We are delighted to introduce Moving Eastman, a new collaboration between Elaine Mitchener (vocals, movement, music direction) & Dam Van Huynh (concept, choreography & direction) to be presented on 27th November 2024 at Fruitmarket – Edinburgh and on 3rd & 4th April 2025 at Barbican – London with further dates to be announced.
Fruitmarket – Edinburgh
Wednesday 27 November 2024, 7.30pm
Part of Deep Time, Fruitmarket’s festival of new music
www.fruitmarket.co.uk
Korzo – The Hague, The Netherlands
Thursday 9 January 2025, 8.15pm
Part of Musical Utopias
www.korzo.nl
Barbican – London
Thursday 3 & Friday 4 April 2025, 7.30pm
Elaine Mitchener will be joined by electro-acoustic group The Rolling Calf with musicians Jason Yarde, Neil Charles and Xhosa Cole.
www.barbican.org.uk
Moving Eastman
“But now music is only one of my attributes. I could be a Dancer, Choreographer, Painter, or any other kind of artist if I so wished.”
Julius Eastman*
Elaine Mitchener vocals, movement, music direction
Dam Van Huynh concept, choreography & direction
Joined by electro-acoustic group The Rolling Calf on 3rd & 4th April:
The Rolling Calf:
Jason Yarde saxophone, electronics
Neil Charles bass, electronics
Xhosa Cole saxophone, percussion
Moving Eastman is a new dance and sonic performance that takes inspiration from the intersectional life of the Black American composer Julius Eastman. Using Eastman’s artistic legacy and life story as points of departure, the work responds to Mitsuye Yamada’s quote “invisibility is not a natural state for anyone”, igniting a much-needed discussion on who controls the narrative in recording history and who possesses the authority to tell their stories.
The performance is led by Elaine Mitchener, a British movement and vocal artist with Afro-Caribbean heritage, with original concept and choreography by Vietnamese-American director Dam Van Huynh.
Eastman, who died in 1990 aged just 49, is now acknowledged as a key figure in late 20th century American music, but during his lifetime he was marginalised due to his race, sexuality and aesthetic. A black, gay, contemporary music composer, he lived every aspect of his identity to its fullest. His uncompromising attitude represented a total assault on the status quo. He would not be reined in. He walked the talk.
While the work does not overtly use Eastman’s music, it embodies his unconventional and improvisational approach towards making art across genres and creative disciplines as a continual quest for artistic freedom. The staging is informed by a meticulously curated collection of found archival materials such as images, notes, interviews, sounds, texts, and quotations, putting Eastman’s collective acts into one singular space.
* Julius Eastman, press release for “Humanity and Not Spiritual Beings,” January 30, 1981, The Kitchen clippings file New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England
Moving Eastman was commissioned by Fruitmarket as part of Deep Time, Fruitmarket’s festival of new music. With further development support from Barbican, Hellerau – Dresden, Musical Utopias – The Hague, Britten Pears Arts, Centre 151 and EMProjects.
Photo credit: Wendy Huynh