Ellpetha Tsivicos and Public Assembly brought me on to curate two nights for the first summer season at Domino Park in Brooklyn. The program was called “SUGAR SUGAR” and Billy McEntee wrote a lovely story for The Brooklyn Rail! Most reviews were a variation on – “Wow you all really got away with some wild stuff.” Other responses were along the lines of – “This is why I love NY” – and – “I have never seen anything like that before” – and – “I think I like outdoor performance now.” Nile Harris, Lisa Fagan and Lena Engelstein and Tiresias created magnificent prisms through which we were allowed to view the world for a few very special hours.

Here is the curation statement I wrote:
The vitality of genre-expansive artists within a cultural landscape, the impact of rigorous thought and artistic process within the constraints of every day survival and the joy of collaborative experimentation (with oneself, with a partner or with a queer(ed) gaggle) are represented profoundly over the course of these two days in June onstage at Domino Park and are exquisite examples of my curatorial lens as a long-form rumination on these notions, whatever the vessel or opportunity.

In an effort to express the period during which I served as Artistic Director of The Brick Theater (January 2020-September 2024), I wanted to bring artists to the Sugar Sugar team that continuously tap into the thrill and terror of live performance. It is the feeling that has ceaselessly guided me, in theory and practice, and felt painfully at risk over the past 5 years. Lena and Lisa were the very first artists to present in The Brick under my leadership and the dirt from that show is still blessing every crevice of the space. Tiresias was part of ?!:New Works in 2021, the first moment we could open our doors to audiences and live performance since March of 2020 and they provided a mystical glimpse into a beautiful queer future. And Nile Harris was the first artist I saw since the start of the pandemic that really cracked open my brain and heart, creating new pathways for those organs to travel. These 2 nights at Domino Park are a summoning, a celebration, an excavation. I am honored to be included.

Here are some gorgeous photos of both nights. Nile, Lisa and Lena by Maria Baranova-Suzuki and Tiresias by Alexey Kim.