COMING SOON TO PROVO, UT...
An immersive dance party theatre experience
that navigates friendship, love, and loneliness amid the crowd
that navigates friendship, love, and loneliness amid the crowd
|
|
|
|
|
|
The city of Provo has facilitated an exciting partnership with the Provo Towne Centre and Brown Rice Productions in association with loveDANCEmore in transforming an empty 6,500 square foot retail store into The Break; a multi-room intimate nightclub and home of the immersive dance party theatre experience, You by Graham Brown. The show will emerge within the evening of house, funk, and breaks mixed by The Crate Dwellers. Audience members will then find themselves immersed within the public and private lives of four individuals as they navigate friendship, love, and loneliness amid the crowd. With an audience limited to 50 per night, the show will be an intimate and individualized experience for all.
"Stunningly intricate...a true tour de force"
Rick Westercamp, DC Metro Theatre Arts
Rick Westercamp, DC Metro Theatre Arts
This is not simply a play or a dance concert. It is a fully immersive world that audiences will enter, including a full-scale night club, the separate homes of the lead performers, a restaurant, and many other "secret" environments that audiences will discover throughout the evening. Guests will make many choices- who to follow, what to watch, how much to get involved. No two experiences will be alike. Following the show, doors will open to the public and The Crate Dwellers will keep the party going late into the night.
Listed as one of "Utah's arts standouts"
Kathy Adams, Salt Lake Tribune
Initial research for You began in 2011 in Washington, D.C. and continued in 2013 in Provo, UT. With his cast, Graham created a series of performance studies around two ideas: An exploration of the infectious movement vocabulary and complicated sense of community he experienced in the club scene, paired against abstract representations of simple affirming moments with loved ones at home. This evolved into an evening-length work that reflected on public and private, complexity and simplicity, thrill and tenderness. From the beginning the overarching question posed was, to the audience, “do you see yourself in it?"
"an intimate, exciting, thought-provoking, unique, interesting, playful experience.
...I left wanting to hug the entire cast and audience"
Molly Jorgensen, Idaho State University
"an intimate, exciting, thought-provoking, unique, interesting, playful experience.
...I left wanting to hug the entire cast and audience"
Molly Jorgensen, Idaho State University
In January 2015, proscenium seating was removed from the Rose Wagner Black Box theatre in Salt Lake City and audiences joined the party. They boogied with the performers, sat at the restaurant table next to them, even read a bedtime story to their son Timmy.
"...of art that has made a huge impact on me, You is in the top ten.
I am telling you, it will be with you for years."
C. Jane Kendrick, Local Blogger/Columnist
"...of art that has made a huge impact on me, You is in the top ten.
I am telling you, it will be with you for years."
C. Jane Kendrick, Local Blogger/Columnist
Building on the success of that one-weekend run, the city of Provo and the Provo Towne Centre have given us an amazing gift. This final phase of You will be housed in a beautiful, mysterious, 6,500 square foot high end retail store-turned-nightclub. It will be a fully immersive dance party theatre experience designed for a limited audience and will run for several weeks. It will dive deep into the lives of its characters, transforming the rooms of the club into various public and domestic environments.
"Are you sure you can't stay open...so I can make everyone I know go see You?"
Jessie Kay McCloskey, dance artist
"Are you sure you can't stay open...so I can make everyone I know go see You?"
Jessie Kay McCloskey, dance artist
|
|
You is a huge artistic collaboration. From the city of Provo, to the Provo Towne Centre, to architects, composers, installation artists, stage designers, professional performers across genres, a DJ, restauranteurs, and the list goes on and on... to you. None of this will happen without you getting inside of this great project with us.
"A strong, clear, new vision in the community.
Absolutely one of the best dance/theater experiences of the year”
Eric Handman, University of Utah
"A strong, clear, new vision in the community.
Absolutely one of the best dance/theater experiences of the year”
Eric Handman, University of Utah
Please click HERE for information on donation options, including tickets to the opening weekend performances of You, exclusive only to our donors.
"I truly have not been witness to anything like this production!"
Joseph Blake, dance artist
"I truly have not been witness to anything like this production!"
Joseph Blake, dance artist
ABOUT THE COMPANY
 |
 |
 |
 |
PRODUCTION CREDITS
(Partial list. More TBA)
Artistic Director - Graham Brown. Dramaturgy - Rick Curtiss; Andrea Gunoe. Installation Artist - Aundrea Frahm. Marketing Designer - Michael Grover. Corporate fundraising - Chandler Tanner.
DJ's The Crate Dwellers. Composer, Sound Designer - Michael Wall. Composer, Song Writer - Joel Brown. Composer - David Schulman.
Lead Performers - TBA
Produced by Brown Rice Productions in association with Provo City, the Provo Towne Centre, and loveDANCEmore
PRODUCTION TEAM Bios (partial list)
Graham Brown - Artistic Director
|
Graham Brown (BFA: U of UT; MFA: U of MD) is invested in creating performance work that conveys personal narratives within a highly athletic and rhythmically infectious physicality. Graham has performed a short solo excerpt of You at the Open Look Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, the NextNOW Festival in College Park, MD., and in Havana, Cuba. His work has also been presented by Queen’s College (NY), The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (MD), The Roundhouse Theatre (DC), and The Sugar Space (SLC). In 2004 Graham founded the SLC based improv company Movement Forum, and co-directed it until 2010. He has free-lanced with many choreographers and currently tours with PEARSONWIDRIG DANCETHEATER (NYC/DC). Graham is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Brigham Young University and is sustained by his wife Lehua and their children Isobella, Oliver, Elliette, and Ana.
Brown Rice Productions is the vehicle through which the work of Graham Brown and creative partners is created and presented. |
Michael Wall - Composer,
Sound Designer
|
Mike Wall is a sought after composer of music for dance, video, instillation, jazz, and multimedia collaborations. He has been praised by the New York Times for his “haunting piano score.” His works are performed widely in the U.S. and abroad. Michael has collaborated with Bebe Miller, David Dorfman, Ailey II/Jennifer Archibald and many other choreographers. He has scored, along with Oscar Award Winning composer Darren Morze, “Bel Borba Aqui” and “Neurotypical” which aired on PBS. He is in demand as a educator and performer. Michael has worked for NYU, Princeton University, Rutgers University, The Ohio State University, The American Dance Festival, Bates Dance festival and is currently faculty at The University of Utah. He received a BFA in Jazz Piano from Rutgers University, where he studied with Kenny Barron. Michael performed on Kenny Barron’s Grammy Nominated recording, “Spirit Song”, which also received a special award from Verve Records. He is the founder of soundFORMovement.com, a website dedicated to music for dance with over 300 tracks released in the last year.
|
Joel Brown - Composer, Song Writer
|
Joel Brown is a singer/songwriter and dancer based in London, England. He danced with AXIS Dance Company 2012-2105 and currently dances with Candoco Dance Company. He grew up learning dance and gymnastics from his dancer-mother and gymnast-father. He has produced two solo music albums, From the Dance Studio and In Retrospect as well as created music for Graham Brown's Apple Falling. Joel has performed work and collaborated with choreographers such as Yvonne Rainer, Marc Brew, Alex Ketley, Victoria Marks, Amy Seiwert, Sonja Delwaide, Sebastian Grubb and Graham Brown. He has toured extensively throughout the United States and internationally in Russia, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Joel performed with AXIS on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance in 2012. He was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Performance for AXIS's 2013 home season performance.
|
David Schulman - Composer
|
The music of electric violinist and composer David Schulman has aired nationally on NPR’s Weekend Edition, and has been described as "mysterious and beautiful" by The Washington Post A student of the jazz, salsa, and disco violinist Eddie Drennon, David loves to improvise and generate new work with modern dance companies. He has created original scores for choreographers including Christopher K. Morgan, Andrea Olsen, Daniel Burkholder, Stephanie Miracle, Uprooted Dance, and Dance Exchange. and has toured and performed at the Kennedy Center with PEARSONWIDRIG DANCETHEATER. To hear his debut album, "Quiet Life Motel," and more music, visit quietlifemotel.com
|
Andrea Gunoe - Dramaturg
|
Andrea Gunoe is a theatre practitioner, theorist, and artist. Andrea has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Directing and a Master of Arts degree in Theatre History and Critical Studies from Brigham Young University. As a theatre artist, Andrea focuses on directing, choreography and dramaturgy. Andrea's specialty is in physical theatre, working with the integration of theatre and dance. Andrea participated as the dramaturg in the previous incarnation of You and is excited to be helping to pioneer the role of the Dance Dramaturg in the Utah Valley/Salt Lake City area.
|
Dawn Maughan - Costume Designer
|
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Dawn Maughan is currently the costume designer and coordinator for contemporary dance in the Department of Dance at Brigham Young University. Dawn graduated Summa Cum Laude from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University with a degree in Fashion Design. She has enjoyed being an independent seamstress and leaving a trail of creativity as she followed her husband through graduate and post-doc studies living in Virginia, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa before settling in Utah. She is married to Jeff Maughan, a geneticist at Brigham Young University and is the mother of four children.
|
FOR MORE INFORMATION
info@brownriceproductions.com
Acknowledgements for the SLC premier in January, 2015
The creation of You was made possible with generous support from the Brigham Young University Fulton Dance Endowment and the College of Fine Arts and Communications
The Salt Lake City premier was presented through Repertory Dance Theatre's LINK series which is supported by the Salt Lake County Zoo Arts and Parks initiative
Rowland Hall St. Marks School donated rehearsal space
loveDANCEmore is Brown Rice Production's fiscal sponsor
The Salt Lake City premier was presented through Repertory Dance Theatre's LINK series which is supported by the Salt Lake County Zoo Arts and Parks initiative
Rowland Hall St. Marks School donated rehearsal space
loveDANCEmore is Brown Rice Production's fiscal sponsor
|
|
|
|
|
