A Performance Series: February 5 – 17, 1977

FEBRUARY 7, 1977 / JAIME DALGISH and SHARON GOLD
Jaime Dalgish—no information available.
Sharon Gold describes the two pieces she presented as follows: “The first piece, How to Play the Piano, I & II, was two simultaneously screened video tapes. The tapes shared the same audio material, however; in the second tape, I was blindfolded, consequently, the audio and visual timing was syncopated. The second piece consisted of a video tape and simultaneous performance entitled It Arts Me/It Arts Me Not. This piece combines art-language in a humorous way with a formally-treated concert on a toy baby grand piano. The strength of the video/performance lies in the combination of the humorous absurdity in both audio and visual images plus purely formal elements.”

FEBRUARY 8, 1977 / JACOB BURCKHARDT: FILMS
Jacob Burckhardt screened Yaknetuma with Laleen Jayamanne, Three, Marten’s Bar with a poem by Edwin Denby, Mourir en Nueva York with Jose Rafael Arango, Condemned with Geoff Davis, Windmill for Polly, and Works in Regress with Laleen Jayamanne

FEBRUARY 9, 1977 / MINDA NOVEK: NOT TOO SCARY THEATER PIECE (a work in progress) with HELEN BERGGRUEN, MARTIN BERN-STEIN, RENA GILL, CHRIS MILLER, MINDA NOVEK, BERNIE ROHRET, and ELLEN SABINE
Not Too Scary was written and directed by Minda Novek with lighting by Carol Mullins. “The audience is seated in front of a clothesline and quilt curtain. The only thing showing outside the quilts is a row of shoes. Old shoes lined up littlest to biggest, baby to grandfather across the stage area. A young woman in Victorian dress comes forward and begins to open the curtain while she speaks. She is Kaile, the neighbor and season-giver. She sets the scene. She has revealed a large gray photograph . . . a family portrait. As she refers to them, the members of the family come forward, out of the photograph and take their places on the stage area. Some things about this production: the characters never really look at each other. The clothing suggests the turn of the century. Each scene is a season, beginning with Spring, ending with Winter . . . People are transformed from one character to another on stage. There is no linear time here . . .We learn the life of the family, and the death of the family through archaeology.” [artist’s statement]

FEBRUARY 10, 1977 / PAULO NOBRE: BRAZILIAN RITUAL DANCE
Paulo Nobre transformed the entire space at 112 by setting out fresh flowering branches tied into teepee-like structures with candles hanging from each structure, colorful mats on the floor with fruit and nut offerings for the audience, and ritual objects gathered into a circle in the center of the space. Drawing from his experience with Brazilian Makumba ceremony, he performed a dance ritual with candles, various substances, and prerecorded ceremonial music. The artist wore an elaborate gold costume and danced with large tree branches to mark the height of the performance.

FEBRUARY 11, 1977 / ROBYN BRENTANO: PORTRAITS and OUTER SPACE with ROBERT LEVITHAN, RUTH TEPPER (guitar), and KIT CATION (flute) Robyn Brentano presented a two-part performance piece incorporating film, dance, music, and theater activity. On one side of the space, toward the rear, was situated a large, 9×12′ light box, which silhouetted the performers. Above the light box was a 9×12′ movie screen. A tension was achieved between the reflected light and the emanating light of these two surfaces. The film Portraits were of publisher Daniel Moses, artist Ann Wilson, and photographer Peter Hujar. Musicians Ruth Tepper and Kit Cation each played original compositions as Robert Levithan and the artist performed theatre activities, which functioned as visual clues for the films. Outer Space consisted of a 15-minute film of water seen in various natural states and an audio tape by David Anderson who spoke about nuclear physics, quantum mechanics, astronomy, and cosmology. The artist performed a dance piece for the film and audio tape. [artist’s statement]

FEBRUARY 14-15, 1977 / MICHAEL GALASSO, JIM NEU, and LIZ PASQUALE: ECHO RANCH THEATER PIECE with HELEN BERGGRUEN, RICHARD BRINTZENHOFE, MURIEL CASTANIS, FRANK CONVERSANO, CHARLES DENNIS, RAY DUBBINS, MICHAEL GALASSO, PAUL GALASSO, ANDY GURIAN, PAMELA HARLING, CHRIS MILLER, JAY MOSES, JIM NEU, LIZ PASQUALE, ADELE ROBBINS, BERNIE ROHRET, RON ROXBURY, SUE SHEEHY, and SHELLY VALFER
Echo Ranch was the New York City premier of a full-length theater piece previously performed at the Napa Valley Theater Company, Napa, California in September, 1976. The script by Jim Neu was spoken to a continuous musical score by Michael Galasso with choreography by Liz Pasquale. Three settings—a TV game show, a western movie, a suburban backyard—recurred and evolved through the course of the piece. Video by Andy Gurian was used in a pre-taped introduction and in live coverage of the game show, projected on monitors in the space.

FEBRUARY 16, 1977 / ROBIN WINTERS
No information available.

FEBRUARY 17, 1977 / LOUISE UDAYKEE and JOHN MALPEDE
No information available.

Excerpted from Brentano, R., & Savitt, M. (1981). 112 Workshop, 112 Greene Street: History, artists & artworks. New York: New York University Press.