December 23, 2001

Stacy Dawson Returns to MASS MoCA with a Little Bit of Country

(North Adams, MA) As part of MASS MoCA's MASS Manufacturing series of work-in-progress showings, choreographer Stacy Dawson showcases her latest dance-musical Best Western on Friday, January 25, at 7:00 P.M. just prior to its New York premiere. Dipping deep into the well of country music fame and misfortune, Best Western is a dance inspired by southern rock. Featuring David Neumann -- last seen at MASS MoCA with Dawson in the hilarious Kung Fu movie satire Pearl River -- The New York Times says, "Dawson and Neumann are striking performers who supply any project with spontaneity, honesty, and hilarity."

Best Western features a cast of eight and was conceived and choreographed by Dawson in collaboration with the performers. As Dawson explains it, "Best Western is a hallucination that pays tribute to the legacies forged in the underbelly of country and western American folk music...a new-fashioned country western with dance and song, oddity and inspiration."

Stacy Dawson has been performing in New York since 1992. Since 1993, she has been known for her work with Big Dance Theater, collaborating on and performing in such pieces as Another Telepathic Thing, A Simple Heart, Bremen Freedom, and many others. In 2000, Dawson received a Bessie Award for her performance in Another Telepathic Thing. Dawson is also a veteran of the illustrious Blacklips Performance Cult appearing as Herr Klunch, and she is immortalized alongside hero Ffloyd in Wigstock, The Movie directed by Barry Shils. Pearl River, which was presented last year at MASS MoCA, will be performed in Washington D.C. in April 2002. Her recent choreographic credits include: First Love at New York Theater Workshop, consulting for Debbie Harry, and the Jackie 60 crew's Gilbert and Sullivan extravaganza for the final Wigstock, 2001. Dawson's most recent stage credit is Soon, a play written and directed by Hal Hartley, presented at the Eclectic Orange Festival at the Orange County Center for the Performing Arts, Costa Mesa, California. Dawson will also be seen in Hartleys' upcoming film No Such Thing. Annie-B Parson has called her "extremely inventive," while The Dance Insider termed her "an animated and engaging performer."

Stacy Dawson's residency and work-in-progress showing are partially funded by the Bari Lipp Initiative for Dance.

The showing is part of MASS MoCA's MASS Manufacturing series. In its role as a laboratory for contemporary art, MASS MoCA established MASS Manufacturing artist residencies to provide performing artists, theatrical innovators, dancers, visual artists, and musicians the opportunity to develop and explore new works. Each MASS Manufacturing residency culminates in a public work-in-progress showing. The artists use the showings to try out new ideas and gauge audience reaction to the work and have often welcomed questions and feedback after their performance. Artists who have participated in MASS Manufacturing residencies include Laurie Anderson, Shirin Neshat, David Dorfman, Lee Breuer and Basil Twist with Mabou Mines, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar of Urban Bush Women, among others.

Tickets to Best Western are $7 and are available by calling the MASS MoCA Box Office at 413.662.2111 or by visiting www.massmoca.org. Tickets may also be purchased in person from 11-5 every day except Tuesday at MASS MoCA off Marshall St. in North Adams, Mass. Seating is limited, and advance reservations are recommended.

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.

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