Shen Wei will perform the first site-specific dance in the Met’s history June 6 & 13 (photo courtesy Shen Wei Dance Arts)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Charles Engelhard Court
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Monday, June 6 & 13, $30-$75, 7:00
212-570-3949
www.shenweidancearts.org
www.metmuseum.org
Born in Hunan, China, in 1968 and based in New York City since 1995, visual artist, dancer, and choreographer Shen Wei founded Shen Wei Dance Arts in July 2000, appearing over the last ten years at such prestigious venues as the Venice Biennale, the Lincoln Center Festival, the Kennedy Center, the New York City Opera, the Sidney Opera, and the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In June 2009, SWDA performed a thrilling site-specific dance in and around Ernesto Neto’s “anthropodino” sculpture in the Park Ave. Armory, and this June they’re set for another unique experience: On June 6 and 13, SWDA, which favors slow, careful movement, will present the first-ever site-specific dance in the long history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The company, which consists of Javier J. Baca, Cecily Campbell, Hunter Carter, Sarah Lisette Chiesa, Evan Copeland, Jenna Fakhoury, Sara Procopio, Joan Wadopian, Adam H. Weinert, and Brandon Whited, will perform a new multimedia piece, with costumes by Shen Wei and Austin Scarlett and a live electronic score by Illusion of Safety’s Daniel Burke, in addition to a piece from their repertoire. The event will be held in the recently renovated Charles Engelhard Court of the America Wing, among works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Frederick William MacMonnies, Hiram Powers, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Janet Scudder, John La Farge, Daniel Chester French, and Paul Manship as well as Martin E. Thompson’s massive Branch Bank of the United States facade. “I am looking forward to the experience of joining the beauty of bodies in stillness and the beauty of movement,” Shen Wei said in a statement, explaining that he has created “a piece celebrating the body in works of art of the past and the body in movement in the present.” Part of the Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Series, the performance can be seen seated around the court ($60) or standing in the Balcony Galleries above ($30). The June 6 performance will be followed by a reception with Shen Wei and the dancers (an additional $15).