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DANSPACE PROJECT PRESENTS

OO-GA-LA Reimagined (The Fred Holland and Ishmael Houston-Jones 1983 Duet Danced into the 21st Century)

 

Improvised in performance by Stephanie Hewett, Kris Lee, and AJ Wilmore based on the score of Fred Holland (1951 – 2016) and Ishmael Houston-Jones’ 1983 Untitled Duet

 

Archival video taped by Cathy Weis and Lisa Nelson
Archival sound score by Mark Larson

 

Special Thank You to Cathy Weis, Lisa Nelson, Niall Jones, Jesse Zaritt, Jacobi Holland, Oscar Halles, Lauren Bakst, Movement Research, and the staff of Danspace Project.

 

Ishmael Houston-Jones is an award winning choreographer, author, performer, teacher, and curator. His improvised dance and text work has been performed in New York, across the US, and in Europe, Canada, Australia, and Latin America. Drawn to collaborations as a way to move beyond boundaries and the known, Houston-Jones celebrates the political aspect of cooperation. Houston-Jones and Fred Holland shared a 1984 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for Cowboys, Dreams and Ladders, which reintroduced the erased narrative of the Black cowboy back into the mythology of the American west. He was awarded his second “Bessie” Award for the 2010 revival of THEM, his 1985/86 collaboration with writer Dennis Cooper and composer Chris Cochrane. In 2017 he received a third “Bessie” for Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other Works by John Bernd presented by Danspace Project. In 2020 he received a fourth “Bessie” for Service to the Field of Dance. Houston-Jones is the DraftWork curator for works-in progress at Danspace Project in New York. He has curated Platform 2012: Parallels which focused on choreographers from the African diaspora and postmodernism and co-curated with Will Rawls Platform 2016: Lost & Found, Dance, New York, HIV/AIDS, Then and Now both at Danspace Project. As an author Houston-Jones’ essays, fiction, interviews, and performance texts have been published in several anthologies and in numerous journals and magazines. His FAT and Other Stories: Some Writing About Sex was published in June 2018 by Yonkers International Press.

Fred Holland, (1951 – 2016,) received a 1973 Bachelor of Fine Arts from Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, Ohio. After that, he had a one-man exhibition of his paintings at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia where he met dancers Terry Fox and Ishmael Houston-Jones who were performing there. Intrigued by their improvisations he took his first dance classes with them. Houston-Jones introduced him to the emerging practice of Contact Improvisation and they both became members of the Philadelphia Contact Collective. Upon moving to New York, Holland began combining his dance practice with his visual arts working alongside Houston-Jones, with whom he shared their 1984 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for Cowboys, Dreams and Ladders. Holland performed in the work of Meredith Monk, and he created his own performances at Danspace Project, Performance Space 122, Franklin Furnace and The Ohio Theater. He continued to exhibit his paintings and sculptures at the Studio Museum in Harlem, MoMA PS1, the Newark Museum, and the Drawing Center. His last solo show in New York opened at Jack Tilton Gallery on February 25, 2016, where he’d been showing since 2009. Due to his illness, Holland was unable to attend the opening in person but called in during the event via FaceTime.

Kris Lee (she/they) is a New York based dancer/performer and home chef. She received her BFA in Dance from University of the Arts in 2019. Kris was a member of the Stephen Petronio Company (2021-22) and has toured with nora chipaumire (2019-20). She was one of the creators and performers for high noon (2022), the interdisciplinary performance work produced by Ninth Planet. Most recently they have performed in Remains Persist (2022) & Out of and Into: Plot (2023) By Moriah Evans; Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other works by John Bernd (reprisal) by Ishmael Houston-Jones & Miguel Gutierrez (2023); duel c (2023) & duel H (2024) by Andros Zins-Browne. They also had the pleasure of being a part of Impulstanz’ Danceweb scholarship program mentored by Isabel Lewis (2024).

Born and raised in Philadelphia, AJ Wilmore is an artist and performer who delves into storytelling, identity, and the complexities of black familial relationships. She excavates her innermost desires while grappling with questions of visibility, intimacy, and selfhood. Wilmore graduated from The University of the Arts, where she honed her craft in movement investigation and approaches. Her recent performances include ‘ADAKU’ by Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born at BAM’s 2023 Next Wave Festival and Joan Jonas’s ‘Mirror Piece I and II’ at MoMA. Driven by a practice of making love to her fears, Wilmore investigates the stakes, texture, and vulnerability of her social and sexual life.

 

 

Danspace Project pays respect to Lenape peoples. We acknowledge that this work is situated on the Lenape island of Manhattan (Mannahatta) in Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland. We pay respect to Lenape land, water, and ancestors past, present and future.

Danspace Project presents new work in dance, supports a diverse range of choreographers in developing their work, encourages experimentation, and connects artists to audiences.

For 50 years, Danspace Project has supported a vital community of contemporary dance artists in an environment unlike any other in the United States. Located in the historic St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, Danspace shares its facility with the Church, The Poetry Project, and New York Theatre Ballet. Danspace Project’s Commissioning Initiative has commissioned nearly 600 new works since its inception in 1994.

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