THE CENTER AT WEST PARK
PRESENTS
Photo: Julia Discenza
Direction & Choreography by Carmen Caceres
(in collaboration with the dancers)
OCTOBER 27 - 29 | 7:30 PM | $25
Welcome to Imagi*Nation is a “choose-your-own-adventure” multimedia, dance-theater, immersive experience inspired by Eduardo Galeano’s book Open Veins of Latin America.
ABOUT WELCOME TO IMAGI*NATION
Welcome to Imagi*Nation is a “choose-your-own-adventure” multimedia, dance-theater, immersive experience inspired by Eduardo Galeano’s book Open Veins of Latin America.
This piece begins with the conflict between two fictional nations over natural resources and labor shortages. While performers search for conflict resolution the audience experiences the motivations and consequences of migration.
This piece reflects the relationship between the US and Latin America within the frame of industry, economy, and migration.
Choreography, Direction, & Costumes: Carmen Caceres (in collaboration with the performers)
Performers: Carmen Caceres, Israel Harris, Jenna Purcell, Lydia Perakis, Mallory Markham-Miller, Mar Orozco Arango, & Sofia Baeta
Assistant Director: Aviya Hernstadt
Immersive Experience Consultant: Mary Madsen
Video: Daniel Hess
Music/Songs: Emilio Teubal & Various Artists
Dramaturgy: Lauren Hlubny
Understudies/Docents: Caroline Alter & Sara Fox
Lighting Designer: Dwayne Fralin
This production of Welcome To Imagi*Nation is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
CARMEN CACERES is a dance artist originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has been creating dance works in Argentina and NY since 2009. Her works have been presented in several venues, such as Dixon Place, Green Space Studio, Triskelion Arts Center, Teatro Sea, The Mark Morris Dance Center, the Center at West Park, and the Center for Performance Research. In 2013 she founded DanceAction, a dance company that works as a creative platform to produce performing arts works in collaboration with musicians, dramaturges, designers, and visual artists. Her works have been awarded the Brooklyn Arts Fund Community Grant, the Dance/NYC Emergency COVID-19 Grant, the City Artist Corps Grant, and most recently, the LMCC Creative Engagement Grant.
Carmen also produces her new performance & Argentine Tango improv-lab series Lo De Carmen in collaboration with Silvana Brizuela-Weigel.
As a performer and collaborator, she worked with artists Ines Armas, Anabella Lenzu, Katie Rose McLaughlin, Isabel Lewis, Jillian Peña, Lisa Parra, Sarah Berges, Elia Mrak, Sari Nordman, and Jody Oberfelder, among others.
Carmen received a BA in Dance and Education at SUNY Empire State College. She deepened her studies in dance, performance, and choreography at the former Merce Cunningham Studio in New York, where she completed the Professional Training Program and participated in several repertory and composition workshops organized by the Merce Cunningham Trust. In her native city, she graduated from the National School of Dance and studied Dance Composition at the National University of the Arts UNA.
Carmen also works as a dance educator and program director for different art education programs and community-based organizations in New York City.
DANCEACTION is a contemporary dance company based in New York, led by Argentinian choreographer Carmen Caceres. Our culturally diverse team includes artists from several disciplines, such as dance, music, drama, media, and visual arts. Together we create dance works that reflect social realities that concern people, relationships, and social justice. Our primary purpose is to interpret these issues and use our works to propel change.
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. In January 2018, DA produced an entire evening of works inspired by political activism and social justice at the Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, NY. DA's works have been awarded the Brooklyn Arts Fund Community Grant, the Dance/NYC Emergency COVID-19 Grant, the City Artist Corps Grant, and the LMCC Creative Engagement Grant.
DA has also been invited to international dance festivals in different cities. Its first full-length work, Game Night, was part of the First International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City (FIDCDMX) in August 2016. In July 2018, the company participated at the International Contemporary Dance Festival and Campus Ticino in Danza in Ticino, Switzerland, performing 2 Minutes Hate. The company also presented this thought-provoking piece in October 2018 at Women Center Stage Festival – Directors Weekend II, organized and curated by Culture Project. Most recently, DA has been developing and presenting their latest work, Welcome to Imagi*Nation, as a Resident Artist at the Center at West Park since April 2021.
COVID-19 SAFETY GUIDELINES
As of June 1, we are no longer requiring proof of vaccination for artists or audiences. As of July 1, masking is optional and encouraged at CWP performances and events. Click here to read our full Safety Guidelines.