February 29, 2003

Brazilian Choreographers Examine Dreams and Demons at MASS MoCA

(North Adams, Mass.) Long, billowing, sheer curtains with concealed entrances surround the stage for Brazilian choreographers Rosane Chamecki and Andrea Lerner's newest piece, Visible Content, which they will present at MASS MoCA on Saturday, March 29, at 8:00 P.M. The stage design is the terrain for the heroine's shadowy inner life, as she struggles to confront her demons. As in a dream, reality and the absurd will intertwine, offering a glimpse into the main character's psyche. Dance Magazine calls them "utterly engaging." According to The Village Voice "the dancers' passions are true; the idea, solid; the performers assured."

Rosane Chamecki and Andrea Lerner's collaboration began with the common goal to "attain a bold and transparent physicality -- one that could reveal the psychological state of a body." According to the pair, "The ultimate goal became to strip the movement to its essential, to pare down the superfluous, thereby creating a tangible image. The challenge is to codify emotional material into functional physical structures where the body is busy in resolving its tasks. The result is a body urging to articulate, to accomplish and conquer."

Brazilian natives Andrea Lerner and Rosane Chamecki studied dance there for years before they moved to New York City in 1989 to expand their studies. They created ChameckiLerner Dance Company in 1993 when they began earning their first invitations to festivals in Europe and South America. With outstanding reviews from newspapers in Venezuela, Belgium, and The Netherlands they went on to create their first evening-length piece produced by Dance Theater Workshop in 1994. In 1995 they created homemade produced by Performance Space 122. Chameckilerner has received grants from Jerome Foundation, Meet the Composer, New York State Council for the Arts, Seimens, FIESP, and Electrolux, among others. They have performed at Joyce Theater, NYC's Downtown Arts Festival's Main Event, Dance Theater Workshop, Food for Thought, Judson Memorial Church, DanceBlitz and Jacob's Pillow's Inside Out Series. ChameckiLerner received the prestigious award for artistic achievement from The Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts in 1998.

ChameckiLerner: Visible Content is sponsored by the Porches Inn at MASS MoCA and the New England Foundation for the Arts. Funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Philip Morris Companies Inc. Chamecki and Lerner will host a morning movement class for children in MASS MoCA's rehearsal studio on Saturday, March 29 at 11:00 A.M. Tickets for the kids event are free with museum admission but space is limited and reservations are required.

Tickets to ChameckiLerner: Visible Content are $16 adults, $12 students. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located on Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. every day but Tuesday. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or online at www.massmoca.org at any time. Doors open at 7:00 P.M. for food and full bar before the show.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located on Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located off Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

MASS MoCA 1040 MASS MoCA Way North Adams, MA 01247 413.MOCA.111 www.massmoca.org

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org