The American Realness Festival has continued to gain momentum since its inception at Abrons Arts Center in 2010.
Founder Benjamin Snapp Pryor, a modern dance producer and manager, founded the innovative festival after noticing a need for the dance equivalent of the Under the Radar Festival – a place where the latest experimental work from around the globe could be featured. It has since become just that, and rave reviews continue to pour in. This year, American Realness will present seventeen works in fifty-two performances over eleven days at Abrons Arts Center.
This year’s festival features three world premieres: Ishmael Houston-Jones and Emily Wexler, Mårten Spångberg (commissioned and presented with MoMA PS1 Sunday Sessions), and Jillian Peña; four U.S. premieres: Moriah Evans with Sarah Beth Percival, Eszter Salamon (presented by Museum of Modern Art), Eleanor Bauer, and Dana Michel; two New York premieres: Adam Linder (co-presented by the Goethe Institut) and Scott Heron, who is joined by Lucy Sexton and Anne Iobst for an evening that has unforgettable written all over it; and seven encore engagements: Michelle Boulé, Tina Satter (co-presented by PS 122 and New York City Players), Adrienne Truscott, Juliana F. May, Miguel Gutierrez, Neal Medlyn, and Rebecca Patek.
There are four exhibitions from Sarah Maxfield, Ian Douglas, Neal Medlyn and Fawn Krieger and Ann Liv Young. Show & Tell presents work in progress from Melinda Ring and RoseAnne Spradlin, AR2014 offers workshops with Michelle Boulé and Eleanor Bauer. Indie music venue and bar Cake Shop is popping up as the AR café.
The festival runs through Jan. 19th // $20 // venues and showtimes vary // 466 Grand St.
