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"The Reception" by Sean Donovan and Sebastián Calderón Bentin

Company:
Sean Donovan and Sebastián Calderón Bentin

HERE proudly presents the world premiere of The Reception, a HERE Resident Artist Production, as part of its 2016-2017 producing season.  Created by Sean Donovan and Sebastián Calderón Bentin (Donovan & Calderón) in collaboration with the company, and co-directed by Sebastián Calderón Bentin and Sean Donovan, this new dance theater work is performed by Jane Comfort, Leslie Cuyjet, Sean Donovan, Hannah Heller and Ishmael Houston Jones. The Reception will have 10 performances, June 14 – 24, at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue, just below Spring Street).

In Donovan & Calderón’s latest work, The Reception, the audience is a voyeur at a lively social gathering.  Popular music, fizzy drinks and friendly chatter hit the marks of a playful party, but something’s not quite right.  The Reception features a multigenerational company of accomplished performers in an intimate, surreal and suspenseful interplay, through a mix of written text and improvised speech and gestural, deliberate choreography. Surrealist cinema, in particular the works of Bunuel and Resnais, Antonioni, and Tati provided a palette of inspiration in the conception of the work.  Bit by bit, The Reception depicts an uncanny cracking at the seams, as the revelers contend with an increasingly unanchored world.  

The Reception features Jane Comfort, Leslie Cuyjet, Sean Donovan, Hannah Heller and Ishmael Houston Jones.  Choreographed by Sean Donovan and Sebastián Calderón Bentin in collaboration with the company.  Directed by Sebastián Calderón Bentin.  This premiere of The Reception marks the culmination of Donovan & Calderón’s residency in the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP).  
The Reception features Set Design by Neal Wilkinson, Lighting Design by Amanda K. Ringger, Sound Design by Brandon Wolcott and Tyler Kieffer and Costume Design by Felix Ciprián.

Donovan & Calderón have been in collaboration for the past thirteen years.  Previous works include Not Unclear at New York University (2003), Sublimate at the Galapagos Art Space (2006), their improvisational film, Copy/Edit (2007), and the site-specific bilingual piece, Se Vende (2008) at the FAE Festival in Panama.  In 2008 they received a grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council for the creation of Equator, which premiered at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange.  In 2011 they were Artists-in-Residence at Stanford University where they created The Climate Chronicles, which premiered at The Incubator Arts Project in New York (November 2011).  Their latest work, 18 ½ Minutes, was created through a residency at Stanford University (2012) and a Brooklyn Arts Exchange Space Grant (2013).  18 ½ Minutes premiered at JACK in Brooklyn in 2013.  While Donovan & Calderón are longtime collaborators committed to creating original performance as artistic partners, they also make work with many other prestigious artists and companies such as Bessie Award-winning Faye Driscoll, Bessie Award winning Miguel Gutierrez, Obie Award-winning Builders Association, , Witness Relocation, Goat Island, Every House Has a Door, Jane Comfort and Company, John Jesurun and others.  Individually, Donovan and Calderón each hold a B.F.A. in Theater from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where each trained at the Experimental Theater Wing.  Sebastian Calderón Bentín also holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Stanford University and is currently assistant professor in the Department of Drama at NYU.

The Reception plays June 14 – 24: Wednesday - Sunday at 8:30pm (June 14-18) and Tuesday – Saturday at 8:30pm (June 20-24). General admission tickets are $25.00. VIP Reserved Tickets: $45.00.  Tickets can be purchased at www.here.org or by calling (212) 352-3101 or at the HERE Box Office (5PM until curtain on show days). For more, please visit www.here.org.