MARLBORO — Vermont Performance Lab (VPL) will launch its first Open Lab on Saturday, May 30, on the campus of Marlboro College in Marlboro. This year's theme is dance.
VPL's Open Lab is a one-day event that starts with an afternoon picnic, followed by open rehearsals, workshops, films, and talks.
Each year, VPL's Lab provides artists with residencies and support to research and develop new work in dance, theater, film, and music. This year, VPL's Open Lab invites participants to the studios of three award-winning dance artists who are developing new work in VPL's Lab: Wally Cardona, Beth Gill, and Jennifer Monson.
The event kicks off at noon with a “farm to table” picnic featuring fresh local ingredients. Audiences can enjoy a picnic on the grounds and stroll throughout the Marlboro College campus between activities. Visitors can bring their own picnic or order one through VPL by May 22. The first 100 patrons will receive a complimentary picnic blanket.
From 1 to 3 p.m., audiences are invited to get to know the artists and get a glimpse into the early stages of making a dance by observing rehearsals and talking with choreographers Cardona and Gill.
Vermont audiences may remember Cardona from his March 2015 residency at VPL that supported his international dance exchange with Myanmar-based classical Burmese dancer, Myint Mo, in the research and development of THE SET UP: Saya Lei.
In May, Cardona will return with collaborating choreographer Jennifer Lacey and three dancers to continue the development of THE SET UP: Saya Lei.
During her VPL residency, Gill will embark on a new evening-length work, I'm not supposed to be here, a new performance made in collaboration with five dancers using their improvisations to activate a diverse personalized movement palette - a departure from Gill's recent restrained, cerebral choreography.
From 3 to 5 p.m., choreographer Jennifer Monson will offer an iLanding workshop - a process that explores the power of dance in collaboration with other fields to illuminate a kinetic understanding of the world.
Monson will lead participants through an exploration of the iLAND (Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art Nature and Dance) research processes and workshop that will enable them to create new contexts and strategies for experiencing place. These studies provide the means to unearth and inquire into choreographic and embodied ways of knowing and re-imagining our relationship to the environment.
This workshop is open to all - no prior dance experience needed. It is limited to 20 people and registration is required.