Dance Theater Workshop

presents

Monstah Black and The Sonic Leroy

in

Living Outside The…….

as part of the

Studio Series

March 13-14, 2009 at 7:30pm


New York, NY, February 10, 2009 – At the close of his 100-hour residency in Dance Theater Workshop's Studio Series, Monstah Black & The Sonic Leroy bring falsetto vocals, digitized beats, and an elevated shoe clad persona to the stage. In Living Outside The……., Black creates Electro Afro Punk Funk sound and a visual performance that explores gender fluidity and racial assumptions with movement, theater, glitter, and glam. Living Outside The……. features Black along with the performers of Motion Sickness - Toija Riggins, Sarah Van't Hull, Ashley Brockington, Kendra Jeniece Ross, Christina Reeves, Andi Miyamotto, Jill M. Vallery, and Melana Lloyd, with styling by Black and accessories design by Torkwase Dyson. Music has been produced by World Eater Recordings, DJ Krunchy, and Monstah Black.

"Black erupts in a fit of spread arms and leg swirls that set pulses, ours and probably his, racing."

– Capital Fringe


Performances will take place at Dance Theater Workshop in David R. White Studio on the third floor, March 13-14 (Friday – Saturday at 7:30pm). There will be a Post-Performance talk with Marýa Whethers on March 14 (Saturday). Tickets are free with a suggested donation of $5 at the door. Tickets can be reserved in person at the box office or by calling (212) 924-0077. Dance Theater Workshop is located at 219 West 19th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues.


About the Artist


Monstah Black is a self-shaped Messiah of the Funk, bringing his Virginia roots and worldly explorations to bear on everything from class consciousness to gender politics. His wildly multidimensional, multi-genre works of art employ the disciplines of musical composition, choreography, and theater in seamless harmony.


Monstah's most recent collaborative work was SUSPENDED GARDENS, a performative installation conceived between SUPERFRONT and Monstah Black. The project explores integration between choreography and architecture, in which a design workshop and dance workshop share responsibility for producing a performance and site-specific installation over the course of six weeks. He is currently a candidate for a Master of Fine Arts degree in New Media Art and Performance at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus with a focus on Digital Audio and Digital Video.


Monstah has garnered support and received awards from a variety of progressive arts organizations over the years, including: Blackout Arts Collective (commissioned to create an evening-length work of original music and

choreography entitled THIS for the 2003 Toenails Of Steel choreographic festival), The District of Columbia Commission on The Arts and Humanities, Career Transitions for Dancers (resulting in Black's production of two

collections of original music, Yang Poodle Animatron and Heaven Hell and A Place Called Mars), Topaz Arts Center, The Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center, and The Field.


The Studio Series brings new artistic voices to Dance Theater Workshop and opens our studios for public showings. Eight artists each year receive a 100-hour creative residency in our studios and a commission/stipend. This residency gives each artist the opportunity to research and develop work in a raw, process-oriented space. The outcomes are shared through two informal presentations by each artist, inviting the audience to see work at different stages of development. Studio Series artists are curated internally by the Artistic Director in conjunction with Programming staff and guest curators from Urban Word NYC and Dance Theater Workshop's season artists.


Living Outside The……. is commissioned by Dance Theater Workshop's Commissioning and Creative Residency Program with support from The Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Jerome Robbins Foundation.