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Photo courtesy Eric Michael Pearson..
Samuel Dorsky Museum, 2020.
Original music, choreography, and scenework with audience interaction.
"It was a completely immersive experience that made me feel one with the museum and everyone who’s ever been in it." - JOSEPH D, Audience Member
Our first collaboration with The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art in New Paltz, NY had us exploring the following question: “What if the thoughts, shapes, conversations, and images of other people’s experiences stayed in the museum after they left? What if you could walk through that?” Our final production was an energetic romp through the galleries where our audience was invited to dance and laugh and even join us on stage as experts.
Samuel Dorsky Museum, 2021.
9 original films inspired by works on display, devised through remote collaboration and shot on-site. Viewable via QR Code.
Despite restrictions imposed by the pandemic, we created a series of short films that could be accessed in the museum via an interactive map while the 2021 Spring Exhibition was live, as well as virtually. Nine short films were produced that responded to 8 exhibits throughout the museum.
While each short film was created as a standalone piece, they have been preserved here as one unit.
Photo courtesy Eric Michael Pearson..
Samuel Dorsky Museum, 2021.
Original music and choreography, monologues, and puppetry.
""I’m so thrilled that the Hudson Valley Performing Arts Lab was inspired by my retrospective at the Dorsky and created this event in the museum. What an honor!" - MARY FRANK, Artist
Returning once again to the Dorsky, this time fully in person and performing live, the show had a strong focus on celebrating being together and the sheer joy and exhilaration of making art in real time. We focused on making the beautiful and primal art by Mary Frank come alive through movement, sound, and story.
Photo courtesy Eric Michael Pearson..
Samuel Dorsky Museum, 2023.
Original scenework with prop and costume design, songwriting, and choreography.
"Viewing the art after the performance, there were echoes of movement in my mind as I wondered how it might move if it could, how it might dance, what it might wish to say." - CEDRIC C, Audience Member
Our fourth production at The Dorsky was inspired by the exhibit Homespun, curated by Karlyn Benson. Featuring a range of approaches to textile art, Homespun explored how Hudson Valley artists are reinterpreting traditional crafts and “women’s work” in new and surprising ways. With this theme as our guide, we created a performance exploring the stories held within everyday textiles.
Frances Loeb Art Center, 2023.
Original monologues, scenes, movement sequences and choreography.
[The performance] was like the art was a vessel for the actors." - EMMA Z, Audience Member
Created over the course of just 16 hours of rehearsal, the ensemble embraced a line from the Body Matters exhibit as our guiding question; "How do bodies move through art, space, and time?" We invited audiences to ponder this question as they traveled through the performance.
Samuel Dorsky Museum, 2024.
Original songs, monologues, drawings. Improvised scenes and music.
"My experience of the museum was heightened because I had someone drawing my attention to everything as opposed to just trying to make sense of things alone." - BLAKE L, Audience Member
This performance, "Transactions & Provocations," explored the transactions inherent in viewing and displaying art. What non-monetary kinds of transactions are possible in an art space? What if you had to give away something you made in exchange for entry to an exhibition? We explored these questions and more during this site-specific, audience participatory experience.
Photo courtesy Eric Michael Pearson..
Frances Loeb Art Center, 2024.
Original monologues, scenes and movement sequences performed indoors and in the sculpture garden.
"From the start, performers turned themselves into living sculptures interacting with the audience through the window in a pantomime like style. It was an amazing, unforgettable art experience for our visitors." - PETER D, Museum Staff Member
This performance, “Evolving Impressions,” was devised over sixteen hours of rehearsal in which the ensemble explored the question, "How do our perceptions of visual art evolve as we age?" Presented as a part of Vassar College's 38th Powerhouse Season.
Our History
"I deeply appreciate how Performing Art helps both new and veteran audiences look at art--and the museum experience overall--in fresh and exciting ways. In over two decades working in art museums, I've rarely experienced a performance as inventive and full of insights, personal and profound, as Performing Art." - Amanda Potter, Assistant Director of Learning and Community Engagement at the Loeb Art Center
Our audience survey showed that 82% of participants reported their experience of the art in the exhibit was heightened by the performance.
"It was a lovely reminder of the subjective relationship we all have to artwork...to be able to experience the artwork collectively with other viewers and through the eyes of performers was very moving." - ALEX B, Audience Member
If you are interested in learning more about how a devised theater experience can benefit your institution, contact Artistic Director Liz Dahmen directly at liz@performingart.org.
Photo courtesy Eric Michael Pearson.
Performance in Visual Arts Spaces
"Two organizations become greater than what they are individually… our exhibitions are now extending out of the walls and through people." - Zachary Bowman, Manager of Education & Visitor Experience at The Dorsky Museum
Performing Art is a collaborative performance project originally developed by the Hudson Valley Performing Arts Laboratory under the direction of Liz Dahmen. Now an independent program, it brings together an ensemble of local artists and community members to create a live performance in response to current museum and gallery exhibitions.
Please contact us below to learn more about what Performing Art can bring to your institution!
Photo courtesy Eric Michael Pearson.