Description
LightPlay explores transparencies and shifting perceptions that arise from cascading layers of movement and light forms. Inspired by the work of Bauhaus artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Bartoszek reflects on artistic experimentation, process, and development. A series of vignettes structure the dance which interweaves significant chapters of Moholy-Nagy’s life and artistic development as he moved from his birthplace in Hungary to his adult years at the Bauhaus and in Berlin, Germany to his final home at the New Bauhaus in Chicago. “Lightplay” is a visual symphony that includes interactive design, colorful geometric props, and multiple forms of projections in the exploration of abstraction and visual metaphor.
Bartoszek collaborated with New York-based sound designer and composer Erica Ricketts on an original score for the work, writer and visual artist Sharon Evans Ragir, and video designer Eileen Ryan.
Production
Concept, Direction, Choreography: Jan Bartoszek
Assistant Choreographer: Maray Gutierrez
Costumes/Props/Visual Design: Jan Bartoszek with Sharon Evans Ragir and Eduardo Sosa
Text: Sharon Evans Ragir
Metal Structures: Barbara Cooper
Sound/Music Design: Erica Ricketts
Tech Assistance: Michael Reed
Text voiceover: Mark Richard
Video Design: Eileen Ryan
Lighting Design: Original design by Sarah Lackner with additional work by Margaret Nelson
Program Notes
The Bauhaus modernist school began in Germany at the close of World War I. The word Bauhaus means “house of building.” It was forward-looking and idealistic in its fundamental belief that art and design are a source of social transformation. The Bauhaus aesthetic is clean and stripped of ornamentation. It values experimentation, abstraction, and the unity of form and function. During the Nazi rise to power, the Bauhaus School was shuttered. Many teachers left Germany and spread the Bauhaus curriculum world-wide. Among them was László Moholy-Nagy who moved to Chicago to establish the New Bauhaus, now the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Cast
Jacob Buerger, Richard Echevarria, Jessie Gutierrez, Holly Lehnertz, Hannah Marcus, Rigo Saura, Hanna Swartz
Performance(s)
April 8-9, 2022
Ruth Page Center, Chicago, IL
