Francesca Harper choreographs a site-specific dance work in response to Nick Cave’s expansive installation Until. Cave’s first Soundsuit, made out of twigs, was a direct response to the Rodney King beating, a visual image about social justice that was both brutal and empowering. Just as the violence around the Rodney King beating was the impetus to Cave’s early work, the death of men such as Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown drives his new imagery. For Cave’s MASS MoCA installation, Until — a play on the phrase “innocent until proven guilty,” or in this case “guilty until proven innocent” — he addresses issues of gun violence, gun control policy, race relations, and gender politics in America today.
Ms. Harper was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical by Broadway.com for her role as Billie Holiday in a production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.
THE DREAM MACHINE EXPERIENCE is an ambitious leap forward into the future of entertainment, art, and experience. It combines multiple art forms, media, and disciplines to offer a world, conceived by Nona Hendryx in collaboration with Francesca Harper and many more renown artists, incorporating performances, sound design, music composition, filmmaking, choreography, graphic art, 3D modeling, game design, musical genealogy, Afro-futurism, coding, and virtual reality development. Although it can be experienced solo, it is intended for community.
Together we are stronger than any one of us could ever imagine.
After the first intermission “System”, a new work choreographed by Francesca Harper, was performed to a throbbing score by John Adams. Chicago Sinfonietta’s string quartet wasprominently in view during the final movement, replacing the canned music prior. They played with such evident force and effort to make the insistent score happen, that their physical presence seemed like an added audio exclamation mark.
An excerpt of The Francesca Harper project performing at New Jersey Performing Arts Center with The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in Creatures of Prometheus by Ludwig Von Beethoven with choreography by Francesca Harper, and Libretto by Murray Horowitz.
ANATOMIA 01 discusses historical contexts, genesis and a contemporary society that is trying to reconstruct its values and procure ways of organizing itself. Our coreographic work is focused on empathy and solidarity with others who have responded.
“Trabalhar com o Balé da Cidade tem sido um marco em minha experiência coreográfica. O processo não só faith creativo, mas recíproco. Recebi uma troca artística que é transformadora não apenas para minha arte diária, mas para minha life,” explained Harper.
Francesca Harper was a first international coreographer convinced by Ismael Ivo who assumed a company with her last year. A lesson from Harper for Balé da Cidade has to be at the highest technical level of the artist, destacando or iconic work like William Forsythe (internationally recognized coreographer of his work with the Frankfurt Ballet), even as it has its object to reflect the moments of society. “Francesca is one of the best names in today's contemporary dance and is an orgulho trazer and many others like her first international coreographer,” affirmed Ismael Ivo.
In collaboration with renowned American artist Carrie Mae Weems, award-winning theater director Niegel Smith and acclaimed choreographer Francesca Harper, Hendryx created Refrigerated Dreams, an immersive multimedia installation and concert transforming Joe’s Pub into the dinner party of the season…Inspired by Weems’s seminal The Kitchen Table Series, the work-in-progress is directed by Smith and features choreography and performances by Harper, Josh Johnson and The Francesca Harper Project, with original music by Hendryx. (Hyperallergic 2018).
*Ailey II apprentice
Inspired by her Ailey homecoming, Artistic Director Francesca Harper’s Freedom Series travels through a landscape of memories creating a series of vignettes that embody and imagine a hybrid world where memory strives to influence the future. In this new iteration of her work, after social distancing, Harper has created a unique interactive dance performance that celebrates community and new opportunities to gather and come together. The Freedom Series will create a space to explore the body’s relationship to freedom through movement and music, encouraging attendees to participate safely. Participation, however, is not required to enjoy the performance.
Francesca Harper Movement Director, English composer Jonathan Dove and librettist Alasdair Middleton collaborate on this beautiful piece specially commissioned by Lincoln Center—a sweeping choral work exploring the emotional toll of climate change and our hope for a better future ahead. Search for Spring is sung by hundreds of community voices, coming together to create a unique, spectacular performance. Simon Halsey conducts and leads a team of six exceptional New York City conductors. This performance continues Lincoln Center’s history of highly acclaimed choral commissions and outdoor world premieres including John Luther Adams’s In the Name of the Earth (2018) and David Lang’s the public domain (2016).
“Crooked places will be made straight.” An FHP Film in association with Nel Shelby Productions © 2020 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Ailey II Artistic Director Francesca Harper and Director Ezra Hurwitz and joined forces to conceive a film tribute in collaboration with The Whitney Museum of American Art that evokes Alvin Ailey's “blood memories” and the enduring power of his legacy. Accompanied by music from GRAMMY Award-winning band Radiohead, Echoes of Ailey proudly won an EMMY AWARD in addition to two Webby Awards.
Choreographed and Directed by Francesca Harper
Original Music by Nona Hendryx
Lighting Designer: Itohan Edoloyi
Costume Designer: Elias Gurrola
Projection Designer: Allison Costa
Assistant Choreographer: Eriko Iisaku
Production Stage Manager: Joshua Gustafson
CAST:
Nicholas Begun, Spencer Everett, Eriko Iisaku, Raven Joseph, Timothy Stickney, Christopher Taylor, Brena Thomas
FILM CREW:
Co-Director: Redha Medjellekh
Assistant Director: Shuhan Xie
Director of Photography: Sebastian Rogers
Assistant Camera: Jules Rico
Hair and Makeup: Danielle Alyce
Editor: Evy Garcia
Consulting Editor: Derrick Belcham
A production of THE OFFICE performing arts + film
Exploring her own memories, inspired by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Loving V. Virginia, Harper re-imagines an excerpt from her work in progress, ‘Unapologetic Body,’ and explores both the intersectionality and divergence of miscegenation and its evolution over time. With cinematography by Daniel Madoff assisted by Peter Fernberger, a score by Slowdanger and Arcoiris Sandoval, lighting by Tuce Yasak, and poetry by Alice Dunbar Nelson. Harper asks us to re-imagine love through an inclusive lens and help actively define a future for love.
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