Generic Minneapolis
A warm-up for a performance by Emily Gastineau
March 24-26, 2022
Red Eye Theater
Yeah, I said it. But in truth: Minneapolis isn't generic at all. Especially after all that has happened. And neither is anywhere else, really. But you could name something, couldn't you? An image that came to your head? Is it Grain Belt? Is it "the lake"? May Day? Spoon and…don't say niceness. Um, do you mean white things? Is it about feeling invisible? Scratch that, this isn’t right. What you think is generic about Minneapolis says more about you than about Minneapolis. It tells us something about what we take for granted. So for three nights, we'll excavate the generic in the specificity of this town, in this performance community, in me, in you.
Generic Minneapolis is a research extravaganza, a collective brainstorm, a conceptual swap meet, a provocation. It greases the gears for the premiere of Emily Gastineau's work Generic Specific in April 2022. Each night of Generic Minneapolis features a different grouping of thinkers: a poet, a comedian, an academic, an artist. And each night there will appear a generic evening-length work by rotating casts of performers, DJs, and lighting designers. The work is score-based and instantly activated, because if we are working with generic objects, then the material is already known and we can step directly into the performance. Minneapolis. We are ready.
Thursday, March 24, 7 pm
Performance lecture by Emily Gastineau and comedy by Devohn Bland
Performance by Leila Awadallah, Terry Hempfling, Antonio Duke, and Tristan Koepke–with lighting by snem DeSellier and DJ Judith Shuǐ Xiān
Friday, March 25, 7 pm
Performance lecture by Emily Gastineau and lecture by George Hoagland
Performance by Alexandra Beaumont, Margaret Ogas, Sally Rousse, and aegor ray–with lighting by Søren Olsen and DJ Juleana Enright
Saturday, March 26, 7 pm
Performance lecture by Emily Gastineau and poetry by Moheb Soliman
Performance by Alys Ayumi Ogura, Krista Langberg, Theo Langason, and Emily Michaels King–with lighting by Kat Purcell and DJ Terry Hempfling
Red Eye requires proof of vaccination, including boosters as eligible, for all audience members and artists who enter the space. Masks are currently required for all events. If you have questions about this policy, or concerns related to accessibility or to children under the age of five, please contact the Red Eye Artistic Directors with as much advance notice as possible at staff@redeyetheater.org.
To request ASL interpretation, audio description, large-print programs, or other accessibility-related accommodations for any event, please contact us at least two weeks prior to the event. staff@redeyetheater.org | 612.870.7531
Generic Specific is a contemporary dance work that examines affective economies through the lens of the generic and the personal. The piece explores how feelings circulate, how value is produced through proximity, and how normativity is constructed through repetition. Generic Specific will premiere at Red Eye Theater, April 28-30, 2022, with collaborators Valerie Oliveiro, Anna Marie Shogren, and Judith Holo Shuǐ Xiān.
generic (noun): something so pervasive that we become unable to see its specificity. Ex: brand (of cola), a tool (a traffic cone), a dance movement (the step-touch), an expression (a smile), or an idea (the good life). The objects and ideas that saturate a culture until they become standard, ostensibly unmarked, even invisible—as we remain implicated, attached, choreographed by them.
About the artists:
Leila Awadallah | LeilAwa is a dancer, choreographer, and film dabbler based between Minneapolis and Beirut. She is the founder of Body Watani dance project. Leila’s ways of moving through the world are woven with and informed by Arab/Mediterranean roots from Palestine and Sicily. To connect further, visit leilaawadallah.com
Alexandra Beaumont is a textile and movement artist whose work explores personal and collective joy, restoration, and expansiveness.
Devohn Bland is a Minneapolis-based comedian, writer, and musician, with a focus for using the art of radical collective joy to poke fun at systems of oppression and create positive change.
snem DeSellier is something wiggly and wide and curled at the edges - like a mouthfull of stubborn jelly - like a slowmoving trickle.
Antonio Duke is an actor and playwright. He strives to be an unrestricted conduit for the spirits he conjures in his theatrical practice. For him theatre is an act of spiritual manifestation rooted in a practice of Afrocentric storytelling. He follows in the tradition of the griot: solo West African storytellers. www.antonioduke.com
Juleana Enright
Emily Gastineau is a choreographer, performer, writer, editor, and one of seven co-artistic directors of Red Eye Theater. She has been researching the generic since 2017, or 2018, or 2008, or 1993, depending on how you count it. www.emilygastineau.com
Terry Hempfling is a movement-based interdisciplinary artist. Terry has worked on projects with artists including Marina Abramovic, Anthea Hamilton, Laure Prouvost and Rachel Jendrzejewski (among others). Residencies include Triskelion Arts, Weisman Art Museum, Lighthouse Works, Antioch College and Shandaken Projects. BA: Dance and Theater, Antioch College. Terryhempfling.com
George Hoagland (they/them) is a media studies professor at Minneapolis College of Art & Design.
Tristan Koepke (he/him) is a dancer, choreographer, and Rolfer® based in the Twin Cities. www.tristankoepke.com
Theo Langason is a theater maker, educator, and co-artistic director of Red Eye Theater.
Krista Langberg is a dancer, an improvisor, a teacher, and a Feldenkrais practitioner.
Emily Michaels King is a performing artist combining movement, multimedia, and graphic compositions to get really deep in there. She is best known for her fearless vulnerability and collaged solo shows (MAGIC GIRL, DIGITAL, IN PERSON, etc), which pair minimalism and subtlety with cacophony and bared irreverence. www.emilymichaelsking.com
Margaret Ogas (she/her) is a dancer and choreographer based in Minneapolis. Using an interdisciplinary approach rooted in dance, her works tell surreal everyday stories through a collage of movement, text, and sound. Learn more at margaretogas.com.
Alys Ayumi Ogura tells stories through movement, voice and quirky humor. While she creates her own work, she also collaborates with other talents from the Twin Cities, and beyond. Her performances have been described as “compelling” and “fierce” by the Star Tribune. She is a proud Naked Stages Fellowship alumna.
Søren Olsen is a Designer | Maker | Educator | Choice Architect ❖ Get in touch and see more → designsbysoren.com. He’s currently establishing arts and wellness residency opportunities ＠ tamaracklandcoop.com. He adores Red Eye’s work for our local artists and community.
Kat Purcell uhauled to mpls with a phd candidate in 2016.
aegor ray is a writing a book of horror and paranormal romance short stories.
Judith Holo Shuǐ Xiān is an interdisciplinary choreographer, improviser and sound artist.
Moheb Soliman is an interdisciplinary poet from Egypt and the Midwest who's presented work around the US and Canada with support from diverse institutions. His debut collection HOMES (Coffee House Press, 2021), about nature, modernity, identity, and belonging through the Great Lakes bioregion/borderland, is a Minnesota Book Awards finalist and put him in Poets & Writers' annual 10 debut poets feature. mohebsoliman.info
Two-time McKnight Dance Fellow Sally Rousse is a contemporary ballet artist who performs, teaches, writes, advocates, and choreographs site-specific works.