Visit the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia on January 18 to celebrate the final days of Marie Laurencin: Sapphic Paris with the performance of Headlong Dance Theater’s Horse Woman: Making a World of One’s Own. The immersive dance performance takes place across the Barnes—in the Roberts Gallery, Annenberg Court, and outdoor spaces—and invites audiences to watch and roam, adding a new dimension to experiencing Laurencin’s work. Doors open at 6pm with access to the exhibition and drinks available for purchase. A panel discussion with Headlong’s creative team moderated by exhibition co-curator Cindy Kang begins at 7pm.
In response to Marie Laurencin: Sapphic Paris, Headlong Dance Theater has developed Horse Woman: Making a World of One’s Own, a new performance inspired by the French artist’s work and life. In the early 1920s, Marie Laurencin designed sets and costumes for the Ballets Russes’s Les biches, featuring a scenario of sexually fluid romantic intrigue. “Biche” had multiple meanings at the time—a doe, a kept young woman, a lesbian—and Laurencin playfully intertwined these meanings in her designs. Inspired by this production, David Brick and Norma Porter of Headlong have reinterpreted the ballet’s themes for today and channeled the female-animal landscape of Laurencin’s aesthetic world to explore contemporary notions of fluidity, queerness, and gender. Horse Woman features luminous costumes by Maiko Matsushima that draw from Laurencin’s use of color and depictions of gender.
The performance series is choreographed by Headlong’s David Brick and Norma Porter in collaboration with designer Maiko Matsushima and dancers Saturn Freeman, Courtney Henry, and Jungwoong Kim. Sound design is by Jordan McCree.
For tickets and more information – https://www.barnesfoundation.org/whats-on/performance/headlong-dance-horse-woman
