On the AstroTurf, somewhat elevated

L to r: Cori Kresge, Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener perform "r e v e a l" at Elevated Acre
(c)2013, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

At 1:30pm, all looked serene. Three dancer-collaborators--Cori Kresge, Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener--wandered onto the AstroTurf at Elevated Acre, a windswept park up an escalator and 'round the back of an office building not far from Wall Street and a noisy heliport on the Hudson.

Kresge and Riener (c)2013, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

At first, r e v e a l slowly, even shyly disclosed its eccentric self with the trio repeatedly drawing together and spreading apart, a triangle breathing, stretching, morphing and, for a moment, vanishing. 

Rashaun Mitchell (c)2013, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Then Riener buried himself beneath some waxy-looking yellow throw, while Mitchell became a human pretzel propelling and stumbling his way across the fake grass, and Kresge reappeared adorned in black plastic that she worked like some Loie Fuller finery, elegant and dramatic.

Four views of Cori Kresge (c)2013, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Silas Riener rising from the "grass" (c)2013, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

And then the rain came (c)2013, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Wind blew, the sky opened up--at first, taunting, then with increasing vehemence--and most of the audience fled, either back to their offices or to shallow overhangs at the back of 55 Water Street. In heavy downpour, the unperturbed, determined dancers--now dressed in skimpy nude-colored costumes draped in rippling, flame-orange fabric--darted all over the wet AstroTurf. Risky business.

Let's hope the weather r e v e a l s a kinder face on Friday and Saturday (July 5-6), when the trio offer their performance again at 1:30pm, part of this summer's diverse and imaginative River to River Festival. 

But, just in case, pack your brolly.

Free, as always. 

Elevated Acre
55 Water Street, Manhattan
Look for the hot pink River to River flag, and  ride the elevator up.
(map/directions)

From the artists

r e v e a l is a site-specific dance work. It includes transformation, nature, magic, latex, flaying, ecstasy, skin, hair, creatures, monsters, fantasy, aggression, impulses, the future, peristalsis, masks, perception, articulation, control, freedom, exertion, underwater trees, silk, minotaurs, semiotics, aliens, animals, sorcery, urgency, agency, fluency, and the translational acts of communicating through space and movement.

Part of the conceptual and choreographic material for r e v e a l must be attributed to initial explorations that were part of Harrison Atelier’s large-scale installation VEAL, with choreography by Silas Riener in collaboration with Rashaun Mitchell and Cori Kresge.