Dispatch: Humboldt

Woke up yesterday morning Hidden in Springs along the Avenue of Giants in trees stewarded under the name Humboldt. A delayed flight granted time to meander through some pacific coast beauties. The mantra of this walk, “oh my… oh my… ohhhhhhh myyyy…” It demands to be murmured out loud. The older couple in the same beaming state of awe seemed to appreciate this as-articulate-as-it-gets voicing of our collective thought-stumbles.

Found Aoshuang and Afsoon up the north Coast of CA. Up the coast Steven at Thomas H Kuchel Visitor Center gave us all kinds of recommendations for big trees for low bottomed cars. Equipped with maps we kept on north.

The trees were calling so after some Thai in Town we jumped over to Jedediah Smith State Park. And oooooohed and awwwwed all the way. Until we got lost. Pro-tip: pin your parking spot. We hi-tailed it back past our photo-op cookie trail and found the vehicle at sundown.

Con Alma Dec '20

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View this email in your browser El alma que canta se sacude la quietud y la tristeza elevando su espíritu para exhalar esperanza. En aprecio por la creación inspirada por  la luz de la luna reflejada en nosotros da vuelo a las alas por cualquier medio posible. Estamos más allá de las palabras. The singing soul shakes off stillness  and sorrow lifting its spirit to exhale hope.  In appreciation for the creation we inspire  by the moonlight reflected off each other  that gives flight to the wing by any possible means. We are beyond words.* Magos Herrera performing in a video of Rojo Sol accompanied by Kevork Mourad's live painting captured at a rehearsal for Con Alma  Dear Every Body, Here we are.  I usually wait and send these emails when I have a season's worth of work. This time I have one work to offer. But it's perfect for the season. During our isolation Paola Prestini and Magos Herrera recorded an album called Con Alma. They worked with over 30 musicians in Mexico, Germany, Italy, Brazil and New York. The album was released last week so you can check it out now. I have joined Paola and Magos to create a live, international, communal event for the occasion. Remember album release parties? The Con Alma Project expands the circle of collaborators to include Kevork Mourad, Eamonn Farrell, Andy Carluccio and Liminal and is being anchored by a skeleton crew at National Sawdust with Charles Hagaman and Garth Macaleavey where we also got the band back together with James Fry and Alyssa Howard.  The broadcast can be seen by viewers in Mexico via Canal 22 and will be available in the US on WNET All-Arts. And for those without a TV, it can be streamed on National Sawdust's website. The hour-long broadcast is a kind of visualization of the album that weaves music videos created during the pandemic with animations Kevork will be live-painting, Magos performing (which causes the jaw to drop in astonished appreciation), and real-time conversations between Paola, Magos and artists heard on the album who are based in Germany, Amsterdam (thank you for being up so early/late!) and Harlem as well as thoughts from journalist Carmen Aristegui and New Museum Deputy Director Karen Wong. We've also designed sections for video content solicited from our potential audience via a social media campaign that asks to share your sound of isolation. And we will be experimenting with this prompt during the event as well. Since it is primarily seen by a TV audience we ask for words that describe your isolation via twitter and the hashtag #conalmaproject. It will give you an opportunity to add your voice to a textual chorus. I continue to be grateful for the opportunity to create situations that reinforce our mutual here-ness. While here, we can watch something together, listen to music and take a trip. In anticipation of the months ahead and out of respect for how fleeting here is, this is a good reminder. When not here I imagine being together. Happy to fill the time between now and then with the creations shared by this community. Thank you for being here and for your inspiration. In love and solidarity and making, Ashley  *at - for Con Alma. Thanks Luis Moreno for the translation help Con Alma  Created by Paola Prestini and Magos Herrera Directed by Ashley Tata  Sunday 12.13.20 @ 19.00 est More info at National Sawdust  Featuring: Paola Prestini Magos Herrera Kevork Mourad  Carmen Aristegui Viola Blache Marie-Charlotte Seidel Adedayo Perkovich Karen Wong   Video Design: Eamonn Farrell Production Engineer: Andy Carluccio Liminal  Production Team: James Fry Alyssa Howard Vanessa Rebeil Charles Hagaman Garth MacAleavey Presented by The Mexican Government through the Secretary of Culture, Canal 22, Radio Educación, ALL ARTS/WNET and National Sawdust Commissioned by Jill and Bill Steinberg  With additional support from The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, Geraldina Interiano and Scott W. Wise Kevork Mourad and Paola Prestini rehearsing Con Alma at National Sawdust ACTION SIGN AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INCOMING ADMINISTRATION TO ESTABLISH A SECRETARY OF ARTS & CULTURE READ AND SIGN HERE #BEANARTSHERO #SAVETHEARTS Planted This fall the first cohort of resident artists at Brooklyn Academy of Music was announced. BAM has been foundational to my development as an appreciator and practitioner of the arts. And I'm a bit overwhelmed to be a member of this thrilling group.  Myself and the following list of staggeringly talented collaborators are still working on creating a Virtual Reality proof-of-concept piece that combines a physical and sonic installation with a 10-minute VR experience. We've continued to be generously supported with time and space through my residency at 153 Coffey in Red Hook, BK and have received some financial support from BAM. If you have any interest in hearing more about this project please hit me up. Virtual Reali-Tree collaborators (yes, yes I did): Visual/In Real and Virtual Reality Designers: Afsoon Pajoufar + Aoshuang Zhang  Sound Designer/Composers and Performer: Eliza Bagg + Sadah Espii Proctor + Booker Stardrum And myself. So far. Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*

10K Birds August '20

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This is information about In Real Life theatrical/musical experiences Dear Every Body, The subject is correct. Live Performance attended by a live audience happening tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday 08.06 + 08.07 in this year of Covid19 2020.  Writing from PS21 (on land of the Mohican) in Chatham, NY - about 20 minutes Northeast of Hudson, NY.  Here with Alan Pierson and the wildly talented musicians of Alarm Will Sound working on their production of John Luther Adams's Ten Thousand Birds. One of the adaptations is for an open-air pavilion setting which can safely allow audience members and musicians to corporeally share this experience. Additionally, I'm designing and directing an ambulatory work on the grounds of the space entitled Follow me into the Fields. This work disperses performers along acres of trails marked by 10' tall, sky-blue pillars adorned with bird flight, a few frogs and access to calls and images. The invitation is to allow audience members to listen with their entire bodies and assemble sonic compositions of their individual making organized through their perception of the interplay of nature, musician, and documented artifacts. While I'm a major advocate for the live cyberworks that are being created and developed these days and continue to encourage anyone interested to pursue the furthering of this burgeoning form (I have a few more of these in the works. Go cyberformance! It's real, it's safe, it's live, there's a way to fund it: figure it out. Real arts lovers support safe cyberart - see below for access to ZoomOSC...) it is pretty thrilling to be talking to people about how bodies will move through time and space. Working on irl performance when the opportunity arises feels more necessary than ever. The portrait shot and all that it frames has been hyper active these last few months while the rest of the self has been in a freeze-frame. Inviting audience and artists to gather - to put their bodies on the line - is a big ask. And I am grateful and inspired by how Alarm and PS21 are diligently working to ensure that everyone is and feels safe. Perceiving this security is paramount. Only when the gathered see that the rule of 6' is being observed and that everyone around them has assembled en masque can the artist enter the flow of creative performance and the audience become an open receiver able to "see better" the world around them - their molecules altered. So here's to more of that. Here's to the future of the form which includes the integration of all that we're learning. And here's to supporting each other and demanding that our society respects and truly supports our artists in all their disciplines, lineages, experiences as we continue to forge a democratic ideal and the soul-deepening opportunities we create with every work we make. Information about each of these performances below.  If you're unable to make it irl but want to check out Follow me... I will be streaming a version on ig live: @tatatime_ on Thursday 8/6 @ 18.00 est And the Gala performance of Ten Thousand Birds will be streamed live on PS21s Facebook page on Friday 8/7 @ 19.00 est  Keep reading beyond information about this week's performance for links to works by a few other artists who's work can be experienced right now as well as a project I'm making with some incredible collaborators over the next few months. FOLLOW ME INTO THE FIELDS 08.06.20 @ 18.00 eastern On-Site + In-Person At PS21 Meet at Crellin Park 2940 Route 66 Chatham, NY 12037 And streaming on IG live @tatatime_   TEN THOUSAND BIRDS 08.07.20 @ 16.00 eastern On-Site + In-Person At PS21 2980 Route 66 Chatham, NY 12037 Tickets & @ 19.00 eastern as a part of PS21s Gala (in person) and streaming via PS21s Facebook Page TEN THOUSAND BIRDS is based on the songs of birds that are native to, or migrate through, the area in which the piece is performed. Inspired by birdsong, composer John Luther Adams connects nature and music in subtle yet profound ways. The performance, directed by conductor Alan Pierson and opera director Ashley Tata, transforms PS21’s open-air setting; as the birdsongs become music, the entire surroundings become a performance space, blurring the lines between human creativity and natural phenomena. “One of my greatest hopes for my music is that it may be of use. So I’m thrilled that Alan [Alan Pierson, Alarm Will Sound Artistic Director and Conductor] and the musicians of Alarm Will Sound have found such a creative use for Ten Thousand Birds. At this difficult moment, it’s more import- ant than ever for us to remember our connections with the larger-than-human world, and to celebrate the never-end- ing music of this miraculous planet that is our one and only home.” –John Luther Adams, about this upcoming performance John Luther Adams, Ten Thousand Birds  Conceived and designed by Alan Pierson  Directed by Alan Pierson with Ashley Tata  Production design by Gavin Chuck  Staging by Peter Ferry ALARM WILL SOUND PERSONNEL John Romeri, flute Hayley Grainger, flute  Christa Robinson, oboe  Marianne Gythfeldt, clarinet  Elisabeth Stimpert, clarinets  Michael Harley, bassoon  Laura Weiner, horn Tim Leopold, trumpet  Hakeem Bilal, trombone  Jeffrey Irving, percussion  Eric Poland, percussion  Matt Smallcomb, percussion  John Orfe, piano, keyboards  Courtney Orlando, violin  Chris Otto, violin Dana Kelley, viola Jay Campbell, cello Logan Coale, bass Miles Brown, bass Alan Pierson, conductor and Artistic Director Gavin Chuck, Executive Director Annie Toth, General Manager Jason Varvaro, Production Manager Peter Ferry, Assistant Director of Artistic Planning  Chihiro Shibayama, Librarian PS21 STAFF Elena Siyanko, Executive Director; Kelly Mackerer, Operations Director; Nina Mankin, Development Director; Kelsie Qua, Administrative Associate; Sandy Cleary, Producing Associate; Oleg Balitskiy, Lead Technician; Delia Ernst, Electrician; Connor Martin, Audio Engineer; Liz Connell, Stagehand CURRENT INSPIRATION Bird-related: Kerry James Marhsall's Black and part Black Birds in America at Zwirner. Online studio visit accessed here Theater in Quarantine Joshua William Gelb and collaborator Katie Rose McLaughlin and guests have been creating regular works that challenge what one can do in and around the closet. Super inspiring. Check it out. Currently being presented by Invisible Dog. Thanks, ID! Cairns Gelsey Bell has created a sonic experience on the grounds of Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Maybe I'll see some of y'all here. Presented by HERE Arts Center. Thanks, HERE! And while you're over at the HERE site - check out thingNY's A Series of Landscapes  Promoting the good people of thingNY because I adore and am regularly inspired by each of them. And am currently collaborating with Jeff Young and Paul Pinto on their series, Motivators. This is a semi-regularly scheduled and performed program. Check the link and sign up for more info. New Phase Collective has been formed by some cross-disciplinary makers and I'm really excited about what they have coming up. They describe the collective as "a collaboration between a people and their time." Going on: "These ten artists ranging in theatrical discipline are following the evolving truths of what performance is now, has always been, and can be in the future. This ongoing exploration exists inside a redefined landscape of collective vision, communal health, and shared performance." They have a work this weekend. I'm planning to attend the 2pm on Saturday. Maybe see you there. THE COLLECTIVE Kindall Almond, Jacob Basri, Zach Blumner, Ebony Burton, Henry Nettleton, Lexx Onigbanjo, Leia Squillace, Tyler Thomas, Anton Volovsek, and Christopher Wong For making works of Cyber: WunderKind Andy Carluccio has started a company, Liminal Entertainment. We call him President Carluccio now. #upgrade. His program ZoomOSC which is what he coded for our production of Mad Forest is available for free via this website. As well as a bunch of other really fun toys they're madly developing. Thrilled to be in this laboratory of mad scientists. Part of my residency at Coffey Studios is built around coming up with fun theatrical problems for Andy and team to solve. I'm thrilled to have a few opportunities in educational institutions this fall to problematize. As well as a project with novelist and playwright Chana Porter which I hope to be able to share end of September. If you have other experiments in mind, holler. Let's make a combustion. And finally   A Seed. Myself and the following list of staggeringly talented collaborators are working on creating a Virtual Reality proof-of-concept piece that combines a physical and sonic installation with a 10-minute VR experience. Our goal is to be able to have an opening (physically distanced, en masque) in late September/early October at 153 Coffey in Red Hook, BK. In order to help fund this work I will be making an ask. Seed planted. If you may be interested in hearing more I'm happy to share design and conceptual ideas, expound upon the vision and tell you more about why this work now. In brief: it's about Tree and the experiment is to begin to access the un-human-fathomable, apophatic, scale of time experienced by these magnificent and precious creatures. And allow us to contemplate why we should be working as hard as possible to allow these beings to do the thing they were put on this planet to do.  If you're a person who has historically supported institutions and are wondering where the artist support has gone while the institutions try to maintain their overhead, maybe consider cutting out the middle-tution and giving directly to the artists who are making the work with or without institutional and governmental support. For now.  Virtual Reali-Tree collaborators (yes, yes I did): Visual/In Real and Virtual Reality Designers: Afsoon Pajoufar + Kris Layng/Parallux Sound Designer/Composers and Performer: Daniel Wohl + Eliza Bagg + Sadah Espii Proctor And myself. So far. Find Out More Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? 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The Boot July '20

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View this email in your browser Summer 2020:  That day we spent on Zoom except when we wore masks and took to the streets A quick note - because there's a lot going on - to alert anyone interested that I've spent the last couple of weeks working on an online experience for Beth Morrison Projects. It is in the mode of a sort of virtual club. I'm humbled by the artists who will be performing these four shows (two tonight, two tomorrow). And by the collaborators who have rejoined to make more of these online experiments - all of whom are mad geniuses. So if you have 60 minutes tonight or tomorrow night, come check out The Boot - the bar at the final exit before the last toll at the edge of the meta-verse. Info on that and a few other upcoming projects, as well as some recent articles and a trove of work by other artists making right now, below. Wishing you all health and strength. Keep making. Keep up the fight. In Love and Solidarity. at The Boot is a quick and dirty experiment in interactive online theater that we've been engaging in the last couple of weeks. I'm thrilled that Beth Morrison Projects has joined the likes of Fisher Center and TFANA in putting energy towards virtual works of theater (see NYTimes article on the theme below).  We're excited to invite you to this space, share the possibilities we've been creating as well as some great tunes and performances by a stellar list of musical artists. The list below includes links to works by the artists who have agreed to jump into the cyberwaters with us. Do check them out. They're incredible. Follow them, donate to them, become super fans. Listen and dance to them. Tip your musicians. THE BOOT 07.09.20 + 07.10.20  @ 20.00h + 22.00h eastern runtime 60min TICKETS Written and Directed by Ashley Tata Featuring performances by:  Isaiah Robinson Lauren Worsham (Sky-Pony) Joseph Keckler Sol and the Tribu The Hogstad Brothers (feat. remixes of The Institute of Flyer Learning) Design by Afsoon Pajoufar Additional Sound + Music by Paul Pinto 3D Animation by Bryce Cutler Stage Management by Vanessa C. Hart Technical Direction by Chris Swetcky Assistant Stage Manager Moe Shahrooz COME OUT AND PLAY Next week begins a residency at 153 Coffey. Will start to develop a Virtual Reality opera. If you feel comfortable socially distancing, put on a mask and come on over to Red Hook, BK. We can work on stuff. Or  take a break and look at the water. Or plan a next course of action. UPCOMING IN REAL LIFE PERFORMANCE ALERT:   In August I'll be working with Alan Pierson and Alarm Will Sound on an environmental adaptation of John Luther Adams's Ten-Thousand Birds for the opening weekend of PS21's summer season in Chatham, NY. Can't even begin to articulate how thrilled I am at the prospect of making something in the physical world again (outside, with masks on). If you're able to come up for any of these performances, please do. PS21 is fashioning itself to be a refuge for performance makers in a non-artist-bailout country. Check out more about them HERE. And a video that Alan made of a section of 10K Birds in isolation HERE. #keepyourmaskson #nosecondwave RECENT PRESS AND STUFF Recent article from the NYTimes This is Theater in 2020. Mad, Mad Forest shout outs throughout. Pull quote of pride: "embodied with aching intensity by its young cast in their separate frames"  The Making of Mad Forest Webinar with the team of Mad Forest from a few weeks back NYTimes Review of Mad Forest Segal Talk with Frank Hentschker post-Mad Forest FRIENDS ENABLE FRIENDS TO MAKE   A couple things I've seen or that are coming up from the circle of makers I am privileged to find myself holding virtual hands with.   ThingNY continues to make live cyber operas for the internet. And they're fantastic. Next one is this weekend 7/10 + 7/11 brought to us by HERE. And, yes, Paul Pinto is performing and creating there as well as having made incredible music for Isaiah Robinson to sing in The Boot. Paul is as connected as the internet. Tickets based on a sliding scale HERE.   For more Isaiah, and Sol - both of whom you'll meet at The Boot - check out Ted Hearne's isolation-borne video of his opera Place. And then go and get the album so you can listen when you're out and about. WNYC'S Green Space premiere of the video HERE   And DJ and filmmaker Hans Augustave (aka DJ Hanzi) has just released a short film/visual poem he made called "Before I Knew" It's a powerful and vulnerable work featuring some amazing artists of all media. Their handles are in the credits. I suggest following. Link to video HERE Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter. Ally fatigue is not acceptable. After we've fought for 401 years to end systemic racism and white supremacy in all our institutions, relationships and interactions  we can talk fatigue. Here is a link to the PDF of BIPOC demands for White American Theater and the We See You W.A.T. website #weseeyou #dobetter Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? 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Mad Forest TFANA May '20

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View this email in your browser Pictured (from top left): Andrew Omar Crisol, Azalea Hudson (from middle left): Ali Kane, Lily Goldman, Yibin (Bill) Wang (from bottom left): Tim Halvorsen, Violet Savage Hello Every Body, Happy Memorial Day Weekend. A quick note to remind you that there are two more opportunities to watch Mad Forest:  Today (Sunday, 5/24) at 5pm EST   Wednesday (5/27) at 3pm EST (looking at you, international crew) RSVPs for today's broadcast have closed but if it's your only chance to watch please contact TFANA Box Office and they'll sort you out. Or reach out to me and I can hook you up. I don't want to clog inboxes unnecessarily so this will be the only email reminder I'll send. Will hit up social (ig: @aktata) with any other interesting updates. Two notes: This will not be archived. There will not be a link to send after Wednesday. Just like irl we deal in ephemera. If you tuned in on Friday night thank you! Starting today we're using a different streaming platform. So if you had any frustrations and have the time to check it out again, please do. Below are links to some press and the archival recording of Gideon and I on WNYC -- marking the moment when I realized my life-long dream.  Thank you again for your interest and for reading. Looking forward to working, coffeeing, etc with you all as soon as it's safely possible.  Sending health, peace, enthusiasm and big stupid cyberhugs to you from the aether. AT   TOP (from left): Taty Rozetta, Violet Savage, Yibin (Bill) Wang, TOP MIDDLE (from left): Phil Carroll, Gavin McKenzie, Tim Halvorsen LOWER MIDDLE (from left): Lily Goldman, Mica Hastings, Andrew Omar Crisol, BOTTOM (from left): Ali Kane, Charlie Wood, Azalea Hudson MAD FOREST A Play from Romania By Caryl Churchill Directed by Ashley Tata To RSVP for a performance, click on a date below. We will email details on how to watch as the event nears. May 22 at 7pm EDT (Must RSVP by 12pm on May 22) May 24 at 5pm EDT (Must RSVP by 12pm on May 24) May 27 at 3pm EDT (Must RSVP by 10am on May 27) RSVP required. Performances are free. Running time is 1 hour and 40 minutes. LINK TO THE DIGITAL PROGRAM CAST Phil Carroll*, Andrew Omar Crisol*, Lily Goldman*, Tim Halvorsen*, Mica Hastings*, Azalea Hudson*, Ali Kane*, Gavin McKenzie*, Taty Rozetta*, Violet Savage*, Yibin (Bill) Wang*, Charlie Wood* CREATIVE TEAM Afsoon Pajoufar (Scenic Design), Ásta Bennie Hostetter (Costume Design), Abigail Hoke-Brady (Lighting Design), Paul Pinto (Compositions and Sound Design), Daniel Safer (Movement Direction), Eamonn Farrell (Video Design), Vanessa C. Hart (Production Stage Manager), Andy Carluccio (Video Programming), Sean B. Leo (Video Engineer), Shane Crittenden (Properties Master), Anisha Hosangady* (Assistant Stage Manager), Maggie McFarland* (Assistant Stage Manager/Sound Operator), Laila Perlman* (Assistant Director), Angela Woodack* (Assistant Director) *Bard Student LINKS TO THINGS ABOUT MAD FOREST: SEGMENT FROM WNYC'S ALL OF IT WITH ALLISON STEWART  ARTICLE IN AMERICAN THEATRE MAGAZINE A REVIEW FROM FRIDAY NIGHT'S PERFORMANCE Pictured: Violet Savage MAKE WITH ME Andromache Chalfant, M. Sharkey and Babette Pendleton have offered  time and space  What else do we need? In a few months I'll commence a rather generous residency period at 153 Coffey in Red Hook, BK. I've been in touch with some of you about collaborations. But if you've ever thought we should be #makinathing HMU Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. You've received this email because I'm interested in what you make and you've at one point or another been interested in what I make. And I'd like to keep talking about all of it. But if you want to, by all means, unsubscribe. No hard feelings.  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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Mad Forest Fisher Center at Bard April '20

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View this email in your browser Dear Every Body, There are no new stories. 5th century BCE, Athens. Plague kills 1/3 of the Athenian population. We get Oedipus the King with its references to a plague-besieged Thebes. 17th century, London. Plague kills tens of thousands. Theaters are shut down when weekly deaths exceed 30. We get King Lear, Macbeth. During a time of physical distancing and social proximity I continue to cherish the community of makers I count as my friends and family. As I write this I am confident that one or many of you reading will make a thing that blows my mind in the months and years ahead. Because I do know the most interesting people. Some of those people have enabled me to keep making during this time. Our production of Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest was scheduled to open at Bard’s Fisher Center this past week. It has been rapid-response re-conceived for an online platform. We will be ready to stream it at you this coming Friday, April 10th at 7pm est via Vimeo, FB Live and YouTube Livestream. Afsoon Pajoufar has re-conceived the scenic design, Abby Hoke-Brady the lighting and Ásta Bennie Hostetter the costumes. Paul Pinto has recomposed for heavy gate interruption. Dan Safer has re-choreographed for many small stages. Eamonn Farrell has created a video design that incorporates the realities of this platform with the aesthetic of the production. The company of actors have grown their performance imaginations to cast needs and actions beyond their isolated rooms to their scene partners thousands of miles and many time zones away. And Vanessa C. Hart has managed these stages without a physical stage! Today we begin tech rehearsal where we will be joined by technicians from all departments led by a production team who have adjusted to the circumstances with flexibility and ingenuity. All of this with an immense amount of heart, passion and rigorous craft. We know many who are sick and some who won’t be with us in the months ahead. Reflecting on this, on my city and on the state of humanity causes me intense moments of grief these days. The financial devastation has caused me and will cause many others to think they won't be able to make anymore. This project is -- I hope -- one of the many testimonies to the power of a community of makers to keep making. Through this time and beyond. With the deepest love, affection, respect, gratitude and enthusiasm for you all and your loved ones.  Sending health and a big virtual hug during these extraordinary times, Ashley Mica Hastings -- "The Pupils Listen to the Lesson" from rehearsal of Mad Forest MAD FOREST A Play from Romania By Caryl Churchill Directed by Ashley Tata April 10 7 pm EST Live Webcast Pregame begins at 6:30 pm EST Youtube Livestream: https://bit.ly/MadForestYT Facebook Live: https://bit.ly/MadForestFB Via Vimeo:  https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/spring-mainstage-2020/ Join the experience! We invite you to share your real-time feedback during the webcast via the chat/comment feature. We’ll pass along to the actors and creative team. #UPSTREAMINGFC #MADFORESTFC The live webcast of Mad Forest is a project of UPSTREAMING: the Fisher Center at Bard’s Virtual Stage MAD FOREST Romania. December 25th, 1989. A dictator is executed. A totalitarian regime topples. What happens next? Caryl Churchill’s 1990 play depicts life during and after a repressive dictatorship. Reimagined as a digital presentation by a professional creative team and student performers, this 30-year old work approached from a 2020 point of view powerfully resonates with our current global state. Scenic Design by Afsoon Pajoufar  Costume Design by Ásta Bennie Hostetter Lighting Design by Abigail Hoke-Brady Compositions and Sound Design by Paul Pinto Movement Direction by Daniel Safer Video Design by Eamonn Farrell Production Stage Manager Vanessa C. Hart (Appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association) Featuring: Phil Carroll*, Andrew Omar Crisol*, Lily Goldman*, Tim Halvorsen*, Mica Hastings*, Azalea Hudson*, Ali Kane*, Gavin McKenzie*, Taty Rozetta*, Violet Savage*, Yibin (Bill) Wang*, and Charlie Wood* Assistant Stage Managers Anisha Hosangady* and Maggie McFarland* Assistant Directors Laila Perlman* and Angela Woodack* *Bard Student Mad Forest Rehearsal of ACT II  TOP (from left): Lily Goldman, Yibin (Bill) Wang, Charlie Wood, Phil Carroll MIDDLE (from left): Aalea Hudson, Andrew Omar Crisol, Taty Rozetta, Tim Halvorsen BOTTOM (from left): Ali Kane, Mica Hastings, Violet Savage, Gavin McKenzie OVERCOATS ONLINE CONTENT AND TOUR I was working with the band Overcoats on their touring show which was supposed to start at SXSW and has been postponed until the fall. They're total badasses and their new album The Fight is really great. https://www.overcoatsmusic.com While the tour is postponed I've been working on developing their online content with them. Follow on IG @ThisIsOvercoats Check out some of the recent home-made videos and watch them at 8:30est on Friday nights via IG Live for #FridayNightFights #JoinTheFight MAKE WITH ME Andromache Chalfant, M. Sharkey and Babette Pendleton have offered  time and space  What else do we need? In a few months I'll commence a rather generous residency period at 153 Coffey in Red Hook, BK. I've been in touch with some of you about collaborations. But if you've ever thought we should be #makinathing HMU Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. You've received this email because I'm interested in what you make and you've at one point or another been interested in what I make. And I'd like to keep talking about all of it. But if you want to, by all means, unsubscribe. No hard feelings.  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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TataTime Thaw '19

The Thaw Comes, Every Body.

Writing from the air somewhere in the middle there with some things for now and some for later.

Bullets here. Details further on.

• 2/22-2/23 David Lang's the loser at LA Opera (LA, CA)

• 3/21-3/23 Found Sound Nation's Mosaic Interactive at The Big Ears Festival (Knoxville, TN)

• 4/6-4/7 David T. Little's Soldier Songs at Opera ATX (Austin Opera, Austin, TX)

• 4/13-4/18 Huang Ruo's Bound with Fresh Squeezed Opera (Baruch Performing Arts Center, NY, NY)

Will be on the road for a bit. If we miss, catch up in the drip drip thaw.

Stay warm. Stay dry. Unless now's not the time.

Keep making.

With Gratitude and Appreciation,

Tata

Returning from Associate Directing David Lang's the loser with LA Opera at the ridiculously gaudy, gilt, height-of-American-baroquery Theater at the Ace Hotel. Built in 1927. All downhill from there.

It's been a privilege to work with David again and be introduced to this piece. It's an elegant, impressionistic, funny, troubling work and an incredible act of virtuosity by Rod Gilfry who reveals 60 minutes of non-linear exposition floating 33 steps above the stage. 

An honor to work with/around/adjacent to designers Jim Findlay, Jennifer Tipton, Suzanne Bocanegra, Eric Dyer, and the performers Conrad Tao, Owen Weaver, Isabel Hagen, Mariel Roberts, Pat Swoboda and Lesley Leighton. And a most welcome return to both the Bang on a Can and LA Opera fams.

Tonight's the last night. If The West is your coast, come on by.

Mosaic

Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, TN
3/21-3/23
(Development 2/24-3/21)
With:
Ali Tekbas, Vocalist
Eva Salina, Vocalist
Mehdi Nassouli, Guembri Player + Vocalist
Ben Townsend, Fiddle + Banjo Player
Peni Candra Rini, Vocalist
Zafer Tawil, Oud Player + Percussionist
Alexia Webster, Photographer + Videographer
Kyla-Rose Smith, Artist + Producer
Elena Moon Park, Violinist + Producer
Christopher Marianetti, Composer + Producer
Jeremy Thal, French Horn Player + Producer
Gideon Crevoshay, Vocalist
Hatim Belyamani, Producer
Asma Ghanem, Producer
Samah Boulmona, Accordion Player
Ezra Tenenbaum, Production Manager
Christopher Botta, Audio Engineer
Ashley Tata, Director
Eamonn Farrell, Visual Designer
Maxwell Bowman, Lighting Designer

Heading to Appalachia for four weeks with the good folk at Found Sound Nation to develop and build Mosaic Interactive -- a suite of interdisciplinary works that explore our collective dreams, memories and rituals through song and storytelling.
I'm thrilled and honored to be working with the incredible musicians, composers, producers and artists who are coming from all over the world to create this project and pretty stoked to be working again with Eamonn (rhymes with "demon") Farrell to design the thing.
We'll be making the work with residencies at Pine Mountain Settlement School and Appalshop in Kentucky and Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia leading to the premiere at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville. If you're in Tennessee the end of March, check it out.

Soldier Songs

Opera ATX, Austin Opera
4/6-4/7

Text and Music: David T. Little
Director: Ashley Tata
Video: Bill Morrison
Lighting: Chris Kuhl
Conductor: Todd Reynolds
Soldier: David Adam Moore
Performed by: Newspeak 

Back on the road with David T. Little, Todd Reynolds, David Adam Moore, BMP and Newspeak to bring Soldier Songs to Austin, TX. 

Very happy to return to this piece with these makers. Looking forward to the discussion that comes with bringing it to yet another community in the US.

Bound

Fresh Squeezed Opera
Baruch Performing
Arts Center, New York, NY
4/13-4/19

Music by Huang Ruo

Libretto by Bao-Long Chu

Directed by Ashley Tata
Scenic: Stephan Moravski
Video: David Bengali
Lighting: Abby Hoke-Brady
Costumes: Corina Louise Chase

Sung by:
Diane Tran: Fang Tao
Khan: Guang Yang

Looking forward to working with Fresh Squeezed Opera on the New York City premiere of Huang Ruo's opera. The work, based on a true story, deals with themes of immigration, questions of what it means to be a good citizen, familial responsibilities and the compromises we make to survive and make a living. I'm very grateful and humbled by the design team that has assembled and to the musicians who are joining us. I hope to see as many of you there as possible.
If you're in New York this spring, come on by.