A New Physical Theater/Dance Piece
Choreographed & Directed by Carmen Caceres,
with Co-Direction & Dramaturgy by Lauren Hlubny
Welcome to ImagiNation is a multimedia immersive performance inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times where the audience will participate in a virtual reality interactive game, facing multiple challenges. Searching for conflict resolution, the audience will experience the motivations and consequences of migration.
Welcome to ImagiNation features performances by Aviya Hernstadt, Lauren Hlubny, Mallory Markham; lighting design by Stoli Stolnack; visual arts consultation by Maria Nissan; and costumes designed by Caceres in collaboration with the performers.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
CARMEN CACERES (Creator & Director) is a dance artist, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She received a BA in Dance and Education at SUNY Empire State College and deepened her studies in dance, performance, and choreography at the former Merce Cunningham Studio in New York. In her native city, she graduated from the National School of Dance and has studied Dance Composition at the National University of the Arts UNA.
She has been creating and presenting dance works in Argentina and NY since 2009. In 2012 she founded DanceAction (DA), a creative platform comprised of artists from multiple disciplines, to produce performing artworks in collaboration and provide educational opportunities. DA participated in numerous festivals and performance series in New York, such as Performance Studio Open House (PSOH) at Center for Performance Research, Take Root at Green Space Studio, Open Performance for Movement Research, Under Exposed at Dixon Place, and SharedSpace at the Mark Morris Dance Center. DA has also been invited to international dance festivals in different cities. The First International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City (FIDCDMX), the International Contemporary Dance Festival and Campus “Ticino in Danza” in Ticino, Switzerland, and “Women Center Stage Festival” in New York are some of them. DA’s latest project, BLINDSPOT, was sponsored, in part, by the Brooklyn Arts Fund community grant, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). Most recently, DA has received the Dance/NYC Emergency COVID-19 Grant.
As a performer and collaborator, Carmen has worked with artists Ines Armas, Katie Rose McLaughlin, Isabel Lewis, Jillian Peña, Lisa Parra, Elia Mrak, Jody Oberfelder, and Sarah Berges among others. Carmen also works as a dance educator and program director for different art education programs in New York City, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. www.carmencaceres.com.
LAUREN HLUBNY (Co-Director & Dramaturg) is the NYC Artistic Director of Franco-American company Danse Theatre Surreality (DanseTheatreSurreality.org). Hlubny's work centers image-as-metaphor, physicality, social justice, and interdisciplinary communication, and her research focuses on the intersection of movement and storytelling. Hlubny has been invited to share works in France, Italy, Seattle, San Francisco, Birmingham, Knoxville, New Orleans, Portland, and in museums nationwide, including the Dali Museum. Hlubny studies Martial Arts and Anthropology in New York City, where she works as a director who originates works at venues such as Joe’s Pub, Triskelion, The Kraine, Shetler Studios, TADA! Youth Theater, Mark Morris, and La MaMa. Fascinated by multifaceted productions, combat, and consent, Hlubny also enjoys working as a dramaturg and acting coach for choreographers, and as a choreographer for theatre and opera. Hlubny will be an artist-in-residence for her piece īs, a dance-concerto this August at the Shed Seattle, and serves as co-director/dramaturg for Dance Action’s latest work Welcome to Imagi•nation directed and choreographed by Carmen Caceres.