The experimental opera BODY / SHADOW, a collaborative project with choreography by Douglas Dunn, music by Paul J. Botelho, libretto, video, and set design by Brice Brown, and visual media design by Steve Gibson.

Douglas Dunn and collaborators Brice Brown, Paul J. Botelho and Steve Gibson, will reprise BODY / SHADOW (2023), a layered multimedia opera that calls into question the coherence of the human body, highlighting its vulnerability and doubleness. The work asks: What is more real, a body or its shadow? The work features 17 dancers and Paul J. Botelho, who performs vocal improvisations and the libretto to a set score. The dancers perform a series of nonlinear, one-minute acts, at times stretching screens—or skins—as they move throughout the space activating different sections of a five-channel video. Two of the dancers act as fifth column free agents, invading the other dancers’ organized space, as well as Botelho’s actions, mischievously disturbing the logic of the performance. The video is a hallucinatory collage of shadows, still and moving images, and colors.

BODY / SHADOW will be performed by dancers Jules Bakshi, Cemiyon Barber, Alexandra Berger, Payton Brewster, Dwayne Brown, Janet Charleston, Savannah Jade Dobbs, Steph Jacco, Eve Jacobs, Vanessa Knouse, Corinne Lohner, Emily Pope, Deniz Sancak, Jin Ju Song-Begin, Dongri Suh, Timothy Ward, and Arthur “Trace” Yeames.

www.bodyshadowopera.com

Note: Fees included in price. No refunds. Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, NYC. Elevator access at 243 Thompson Street. Doors open at 7:15; books will be for sale.* Running times approximately one hour. Seating is in the round.

On sale at the show: a limited edition hardbound publication of BODY / SHADOW, featuring text, images, and a CD-- as well as other books produced by MAB and by Douglas Dunn.

About the Artists:

Douglas Dunn is a New York-based dancer and choreographer working since 1971. He was a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 1969 to 1973, and a founding member of Grand Union, the non-rehearsing troupe that rollicked from 1970 to 1976. Following his own duet, solo, and film work in the 1970s, he formed Douglas Dunn + Dancers in 1978, and in 1980 set Stravinsky’s Pulcinella on the Paris Opera Ballet. He is Board Member Emeritus of the New York City presenting organization Danspace Project. He likes to collaborate with poets, painters, sculptors, musicians, composers, and playwrights to offer a multifaceted theatrical experience. In 1998 he was awarded a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) for Sustained Achievement, and in 2008 was honored by the French government as Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. While continuing to lead Douglas Dunn + Dancers, he teaches Open Structures at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and presents salons at his studio at 541 Broadway in Manhattan. His book of collected writings, Dancer Out of Sight, is available at amazon.com. douglasdunndance.com

Paul J. Botelho is an Azorean-American composer and performer. His work includes acoustic and electro-acoustic music, multimedia installation pieces, visual artworks, vocal improvisation, and several one-act operas. He performs as a vocalist (countertenor) worldwide, primarily through extended vocal techniques. His recent work explores vocal responses to composed and prerecorded sonic environments and includes LAF (West Lafayette, IN; 2024), In Moscow We Marched (Moscow, Russia; 2019-20), and Visby Project (Visby, Sweden; 2017–18). His work has been performed, presented, and exhibited in concerts, festivals, galleries, and museums across the world. Botelho received a Ph.D. and M.F.A. in Music Composition from Princeton University, an A.M. in Electro-Acoustic Music from Dartmouth College, and a B.F.A. in Contemporary Music Performance and Composition from the College of Santa Fe. Botelho has taught at Tulane University and Loyola University New Orleans and currently teaches music composition at Bucknell University.

Brice Brown is an artist and writer living in New York City and Bath, UK. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and reviewed in The New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, ARTnews, NPR, and The Village Voice, among others. He has held residencies at Yaddo, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center, and has been a visiting artist/lecturer at Bucknell University, Dartmouth College, Carnegie Mellon University, Williams College, and Drew University. Brown’s work is held in public collections including the Speed Art Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Swope Art Museum, and Yale University. Brown was a regular art critic for the New York Sun (2006–2009) and for City Arts (2009–2010). He founded Milton Art Bank (2017), a museum and publishing house located in a converted bank building, and has launched two arts journals, The Sienese Shredder (2006–2010) and Tether (2015–2018), both with Trevor Winkfield. He received a BA from Dartmouth College, an MFA from Pratt Institute, an MA from Bath Spa University, UK, and has studied at the Chautauqua Institute School of Art.

Steve Gibson is the founder of Creature/Feature Design. He has been creating large-scale art and making monsters and fantasy characters out of paint, clay, latex, silicone and foam for more than 30 years. As a self-taught artist, Gibson enjoys sharing his knowledge with anyone wishing to gain a broader approach to their own personal style. In 2016 he founded The Arts Underground in Lewisburg, PA, a unique, collaborative space for local artists. In 2021 he created Art Academy of Milton, which serves the Central PA Valley in all things art, theater performance, and music. He has taught classes in sculpting, painting, graphite, mural creation, and portraiture. His award-winning video work can be seen in feature films The Feed (2010) and The Lost Within (2017), as well as numerous shorts, music videos, and commercial projects. Clients include Transitions of PA, Campus Theatre LTD, Habitat for Humanity, Bucknell University, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, and dozens of retail, online, corporate, government, and independent agencies. Gibson is a published writer, cinematographer, producer, director, audio designer, and editor, who also happens to dabble in fine art photography. creaturefeaturedesign.com

About Judson Memorial Church Judson Arts continues the long tradition of arts ministry at Judson Memorial Church, a spiritual force in Greenwich Village for more than 120 years devoted to creative freedom, social justice, and progressive faith. From the acclaimed Judson Poets Theater and Judson Dance Theater to today’s Judson Arts Wednesdays (JAW) programming, Judson embraces the necessity of art in our lives and nurtures an uncensored environment for innovative expression.

55 Washington Square South Map
212-966-6999