Past
This is how we disappear examines the complexity, frailty, and weight of human relationships in contrast with the fluid simplicity of the passage of time. Two performers embody Suniti Dernovsek’s unique movement vocabulary and are captured in their actions by custom electronics, driving a real-time response in sound and video.
Learn moreWhat would have happened if one of the early postmodern choreographers from Judson Church had gone uptown to perform in the ball scene in Harlem? In M2M, three dancers collide the formalism and minimalism of postmodernism with the flamboyance and performativity of voguing.
Learn more“To say that this contemporary dance piece is memorable is an understatement: You can’t forget watching two naked men manipulate each other’s penises in a game of one-upmanship.” —The Globe and Mail
Learn more“...it shakes you to the core [...] Recommended for all generations – those of us who lived through those years, those who saw our children in peril, and those who are only now realizing that history is more than learning dates, parrot style.” —La Segunda
Learn morePICA's seventh annual convergence of contemporary performance, dance, music, new media and visual arts projects in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Learn moreIn this special matinee performance of Niicugni, artist Harrell Fletcher will intermittently “press pause” on performer Emily Johnson, adding his thoughts and questions about the artist and her work into the staged show.
Learn moreIn the Yup’ik language, “niicugni” is a directive to pay attention, to listen. Emily Johnson’s performance quietly compels such attentiveness through its layering of multiple dances, live music, and stories, housed within a light and sound installation of handmade, functional fish-skin lanterns.
Learn moreAn interdisciplinary weekend of art, performance, and conversations, investigating the complexity of constructing and communicating culture in contemporary art
Learn moreLegendary musician and artist Laurie Anderson performs the third and final of her groundbreaking solo story works
Learn moreSound artist Akio Suzuki, experimental poet Gozo Yoshimasu, and improvisatory guitarist/turntablist Otomo Yoshihide present a range of performances that cross between literature, sound art, music, and improvisation.
Learn moreOver thirty local musicians, composers, and sound artists have mapped out their favorite sonic spaces in Portland, creating an "audio tour" of the most interesting naturally occurring acoustic landscapes, concluding in a one-day live concert.
Learn moreThree vignettes track the absurd and mundane stories of a group of office employees in this stylized performance derived from everyday gestures.
Learn moreRecreating the iconic 60s films of Andy Warhol, live actors cross in and out of the film and audience.
Learn moreLinyekula bears witness through his dance to decades of war, terror, and fear, while also subverting the dominant image of contemporary Congo with one of resourcefulness and hope.
Learn moreA design fiction presentation pitching a speculative service that would remove ended relationships from the internet, storing them in physical objects.
Learn moreA "live documentary" film with a live soundtrack by Yo La Tengo, examining the legacy of the visionary Buckminster Fuller.
Learn moreA collaborative creation, Turbulence is an experimental hybrid of contemporary dance, improvised happening, and political theater in response to economic crisis.
Learn moreAn evening of site-specifc performance art from some Croatia and Serbia’s most provocative current artists.
Learn moreLong before the sprawl of Mexico City, the Aztecs established their capital, Tenochtitlàn, in 1325 on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Of the more than 770 square miles of lakes originally marking the basin, less than four square miles remain.
Learn moreA collaboration with six dancers from Japan, Senegal, Ethiopia, and the US that evokes classical Japanese aesthetics and the subtle interplay of light and shadow.
Learn moreThe annual favorite is back, featuring a lineup of artists that are entirely new to the small stage. Get a front-row seat and see how a host of national and international performers experiment with what’s possible within just 4 x 4 feet. New forms, new ideas, and a new generation of tiny projects—there’s really no telling what will happen when things get this small.
Learn moreSome people know exactly what they want out of life and how to get it. Good for them. But most of us could use some help navigating the increasingly infinite options modern life affords.
Learn moreTaking her name from the South African singer, activist, and icon Miriam Makeba, Miriam explores the tensions that women face between public expectations and private desires and the perfection and sacrifice of the feminine ideal.
Learn moreOne of the most provocative choreographers of the New York scene, Miguel Gutierrez makes works that translate the experiential nature of performing into a sensory experience for the audience.
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