4/19/2012
Photographs by Madeleine Moon
As a regular goer of Brooklyn parties and art events, I’d say that one of the top 3 best things are the venues. A bunch of abandoned warehouses, buildings, townhouses, docks, and yards seem to be there literally just for New Yorkers to have fun raving at secret location parties and after-parties, or to discover underground and alternative art spaces and exhibitions.
Creativity is in the air and BK artists break mainstream standards like they just don’t care…
Inside the old, abandoned church it’s dark. It smells like candles and incense. A glimmer of light from the stained glass windows reveals a metallic dome-like prop placed right in the middle of the room. We are about to watch “Aghoria”: a theater-meet-aerial arts performance piece by multimedia art company Mad Sharp Productions .
Gradually, a deep, slow music starts playing and lights spot the end of the room: three dark figures come out of a black velvet curtain. They crawl with precise and fluid movements. Once in front of the audience, they lay down on the floor forming a triangle with their bodies.
Two other black figures come out of the curtain: they look like ninjas; their movements are fast, exact, sharp. They reach the center of the stage and join the other three. Two Aghori Ascetics walk out of the curtain; they are clearly in another spiritual dimension, hypnotized by something that we cannot see. They sit down and begin communicating in a language that we don’t know.
Suddenly, we go back to the human world: two friends sit around a table playing checkers. Though, they don’t seem to pay much attention to the game…
One of the two looks concerned: “what is that reflection in the mirror that we all see every day? What does this world ultimately mean?” The other one seems more confident: “When you close your eyes what do you see?”
In the shadow, two performers climb up two long aerial silks to reach the top of the ceiling, where an aerial cube is hung. They start an intricate dance inside and around it. They fluidly contort and create acrobatic, geometric shapes. Then they wrap their silks around their bodies and slowly make their descent to the ground.
The audience is ecstatic, immersed in a mystical atmosphere of mystery and beauty.
The show premiered last Friday April 13th in an abandoned cathedral in the neighborhood of Bushwick. It presents the 3 best features of Brooklyn’s events:
1) Unconventional venue (a place that lost its former function and its turned into a space for creativity and entertainment).
2) Anti-mainstream showcases.
3) Mixed, open minded, non discriminatory crowd.
You still have three more dates to go experience “Aghoria”: April 20th, 21st and 22nd. All the info at www.aghoria.com.
P.S. after the show keep on partying in Brooklyn!
