Monica Bill Barnes: Game Face

Robert Wagner Jr. Park

August 4–7 & 11–14, 12:00pm & 1:00pm

Monica Bill Barnes’ Game Face uses everyday people that have passed through the Robert Wagner Jr. Park as inspiration, with the performers cast as sightseers, sunbathers and Park Rangers. This oddly matched group slowly begins to perform a show, using the entire area as their stage. Made entirely on site, the cast of die-hard dancers perform their hearts out in the midst of tour buses, passing summertime crowds and the heat.

Choreographer: Monica Bill Barnes

Costume Design: Kelly Hanson

Assistant Costume Designer: Erica Evans

Interns: Emily LaHaie and Kristin Henry

Music: W. Earl Brown, P. Donnaggio, Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, John Powers, Don Gibson, Luigi Creatore, as sung by Elvis

Singers: Adam Covalt, Tom Del Pizzo, and Donna Costello

Dancers: Anna Bass, Monica Bill Barnes, Deborah Lohse, Lindsey Kelley, Mindy Upin, Mary Ann Wall

About Monica Bill Barnes

Monica Bill Barnes & Company (MBB & CO.) calls New York City home and has presented work in over twenty different NYC venues including Symphony Space, Dance Theatre Workshop, La Mama, Dance New Amsterdam, DancemOpolitan at Joe's Pub, and Danspace Project. Barnes creates full-blown dance works interweaving pop-culture, show business, absurdity and high drama. MBB & CO. has a repertoire of twelve evening-length works as well as site-specific events, solos and theatrical vignettes.

Now in its eleventh year, MBB & CO. features a cast of professional dancers, a wide variety of guest performers and an enduring design team. The company’s season is made up of an annual New York premier, national touring, university and artistic residencies and various commissions.

In October 2008, MBB & CO. is thrilled to perform at Dance Theater Workshop as one of DanceNow/The Festival's 10th Year Anniversary Artists, celebrating a decade of Barnes' contemporary dance choreography in New York City. Early next year, the company will premiere “Another Parade” at The Ailey Citigroup Theater as a part of the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival, March 4-8, 2009. Please join us for an evening of snow, confetti, passing parades, Vaudeville theatrics, and more.

Sitelines is generously supported by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Produced in association with the River To River® Festival.

The River To River Festival, presented by American Express, is a collaboration of Lower Manhattan’s major cultural event producers including the Alliance for Downtown New York, arts>World Financial Center, Battery Park City Authority, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Port Authority of NY & NJ, and South Street Seaport. These partners are firmly committed to using the arts as a tool for revitalization and the development of new audiences.

Return to the Sitelines 2008 listing.