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Jody Christopherson
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| Photo by Theo Cote |
La MaMa is proud to present the world premiere of now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories, the newest work from Nicky Paraiso, an award-winning 40-year veteran of the New York City performance community. In a deep exploration of an artist’s life, Paraiso investigates aging, identity, sexuality, class and race. Directed by MacArthur Fellow John Jesurun, now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories is also a multi-disciplinary celebration of an artistic community as it grows older and continues to make work, both individually and with each other. Paraiso is joined by choreographer/dancers Irene Hultman, Jon Kinzel, Vicky Shick, and Paz Tanjuaquio in performance and as collaborators. now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories is scheduled to run at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E 4th St) from March 22 through April 7.
As an artist, now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories marks Paraiso’s most ambitious work to date and the first time he is leading a company of fellow artists and collaborators. While rooted in Paraiso’s own journey from Queens to the world stages, the intimate, visceral work creates parallels across race and gender while bridging the generational gap that exists between dance and theater communities in New York.
Eleven performances of now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories will take place March 22 – April 7 at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre, located at 66 E 4th Street. General admission tickets, which are priced at $30 ($25 students/seniors) plus $1 facility fee, are available at lamama.org and by calling OvationTix at 212.352.3101. The first ten tickets to every performance are available for $10 each by using the code “10AT10”.
Tell me about “now
my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories”, and why this
your most ambitious show to date?
my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories”, and why this
your most ambitious show to date?
NICKY PARAISO: Having been a solo performer
whose work deals in autobiographical-confessional storytelling, especially in
shows like Asian Boys (1994) and House/Boy (2004),
this time I wanted to be onstage with other performers. I brought together a
group of individual choreographer/dancers who were experts in their own works,
and who also have appeared in the work of other esteemed choreographers. These
choreographer/dancers are Irene Hultman, Jon Kinzel, Vicky Shick and Paz
Tanjuaquio, whose choreographic work is located within the downtown post-modern
dance community. So, my dilemma finally was how to continue telling my story in
new & surprising ways, while working with performers who work mainly with
their bodies and the way those bodies move through space and time. I asked
playwright/visual designer John Jesurun to direct, and to give his own very
individual, aesthetic stamp to the overall production. The work, which will
premiere on Friday March 22nd 2019, is already completely different from what I
could have imagined working alone. As a theater director and outside eye, John
Jesurun has found a way to edit and weave my autobiographical storytelling with
the four choreographer/dancers’ individual, specific ways of moving into
something surprising and theatrically compelling.
whose work deals in autobiographical-confessional storytelling, especially in
shows like Asian Boys (1994) and House/Boy (2004),
this time I wanted to be onstage with other performers. I brought together a
group of individual choreographer/dancers who were experts in their own works,
and who also have appeared in the work of other esteemed choreographers. These
choreographer/dancers are Irene Hultman, Jon Kinzel, Vicky Shick and Paz
Tanjuaquio, whose choreographic work is located within the downtown post-modern
dance community. So, my dilemma finally was how to continue telling my story in
new & surprising ways, while working with performers who work mainly with
their bodies and the way those bodies move through space and time. I asked
playwright/visual designer John Jesurun to direct, and to give his own very
individual, aesthetic stamp to the overall production. The work, which will
premiere on Friday March 22nd 2019, is already completely different from what I
could have imagined working alone. As a theater director and outside eye, John
Jesurun has found a way to edit and weave my autobiographical storytelling with
the four choreographer/dancers’ individual, specific ways of moving into
something surprising and theatrically compelling.
The best thing
you ever made?
you ever made?
NICKY PARAISO: I’m trying to think of
something non-performative to relate here, but in lieu of naming that elusive
“best thing,” I would say that House/Boy, my last
full-evening performance work is probably something I made (with director
Ralph B. Pena) which I’m still happy with and proud of.
something non-performative to relate here, but in lieu of naming that elusive
“best thing,” I would say that House/Boy, my last
full-evening performance work is probably something I made (with director
Ralph B. Pena) which I’m still happy with and proud of.
The most exciting and
most challenging ways the theater landscape has changed over the past 40
years?
most challenging ways the theater landscape has changed over the past 40
years?
NICKY PARAISO: I believe that the persistence and integral power of the live
performer is still the most important part of a theater landscape, but I do
love the work of individual theater artists, directors and a new generation of
playwrights who are expanding the form and surprising us in myriad ways,
redefining and revitalizing theater as well as utilizing new technologies and
media to inform their stories and narratives: e.g, Directors Ivo van Hove
(Belgium/Netherlands), Romeo Castellucci (Italy), Rachel Chavkin, Charlotte
Brathwaite, Andrew Schneider, Alan Lucien Oyen (Norway), playwrights Brandon
Jacobs-Jenkins, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Kristine Haruna Lee, Taylor Mac, Annie
Baker, Will Eno, Lucas Hnath, Adam Bock, composers Dane Terry, Heather
Christian, Matthew Dean Marsh, M. Lamar, Nick Hallett, choreographers Raja
Feather Kelly, David Neumann, Miguel Gutierrez, Michelle Boule, Jonathan
Gonzalez, Beth Gill, to name only a few.
performer is still the most important part of a theater landscape, but I do
love the work of individual theater artists, directors and a new generation of
playwrights who are expanding the form and surprising us in myriad ways,
redefining and revitalizing theater as well as utilizing new technologies and
media to inform their stories and narratives: e.g, Directors Ivo van Hove
(Belgium/Netherlands), Romeo Castellucci (Italy), Rachel Chavkin, Charlotte
Brathwaite, Andrew Schneider, Alan Lucien Oyen (Norway), playwrights Brandon
Jacobs-Jenkins, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Kristine Haruna Lee, Taylor Mac, Annie
Baker, Will Eno, Lucas Hnath, Adam Bock, composers Dane Terry, Heather
Christian, Matthew Dean Marsh, M. Lamar, Nick Hallett, choreographers Raja
Feather Kelly, David Neumann, Miguel Gutierrez, Michelle Boule, Jonathan
Gonzalez, Beth Gill, to name only a few.
You’ve worked with
some incredible people and you yourself are a very influential theater maker.
What matters most to you about legacy?
some incredible people and you yourself are a very influential theater maker.
What matters most to you about legacy?
NICKY PARAISO: Legacy and archive are
essential to maintaining knowledge of our art- and theater/dance/performance
histories. An inter-generational dialogue between elder and younger generations is
also a necessary development and tool to acknowledge previous generations’
accomplishments while paving the way to the new. There is a precedent of
performers and performance art which doesn’t get published and/or filmed and
there is also a need for Oral Histories to combat these gaps and holes in our
knowledge. (See La MaMa Archive and also Primary Stages’ Oral History Project.)
essential to maintaining knowledge of our art- and theater/dance/performance
histories. An inter-generational dialogue between elder and younger generations is
also a necessary development and tool to acknowledge previous generations’
accomplishments while paving the way to the new. There is a precedent of
performers and performance art which doesn’t get published and/or filmed and
there is also a need for Oral Histories to combat these gaps and holes in our
knowledge. (See La MaMa Archive and also Primary Stages’ Oral History Project.)
What’s the impossible
thing you would make if there were no limitations?
thing you would make if there were no limitations?
NICKY PARAISO: OMG. That
would probably be some epic performance music-dance theater with durational
aspect with huge aspirations and presumptions of changing and saving the world.
I’m writing this with a sense of irony and that thinking big on a smaller scale
is probably more pragmatic and doable.
would probably be some epic performance music-dance theater with durational
aspect with huge aspirations and presumptions of changing and saving the world.
I’m writing this with a sense of irony and that thinking big on a smaller scale
is probably more pragmatic and doable.
I’m thinking of Jan Fabre’s
recent “Mount Olympus” (acknowledging all the controversy that
entails and is encumbered with) and also the bracing dance-theater work of
Nature Theater of Oklahoma. Or within the dance world, Norwegian choreographer
Mia Habib’s “Ali – A Physical Poem of Protest,” coming to La MaMa
Moves! Dance Festival in May 2019, and the dance-theater work of Alan Lucien
Oyen (also Norway).
recent “Mount Olympus” (acknowledging all the controversy that
entails and is encumbered with) and also the bracing dance-theater work of
Nature Theater of Oklahoma. Or within the dance world, Norwegian choreographer
Mia Habib’s “Ali – A Physical Poem of Protest,” coming to La MaMa
Moves! Dance Festival in May 2019, and the dance-theater work of Alan Lucien
Oyen (also Norway).
What’s the thing
you would give yourself, Nicky Paraiso, a theater maker just starting out 40
years ago?
you would give yourself, Nicky Paraiso, a theater maker just starting out 40
years ago?
NICKY PARAISO: A brain, a heart, courage and a loyal dog (I know, that’s
redundant).
redundant).
See The Wizard of Oz.
Nicky Paraiso is an actor, musician, writer, performance artist and curator. He has been Director of Programming for The Club at La MaMa since 2001 and is responsible for its surge of theater, performance, dance and cabaret programming. He is also Chief Curator for the annual La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival, celebrating its 14th season in May 2019. Paraiso is a graduate of Oberlin College / Conservatory and holds an M.F.A. from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program. He has been a prolific actor at La MaMa, and in New York downtown theater and performance, since 1979. He has worked as an actor and musical director with playwright/actor/director Jeff Weiss and his partner Carlos Ricardo Martinez since 1979. He has also been a member of Meredith Monk/The House and Vocal Ensemble (1981-1990), touring extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Japan, and he has performed with, and been a member of, Yoshiko Chuma and the School of Hard Knocks since 1988. Paraiso has also enjoyed working as a performer with artists/creators as diverse as Anne Bogart, Laurie Carlos, Richard Elovich, Dan Froot, Jessica Hagedorn, Fred Holland, Dan Hurlin, John Jesurun, Jeffrey M. Jones, Robbie McCauley, Susan Mosakowski, Ralph Peña, Mary Shultz, Theodora Skipitares, and many others. Paraiso is also a critically-acclaimed solo performance artist, whose one-man shows Asian Boys, Houses and Jewels, and House/Boy have been presented at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Dixon Place, Performance Space 122, Dance Theater Workshop, and on tour in the US, Europe and Asia. House/Boy was presented at the Dublin Theatre Festival in October 2007, and subsequently at the Initiation International Festival 2007 in Singapore. Paraiso’s awards include a 1987 New York Dance & Performance “Bessie” Award, a 2004 Spencer Cherashore Fund grant for mid-career actors, and a 2005 New York Innovative Theater Award for his performance in Theodora Skipitares’ Iphigenia. Paraiso has served on various theater, dance and music panels, including the Village Voice OBIE Judges Panel in season 2013-2014, as well as being a long-standing member of the New York Dance and Performance Awards “Bessies” Selection Committee since 2006. Paraiso is a recipient of the 2012 BAX (Brooklyn Arts Exchange) Arts & Artists in Progress Arts Management Award as well as a 2018-2019 recipient of the TCG Fox Fellowship as an Actor of Distinguished Achievement. His writing appears in the anthology Love, Christopher Street: Reflections of New York City (Vantage Point, 2012), edited by Thomas Keith.
Jody Christopherson is a New York based Performer, Writer, Photographer, Artistic Director of the So-fi Festival and the Creator/ Editor in Cheif of The New York Theatre Review, for which she has the pleasure of interviewing all kinds of incredible theater artists.
Jody Christopherson is a New York based Performer, Writer, Photographer, Artistic Director of the So-fi Festival and the Creator/ Editor in Cheif of The New York Theatre Review, for which she has the pleasure of interviewing all kinds of incredible theater artists.
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