Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup and David Shenk present The Moving Memory Project
Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup and David Shenk present The Moving Memory Project: what we share on Friday, April 5th at 8pm at Broadway Presbyterian Church, 601 W. 114th Street New York, NYC. Admission is free, but you may RSVP HERE.
Launched in 2019, The Moving Memory Project embodies its founders’ vision of bringing together artists, caregivers, and seniors to create a community of care surrounding issues connected to memory loss and destigmatizing the diagnosis of dementia, with the goal of raising awareness, to increase funding, until a cure is found. “Works like this can help the world think and talk about Alzheimer’s in important new ways” says co-producer David Shenk, whose writings on Alzheimer’s and dementia garnered him international acclaim as an authority on the subject.
The evening begins with an interactive game designed to bring people together through unexpected discoveries about what they have in common, followed by a performance of Nelson’s latest iteration of Dea, a 30-minute extended version of the piece recently presented on Feb. 9 at the previous Moving Memory Project event. The evening culminates with a post-performance discussion led by David Shenk who will discuss exciting breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s related research.
Dea, performed by Paige Doku; soundtrack by composers Borut Krzisnik and Katie Jenkins; light design by Lauren Parrish, is inspired by the play Nostra Dea (Our Goddess), written by Massimo Bontempelli in 1925. The protagonist is memoryless. Multiple identities, traits, and appearances meet on this constantly renewed blank slate. Without any sense of self or past, Dea bridges the gap between human and other, questioning our sense of self and others with evolving identities and renewed behaviors. Previous iterations of Dea in solo, trio, and larger groups have been presented at the Festival Quartiers Danses in Montréal, Motore 592 in Lucca, Indiana University, and Les Champs Mélisey in Burgundy. This research will culminate into an evening length piece to premiere in 2025 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the play.
For more information, visit www.sndancegroup.org
Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup The Moving Memory Project, Image credit Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup