Who: Stephen Petronio Company
What: Virtual Bloodlines Festival
Where: Stephen Petronio Company online
When: October 23 – November 14, free with advance RSVP (donations accepted)
Why: New York-based choreographer Stephen Petronio isn’t about to let a little old pandemic lockdown stop him from his mission in life. He and his company have been busy since the spring, presenting the Zoom show #gimmeshelter as part of its #LoveSpreadsFaster gala, followed by Are You Lonesome Tonight, a duet between Nicholas Sciscione and Lloyd Knight filmed at the Petronio Residency Center in Round Top and at Hudson Hall for the Hudson Valley Dance Festival. Petronio is now revisiting his Bloodlines project, in which he restages classic works by dance masters, with the Virtual Bloodlines Festival, running online October 23 through November 14. Each week will feature recorded presentations made since Bloodlines began in 2015, with additional interviews and talks with special guests. “Having these masterpieces as part of the repertory of Stephen Petronio Company is an honor and responsibility that I hold dear,” Petronio said in a statement. “My hope is that the Virtual Bloodlines Festival brings new audiences to a group of choreographers that run through my DNA. Their artistry continues to speak boldly to the present moment.”
The first week, beginning October 23 at 7:00, includes Yvonne Rainer’s Diagonal (1963), Trio A with Flags (1966/1970), and Chair Pillow (1969) and Steve Paxton’s Jag Vill Gärna Telefonera (1964/1982), with a new conversation between Deborah Jowitt, Rainer, and Petronio. The second program kicks off October 30 at 7:00 with Trisha Brown’s Glacial Decoy (1979) and Merce Cunningham’s RainForest, with a talk between Wendy Perron, Davalois Fearon, and Petronio. And the third week gets going November 6 at 7:00 with Rudy Perez’s Coverage Revisited (1970) and Anna Halprin’s Courtesan and the Crone (1999), a solo performed by Petronio, followed by a chat betwen Perron and Petronio. Tickets are free (donations accepted), and each program will be available for one week. There will also be Zoom master classes taught by Tess Montoya and Petronio on November 7 and 14 at noon.