Open Rehearsal: John Bernd Variations (in partnership with the NYC AIDS Memorial)

Thursday, May 18 at 6pm
at the New York City AIDS Memorial
NYC AIDS Memorial Park, 76 Greenwich Avenue, NYC
More information: nycaidsmemorial.org/bernd

Prior to the six show run of Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other works by John Bernd at St. Mark’s Church, Danspace Project partners with the New York City AIDS Memorial to present a special free open rehearsal at the site of the Memorial.

Dedicated on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2016, the Memorial sits on a triangular site that was most recently part of the former St. Vincent’s Hospital campus. The New York City AIDS Memorial honors the more than 100,000 New Yorkers who have died of AIDS and acknowledges the contributions of caregivers and activists who mobilized, ultimately changing the trajectory of the epidemic. The Memorial aims to inspire visitors to remember and reflect through the maintenance of its permanent, architecturally significant site and through educational and cultural programming.

Nick Hallett is the Guest Curator of the 2023 season of live art at the New York City AIDS Memorial. More information can be found at nycaidsmemorial.org/spring23

Conversations Without Walls

Saturday, May 20, 12-5pm

An afternoon of screenings, discussion, dance, and context to illuminate Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other works by John Bernd, which opens the following week.

Choreographers/co-directors Miguel Gutierrez and Ishmael Houston-Jones, musician Nick Hallett, curator/research specialist Kristin Juarez, and others will reflect on the process of making this work and explore Bernd’s vast archive.

Gutierrez and Juarez will explore the creative process in relation to engaging with, and enlivening, Bernd’s archive. Hallett will illuminate Bernd’s musical influences and his original compositions and vocalizations in his choreography. Houston-Jones will address the challenges of collaging Bernd’s work from the 1980s into a new piece for the 21st Century. The afternoon will include an excerpt from Variations… by performers Raha Behnam, Toni Carlson, Alvaro Gonzalez, Charles Gowin, Kris Lee, Johnnie Cruise Mercer, and Alex Rodabaugh.

SCHEDULE

12pm Doors Open (Parish Hall)
12:30pm Welcome from Judy Hussie-Taylor (Parish Hall)
12:40pm Kristin Juarez (Parish Hall)
1pm Ishmael Houston-Jones, Miguel Gutierrez, Nick Hallett, and Kristin Juarez in conversation (Parish Hall)
~Break~
2:15pm Nick Hallett: Re-archiving John Bernd’s music (Parish Hall)
~Break~
3-3:30pm John Bernd Archival Video on view (Sanctuary)
3:30pm Ishmael Houston-Jones & performers (Sanctuary)
4:30pm Conversation and Q&A (Sanctuary)

Food and drinks will be available throughout the day.

RSVP HERE

Before you visit:

Accessibility at Danspace Project
Covid Safety at Danspace Project

Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other works by John Bernd (reprise)

Thursday, May 25, 7:30pm
Friday, May 26, 7:30pm
Saturday, May 27, 7:30pm
Thursday, June 1, 7:30pm
Friday, June 2, 7:30pm (ASL will be provided this evening)
Saturday, June 3, 7:30pm

The Bessie Award-winning Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other works by John Bernd returns to Danspace Project for a six-performance reprise. Variations…premiered at Danspace Project in 2016, serving as the centerpiece of the historic Platform 2016: Lost & Found, curated by Ishmael Houston-Jones & Will Rawls. Co-directed by Ishmael Houston-Jones & Miguel Gutierrez with music by Nick Hallett, Variations… reconstructs dances, images, collages, themes, and excerpts from choreographer/dancer John Bernd’s (1953-1988) body of work to interrogate the effects of his loss on work made today.

Inspired, in part, by Bernd and the work of other New York dance makers who died during the first 15 years of the AIDS crisis, 1981-1996​, Platform 2016: Lost & Found investigated the ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS and explored models of kin-making and caretaking by LGBTQ+ and BIPOC artists. The title was taken from Bernd’s trio of dances entitled Lost and Found, first performed at Danspace Project in 1982.

Performed by: Raha Behnam, Toni Carlson, Alvaro Gonzalez, Charles Gowin, Kris Lee, Johnnie Cruise Mercer, and Alex Rodabaugh.

Want to know more about John Bernd and the making of this work? Join us on May 20 for Conversations Without Walls with Gutierrez, Houston-Jones, Hallett, Kristin Juarez, and the performers!

BUY TICKETS

Accessibility for this performance:

American Sign Language (ASL) will be provided on Friday, June 2.

Before you visit:

Accessibility at Danspace Project
Covid Safety at Danspace Project

BACK IN STOCK! ​Lost and Found: Dance, New York, HIV/ AIDS, Then and Now​!​ ​This catalogue accompanies Danspace Project’s Platform 2016: Lost and Found curated by Ishmael Houston-Jones and Will Rawls​, which hosted the premiere of Variations on Themes from Lost and Found​.​..​