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For release: Friday May 1, 2015
Contact: Jessica Wolf 310.825.7789
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CAP UCLA Announces 2015-2016 Season
Highlights include ‘Desdemona,’ a reimagining of Shakespeare’s
‘Othello’ by Toni Morrison and Rokia Traoré directed by Peter Sellars;
thrilling Japanese dance company Sankai Juku; best-selling author
Ursula K. Le Guin; two mysterious events with Miranda July; Ann
Carlson’s ‘Symphonic Body,’ starring UCLA workers; plus concerts
from Randy Newman, Buddy Guy, Lucinda Williams, Cassandra
Wilson, Booker T. Jones, Anoushka Shankar and more.
In collaboration with Center Theatre Group, CAP UCLA welcomes Young Jean
Lee back to L.A. with her latest theater piece STRAIGHT WHITE MEN
In dance, CAP UCLA celebrates the artistry and longevity of Belgian
choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker with a four-night survey of her
work; presents world premiere of ‘Agua Furiosa’ from local CONTRA-TIEMPO
Subscriptions on sale May 4; Individual tickets available June 26
LOS ANGELES—Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAP UCLA), today announced its
2015-2016 program, a diverse blend of artists in music, theater, dance and spoken word,
featuring local performers alongside musicians and dancers from around the world. One
particular intention within the Center’s programming focus this season is the massive contribution
of women in all art forms.
The CAP UCLA theater program begins with “Desdemona” (Oct. 8-11), a thoughtfully staged reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Othello” as told from the perspective of the titular character and
her maid Barbary. The piece was written by two powerful female voices in the art of
performance, author and American literature icon Toni Morrison and Malian composer-singer
Rokia Traoré, who performs the role of Barbary. Tina Benko stars as Desdemona and the work is
directed by UCLA professor Peter Sellars, who is renowned worldwide for his innovative
treatments of classical material from western and non-western traditions, and for his
commitment to exploring the role of the performing arts in contemporary society.
Ann Bogart and SITI Company return to the program with “Steel Hammer” (Oct. 23-24), a
collaboration with composer Julia Wolfe and contemporary ensemble Bang on a Can All-Stars
that uses the legend of John Henry and the vibrant oral traditions of Appalachia to creatively
explore the subject of human vs. machine and the cost of hard labor on the human body and
soul. In conjunction with the group’s appearance in “Steel Hammer,” Bang On a Can All-Stars
will also present the west coast premiere performance of their new album, “Field Recordings”
(Oct. 25), featuring new music by Tyondai Braxton, Anna Clyne, Bryce Dessner, Florent Ghys,
Michael Gordon, Jóhann Jóhannsson, David Lang, Christian Marclay, Todd Reynolds, Steve
Reich and Julia Wolfe.
A prolific and award-winning American theater and opera director, Bogart
contemporary music ensemble Kronos Quartet as the new Artist Fellows for CAP
constitutes a multi-year commitment from the Center to present work from these
and to create connections between their respective bodies of work with local
audiences.
joins lauded
UCLA, which
master artists
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Following on the Center’s Los Angeles debut presentation of Young Jean Lee with the intimate
music-theater piece WE’RE GONNA DIE in the 2013-2014 season, this year CAP UCLA has
partnered with Center Theatre Group to bring the New York theater maker back to Los Angeles.
Her newest piece STRAIGHT WHITE MEN will run from November 20 through December 20 at the
Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, with a special preview night for CAP UCLA subscribers on
Friday, November 20.
Also in theater, Phantom Limb Company, with “Memory Rings” (April 8-9), a new environmentally
charged work that takes shape around the “Methuselah Tree,” a 4,800-year-old California
bristlecone pine estimated to be the oldest living thing on the planet. “Memory Rings” is the
second installment of Phantom Limb’s trilogy of original works about the environment. It
combines fairy tale, fable and puppetry, with choreography by Ryan Heffington and original
music by Erik Sanko who conceived the work with New York visual artist, designer and director
Jessica Grindstaff.
In the 2015-2016, two CAP UCLA artists-in-residence present completed works.
Los Angeles-based CONTRA-TIEMPO Urban-Latin Dance Theater, led by local artist-activist Ana
Maria Alvarez has been in residence at the Center developing “Agua Furiosa,” a new work that
challenges audiences to confront the harsh realities of race in our country. It is inspired by
Shaksepeare’s “The Tempest” and tales of Oya, the Afro-Cuban deity of wind and storms. The
work is infused with the company’s own multicultural makeup and artistic sensibility. The world
premiere is Thursday, Jan. 14, with eight performances in the intimate Glorya Kaufman Theatre
on campus, which will allow many students and local audiences to encounter this important
work.
Award-winning choreographer and recent Doris Duke grant recipient, Ann Carlson has been
installed on the UCLA campus since January 2015, working closely with 100 members of staff,
faculty and workers from across UCLA to create “The Symphonic Body UCLA” (Nov. 21), a
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tapestry of gesture conducted by Carlson and that provides a window into the breadth of
human labor that animates and emanates from the University.
The coming season also features Rosas: Then & Now, a four-night survey of one of the world’s
most admired and influential choreographers Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and her company
Rosas. It includes four seminal works from De Keersmaeker, two from the 1980s — “Fase, Four
Movements to the Music of Steve Reich” (Nov. 10) and “Rosas danst Rosas” (Nov. 12) — and two
recent works —“Verklärte Nacht” (Nov. 13) and “Vortex Temporum” (Nov. 14). De Keersmaeker’s
works are known for the special relationship between music and movement that is inherent in
her creative process.
Other highlights in dance performances include a return appearance from the thrillingly
powerful Sankai Juku led by Ushio Amagatsu with an exquisite new work “UMUSUNA- Memories
Before History” (Oct. 16-17), evoking the essence of duality and unity encapsulated in the
Japanese characters for “birth” and “earth,” which combine to form the title. Acclaimed British
choreographer Akram Khan returns to the program with renowned flamenco dancer Israel
Galván, for “Torobaka” (March 18-19), an intense physical dialogue that allows each performer
to both channel and challenge the movement traditions of kathak and flamenco. San
Francisco-based company ODC brings “boulders and bones” (April 15), inspired by the work of
visual artist Andy Goldsworthy and set to an original score by avant cellist Zoë Keating.
The 2015-2016 spoken word events are populated by a collection of powerful, maverick and
generous women – from the literary genius of Ursula K. Le Guin (Nov. 15), to the disarmingly
brilliant cultural commentary of cartoonist Roz Chast (Jan. 31). Miranda July returns to the Center
for a top-secret community-building experience dubbed “New Society” (Oct. 17-18). Only the
audience in attendance will know what happened behind the closed theater doors. And we will
hear from Moscow-based Russian feminist punk protest group Pussy Riot, in conversation Feb. 11
with L.A.’s own Edward Goldman, host of KCRW’s “Art Talk.”
Music performances feature a wide range of female singers, composers and instrumentalists
including Cassandra Wilson, who performs her disarming Billie Holiday tribute Oct. 9 and Regina
Carter, who takes the stage in collaboration with Sam Amidon Feb. 26. Also appearing on the
program are renowned sitar player and Indian music royalty Anoushka Shankar (April 13);
beloved ardine player Noura Mint Seymali from Mauritania performing with hypnotic guitar
group Tal National from Niger (March 5); Royce Hall favorite Lucinda Williams is joined by Bill
Frisell and Sean Rowe (March 4); Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho brings an intimate concert
featuring UCLA’s one-and-only Gloria Cheng on piano (Nov. 7), presented in collaboration with
UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Saariaho’s concert is part of the School of Music’s symposium
Beyond Music: Composition and Performance in the Age of Augmented Reality, which will also
feature a concert from composer and visual artist Jean-Baptiste Barrière (Nov. 8)
Also in jazz are performances from Grammy-winning contemporary collective Snarky Puppy with
eclectic L.A. quintet Kneebody (Sept. 24); saxophone great David Sanborn (Oct. 10); pianistcomposer-band leader Arturo O’Farrill with his Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (Nov. 7) and legendary
New Orleans pianist Henry Butler plus Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9 with New York “dhol and
brass” ensemble Red Baarat opening for a “Mardi Gras Bhangra” celebration on Fat Tuesday
(Feb. 9). In Roots & Blues the Center is also proud to present the incomparable Randy Newman
(Oct. 3); R&B great Booker T. Jones (Dec. 4); and blues guitar icon Buddy Guy (Aug. 13).
In Global Music the Center hosts a very special performance from classical/jazz musiciancomposer Tigran Hamasyan who performs his arrangements of Armenian sacred music with the
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26-member Yerevan State Chamber Choir in one of only two U.S. tour stops (Dec. 5). Ukrainian
quartet DakhaBrakha brings their self-proclaimed “ethno-chaos” approach to Eastern European
roots music, with acclaimed Tuvan throat-singers Huun Huur Tu opening the show (Sept. 25).
Tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain will be joined by legendary bass player Dave Holland and Indian
vocalist Shankar Mahadevan in a special concert titled “Jazz—A Musical Bridge East to West”
(Oct. 6). And electro-tango specialists Bajofondo return to rock Royce Hall (Nov. 6).
Two special events will serve to deepen the connection between L.A. audiences and two
incredible artists Taylor Mac and Kid Koala. For the past 18 years, New York musical theater
fixture Taylor Mac has created award-winning performances that provoke and embrace diverse
audiences. CAP UCLA is a co-commissioner of Mac’s current and most-ambitious project to
date, “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music.” Mac’s Royce Hall debut will feature special
selections from this ongoing project — “The 20th Century Abridged” (March 12). Montreal-based
scratch DJ and music producer Kid Koala brings the magical multidisciplinary stage presentation
of his charming graphic novel “Nufonia Must Fall” (Jan. 29), directed by Oscar nominated
director K.K. Barrett (“Her”) and featuring the dynamic Afiara Quartet.
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra returns as the resident orchestra of Royce Hall, with seven
Sundays of repertoire that extends across traditional and contemporary. For more information
visit www.laco.org.
Throughout the season, CAP UCLA will unveil additional community-engagement events and
activities, related to season performances. The Center also continues its series of “Dig Deeper”
activities and installations curated with and by staff from UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Center’s ongoing K-12 educational program Design for Sharing (DFS) will offer a series of free
performances on campus for students from across Los Angeles, featuring performances from
season artists as well as other programs and workshops.
SERIES TICKETING INFORMATION
Season subscriptions are on sale starting May 1 in Theater, Dance, Spoken Word, Jazz, Global
Music, Roots & Blues, the interdisciplinary series Royce Choice, a special Rosas Dance series and
Create-Your-Own (CYO) series option of five or more events.
Multi-performance series subscription prices run from $158-$614. Series subscribers save 15
percent off individual ticket prices. (CYO subscribers save 10 percent).
Individual tickets go on sale June 26. UCLA student ticket prices are $15. UCLA staff & faculty
ticket prices are $25.
Orders may be placed online at cap.ucla.edu, by mail, by phone 310.825.2101 or in person at
the UCLA Central Ticket Office in the UCLA James L. West Alumni Center.
For more details visit cap.ucla.edu/tickets.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS AND INFORMATION
A full chronological season calendar is available at cap.ucla.edu/press
Hi-res images are available for download at cap.ucla.edu/press/imagelibrary
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For more information on CAP UCLA: cap.ucla.edu/about
For more information on CAP UCLA’s Design For Sharing Program: cap.ucla.edu/dfs
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