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Irina Kruzhilina
SpaceBridge
Presented by La MaMa in association with En Garde Arts and Visual Echo
photos: Maria Baranova
A group of Russian refugee children and their American-born peers build a more welcoming world
SpaceBridge is a live performance that brings together Russian refugee children, who fled to the US due to their families’ anti-war stance and now live in NYC shelters, with American peers to build lifelong friendships while coming to terms with their differences. The performance tracks immigrant children as they integrate into American society and wrestle with questions of heritage, collective responsibility, and guilt by association. SpaceBridge is devised and performed by eleven young Russian refugees, aged ten to fifteen, alongside eight American-born participants of the same age. The project draws its inspiration from the 1983 peace mission to the USSR led by eleven-year-old American activist Samantha Smith, who bridged the gap between American and Russian children during the Cold War and is based on a series of creative storytelling workshops with immigrant and non-immigrant youth created and led by Irina Kruzhilina. The workshops are designed to foster interactions between American youth and a variety of immigrant groups with the intended goal of developing a publishable curriculum, involving and training additional teaching artists, and pursuing opportunities for engaging additional refugee communities. We hope to initiate meaningful conversations about the experiences of young refugees from anywhere in the world. Follow Spacebridge on social media at #SpaceBridge
Note: This production is intended for all ages.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, January 7 @ 7 pm
Wednesday, January 8 @ 7 pm
Thursday, January 9 @ 7 pm
Friday, January 10 @ 7 pm
Saturday, January 11 @ 2 pm
Saturday, January 11 @ 7 pm
Run time: 90 minutes
VENUE
La MaMa, Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street
NYC, NY 10003
Access:
All our theaters are ADA compliant and wheelchair accessible.
CREDITS
Conceived and Directed by Irina Kruzhilina
Written by Clark Young and Irina Kruzhilina
Projection Design by Peter Nigrini
Cinematography by Aleksei Postnikov
Sound Design by Darron West and Sophie Yuqing Nie
Lighting Design by Brian Scott
Scenic design by Irina Kruzhilina
Choreography by Laura Peterson
Stage Manager: Max Mooney
Production Manager: Thijs Beuming
Assistant Directors: Colin Wilson and Anamaria Willars
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Irina Kruzhilina is a New York-based director, scenographer, visual dramaturg, experience designer and educator, creating work at the intersection of visual art, live performance, and civic engagement. Her creative endeavors range from downtown theater to large scale parades, from opera to site-responsive installations. Since 2005, her work has been shown, locally and globally, at Times Square, Tokyo Disney, BAM, Prague National Theatre, the NY Philharmonic, the XXI Commonwealth Games, Barbican Center, and others. Irina is the founder of Visual Echo, a New York-based performance organization dedicated to facilitating generative dialogues among people from diverse backgrounds. Irina holds the position of associate professor at the New School of Drama, where she co-developed a new MFA program in Contemporary Theatre and Performance. She is a La MaMa resident artist and Joan D. Firestone Fund Award recipient.
CREATION + FUNDING
SpaceBridge is commissioned by the Joan D. Firestone Commissioning Fund at En Garde Arts.
Additional support for SpaceBridge is provided by: David Richenthal Foundation, Leon Lowenstein Foundation, Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by LMCC, The John Erskine Faculty Prize, The Juilliard School, Adam Meyer, Provost, A donation in memory of Joanna Merlin, Jean-Baptiste Michel, Elicia Greenberg, the Visual Echo Board.
The project is developed in collaboration with the Stella Center for the Arts, which generously provided educational support to help participants acquire valuable performance skills and build their confidence and self-esteem. SpaceBridge is supported by the New School of Drama, with assistance from its students and faculty in the project’s development.
En Garde Arts gratefully acknowledges the generous support of: Arison Arts Foundation, Artemis Rising Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Anonymous, The Shubert Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Dr. David M. Milch Foundation, The Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, David Richenthal Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, Wendy vanden Heuvel/The W Trust, Lucille Lortel Foundation.
Public Support to En Garde Arts is provided by: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
