Coming Together/Attica (2012–2014)
“Such beauty in the midst of the worst of atrocities was captured by recent performances of Coming Together / Attica by Frederic Rzewski with original choreography by Rebecca Lazier. It was simply impossible to be physically disconnected from this performance.” —David Pearson, I Care if You Listen
Premiere: Scotia Festival of Music, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Choreographer: Rebecca Lazier
Music: Frederick Rzewski’s Coming Together and Attica (1972)
Music Performance: Newspeak: Mellissa Hughes, voice; Caleb Burhans, violin; James Johnston, keyboard; Taylor Levine, guitar; David T. Little, drums; Eileen Mack, clarinets; Brian Snow, cello; Peter Wise, percussion.
Dancers: Cori Kresge, Pierre Guilbault, Jennifer Lafferty, Rashaun Mitchell, Christopher Ralph and Silas Riener
Costume Designer: Mary Jo Mecca
Lighting Designer: Davison Scandrett
Supported by: Movement Research Artist Residency Project, funded in part by the Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund; Canada Council for the Arts; Live Art Dance Productions and Scotia Festival of Music; Puffin Foundation; Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc.; New Music USA’s 2013 Live Music for Dance Program; Princeton University’s Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts, Committee on Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Program in Dance.
Photos (above): Julie Lemberger; Paula Lobo
Photos (below): Paula Lobo
Coming Together/Attica, a collaborative work by choreographer Rebecca Lazier with the inimitable proto-punk ensemble Newspeak, explores the seminal and controversial work of composer Frederic Rzewski. Hailed as “outstanding” (New York Times), the music and movement of Coming Together/Attica juxtapose finely wrought structural directives with impulsive individual improvisations. The energy unleashed by these counterpoised forces drives both Rzewski’s score and Lazier’s choreography with “bruising intensity” (Lucid Culture). The interpretation of the score by the inimitable and “fierce” (Time Out) ensemble Newspeak, led by David T. Little, combines classical, jazz and rock’n’roll influences and features a female vocalist. Rzewski’s propulsive and stirring companion pieces Coming Together and Attica are influential classics of early-‘70s minimalism and although they were inspired by the riots, Rzewski does not dictate an ideology in the piece, he invites the listener to create his or her own meanings, as does the choreography. Listed by Eva Yaa Asantewaa as one of 2013’s most memorable art experiences.
Newspeak, named after the thought-limiting language in George Orwell’s 1984, is a powerhouse ensemble that became an early standout within New York’s “indie-classical” scene. The current stellar line-up began performing together in 2008, and released their first CD with New Amsterdam Records in November 2010, to critical acclaim. NEWSPEAK has commissioned and premiered work by David T. Little, Caleb Burhans, Corey Dargel, Oscar Bettison, Ted Hearne, Judd Greenstein, Missy Mazzoli and many others. “You could call this punk classical,” Lucid Culture wrote, “fearlessly aware…(and) resolutely defiant.” New Sounds host John Schafer called them “important players on the new music scene.”
