New performance re-imagines a female Japanese Kabuki theater icon through a punk/synthwave/glam-goth lens
Providence, RI—FirstWorks, a non-profit connecting art with audiences, welcomes the public to a presentation by choreographer Aretha Aoki and multimedia artist Ryan MacDonald of their Japanese Kabuki theater-inspired, multidisciplinary work “IzumonookunI.” Together with their daughter, Frankie Mayfield, Aoki and MacDonald will share segments of the performance and discuss their lives as professional artists who blend dance, music, and theater. This free public presentation takes place at Jacqueline M. Walsh (JMW) School for the Arts in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Monday, November 25, from 5:30-6:30 PM in the school auditorium. For more information and to RSVP visit firstworks.org.
“This unique evening engagement will fire all the senses,” says Kathleen Pletcher, Executive Artistic Director of FirstWorks. “Aretha Aoki uses dance to bridge tradition and memory, while Ryan MacDonald completes the live performance experience through sound and visual design. The inspiration of Japanese theatre (and Aoki’s own Japanese ancestry), is translated through the body as a medium for time/space travel, creating an open, generous sharing experience with audiences. We are delighted to welcome these Maine-based artists to Providence, where they were most recently featured in the 2023 Motion State Dance Festival.”
“Izumonookunl” is a multidisciplinary and multigenerational dance inspired by Izumo no Okuni, the 17th-century founder of the Japanese dance-drama form, Kabuki—a form that currently contains little trace of its female-centric, grassroots, counter-cultural origins. Aoki and MacDonald are re-imagining Okuni in conversation with post-punk/glam-goth/dark-wave within a hybrid, contemporary landscape of live synthesizer, digital design, dance, and taiko drumming. “IzumonookunI” premiered at the Bates Dance Festival in July 2024.
This experimental performance and behind-the-scenes conversation with the artists follows a FirstWorks educational workshop held earlier in the day for JMW high school students. FirstWorks’ education program reaches 40 schools across Rhode Island, connecting students to performing arts experiences from around the world. The program combines the power of the arts with experiential learning to serve students, their families and educators. Find out more at firstworks.org/learn.
ABOUT ARETHA AOKI AND RYAN MACDONALD
Aretha Aoki is a choreographer, performer, and educator. Her work in collaboration with Ryan MacDonald has been performed nationally and internationally, with funding from the NPN Creation and Development funds, the Kindling Fund, Maine Arts Commission, New England Foundation for the Arts, and the Northampton Council for the Arts. She has performed and toured in the work of many award-winning choreographers, most recently Heather Kravas.
Ryan Alexander MacDonald is a multimedia artist and author. He was a 2017 Bessie Award Nominee in “Outstanding Composition and Sound Design” for his work in Vanessa Anspaugh’s The End of Men. He is the author of the story collection The Observable Characteristics of Organisms (FC2) and the winner of the 2012 American Short(er) Fiction Award. He works in multiple forms with long-time collaborator and choreographer Aretha Aoki and has designed sound for choreographers such as Vanessa Anspaugh, Devynn Emory, Tristan Koepke and Rebecca Steinberg. He lives in Maine where he teaches sound design and digital art. www.ryanamacdonald.com.
This engagement is funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.
IzumonookunI is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Bates Dance Festival, The Powell Street Festival, The Chocolate Factory and NPN. More information: http://www.npnweb.org.
IzumonookunI is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Powell Street Festival Society and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org.
Support for IzumonookunI is provided by The Kindling Fund, a grant program administered by SPACE as part of the Andy Warhol Foundation For The Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program. Funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts; and by the New England States.
Supported through work-in-progress showings at Bates Dance Festival, Bowdoin College, Salem St. University, Roger Williams University, estrogenius at the Kraine Theater, the New England Now Dance Platform at ICA/Boston, the School for Contemporary Dance and Thought, Motion State Dance Festival, and the Powell St. Festival.
ABOUT FIRSTWORKS
FirstWorks is a non-profit based in Providence, Rhode Island whose purpose is to build the cultural, educational and economic vitality of its community by engaging diverse audiences with world-class performing arts and education programs. Now celebrating its 20th year, FirstWorks festivals, performances and programs have attracted more than 1 million participants since its founding in 2004. Across its 2023-24 season, FirstWorks produced 60+ events, employed 100+ artists, and reached 3,300+ Rhode Island youth. FirstWorks is the founding partner of PVDFest and has collaborated with the City of Providence to curate and produce the City’s free, signature arts celebration since 2015. Embracing collaboration, FirstWorks has fostered over 90 community partnerships across business, social service, government, arts and education sectors. Visit firstworks.org to learn more.
