Bring HOT WINTER to life

On March 30, 31, and April 1, Raven will be presenting HOT WINTER (the lonely seeing touch), her first evening-length performance work as a solo director with her new company of collaborators. It will be performed at Theaterlab in downtown New York City.

Show dates:
March 30: 6pm and 8pm
March 31: 6pm and 8pm
April 1: 5pm

Tickets: http://www.theaterlabnyc.com/events/hot-winter/


The Project:
HOT WINTER (the lonely seeing touch) follows six cast members as they build a universe in a dark room with nothing but themselves, the humans who join them, and a bare light bulb. It is the story of their struggle to understand one another when they do not have humanity's defining tool: Language. Their successes come when they find communication through touch and solidarity in mutually accepted blindness, while their failures come in their inability to ever truly see one another.

Above all, HOT WINTER is about the unending human search for shared compassion and the inescapable loneliness of our own perceptions.

This work is the culmination of over a year of creative process with more than 10 collaborators. The six who perform in the work regularly met in studios, apartments, and subways, building a community among themselves. In a way, HOT WINTER is a microcosm of this beautiful phenomenon.

Paying for HOT WINTER:
The estimated cost of paying the collaborators, renting rehearsal and performance space, publicity, costumes, etc., will be aproximately $7500.  With ticket sales, this number will hopefully be closer to $6000. (A detailed outline of our budget is provided below).

As you can see, our goal of $5000 does not actually cover the full cost of the project. If we meet this goal, we will then shoot for $6000. Any extra funds after this will go directly to future projects.

We are grateful for any and all contributions. We understand that it is not possible for everyone to donate. However, even the smallest amount would be greatly appreciated. Everything helps!

Feel free to continue reading about Raven and her Company of Collaborators below

Raven White and her intent as director:

Raven graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University having focused in performance art and history. As a trans person who grew up in South Carolina, Raven found that the only way she could accept her experiences was to create art and use it to help others work through their own traumas. She strives to make work that invites the audience to consider the performers as well as themselves in a new light.

Raven strives to bring people together in spaces where they can each share themselves while accepting the truths of others. She has found that proximity of performers and audience as well as interaction between the two can shatter the barriers that people create between themselves. Her intent, through simple performer and audience interactions, is to allow people to see each other’s complexities rather than quickly classify each other into vast and poorly described categories.

At Princeton, Raven was awarded the Debby Bazarsky Aaward for Service to the LGBT Community for her impact on campus as educator and artist during her time there. She was also awarded the Dance Department's thesis award for excellence for PETRICHOR (the smell of earth after it rains), an evening-length performance work that exposed the complexities of discrimination within minority communities while showing the power of each human to overcome and thrive through adversity.

Raven now works as a director in New York City, working closely with her company of artists. She also collaborates and performs with Susan Marshall and Co. and Rebecca Stenn Company. She is mentored by Sidra Bell and occasionally works with Third Rail Projects director Jennine Willett. She often collaborates with creative partner Sophie Andreassi, with whom she has worked for five years. Recently, Raven has been driven to direct her own work, as there is much she needs to say (even though she doesn’t always know how to say it).

 

The Performing Collaborators:

Mitch Christie
Born and raised in Australia, Mitch Christie moved here in 2013 to attend SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. He graduated in May '17 and has been performing and making work in New York since. Mitch has performed works by Doug Varone, Aszure Barton, Merce Cunningham, William Forsythe, Stijn Celis, Fernando Melo & Ryan Mason. His most recent performances have been with UNA Projects and 2nd Best Dance Company. Mitch is currently working on attaining 0-1 visa, this is hopefully the first of many performances with Raven White. 


Maximillion Canion
Maximillion Canion is originally from El Paso, TX, where a unique blend of Mexican and American cultures intermingle. They began training at University of Texas at El Paso where they were exposed to a rich border culture and a community of eclectic artists. There, they were given opportunities to perform improvisational and site specific performances throughout the city as well as produce their own evening length work, 4 years, through the Caldo Collective Community grant. As a freelance performer in NYC they have had the opportunity to work with Sidra Bell Dance NY and UNA Projects among others as well as continue mentorship with Sidra Bell and Assaf Salhov. In 2017, they attended the Eastman Summer Intensive in Antwerp, Belgium where they performed work by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. They are currently working on a solo work Blossoms (working title).


Sebastian Abarbanell
Sebastian Abarbanell is originally from Berlin, Germany. He received his first class BA with honors at Trinity Laban in London in 2015 before joining the New York based company Gallim Dance (Andrea Miller, Artistic Director) as an apprentice. With Gallim Dance, Sebastian performed at venues such as the Lincoln Center in New York City and the Kennedy Center in D.C.His solo Tian has been invited to a number of international dance festivals, including MASDANZA on the Canary Islands, Gdansk Dance Festival in Poland and SoloDuo in Cologne, Germany, where he received the award for Best Solo by an Emerging Choreographer. His teaching credits include UArts Philadelphia, Ball State University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Marigny Opera Ballet, MICHIYAYA Dance, and New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble. Sebastian is currently a company member of Sidra Bell Dance New York and has performed with them internationally and nationally.


Tiffany Ogburn
Tiffany Ogburn grew up in Gig Harbor, Washington and received her BFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in May 2017. During her time at Tisch, she has had the pleasure of performing works by Crystal Pite, Bobbi Jene Smith, and Trisha Brown. Post-graduation she apprenticed with Andrea Miller’s Gallim Dance, and is currently a performer in Punchdrunk NYC’s Sleep No More. When she’s not dancing, she enjoys embroidery and petting dogs.


Bryn Hlava
Bryn Hlava is a freelance movement artist living in Brooklyn, NY. Since arriving in New York in summer of 2016 she has worked with Michelle Boulé, Raven White and Emory Campbell. She has also had the pleasure of studying with Sidra Bell Dance NY,  Shen Wei Dance Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and Gallim Dance. Bryn explores improvisation, sensation, texture and sensuality in her movement practice and is interested in the collaborative process with artists of all mediums. Bryn graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Dance & Psychology from University of Oregon, focusing on Developmental Psychopathology. She remains curious. brynhlava.com


Other Collaborators:

Emily Wohl
Emily Wohl, a native of New Jersey, trained at Princeton Dance and Theater. She continued her education at Princeton University where she studied Molecular Biology and Dance under the direction of Susan Marshall. She has performed in works by Karole Armitage, Jodie Gates, Zvi Gotheiner, Susan Jaffe, Loni Landon, Brian Reeder, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, and Doug Varone. She then worked as a freelance dancer in New York City before joining the inaugural year of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Professional Program,  where she performed in Peter Chu's Space, In Perspective.


Sophie Andreassi 
Sophie Andreassi works in theater and dance in New York. She was recently the assistant director for Classic Stage Company's world premiere of FIRE AND AIR, written by Terrence McNally and directed by John Doyle. She was a dramaturge for Susan Marshall & Co.'s TWO PERSON OPERATING SYSTEM, at the NYU Institute of Fine Arts and currently works as Marshall's company manager.  Sophie co-directed and choreographed a music video titled BEAST with Graham Phillips of Grind Arts Co. She was the associate director and co-choreographer of PIN* AND THE BLUE FAIRY, directed by Adin Walker for Outliers Theater Co., a play in development that had workshops at Dixon Place and at the Drama League. Looking ahead, she will be co-choreographing AFTER EDEN at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center Rough Draft Festival with Grind Arts Co.


Budget:
Company pay:

$11/hour rehearsal x 50 hours = $550

$100/performance day x 3 days = $300

$300 + $550 = $850/member


$850/member x 5 members = $4250


Creative Collaborators’ pay:

$11/hour x 20 hours = $220

$220/collaborator x 2 collaborators = $440


Director’s pay: $850

Photographer Umi Akiyoshi: $200

Voice actor Elie Weissman: $75


Rehearsal space:

$10/hour x 40 hours = $400

$15/hour x 40 hours = $600

$400 + $600 = $1000


Performance space: $525

Posters and publicity: $100


Total Cost: $7440

 
Estimated ticket sales: -$1500

 
Net cost:

$7440 - $1500 = $5940



Thank you so much for taking the time to read about HOT WINTER and the artists involved in the process. That in itself is a gift.


Tickets are available here: http://www.theaterlabnyc.com/


Main photo, photos of Mitch Christie, Maximillion Canion, and Sebastian Abarbanell by Umi Akiyoshi Photography.