New dance, theater and music projects tackle hot-button issues

Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) Artist Commissioning Program has announced four new artist awardees: Kerri Edge, Yogi (Y?) Guyadin, Claire Marie Lim and Guanglei Hui. The artists represent some of the most exciting work being conducted in Queens in all performing arts disciplines, including dance, theater and music. In its second year, the program awards each artist $10,000 towards the creation and production of an original project as well as a year-long commitment of advisory and support from the group of dedicated Art Producers.

Selected by two panels of art producers for their capacity to tell untold stories, the four winning projects tackle hot-button issues and comment on our everyday realities using new forms and platforms.

Artivist Kerri Edge’s project “REFORM” will use tap dance as a vehicle to shed light on the racial disparities in the American criminal justice system encouraging others to advocate for legislation. The collection of tap dance monologues set to music, poetry and film will tell stories that highlight the African American male experience with the criminal justice system and the lasting effects on both the African American family and the community at large.

Yogi (Y?) Guyadin, educator, artist and audio engineer/producer, will present an experimental theatre project, “Shooter,”which invites participants to confront the complex power dynamics between victim and perpetrator, role-playing as the "shooter" or the "shot" in an incident of gun violence.

Interdisciplinary artist Claire Marie Lim’s music project “Colors of Us” will feature new musical material created in collaboration with female-identifying youths of Asian descent residing or having roots in Queens. The collection of music will mostly comprise electronic elements as well as integrate other influences, including traditional music from the cultures of those involved, and will be premiered as a live performance.

Dancer and choreographer Guanglei Hui’s choreography “The Silent Voices” will use the metaphor of the silent scream to draw attention to the experience of new immigrants facing seemingly insurmountable barriers to entry into mainstream American life: from language, cultural misunderstandings and uncertain legal status to, recently, a climate of increased hostility and intolerance.

Throughout the year, the program will hold a series of events including artist talks and mini performances of works in progress, which are free and open to the public. The 2019 program will culminate in four world premieres of commissioned art works in late summer and fall. https://www.queenscouncilarts....