“Can I fall in love with someone I don’t know?” dance artist Lauren Baxt said. “Will strangers like me? Will they reject me? Will we be disappointed?”
It’s hard to know what will happen at Lotto Royale, a presentation of one-on-one performances over two days, but it creates tension. It’s like a blind date. Audiences book time slots and are paired with dance artists through a lottery system. “Maybe we don’t want each other,” Bakst said. “But what can we do together?
17 Dance Artists Join This Weekend Artists including Amelia Band, Mayfield Brooks, Moria Evans, Jennifer Monson, Elliot Reed, Alex Rodabo, and Anne Vo will perform six performances over two days as part of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. A private performance will be shown. River to River Festival. This is the second edition of Lotto Royale, first presented in Berlin. The format was devised by dancer and curator Camila Malenchini in collaboration with choreographer Leighton Lachman and collective TENT.
the very nature lotto royale Address the concept of value. Some artists are well-known, but others are less established. “It doesn’t matter who it is,” Marenchini said in an interview on Zoom. “This is someone’s work, a door to experience.”
To participate, spectators book timed tickets, meet the artists at the South Street Seaport Museum, and then travel to a nearby indoor or outdoor spot. There, each performance becomes a strange mix of private and public. The same was true in Berlin. John Hubiera New York dancer-turned-producer who participated as an audience member.
Taken to a park and blindfolded – don’t be afraid, he agreed – Mr Hubial was given something to hold. The paired performers told him not just about the experience of the moment, but about “life, the world, whatever,” Hubier said. “It felt exciting and exhilarating.”
As River to River’s guest curator, Houbier brought Lotto Royale to New York City alongside curators Marencini and Lachman.
“Part of what interests me is the vulnerability of not knowing whose work you’re going to see or who you’ll be paired with,” Hubier said of the concept. “It’s already a pretty intimate proposal, but not knowing who you’re going to spend this moment with will make it even more intense.”
For the audience, such moments may include text, dialogue, or task-based behavior in addition to dancing. Most artists said they had options and alternatives in mind. Some talked about treating the audience like guests. Lotto Royale also requires a certain amount of conviction as it challenges the logic of consumption. Usually when you buy your tickets you have some idea of what you are going to see. But lotteries are random.
The band, one of the participating artists, said: “I keep thinking about the New York Housing Lottery and the Green Card Lottery, and also this artist’s menu. Who’s the big prize?” Who’s the consolation prize? Who’s the steak on the menu and who’s the house salad? Not because I felt there was a hierarchy, but I found it funny and weird. “
Houbier said he hopes the experience will give artists the opportunity to change how they measure performance success. A choreographer wondered how often he would put on six shows in such a row?They could be nimble. You can change or transition from one performance to the next.
Originally born during the pandemic, Lotto Royale was just a vehicle for performance. Marenchini invited about 30 artists, and in public he produced one-on-one performances. The only requirement was to be live. “Performances were trying to adapt to online stuff and video production,” she said. “I thought that raw things were the most important thing.”
Each New York artist has their own unique approach and interests.Alex Rodabo recalls how difficult it was as a spectator when he could see other people during a performance. “I want to feel safe drinking water and shifting weight. I’m also thinking about accessibility,” she said. “I am interested in leaving space so that the audience can understand what they feel comfortable with. I’m not asking the audience to be a good person as much as they are a good person.”
Mayfield Brooks sees the project as an expedition of sorts. “Choosing my own adventure is very exciting for me,” said Brooks. “For me, the journey is part of the performance.”
The exhilarating thing about one-on-ones, Brooks said, is the loss of preciousness from the performance. At the same time, they said, “I feel like there is a lot of fear in the world.” “There is this kind of terror in the subway. just change a little.”
In a video interview with Brooks and Julia Gladstone, who trained to be a psychotherapist and has spent her entire life, Bakst said, “Understanding the nuances of one-on-one relationships.” said he was also thinking about public spaces. Bakst said privatization is underway. “And I think we need to train our general muscles to be able to withstand the presence of others,” she said. “On the Inconvenience of Others” by Lauren Berland. Gladstone gleefully held up his copy.
“In fact, we have to use our abilities to serve the needs of others,” Bakst says. “New York sincerely asks us to do that, especially with respect to the different forms of life that are oppressed and oppressed within the city. I feel like this frame could be an invitation to build that muscle.”
