Energy continues at a high here at Jacob’s Pillow as we enter the ninth and final week of Festival 2024, welcoming four artists to the Henry J. Leir Stage – Christopher Unpezverde Núñez, South Chicago Dance Theatre, DaEun Jung, and Princess Lockerooo & the Fabulous Waack Dancers!
Appearing for the first time at Jacob’s Pillow are Christopher Unpezverde Núñez, South Chicago Dance Theatre, and DaEun Jung. Read on to learn more about this week’s Henry J. Leir artists making their Pillow debut!
Christopher Unpezverde Núñez
How does it feel to make your Pillow debut?
It feels like a celebration! For 25 years I have worked on inclusion, diversity and accessibility in the arts. Uncompromising work takes a long time to cook, but it is celebrated in the long run. Never give up, the right people and the right place is out there looking for you!
Tell us a bit about the work you’ll be presenting this week.
The Circle or Prophetic Dream is an anthropological research on how the body and sound inhabit social space as new forms of nomadism, in the midst of the current migration crisis caused by displacement, climate change and land appropriation. [We] excavate between the historical and genetic memory linked to the natural (indigenous) people of the Central American Atlantic Coast, the political and social conflicts resulting from the long and chaotic process of colonization, which culminated in forced migration.
YO OBSOLETE meditates on imagination as a survival mechanism. Escapism from reality to worlds of fantasy and symbolism. Parallels between the mystical and embodied experiences. The performance navigates through altered states of consciousness, reaching deep levels of ancestral memory embodied in the form of poetry, songs, movement, installation and story telling.
How have you prepared for this performance?
Slow but steady. My team of collaborators identify as disabled, immigrant, and or queer. We rehearse at our own pace without leaving anyone behind!
What are you most excited about for this performance on the Leir Stage?
The community, the audience. Dance happens in the hearts of people.
What do you want audiences to think about when watching this performance?
Get in touch with your imagination. Let go. Live the experience, this moment in the present.
South Chicago Dance Theatre
How does it feel to make your Pillow debut?
It is an absolute dream come true! When I learned that my company was chosen to perform on the Henry J. Leir Stage, I jumped up and down in my apartment with so much joy because I was surprised to receive this news and thankful that South Chicago Dance Theatre (SCDT) would be in this historic space this summer.
Tell us a bit about the work you’ll be presenting this week.
SCDT is a repertory company, and we will be sharing two of my works as well as two works by choreographers that I admire, Stephanie Martinez and Tsai Hsi Hung. It will be an eclectic sharing of contemporary and jazz dance, featuring South Chicago Dance Theatre’s “signature high energy performance style” The Chicago Crusader.
How have you prepared for this performance?
We had a very intensive rehearsal process throughout the month of August to prepare this concert. Also, my brand new solo, Garnered by Grace, premiered in New York City at the Dance Magazine 25 to Watch LIVE event at Ailey Citigroup Theater in July. The premiere of this solo allowed me to workshop the piece and test it out it in front of a live audience prior to our Pillow debut.
What are you most excited about for this performance on the Leir Stage?
I was an Ann and Weston Hicks Choreography Fellow in 2021 and it is rewarding to return with my company this summer! It also feels good to be a part of the community and to be able to share my choreographic and directorial work with the Pillow’s audience.
What do you want audiences to think about when watching this performance?
As a choreographer and curator, I’m always thinking about new ways to entertain people…it’s a part of the fabric of my being coming from a family of jazz musicians. I hope that the audience leaves our performance feeling “lifted,” “energized,” “joyful,” and most of all that the work nurtures the individual creative spirit of each person attending the show that evening.
DaEun Jung
How does it feel to make your Pillow debut?
I am thrilled to share my work at Jacob’s Pillow, a place I first learned about from a dance history textbook as a student.
After the pandemic, the local live dance performance scene became noticeably quieter. I can’t wait to reaffirm the necessity of dance-making by witnessing the massive number of dance enthusiasts from all around the world coming to see live dances at the Pillow!
Tell us a bit about the work you’ll be presenting this week.
The work is called NORRI, meaning “play” in Korean. You will see 7 footsteps and 16 gestural movements originating from Korean ancestors, repeated by 4 dancers in varying patterns, timings, intensities, and individual grooves. Colorful gridlines on the dance floor, matching the dancers’ skirt and sock colors, along with nonstop electronic beats and live Pansori (Korean folk opera) vocals, guide and challenge the dancers’ journey to playfully develop and complete the collective choreographic tasks.
How have you prepared for this performance?
The collaborative team of NORRI, based in Los Angeles, has been working on this project for more than two years. Our performance at the Pillow will culminate our time spent together in rehearsal rooms, on stages, and around lunch and dinner tables during local rehearsals, performances, tours, and residencies.
What are you most excited about for this performance on the Leir Stage?
We have performed this work in different venues with various configurations, but all were indoor stages. This will be our first time performing on an open outdoor stage with a large audience. I am excited to revive the ancient Korean folk dance scene on the Leir Stage, where the dancers’ energy will circulate through the surrounding trees, the live singer’s voice will reach out to the sky, and the audience will experience the performance and each other through their open body senses.
What do you want audiences to think about when watching this performance?
I hope you… Discover the spatial and temporal patterns in the dancers’ movements and enjoy the complex layers of their performance. Notice how they reinterpret gestural movements of traditional Korean dance with their contemporary grooves and how you can connect with both the dancers and Korean ancestors. Let the rhythm of the electronic beats and live Pansori singing guide you to find your own groove.
This Pillow Pick was written by KC Lin and published on August 15, 2024.