The afternoon vista at Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, long a favorite of sunset painters and photographers, will be the setting for “Sundown” by Yoshiko Chuma, a seven-hour dance-and-sound installation to be performed twice, July 29 and 30, at Issue Project Room, 400 Carroll Street. The event is a rare fusion of elements to please fanciers of avant-garde dance and family audiences alike.
“Sundown” builds on performance works that Chuma and company have been developing over the last few years, using 7-foot boxes framing a variety of locations around the world. The audience will move freely among four installations (three cubes outdoors, one inside), allowing a constantly shifting perspective. Over the course of seven hours, the 7 dancers will be continually mixed and re-matched with trombonists who will provide the accompaniment. Once the darkness of night descends, the show will move inside, where controlled lighting will rule the night, an indoor cube with white sides will frame the dancers and provide a backdrop for black-and-white films. Audience members are invited to view the performance for as long as they like.
“Sundown” will be performed to new music commissioned by School of Hard Knocks and composed by Christopher McIntyre for the 7×7 Trombone Band.
Issue Project boasts of “open land, open skies and privacy” and the destination is only four subway stops into Brooklyn.
“Sundown,” presented by Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks in association with GOH Productions plays Saturday, July 29: 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm, Sunday, July 30: 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Issue Project Room, 400 Carroll Street (between Bond and Nevins), Brooklyn. Directions: F, G to Carroll Street (fourth stop in Brooklyn from Manhattan). Exit at front of train. Walk 2.5 blocks from stop down Carroll. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for seniors and students. For reservations and info visit www.issueprojectroom.org, or call 718-330-0313.