhem in Squonk’s newest musical street spectacle on wheels. The six-piece art-rock band/performance troupe rolls into Kennedy Plaza with a retrofitted 13-ton, 38-foot long flatbed truck as a two-story tall stage, complete with lights, sound system and the far-out mechanical props. A carnivalesque, 45-minute cavalcade of spinning instruments and melodic bombast — plus a blimp with a face and working jaw. Squonk’s fast, funny, “Debussy meets Godzilla” performances have played on 3 continents and in over 25 states.
“A blazingly unique spectacle! A flood of contraptions, visual jokes and gloriously eccentric music that would stretch even Tim Burton’s imagination!” Time Out New York
09/29/2012 4:00 & 8:00pm Plaza Stage
Zili Misik (Boston, MA)
Joyful, boisterous—the seven “rhythm queens” of Zili Misik perform a tapestry of African-descended musical forms rooted in spirituals, blues, jazz, neo-soul, Afro-Cuban "son", reggae, roots, Afro-Brazilian samba and Haitian "mizik rasin". From its pan-global palette to its rallying cry for social justice, the band offers a feast for the senses. Named for "Ezili", the mother, lover and goddess-warrior of Haitian Vodun tradition, Zili's lyrics glide seamlessly from English to Kreyol to Portuguese to Spanish, spinning tales and visions of lives lived and yet to be.
PLUS "Rising Stars of FirstWorks" youth performances, site-specific performances and visual art installations from across Rhode Island and the region!
Read on for the full schedule
tickets FREE
FirstWorks Festival On the Plaza
09/29/2012 4:30, 7:00, 5:45 & 9:00pm* City Hall Plaza (Fulton St. Side)
Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs Shakespeare's "As You Like It" & "Winter's Tale"
Shakespeare’s most whimsical plays, "As You Like It" and "Winter’s Tale" will be performed in thirty minute selections by MFA students on a mobile stage wagon, custom designed for the FirstWorks Festival by Tony Award-winning set designer Eugene Lee and director Brian Mertes, Head of the Brown/Trinity M.F.A. Directing Program.
*4:30 & 7:00pm, "As You Like It"; 5:45 & 9:00pm, "Winter’s Tale"
Festival Ballet Providence and other local art organizations are teaming up to make their flash mob debut at the FirstWorks Festival. A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly, perform an unusual and unexpected act for a brief time and then disperse – all for entertainment and artistic expression. Performed to the popular hit, “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, and all festival goers are invited to participate.
Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra "L'Histoire du Soldad" (The Soldier's Tale)
Experience the thrill of brilliant storytelling together with live orchestral music! Members of Rhode Island’s own Philharmonic Orchestra will fill City Hall with Stravinsky’s ground-breaking "L’Histoire du Soldat" (The Soldier’s Tale). Incorporating jazz, marches and tango rhythms, the story recounts a Russian fable of a deserting soldier and his deal with the Devil. This captivating and rarely-heard piece features seven of the Philharmonic’s masterful musicians, along with the marvelous actor and Gamm Theatre artistic director Tony Estrella. It’s your chance to encounter a deal with the Devil at City Hall first-hand! Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind performance, conducted by Francisco Noya and presented by your Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra.
"...the orchestra roared...sounding confident, even brilliant." The Providence Journal
09/29/2012 after sunset Downtown Providence & Waterplace Park Basin
Waterfire Providence
Over eighty sparkling bonfires installed on the three rivers of downtown Providence will be accompanied by walkway music and marching bands threading through the WaterFire events. For first time, fires will welcome visitors to Greater Kennedy Plaza with celebratory bonfire installations at each end of the Plaza and a 100 Torch Salute will surround Waterplace Park Basin to celebrate 100 years of Girl Scouting.
"Yellow Project" by Taniya Vaidya
(Burnside Park Fountain, 6:00pm)
RISING STARS OF FIRSTWORKS:
performing at Burnside Park
-The Rhode Island Kung Fu Club (4:00pm)
-The Laotian Dance Troupe, Laotian Community Center (4:15pm)
-Music One (4:30pm)
-Damhsa Irish Dance (6:15pm)
-PROJECT 401 (6:30pm)
-JUMP! (6:45pm)
Follow "learn more" link below for artist descriptions
AS220 Photo Mem: Kennedy Plaza Portrait Project
September 25 – November 15, 2012
(Gallery at City Hall, 25 Dorrance Street, 2nd Floor - artists' reception 6-9pm)
Mobile RIPTA Bus Gallery
(on Washington St. 4-9pm)
Providence ¡CityArts! for Youth, Our Town Mosaic Mural
(Bank of America City Center tunnel)
"Providence Under Pressure" hosted by the Avenue Concept and Yarrow Thorne
(East Approach)
RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN PUBLIC ART
"The Boat" by Cody Henrichs
(Burnside Park)
"Light in the Tree" by Stuart Penman
(Burnside Park)
"Story-telling Fence" by Qian Huang
(Burnside Park)
"Streetcar Spiderweb, 1908" by Roy Small
(Union Station pedestrian tunnel)
Follow "learn more" link below for installation descriptions
Indonesia’s Papermoon Puppet Theatre has transformed the world of puppetry the way graphic novels have changed comics: taking a popular form too often dismissed as child’s play and making it intellectually challenging, emotionally chilling, and visually bold. (Think "Maus", not Muppets.)
Drawing on the hip, youthful vibe of Indonesia’s preeminent hotspot, Yogakarta, the company uses the whimsy and seeming innocence of beautiful, simple puppets to create multimedia performances that spark dialogue amongst audience members and artists.
"Mwathirika" is set in 1965, the infamous "Year of Living Dangerously" when thousands of Indonesians were jailed and murdered. A history of the lost, and the lost history of a nation. A non-verbal, puppet-theater experience in 60 minutes.
(Due to subject matter, recommended for ages 14 and up)
*Papermoon Puppet Theatre is on tour as part of Center Stage SM
“This is the way that we, the generation of the 1990's, read the other side of an event in our country, a dark chapter in Indonesian history.”
-Maria Tri Sulistyani, Papermoon Co-Artistic Director
10/11/2012 to 10/21/2012 Venues throughout Providence
Pixilerations [v.9] New Media Fringe Festival at FirstWorks
PIXILERATIONS [v.9] opens on Thursday, October 11th with groundbreaking multimedia installations, performances and film/video screenings which investigate the state of new media arts. Now in its ninth year, PIXILERATIONS will feature cutting-edge artists from Taiwan and leading digital media artists working in Southern New England in a rare opportunity to view artwork that incorporates technology, interactive games, robotics, and virtual environments.
Pixilerations is produced by FirstWorks through a long-standing collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design: Center for Student Involvement and Digital Media (D+M) Department and with Brown University: MEME (Multimedia & Electronic Music Experiments) program, Visual Arts Department and Creative Arts Council.
Concert performances 10/12 & 13 featuring 2010 TED Global artist Miwa Matreyek
Critically acclaimed Lostwax Multimedia Dance takes audiences on a flight of wonder, exploring the power of the flock and the quirkiness of the individual. With their signature fusion of striking physicality and high-tech visuals, Lostwax's PARTICULAR provokes, tickles, and poignantly asks what it is to be alone in a crowd. For their fourth major presentation by FirstWorks, artistic director Jamie Jewett creates a media collaboration, engaging the collaborative talents of composer Luke duBois and video artist Aaron Henderson. From starling's murmurations, to the Lark Ascending to herds of flamingos - particle systems, mash-ups, algorithms, and mtv - Lostwax creates a unique synthesis of dancers' bodies and new media technology.
09/29/2012 7:30 & 9:30pm
09/29/2012 4:00-5pm & 6:00-7pm
09/29/2012 5:15 & 10:30pm
09/29/2012 5:00, 8:00 & 10:00pm
09/29/2012 4-11pm
09/29/2012 4:30, 7:00, 5:45 & 9:00pm*
09/29/2012 6:00 & 8:30pm
09/29/2012 4-11pm
