The Watershed
About the Performance
The Watershed, an evening-length work for nine dancers, is a commanding and provocative cross-cultural exploration of Freedom created by Bessie-award winner and 2013 MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham. Featuring Abraham’s signature style of mellifluous fluidity juxtaposed with sharp accents, The Watershed follows the universal aspiration toward freedom and simultaneously references emancipation following the Civil War, the political tumult of 1960s, and civil rights challenges of our present day. The work features arresting scenic design by world-renowned visual artist Glenn Ligon and a score ranging from a contemporary cello suite to the soulful sounds of Otis Redding.
- Choreography
- Kyle Abraham in collaboration with the company
- Lighting & Video Design
Dan Scully
- Set Design
Glenn Ligon
- Costume Design
Karen Young
- Sound Design
Sam Crawford
- Scenic Production Coordinator
Joseph Silovsky
- Music
Fredric Chopin, Inga Copeland, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Hughes, Gudnadottir, Barbara Mason, BJ Nilsen, Otis Redding, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Demdike Stare, Stilluppsteypa, Christopher Tignor, and Giuseppe Verdi.
- Premiere Cast
Kyle Abraham, Matthew Baker, Winston Dynamite Brown, Tamisha A. Guy, Catherine Kirk, Jordan Morley, Penda N’diaye, Jae Neal, Jie-Hung Connie Shiau
- Duration
- 90 minutes
- Premiere
- New York Live Arts, New York (2014)
Support
The Watershed was commissioned and produced by New York Live Arts through its Resident Commissioned Artist Program, with lead support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The Watershed is supported, in part, by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The work was developed, in part, through a production residency at On the Boards with support from the National Dance Project, with funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Support was also provided to New York Live Arts for the commissioning of this work by MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Sets for The Watershed were commissioned, in part, by Rick Beyer.
