Kristopher K.Q. Pourzal: mix fix (dick no balls)

KRISTOPHER K.Q. POURZAL
MIX FIX (DICK NO BALLS)

OCT 25 – 27 AT 8:00 PM
THE BLACK BOX
GIBNEY 280 BROADWAY
$15 – $20

Concept, choreography, and performance by Kristopher K.Q. Pourzal, in dramaturgical dialogue with Kareem Alexander

The moment a castrato utters his first note, he outs himself to his bemused onlookers. His strangely shrill voice undoubtedly pegs him as a castrated being, engineered for (and doomed to) a life of performance and impotence. Leveraging a grand gesture toward this bygone tradition, Pourzal cuts into the fixities and mutabilities of performing his selves for others, of pre-forming others for himself. While considering the castrato against larger histories of marking bodies (as raced, gendered, etc.) in the construction of power, his mixed-race fagginess does the looking and the uttering: everything is fixed, and nothing is restored.

This performance is presented as part of Gibney’s Making Space EA+ initiative, supported by the Jerome Foundation. Making Space EA+ will provide support for six early career artists to develop and premiere evening-length works at Gibney over the next two years.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Kristopher K.Q. Pourzal (b. 1989) is a queer, black, white, Iranian-American performance-maker and performer. Raised outside of Washington, DC, he has been based in New York City since 2014. His solo work has been presented and/or commissioned by Danspace Project, Roulette, Dixon Place, AUNTS, Center for Performance Research, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange. He has worked with and for other artists such as Annie Vigier & Franck Apertet (les gens d’Uterpan), Catherine Galasso, K.J. Holmes, Simone Aughterlony & Jen Rosenblit, and Will Rawls. He was a 2016 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence and holds an MFA in Dance from Arizona State University.

Kareem Alexander is a Belizean-American artist based in NYC. Kareem graduated from Hunter College with a B.A. in Dance with minors in Africana/Puerto-Rican/Latinx Studies and Sociology. There, Kareem practiced Contemporary, Ballet, Modern, and West African techniques. Kareem has performed works by Marjani Forté, Julian Barnett, Pat Hoffbauer, Jodi Melnick, Doug Varone, and Vicky Shick. Kareem’s choreography has been presented in the Danny Kaye Playhouse, Gibney Dance (Work Up 3.0 artist), and St. Mark’s Church. Kareem is currently studying for their Master’s Degree in Social Work. Most importantly, Kareem is trying to remain as human as possible in a seemingly inhumane world.

Photo by Ian Douglas.

ACCESSIBILITY

The accessible entrance for this location is located at 280 Broadway. Please note that this is a shared entrance with the New York City Department of Buildings. To access the elevator, attendees may be asked to provide a valid photo ID and go through building security, including a metal detector.

Requests for reasonable accommodation or for access to the 280 Broadway entrance after 5:00 pm or on the weekend should be made three days in advance by contacting Elyse Desmond at 646.837.6809 (Voice only), or by e-mailing elyse@gibneydance.org.