Events Preview: CAP UCLA’S 20-21 SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT (UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance)

Since the remainder of 2020 offers little to no live North American touring, CAP UCLA facilitated a collaboration with the National YoungArts Foundation for  The Sidewalk Sessions: L.A., which provides  opportunities for L.A. residents to bring an artist to perform on their sidewalk or driveway and invite friends, neighbors and family to enjoy— at a distance. To host a session is $50 with all proceeds given to the performing artist. Sessions are now  available to book  for July, August and September.

The four remaining commissions include  Constance Hockaday’s  Artist-in-Presidents,  a reimagining of FDR’s “fireside chats;”  The Choreographers’ Scores: 2020, a micro-commission project to share documentation of world-renowned choreographers’ process before setting it on dancers;  Notes on Napkins: 2020, which functions similarly for composers sharing their works; and  Chris Doyle’s  Memento Vivere,  made  with the help of 60 UCLA students, each recorded for 60 seconds and compiled as time keepers of the future. More than 300 artists – locally, nationally and internationally – will benefit from these micro-commissions.

“The truth is, this season is the most epic project we have undertaken in our lifetimes — to collaborate with artists on a future that will not be as unevenly distributed as the past has been,” said executive and artistic director Kristy Edmunds. “Theater has lasted through the ages, and in this time of digital access we may have an opportunity to connect the work of performance creators to more people than our house seats enable.”

Projects adapted specifically for the online stage include a four-day celebration of  Grace, a work about God’s grace and the legacy of Alvin Ailey by Choreographer  Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE.  Grace @ 20  features a filmed presentation, discussions and at-home master classes;  Forced Entertainment’s  Table Top Shakespeare: At Home Edition,  a  condensed at-home version of all  36 Shakespeare plays told with found objects offered over two months; an online concert by the famed  Quinteto Astor Piazzolla  filmed in Buenos Aires specifically for CAP UCLA audiences;  Robin Frohardt:  The Plastic Bag Store: A Film,  a puppet-led virtual tour of an absurdist retail space installation currently on lockdown in Times Square, whose objects are all produced from plastic bags;  she is called,  a concert by the highly acclaimed Brooklyn Youth Chorus featuring new compositions by women composers; and returning favorite  Kid Koala  who will livestream an online-at-home communal experience for CAP UCLA audiences with  Music to Draw To, 4-5 hours of creative quiet time accompanied by inspirational music.

While in residence last season, Nadia Sirota and Suzanne Bocanegra further developed their works to be featured this season;  Living Music Live with Nadia Sirota  and  Honor: An Artist Lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra. Sirota will continue to be in residence and will be joined by Annie Saunders with Emma O’Halloran, Christopher Rountree and Wild Up; Eiko Otake; Dan Siegler; Daniel Alexander Jones; and Edgar Arceneaux. CAP UCLA 2020-21 fellows include Ann Hamilton, Antonio Sanchez, Helen Molesworth and Eighth Blackbird.

The highlight of the 2020-21 season is  The Tune In Festival; a convergence of music and poetry in the time of change,  a five-day convening of artists from across the U.S., Canada and Latin America. More than 20 artists and ensembles are coming together in cross-cultural solidarity to pay respect to the time-honored tradition of music and poetry as a source of resilience, protest and inspiration. Participating artists range from  Kronos Quartet  with an homage to the legendary Pete Seeger;  a capella  favorites  Sweet Honey In the Rock; Ethiopian-American vocalist  Meklit; Peruvian folk singer  Nano Stern; Canadian duo  The Small Glories; and other surprise guest artists.  The  Tune In Festival  was made possible by a  generous gift from composer Rachel Fuller  (Animal Requiem)  and her husband, Peter Townshend (The Who).

The aforementioned programming allows CAP UCLA to respond to what the national arts ecosystem needs the most: financial stability, creative development and contractual support. This support is carried out as in past seasons — with performances across genres. All fall 2020 performances, including  The Tune In Festival,  will be released as digital versions recorded live on CAP UCLA stages. Once live performances are able to resume, CAP UCLA will continue to offer digital versions of each performance (with the exception of David Sedaris) for patrons who cannot or prefer not to attend large events. Online patrons will have digital access a week after the scheduled performance date.

This performance season also includes three West Coast premieres;  Ted Hearne’s  In Your Mouth,  an intensely complicated and intimate 12-song suite;  Piano Sonata by Philip Glass,  composed by an indisputably great master of contemporary classical music and performed by long-time collaborator  Maki Namekawa; and from  Antonio Sanchez, one of the most admired drummers of his generation,  Bad Hombre, a response and reflection on the 45th commander-in-chief and immigration policies around the world.

After taking caution and care with the performances postponed in 2019-20 due to COVID-19, the following have been rescheduled into the forthcoming season:  Anthony De Mare’s  Liaisons 2020;  David Sedaris;  Jennifer Koh and Davóne Tines’  Everything That Rises Must Converge;  Rudresh Mahanthappa and Terri Lyne Carrington’s  Fly Higher: Charlie Parker at 100;  John Cameron Mitchell’s  The Origin of Love Tour;  MK Guth’s  Choreography for Reading Aloud; and  Perla Batalla’s  Discoteca Batalla.

The CAP UCLA 2020-21  Season Teaser  is online, and more information on all upcoming programs is available at  cap.ucla.edu. The season brochure will be sent digitally in July 2020.