Performances of La Medea by Yara Travieso

Miami Dade College Live Arts presented La Medea—a Greek Tragedy Reimagined as a Latin-Disco Variety Show—by Yara Travieso livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 25 October, Friday 26 October, and Saturday 27 October 2018 at 8 p.m. EDT (New York) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 5 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles).

Euripides’ myth of the wild foreign woman who vengefully murders her own children is shattered in this genre-bending musical and dance theater piece. La Medea is an original work of Miami’s own Yara Travieso, graduate of MDC’s New World School of the Arts and recipient of a YoungArts Award. Employing Latin American magical-realism, mythology and monumental objects, Travieso’s work lives in the intersection of films, performances and immersive installations that embrace a multiplicity of cultural lenses.

As a live simulcast and feature film that is directed, performed, shot, and edited in real time, La Medea creates a high-stakes vulnerability for cast, crew and audiences alike. Performers and camera operators play the characters, while studio audiences act as the Greek chorus. The plot centers around the story’s protagonist in a TV tell-all special and it employs a wild mash-up of genres and storytelling tropes, shifting seamlessly between dance and music, talk show and telenovela, scripted on-camera action and unscripted behind-the-scenes plot twists.

The multidimensional dismantling of Medea’s original narrative challenges the idea of a “dangerous,” “hysterical,” foreign woman—instead revealing an infinite woman that rejects the limited gaze imposed on her. Staring former Bill T. Jones dancer Shayla Vie-Jenkins, with music and libretto by composer Sam Crawford and set design by Miami local artist Brookhart Jonquil.

This marks the Miami debut and the first run since its premiere at Bric Arts/ PS 122’s COIL Festival. It is anchor to and representative of MDC Live Arts’ 18/19 season, which is dedicated to and representing strong women, immigrants and innovators. 

Creative Team:

Writer, Director, Choreographer: Yara Travieso
Composer, Librettist: Sam Crawford
Set Designer: Brookhart Jonquil
Lighting Designer: Tuce Yasak
Costume Designer: Sue Julien
Director of Photography (Camera 1): Pamela Giaroli
Director of Photography (Camera 2), Assistant Director: Liz Charky
Original Illustrations, Mask design: Ryan Hartley Smith
Producer, Company Manager: Brighid Greene
Production Manager: Sarah Lurie
Live Film Technical Director Brandon Dumlao, Subculture Filmworks
Live Film Technician: Jozmel Melendez
Costume Supervisor: Ingrid Travieso

Featuring:

La Medea: Shayla-Vie Jenkins
Mama Vaya Caos (additional writing by): Catherine Correa
La Autentica: Erick Montes
Young Medea/Princess Glauce: Tiffany Mellard
La Furia (additional choreography by): Niurca Marquez
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (band):
Vocals, Guitar: Liz de Lise
Vocals, Guitar: Zeb Gould
Reeds: Jeff Hudgins
Percussion: Timothy Quigley
Bass, Moog Bass Synth: Ian Riggs

A Very Special Thanks To:

Pete Abel, Claire Orpeza, Sarah Arison, YoungArts Organization, New World School Of The Arts, Joe Bender, Esmé Boyce, Kit Boyce, Chat Travieso, Tare Alvin Mccraney, Darren Hoffman, Adam Neuhaus, Leandro Quintero, Michelle Byrd, Ramond Crouch, Maxi Cohen, Drue Alleigh Thomas, Lisa Dent, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Belinda Adam, Kayla Farrish, Talia Moreta, Kyra Riley, Maggie Segale, Coco Fortner, Ralph Remis, Marta Miranda. 

Supporters:

La Medea is a Creative Capital project and a recipient of a National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Fund for The Arts Grant through the Surdna Foundation and The Ford Foundation. It was commissioned by Performance Space New York and was a part their 2016 emerging artists program, Ramp, with support from the Jerome Foundation and Ideal Glass Gallery. La Medea premiered in Brooklyn, NY as part of Performance Space New York’s 2017 Coil Festival, co-presented with BRIC Arts, who also supported the project with a BRICLab Residency. For the NYC premiere, the film component, made possible through the generous support of AbelCine, was creative produced by Jonathan David Kane and produced by Dance Films Association, Paul Galando, Galen Bremer, and Brighid Greene.

About HowlRound TV:

HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected], or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal/WhatsApp. View the video archive of past events.