Biggest New Genre Festival ever
By JAMES D. WATTS JR., 02/23/2009
Bell House Arts. Courtesy
Putting together the New Genre Festival has always been something of a game of chance.
"It would be nice to be able to come up with a concept for the whole festival and then find the artists whose work fit into that grand design," said Steve Liggett. "But because for years we had rely on the proposals that artists sent to us, there was really no way of doing that."
But chance can be a powerful element in the creation of art — from "happy accidents" that arise during the process of making art to pieces of literature, music, dance, theater or other art forms that are based on the random toss of a coin or turn of a card.
"We will have a total of 110 artists taking part in this year's festival," said Liggett, the executive director of Living Arts. "That's a record. We're also going to be having some things this year that are new to the festival."
One is a collaboration with Choregus Productions, Tulsa's newest presenter of the performing arts. Choregus is bringing the Merce Cunningham Dance Company to Tulsa for a performance March 10 in the PAC's Chapman Music Hall, which will serve as the final event in the New Genre Festival.
Perpetual Motion/Modern Dance Oklahoma. Courtesy
"Ken Tracy (Choregus' founder) has to be one of the most courageous people I've ever met," Liggett said. "He's been bringing in some very important dance companies and musical ensembles who are doing real 'right now' work. It's very similar to what we at Living Arts try to do, so it only made sense that we try to work together.
"And Merce Cunningham is, to me, sort of the dividing line between what's considered 'modern' and what's considered 'contemporary' in dance. His work goes beyond what Martha Graham was doing; it often involved interdisciplinary things — just perfect for New Genre."
The performance by Cunningham's company is one of two dance events at New Genre. The second, which will be presented Friday and Saturday in the Tulsa PAC's Williams Theater, is titled "New Genre Dance Oklahoma," and will feature performances by three Oklahoma companies: Hartel Dance Group, Bell House Arts, and Perpetual Motion/Modern Dance Oklahoma.
"This will be our first time to have a dance event that features only Oklahoma artists," Liggett said. "We will also have (Tulsa's) Monica Huggins Dance Company performing as part of our performance art cabaret night."
Another new event is a Community Residency, led by award-winning performance art Jose Torres Tama.
"This is something we're very excited about," Liggett said. "Last year, we began partners in the National Performance Network, and this residency is an outgrowth of that — sponsoring activities like this is one of its longest-lived programs.
Recorder. Courtesy
"We are wanting to bring together all kinds of performing and visual artists to work together in developing a short performance piece that will be presented at the residency's end," he said.
Participants will meet for four hours each evening for the week of March 2-6, with the performance taking place at the Nightingale Theater March 7. The theme for the residency is "Home and the American Dream Mythology: Exploring Displacement through Visual Art, Performance and Installation Strategies."
One other new aspect to New Genre is its first-ever exhibit devoted to Web-based art works. "::ART.net::]" is curated by Tulsa artist J.D. McPherson and features 17 works that will be viewable on computer stations in the Living Arts Space.
Festival passes, which give the wearer access to all events except the Merce Cunningham performance, are $65, and available through Living Arts. Purchasing a Festival Pass will give the wearer a discount on tickets for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company performance.