J e l l o + Hot Mess! are BACK for 2023!
2023 is flying by and we're almost into June! It's been a busy first half of the year, but we still haven't experienced two series that are such important elements of the Elastic Arts community, J e l l o and Hot Mess! We present each series quarterly, and both consistently bring a flood of dynamic and ecstatic energy to our stage. The curation represents the far reaches of what can be done with performance, dance, movement, and sound. It is a privilege to have the curatorial team of Tuli Bera and Sarah Stearn (J e l l o) along with Sara Zalek (Hot Mess!) bring in so many incredible artists that are pushing boundaries on our stage, but also creating an environment of pure fun with our audiences. We want you to experience these two wonderful series, so please join us as they both debut for 2023 this weekend with J e l l o on Friday and two shows with Hot Mess! on Saturday.
J e l l o
This year J e l l o is featuring new curators for each edition, bringing unique takes on movement, dance, and sound. Curators Sarah and Tuli say "we're super excited to kick off this year of shows with J e l l o: QuEEr Experiment, curated by Reign Drop & Virginia VanLieshout. This show will highlight experimental work by Chicago's queer artists. We have three more shows in 2023, two of which will also be guest-curated by CJ Fink and Randi Townsend. We're thrilled to bring in new faces to the curator side of the series, most of whom have been J e l l o performers! New folks bring new ideas to keep expanding the J e l l o community." Lineup below with the event starting at 8:30pm Friday 5/26!
Line up:
Ibrahim Sabbi
Ashton Bauer & Briar Darling
Marco Pizano
Anna Caffarelli & Crimson Moeller
Isabella Limosnero & Adeline "A" Else
Luke Greeff
Alfonso Cervera & Elliot Emadian
Nik LaMaack
TightUs
HOT MESS!
On Saturday we've got a special Hot Mess! planned with two performances at 4:20PM and 8:00PM. Curator Sara Zalek has been presenting these hybrid performance experiences since 2021, when we were still unable to meet in person. Their new series, developed as part of their Elastic Performing Arts Curatorial Residency, turned that limitation into an opportunity to create a performance hybrid of online streaming and in person action. Even when we were able to all safely meet indoors at Elastic Arts, Zalek continued to explore this connection between the digital internet domain and analog movement/sound in the room. The series often features artists from around the world collaborating with the artists right here on our stage, all in front of a live audience. While the program doesn't normally involve solo features, the artists are all often overlapping or improvising/collaborating with their presentations. Zalek says, "I want to highlight moments of co-creation and give both the artists and audience a play-space to meet each other across time, genre, cultures, perspective, and experience. Together, we hold a Queer space, demonstrate the power of working together while learning, and behold the beauty of transformation while making art. Kids of all ages are welcome and encouraged to attend!" Join us Saturday for one or both shows!
Featured Artists:
MzMr
Mallory Q
Va-Bene Elikem K. Fiatsi (Ghana, Africa)
Rin Peisert
Hiroko Tamano (Berkeley, CA)
Next Hot Mess! events:
July 29 with featured artists Micheal Zerang, Vanessa Skanze (Seattle, WA) and more TBA
October 28 with Mabel Kwan, Aurora Tabar, Iván Espinosa (Colorado), more TBA