The Desire/Divinity Project at Judson Memorial Church February 1-3, 2018
Where: Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, NYC, Subway: A/B/C/D/E/F/M to W 4th St
Tickets: $20 Advance. $25 at Door. To purchase, visit BrownPaperTickets.com or call 347.854.6070.
photo by Paul Lieber
To be human is to desire.
Marisa Michelson’s Desire/Divinity Project embodies the joyful and aching tension between earthly and divine love by musicalizing the Western worlds oldest erotic poem (“Song of Songs”) and Anne Carson’s visceral translation of Sappho’s fragments. Fifteen singer-movers, members of Constellation Chor, explore singing as a way of merging the interior self with the exterior world. A mixture of live music video, opera, oratorio, and ritual, Desire/Divinity enlivens the sensual and the sacred, the body and the spirit.
Conceived, composed and performed by Marisa Michelson
Directed by Ethan Heard
Movement Direction by Emma Crane Jaster
Collaborating performers:
Jen Anaya (actor/musician/singer)
Nikko Benson (Musical Theater Factory)
Kinga Cserjesi (La Compagnia Amarilli)
Chad Goodridge (Obie Award winner, Crowded Outlet: Lone Star Spirits)
Tamrin Goldberg (New York Innovative Theatre Award winner)
Aubrey Johnson (jazz vocalist)
Luisa Muhr (Women Between Arts at The New School, FENGARI Ensemble)
Sarah Beth Pfeiffer (The Lightning Thief, The Cadaver Synod)
Marina Pires (Evita)
Raphael Sacks (English National Opera, Loom Ensemble)
Heath Saunders (The Great Comet)
Sara Serpa (jazz vocalist)
Shawn Shafner (artist/activist, The People’s Own Organic Power Project)
Kalliopi Siamidou (vocalist/pianist)
Instrumentalists:
Bansuri Flute/Wind/Reed – Pawan Benjamin
Cello – Brian Sanders
Drums – Jay Sawyer
The Desire/Divinity Project is developed with support from The Ted and Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund, Kara Unterberg, Judson Memorial Church, Heartbeat Opera, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.