LIVINGSTON MANOR — Catskill Art Space is proud to present a full program of performing art and dance over the month of October. The festivities open on October 7 with Neil Greenberg’s The Disco Project Remix 2023. The performance, which is free and open to all, will take place at 4pm on the second floor River Gallery of Catskill Art Space, 48 Main Street, Livingston Manor, NY. This event will be followed by a talk-back with Greenberg and the performers.

On October 20 at 6pm, emerging choreographer Olga Rabetskaya workshops a new piece as the culmination of The Ardsley Dance Residency, co-presented by CAS and Dance Gallery Festival in the picturesque Catskill Mountains. Bill Beirne’s They Could Be Dancing will take to the democratic spaces of Main Street over October 20 and 22, addressing the presentation of self in public spaces and explores the routinization of our everyday behavior. Details on each program follow.

Neil Greenberg’s The Disco Project Remix 2023, October 7 at 4pm.

Adapted from The Disco Project (1995), Greenberg’s recollection of lives lost to AIDS and an acceptance of his own HIV+ status, this updated remix stages elements of its original choreography for the CAS space. The work addresses experiences of liberation, trauma, and survival through a transvisual inquiry into the power of LGBTQIA vocal anthems like RuPaul, Sylvester, and Jimmy Somerville, while experiencing post-modern dance.  A combination of movement for five dancers (including Greenberg), projected text, and an assemblage of recorded audio, the work authentically recalls lives affected by AIDS, with diary-like directness.

Influenced by his time as a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Greenberg expanded Cunningham’s radical methods that fostered an autonomous relationship between choreography, music and scenography. While the energy of vigorous dance might delight its audience to the disco soundtrack, the same gestures would also be performed in silence, creating a startling effect that shudders with the reality of life during an epidemic. The performance will be followed by a talk-back with the choreographer and dancers, offering the audience privileged access and insight to the creative process and the artists’ personal lived experiences. Like most of the Catskill Art Space programming, this performance is free and open to the public. This project is made possible in part with funding from a Sullivan County Arts and Heritage Grant, funded by the Sullivan County Legislature and administered by Delaware Valley Arts Alliance.

The Ardsley Dance Residency Presentation, October 20 at 6pm.

Together with the Dance Gallery Festival (DGF), CAS is thrilled to welcome emerging choreographic and dance talent for a week-long residency in Livingston Manor. The residency brings together choreographer Olga Rabetskaya and collaborators for an immersive creative experience intended to enhance the deliberation and depth of the work that is created. In its sixth year, this annual residency has been fruitful for choreographers workshopping new dances, giving space and inspiration to create in the picturesque Catskill mountains. Audiences are invited to view the dance workshopped over the residency, and participate in a talk-back with the choreographer and dancers.

Rabatskaya will workshop and premier Sand, a 30-35 minute choreographic work with four dancers and two musicians that explores how individuals from different cultures get along and find peace with each other and harmony within ourselves. It reveals how beliefs can be unsteady like falling sand. As a Belarussian immigrant and part of a large diasporic wave happening now, Rabatskaya’s work hopes to communicate that multiculturalism, identity, and beliefs change greatly based on points of origin and lived experiences. 

Bill Beirne’s They Could Be Dancing, October 20 - 22, 11am – 5pm.

For several hours concurrent with the opening hours of the Catskill Art Space, performer Bill Beirne will walk in a predetermined route along Livingston Manor’s Main Street, appearing as any other pedestrian. His movements do not differ from those that one might see at any time. He follows the proscribed route with a series of choreographed movements, each repeated in the same sequence at the same locations. The performance allows for routine interruptions such as someone recognizing or talking to the performer or asking for information such as directions. Free and open to all, They Could Be Dancing addresses the presentation of self in public spaces and explores the routinization of our everyday behavior.