Conceived, Written, and Directed by Raja Feather Kelly
Original music composed by Christoph Mateka
Video and projection by Laura Snow
Lighting Design by Tuçe Yasak
Photography by Kate Enman
Performance by Chris Bell, Ashley Chavonne, Ami Gernux, Alexandria Giroux, Sara Gurevich, Amy Hoang, and Nick Sciscione
On their journey, the friends reflect on their experiences of cultural phenomena, from Y2K through the Eclipse. Their stories, both spoken and physicalized, materialize a multiverse comprising everything–the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them–ultimately landing them in a state of existential crisis. Darkness. The fear of totality. While the text tells one story of people coming together, the bodies sculpt a tumultuous story of crashing and exploding.
The Great American Eclipse is a real astronomical event and a rare occurrence where the Moon casts a shadow on the Earth, allowing us to reflect upon our collective understanding of the Earth as a part of a larger system. Astrologically, shadows are about transition, revelation, and that which is hidden. Psychologically, shadow work is about that which we push down, repress, or otherwise disassociate from.
This passionately human and humorously charged work is furious, sensitive, and pulsates with a heart that is desperate to find a connection in a world evolving to keep us divided. The central question: “Do we make culture or does culture make us?”
Date + Time
Date + Time
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Friday Apr 5, 20247:30 PM
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Saturday Apr 6, 20247:30 PM
Gallery
Gallery
The artist
The artist
the feath3r theory
the feath3r theory (TF3T)’s The Absolute Future (or Death, Loneliness, and The Absolute Future of the Multiverse, or How to Cover the Sun with Mud) is a devised danced-theatre performance choreographed, written, and directed by Raja Feather Kelly. Featuring seven performers and original music composition by Christoph Mateka, The Absolute Future is about a group of friends who attempt to watch The Great American Eclipse (April 8, 2024) and miss it. In this world, a constellation of shadows come together in a daring mix of fiction, reality, fantasy, and surrealism. It’s highly physical and sharply narrative.
Raja Feather Kelly
Raja Feather Kelly is a choreographer, director, and the Artistic Director of the feath3r theory (TF3T). Kelly has created 18 evening-length premieres with the feath3r theory. He has choreographed many off-Broadway productions, most recently Michael R. Jackson’s White Girl in Danger. Kelly choreographed the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Broadway musical A Strange Loop. He has received numerous accolades, including three Princess Grace Awards, an Obie Award and an Outer Critics Circle honor, among many others.
Support
Support
The Absolute Future was first developed with a Research and Development Commission as a part of the Live Arts Bard commissioning program at the Fisher Center at Bard (fishercenter.bard.edu), Co-Commissioned by NYU SKIRBALL Center, and with generous support from The Simons Foundation and is part of its “In the Path of Totality” initiative. (For more information, visit inthepathoftotality.org.) Other support for The Absolute Future includes Gibney’s Open Interval Residency Program. This work is supported by a technical residencies at the National Center for Choreography (NCCAkron); The Church at Sag Harbor; The Mercury Store; a Guggenheim Works-in-process residency at Bethany Arts Project; BAM; The Park Avenue Armory, where Raja Feather Kelly is an Artist in Residence.
The Absolute Future was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; with additional support from the Harkness Foundation for Dance and the Kip & Ginny Gaylor Fund.
NYU Skirball’s programs are made possible in part with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and by Howard Gilman Foundation; FUSED (French U.S. Exchange in Dance), a program of FACE Foundation in partnership with Villa Albertine; General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA; Collins Building Services; Korean Cultural Center New York, Marta Heflin Foundation; Harkness Foundation for Dance; as well as our valued donors through memberships, commissioning, and Stage Pass Fund support.
