“Bringing Out the Beauty” - Robert M. Morris (Stage Play)
Synopsis:
A play about friendship, devotion and the creative power of beauty. It's based on the true story of Henri Matisse in his declining years and his relationship with two nuns while designing and constructing his last great masterpiece, The Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence, France. He is prompted to this grand undertaking by his devotion to one of his favorite models who became a Dominican nun. Their intense and platonic relationship causes friction with the Mother Superior who fought Matisse about his artistic choices out of suspicion, jealousy and ignorance. She eventually discovers that art and beauty cleanse the soul and elevate human emotion to an almost Divine level.
“Sacrament” - Natalie Metzger (Contemporary Choreography)
Synopsis:
Natalie Metzger's Dance Theater Work, "Sacrament", is a performance experience that examines cult mentality, the evolution of god and the human attraction to destruction. The abstract narrative occurs amidst a futuristic landscape of decay that centers around an enigmatic "deity" that hangs from the ceiling and fills the performance space. This immersive descent into a world of cult mentality, violence and destruction has been described as the "Rite of Spring" meets "Alien" in "Night of the Living Dead". Fusing together movement, sound, video, text and image, award-winning choreographer Metzger and composer Robert Allaire create a hybrid performance experience that takes you inside a sacred space where worshippers enter into a ritual whose vague boundary blurs the distinction between audience and participant.