New Genre Festival returning with diverse schedule of activities

By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer on Feb 21, 2013, at 2:29 AM Updated on 2/21/13 at 6:32 AM

The New Genre Festival is on the move.

The 20th annual celebration of the latest in innovative and provocative visual and performing arts, presented by Living Arts of Tulsa, will feature artists for whom movement is a primary means of expression.

“New Genre is exciting, edgy and energizing,” said Kate Silvey, chairperson for this year’s festival, “and it’s intended to challenge our perceptions of what art should be and spotlight what it can be.”

The concept behind New Genre is how traditional concepts about art can be changed through the incorporation of new media and new technologies, blending multiple disciplines into a single work of art.

New Genre is also as much about the process of creating art and the discoveries that can be made during that process as it is about the finished work being presented. To that end, several of the artists for New Genre XX will be conducting workshops for students and adults to encourage further explorations of creativity.

Some events are free, others require tickets. A New Genre festival pass will allow access to all festival events. The Festival Pass is $55 and available by calling 918-585-1234

Space in most of the workshops is limited, and reservations should be made by calling 918-585-1234 or emailing steve@livingarts.org.

This year’s festival begins with a pair of endings: the closing receptions for two exhibits that have been on display at the Living Arts Space, 307 E. Brady St., for a month.

“Transitory Spaces” is the collaborative installation by Houston artists Gissette Padilla and H. Jennings Sheffield that combine Padilla’s two-dimensional images with Sheffield’s mixture of video to create an environment that examines the concept of memory.

“Temple Hive” is the creation of another Houston artist, Monica Vidal. It’s a room-filling installation that recalls the artist’s habit as a child of building a hideaway out of quilts and blankets, isolating oneself to contemplate a world of pattern and texture.

The closing reception for these two exhibits will be 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Living Arts. Admission is free.

The Jordan Fuchs Dance Company will present “Strange Planet,” an evening-length work, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Tulsa PAC, 110 E. Second St.

Inspired in part by Fuchs’ recent move from New York City to Denton, Texas, “Strange Planet” is about disorientation – achieved in large part through the fact that much of this dance theatre work is improvised, from the movements of the individual dancers to the music that accompanies it.

Tickets are $10-$20, 918-596-7111, tulsaworld.com/mytix

The Jordan Fuchs Dance Company will conduct two workshops: “Shift!,” an improvisational movement class for students, will be at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Central High School, 3101 W. Edison St. An adult workshop will be held 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Kendall Hall Theatre, University of Tulsa, 800 S. Tucker Ave. The student workshop is free; the adult workshop is $10.

Artist Saya Woolfalk creates installations and performance pieces that meld science-fiction constructs with painting, sculpture and movement. “Institute of Empathy: Ritual Room,” which will open March 1 at Living Arts of Tulsa, explores the idea of what would happen if a community of humans became like plants.

The March 1 opening, from 5 to 7 p.m., will feature a special performance that will include five Tulsa dancers, video projections, brightly colored and fantastically designed costumes and live narration. The installation itself will be on display through March.

Woolfalk will also conduct a student workshop 4:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Living Arts Space. Participants can help create props for the “Ritual Room” installation.

The Lost Wax Multimedia Dance troupe brings its acclaimed work “Particular” to the Tulsa PAC for two performances, at 8 p.m. March 1 and 2.

“Particular” takes dancers trained in a variety of specific dance styles – ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop – and employs those skills in a work that examines the comforting lure of the crowd against the more treacherous path only an individual can follow.

Tickets are $10-$20; 918-596-7111

Company members will conduct workshops on creating multimedia works – one for students (5 p.m. Wednesday at Living Arts of Tulsa), the other for adults (2 p.m. March 2 at Howard Auditorium, Oral Roberts University, 7777 S. Lewis Ave.). Cost for the adult workshop is $10.

Poet, playwright and composer Lenelle Moise tells the story of two friends who head for Europe to pursue their dreams of stardom in “Expatriate,” to be presented 8 p.m. March 1-2 at the Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.

The two friends created a sensation as a singing duo, but their individual lives follow different paths – one toward artistic and spiritual sustenance, the other leading to destruction from a heedless pursuit of fame.

Tickets are $7-$15 and available at the door.

Moise will lead two workshops. The adult workshop is designed for those “interested in radical self-expression and improvisational vocal composition.” It will be 7-10 p.m. Wednesday at Living Arts LAB, 308 S. Kenosha Ave.

The student workshop will focus on developing an ensemble performance poem on stage. It will be 2-5 p.m. March 2 at Living Arts, 307 E. Brady St. Both workshops are free.