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Pass the Blutwurst, Bitte
La MaMa presents the revival of John Kelly’s Pass the Blutwurst, Bitte.
Performance Artist John Kelly
Nearly 30 years into a celebrated career spanning performance and visual art, John Kelly is widely considered an American master. He has garnered not only critical acclaim, but also the admiration of artists ranging from Joni Mitchell to Antony, Natalie Merchant to Steven Sondheim, James Franco to Todd Haynes.
This fall, La MaMa will reveal the breadth of Kelly’s artistry when it presents a revival of his landmark performance work, Pass the Blutwurst, Bitte.
Originally trained as a dancer with American Ballet Theatre and the Harkness House for Ballet Arts, Kelly performed with modern dance pioneer Charles Weidman and studied with James Waring. Among the many awards Kelly has earned are two Bessie (New York Dance and Performance) Awards; two Obie Awards; the American Choreographer Award; a 2001 CalArts/ Alpert Award in Dance/Performance. Fellowships include a 2006-07 Rome Prize in Visual Art at The American Academy in Rome; The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard; The Guggenheim Foundation; The New York Foundation for the Arts; The National Endowment for the Arts; and Art Matters, Inc.
Conceived, directed and choreographed by Kelly, Pass the Blutwurst, Bitte is an ensemble work for five performers. The piece employs dance combined with film, onstage drawing, and recorded and live vocal music. The work was originally presented at Dance Theater Workshop in 1986, when it earned an OBIE Award. An expanded and revised version was presented at La MaMa in 1995. It was on The New York Times year-end best-of list and toured nationally and internationally (Italy, France, Germany). This run of Pass the Blutwurst, Bitte is 15 years in the making.
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