S L A I N Thursday-Saturday, 8pm Feb 19-28, March 4-6 $10.00 WOW Cafheater 59-61 E 4th St, 4th Floor (between Bowery and 2nd Ave) F to 2nd Ave or 6 to Astor Place reservations: (212) 777-4280

relinquished from myself.

WOWMoves Dance Fest closes with three weeks of Slain, a multidisciplinary dance piece which explores female orgasm, hysteria, and being slain in the spirit. The piece delves into the Christian Churchs legacy of the repression of female sexuality, sexual deviancy, and reactions to trauma, and examines the public intimacy afforded women who lose consciousness in charismatic worship.

Dora Arreola choreographs and Andrea Assaf and Arreola co-direct this new work, conceived and created by Parker Pracjek.

no longer my own.

DANCERS

PARKER PRACJEK holds a Masters in Performance Studies from NYU. Pracjek works in the areas of writing and spoken word performance, puppetry and mask performance and movement. In December, 2003 at the Mulberry Street Theatre, her puppetry was performed in collaboration with the Kinding Sindaw Dance Company, in residence La Mama, Etc. Previously, her original work has been seen at WOW Cafheatre.

GARTH EDWIN SUNDERLAND is an interdisciplinary artist whose work encompasses the fields of music, dance, and theater, as well as the emerging form of concert theatre. He has held residencies at the International Center for American Music and the Atlantic Center for the Arts, received support from Meet The Composer, and holds degrees in composition from the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan. As a performer, his training has focused on both butoh and mask work. Currently, he is Production Director for The Leonard Bernstein Office, and is creating a dance/theatre adaptation of AnaNins House of Incest. In March, the Lost Dog New Music Ensemble will present the world premiere of his new trio for guitar, vibraphone and horn, Pisces.

REBECCA WENDER, in addition to working on Slain, currently dances with Keila Cordova, Marisa Beatty, and Christian Canciani. Other recent projects include working with Alexandra Beller, Jesika Pate and many other wonderful and informative choreographers and dancers. Her own work has been seen at BAAD!, Evolving Arts Theater, WAX, and Dixon Place @ University Settlement.

explosive and exploding.

CHOREOGRAPHER AND CO-DIRECTOR

DORA ARREOLA is Artistic Director and founding director and member of Mujeres en Ritual. She has more than fifteen years of experience as a theater artist. Her directing and performance work has been seen in Tijuana, San Diego, L.A., New York, and Vancouver. Academically and professionally, Arreola has traveled to Europe and the United States, where she studied dance and theater with several internationally prominent artists, including more than two years training with Jersy Grotowski in Italy, Suzuki Technique with Marcos Martz, Butoh dance with Katsura Kan, Diego Piand Yumiko Yoshoika, and Scenic Directing Methodology with Ludwick Margules.

CO-DIRECTOR

ANDREA ASSAF is a theater artist, writer and educator interested in cross-cultural collaboration and community-based arts. She has a Masters degree in Performance Studies and a BFA in Acting, both from NYU.

they tell me I was still.

Slain in the Spirit. A verb. As in I have always dreamed of being slain in the spirit, or Cathy has thrice been slain in the spirit. Being slain in the spirit is a common practice in the Christian fundamentalist charismatic tradition. Charismatic. Care-asthmatic. Noun. And adjective. As in Boy, these fundamentalists charismatic christians sure arecharismatic. The practice of being slain in the spirit grew in popularity at the turn of the twentieth century which coincided with, coincidentally, one Sigmund Freuds breakthrough theory that unbearable emotional reactions to traumatic events produced altered states of consciousness: fainting, trance, and hysteria. One is slain when the power or wind of the holy spirit overcomes you, literally knocks you over, and you are caught or lowered down by helpful parishioners standing dutifully at their posts. A person loses consciousness and can be out for as long as an hour, always with a faint trace of a smile though there is no memory of the down time. Thats what its called amongst the in crowd. going down. Or Getting taken down, depending on verb conjugation. During this down time, you experience a highly intimate communion with god. Everyone wants to be slain. Not everyone is.