For the 8th annual Coney Island Ritual Cabaret, artists were asked to engage with the current cultural and political challenges, from quiet acts of survival to thunderous, transformative rebellion. “What does RESISTANCE! mean to you and how does it lead to transformation — on a personal, societal or human level?”

PRODUCER:

 International Culture Lab – Nick Fracaro and Gabriele Schafer, Artistic Directors

PRESENTER:

Coney Island USA

James Fitzsimmons, Executive Director

Adam Rinn, Artistic Director

Patrick Wall, Technical Director

Dennis Catalfumo, AV Master

Eliza Rinn, Media Director

PRODUCTION DESIGN/CONSULTANTS:  Dennis Catalfumo, Kate Dale, Alix Martin, Emma Pesin

GRAPHIC DESIGN, WALL OF RESISTANCE:  Emma Pesin

COSTUME CONSULTANT:  Kate Dale
STAGE MANAGERS: Daniel Gomez, Konstantin Kahl

PHOTOGRAPHER/VIDEOGRAPHER: Ema Wagner

SPECIAL THANKS to Niki Brico, Luke Kaven, Iren Kamyshev, Samantha Nahra, Emma Pesin, Reese Stanford, Sue Yocum… and to the entire cast and crew for their above-and-beyond dedication!

PROGRAM

Your host, Ritcab T. Clownington aka Ritcab the Clown — featuring T. Bruises — presents:

FRIDAY, MARCH 28: “Mythical Beasts”

THE PRICE OF EGGS, PART 1 :: by Sick Nick with Iren Kamyshev (dance), and Samantha Nahra (vocals)

MYTHICAL BEAST :: by Viscera Nefarious

DOCTA IGNORANTIA :: by Mariya Dimov, with Oihana Garde and music by Sasha Drey

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INTERMISSION In the Freak Bar: 
SACRED BONE ALIGNMENT :: by Leigh Ann Gann (with Elektra Ditto)
PROOF OF DANCE :: by Mae B Raab
(supporting artists: Tina Mistric and Ellie Bell)

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PHILOCTETES ON SPRING GARDEN STREET :: by Dennis Moritz, with Nate C Jones (Elon 2) and Wharton Tract (Philoctetes); Robert Craig Baum short film [Due to illness, the part of videographer will be read by Dennis Moritz]

DOWN WITH BULLIES :: by Kate Dale and Emma Pesin

PERFECTION :: by Liz Leighton, (audio: Samantha Nahra and Aviv Keshet; audio engineer: Max MacKoul)

SATURDAY, MARCH 29: “Black Magic”

ONION SHIELDS :: Director & Choreographer – Iren Kamyshev; Spoken-word Artist – Ben Meller; Music production – DJ Phoolish

WAIL :: by Aviv Keshet

THE REBIRTH RITUAL :: by Luna Feliz, Jai Mohan, and Samantha Nahra
Click here for song translations

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INTERMISSION In the Freak Bar: 
SACRED BONE ALIGNMENT:: by Leigh Ann Gann (with Elektra Ditto)
PROOF OF DANCE :: by Mae B Raab
(supporting artist: Ellie Bell)

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HER KIND :: by Maxine Steinman***

THE THEFT AND RECLAMATION OF POWER IN ONE ACT :: by Alaska the LostBoy and Patrick David Wall

SUNDAY, MARCH 30: “The Living Newspaper”

TRUMP’S NIGHTMARE :: by Emma Pesin

A BIG PICTURE :: (durational interruptus at desk house left) by Stephen Hastings-King

DAUGHTER LIBERTY  :: by Sue Yocum with Luna Feliz, Jai Mohan, Daniel Gomez, Konstantin Kahl, and Liz Leighton as Carlos

SMASHING PIÑATAS, SMASHING BORDERS  :: by Marissa Gutierrez-Vicario

DONNIE WALKS THE PLANK :: by The Anonymous Playwright (Trump), PNK VLVT WTCH (Pirate), Samantha Nahra (Mermaid), Jai Mohan (Mermaid) and Ben Meller (Putin)

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INTERMISSION In the Freak Bar: 
SACRED BONE ALIGNMENT :: by Leigh Ann Gann (with Elektra Ditto)
PROOF OF DANCE :: by Mae B Raab

—–

I LIVED FOR ART (VISSI D’ARTE) :: by Jai Mohan, Emma Pesin, Samantha Nahra, Sue Yocum

EXECUTIVE DISORDER :: by The Anonymous Playwright and Leo Lovely

BODY OF SORROW 3:) MUTATION :: by PNK VLVT WTCH

THE PRICE OF EGGS, PART 2 :: by Sick Nick

Special closing night ritual: THE TEMPLE OF ISHTAR :: The Ishtar Collective (Henri June Bynx, KWD and Volney Gordon)

ENSEMBLE MEMBER BIOS (click here)

INTERNATIONAL CULTURE LAB is a 44-year-old performing arts company. Renowned for its earlier history as Thieves Theatre, ICL interrogated the role of the Other in contemporary society with a series of controversial landmark productions: in 1982’s Marat/Sade, together with Toronto’s On Our Own, a group of anti-psychiatry former mental patients; in the 1987 world-premiere of Fassbinder’s highly controversial and “unproduceable” play, Trash, the City, and Death; and 1990-93’s The Hill (Autonomedia) for which the company’s directors erected a full-sized replica of a Lakota tipi and lived/worked for three years in Manhattan’s oldest shantytown. Podcast here. NYU’s Fales Library is collecting the theater’s archives. intlculturelab.org

YouTube playlists from past Ritual Cabarets

CONEY ISLAND USA exists to defend the honor of American popular culture through innovative exhibitions and performances. Presenting and producing exciting new works, the organization’s approach is rooted in mass culture and the traditions of P.T. Barnum, dime museums, burlesque, circus sideshows, vaudeville, and Coney Island itself. Serving both New York City and an international community that includes visitors to Coney Island and enthusiasts of various cultural forms, Coney Island USA’s signature activities include the Mermaid Parade, the Coney Island Circus Sideshow, the Coney Island Museum, and new theatrical work. coneyisland.com

THE ORIGIN AND GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF CONEY ISLAND RITUAL CABARET Now in its eighth year, Ritual Cabaret is informed by dancer/choreographer Tatsumi Hijikata who co-originated butoh in 1960s Japan in an effort to defy and subvert authority, including conventional notions of dance, thereby seeking transformation — on the personal, societal and human level. Hijikata embraced the zeitgeist of Tokyo’s underground and the Europe-influenced avant-garde arts scene comprised of neo-Dadaism, Fluxus, German Expressionism, Surrealism, and Existentialism. During the day, he trained his dancers by inventing body rituals towards a revolutionary dance form. At night the group then experimented with bringing their exploration into the competitive marketplace of cabaret and burlesque. Inspired by this historical reference, in 2016 ICL founded a butoh, theatre and performing arts festival at Coney Island USA. After three years of directing ensemble workshops and performances for the Festival, Mexico-based Diego Piñón (Body Ritual Movement) coined the term Ritual Cabaret for work that seeks to marry ritualistic physical theatre with cabaret, burlesque and sideshow on the CIUSA stage. The challenge is to deconstruct and reinvent your art form, whatever it might be. If the goal is TRANSFORMATION — of the self, of society, of humanity — what will it take to bring this about? Is it possible to invent a new genre? What is Ritual Cabaret to you?

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*** Music for Her Kind: Excerpts from “Passacaglia” from Partita for 8 Voices written by Caroline Shaw, performed by Roomful of Teeth, and excerpts from Death of Goody Nurse by John Allison; Note: Permission to use “Passacaglia” from Partita for 8 Voices was given from Caroline Shaw and Roomful of Teeth.