What will we be like when we get there (2018)

World Premiere at New York Live Arts, NYC (March 28–31, 2018)
Video footage, as part of Live Artery at New York Live Arts, NYC (January 4–5, 2019)

Created during the lead up and aftermath of the 2016 US presidential election, What will we be like when we get there emulates the spectrums we find so prevalent around us: order to chaos, humor to violence, intimacy to isolation. While the current climate is not entirely new or foreign, citizens today are increasingly dissociating – physically and emotionally – from one another using technology as a replacement for conversation and relationship. What will we be like when we get there highlights and underscores the need for human interaction as we process loss, joy, curiosity, shock and fear. The frayed beginning, fleeting moments of intense emotion, multiple climaxes, and vulnerable nature of the performance emphasize this need – as well as the potential for change that is within ourselves.

Conceived and directed by Joanna Kotze
Performed by Jonathan Allen, Joanna Kotze, Omagbitse Omagbemi, Ryan Seaton
Music by Ryan Seaton
Visual design by Jonathan Allen
Lighting design by Kathy Kaufmann
Costumes by Joanna Kotze in consultation with Stacy Berman

Video by Julia Discenza and Holly Sass

For more info on Joanna Kotze, check out her website here and follow her on Instagram @jrkotze

The creation of What will we be like when we get there is supported in part by a commission from New York Live Arts’ Live Feed Residency program with additional support from the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Council Member Corey Johnson, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the Jerome Robbins Foundation, the Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, and the Shubert Foundation. ‘What will we be like when we get there’ is also supported by a Jerome Foundation General grant and residencies at The Camargo Foundation (with support from Movement Research and the Jerome Foundation), Marble House, Sedona Arts Center (and the City of Sedona), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), Bennington College, Jacob’s Pillow Creative Development Residency Program, MARC – Milvus Artistic Research Center, the Harkness Dance Center’s Artist-in-Residence Program at 92Y, and many generous individuals including the Joanna Kotze Dance Projects Leadership Circle.