Brooklyn Ballet & The Immigrant Artist Biennial

About the Performance

The evening will feature Unnatural Surrounding performed by immigrant and other dancers from the Brooklyn Ballet against the backdrop of Utopia Process (2018), a video piece by The Immigrant Artist Biennial alumni artist Chen Wang. As Brooklyn Ballet dancers enliven the work in clusters throughout the space, the video uses surreal sets and costumes to splice utopian and dystopian fictional digital spaces. The juxtaposition and melting of these dark yet fantastical scenes acts as a playful mirror to the artist’s rejection of societal norms while constructing a new vision of gender and sexuality.

Dancers: Audrey Borst, ChrissyAnn Carpenter, Bobby “Anime” Major, Aoi Ohno, and Ladell “Mr. Ocean” Thomas.

The event coincides with Fotografiska New York’s largest exhibition to date, make BELIEVE, presenting the photographic oeuvre of David LaChapelle, who is deeply inspired by dance. There will be a cash bar and entrance to make BELIEVE is included in the ticket price.

For 20 years Brooklyn Ballet has radically recast who makes ballet, who performs ballet, and who gets to see ballet. The company was founded by choreographer and performer Lynn Parkerson who serves as its Artistic Director. Brooklyn Ballet operates a professional not-for-profit dance company and a world-class dance school, and serves as a community arts provider bringing dance instruction to public school children and performance to diverse communities across Brooklyn.

The Immigrant Artist Biennial is the only large-scale multi-site exhibition to focus on immigrant artists and its second edition will take place in 2023. The Patron Circle is a dynamic group of supporters who receive unparalleled access to immigrant artists and their environment in New York City through private tours of artists’ studios, meet and greets with gallerists, and curator-led tours at institutions.

photo credit William Miller