February 22 - 24, 2024
From DiverseWorks:
“DiverseWorks is pleased to announce the world premiere of In Tarps I Trust, a new dance work about art and work by artist and choreographer Laura Gutierrez. The performance by this East Coast-based Houston native takes place at 7 PM on February 22, 23, & 24, 2024 at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center, 3400 Main Street, Houston, TX, 77002.
In Tarps I Trust investigates the relationship between blue-collar and artistic labor and is inspired by Gutierrez’s father, a Houston billboard painter and, later, installer (when billboards began to be printed on large-scale tarps). In this new dance work, Gutierrez uses his materials, which were ever present in her household as she grew up, including tarps, ladders, and ratchet straps.
Attendees will experience the awkward and imposing nature of these industrial materials gradually incorporated into dance and movement phrases – transformed by Gutierrez into graceful partners in space. Gutierrez workshopped the performance in the Summer of 2023 as part of a DiverseWorks residency, produced in collaboration with MECA.
In Tarps I Trust is not only an innovative dance work, it also creates a platform for dialogue around how different forms of labor are valued, or undervalued, including the work of artists. This theme is further explored in a panel discussion (date TBD) and a video installation and sound performance by Anthony Almendárez, Hello, My Name Is _____ that will take place from March 1-16, 2024.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Laura Gutierrez is a performing artist and choreographer originally from Houston, TX. A graduate of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, she received a BFA in Contemporary Dance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she was awarded a William R. Kenan, Jr., Performing Arts Fellowship at Lincoln Center Education. Gutierrez has worked with choreographers Jane Weiner, Rosie Trump, Lydia Hance/Frame Dance, Helen Simoneau, and Cara Hagan, among others, and toured internationally with Jonah Bokaer Choreography. She’s performed at the Biennale de la Danse de Lyon, BAM Next Wave Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance, Brisbane Festival, and in museums such as The Menil Collection, Contemporary Arts Museum–Houston, the Fabric Workshop Museum, and DiverseWorks. Her choreography has been seen at Lincoln Center’s Clark Studio Theatre, CPR-Center for Performance Research, DixonPlace, Judson Church, Triskelion Arts, Sicardi Gallery, MATCH Houston, CounterCurrent Festival, Museo Jumex, and The Chinati Foundation. She has been named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” and is based in New Jersey.”
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