Lacuna

A site-specific ritual for the fountain at Lincoln Center for the Arts

“Tom Pearson creates urban rituals…impelled by the drums of the Heyna Second Sons… Pearson and his dancers pivot at the pelvis like oil pump jacks” – The New Yorker

About Lacuna (2006)

Commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. for Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors

Lacuna was a site-specific work choreographed by Tom Pearson for the empty Reflecting Pool at Lincoln Center and commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. for Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, 2006. The work was the last to be performed in the Reflecting Pool and North Plaza area before renovation. In this third collaboration between choreographer Tom Pearson and composer Louis Mofsie (with The Heyna Second Sons and Rob Mastrianni playing live), they continued to map an intersection of traditional American Indian and contemporary music forms with contemporary dance. With its whiplash quality, the movement vocabulary borrowed structures and images from both ritual and the urban environment and contemplates shifting notions of cultural identity, transition, and transformation in public spaces.

“What I like about outdoor work is that it’s a collaboration with the public” –Tom Pearson (in an Interview with Roslyn Sulcas), The New York Times

  • Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Mayuna Shimizu

    Photo by Tom Pearson

  • Donna Ahmadi

    Photo by Jennine Willett

  • Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Mayuna Shimizu

    Photo by Tom Pearson

  • Donna Ahmadi, Michael Taylor

    Photo by Jennine Willett

  • Donna Ahamdi

    Photo by Luther Elliot

  • Mayuna Shimizu, Michael Taylor, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus

    Photo by Jennine Willett

  • Donna Ahmadi, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus

    Photo by Jennine Willett

  • Tom Pearson

    Photo by Jennine Willett

  • Donna Ahmadi

    Photo by Luther Elliot

  • Tom Pearson, Mayuna Shimizu

    Photo by Jennine Willett

  • Michael Taylor, Donna Ahmadi, Louis Mofsie

    Photo by Luther Elliot

  • Mayuna Shimizu

    Photo by Tom Pearson

  • Tom Pearson

    Photo by Luther Elliot

  • Donna Ahmadi, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus

    Photo by Jennine Willett

  • Michael Taylor

    Photo by Luther Elliot

  • Tom Pearson, Mayuna Shimizu

    Photo by Tom Pearson

  • Donna Ahmadi, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus

    Photo by Luther Elliot

  • Marissa Nielsen-Pincus

    Photo by Tom Pearson

  • Mayuna Shimizu, Zach Morris

    Photo by Luther Elliot

  • Mayuna Shimizu

    Photo by Tom Pearson

  • Tom Pearson, Mayuna Shimizu

    Photo by Jennine Willett

  • The Heyna Second Sons

    Photo by Luther Elliot

Credits

Creative Team

Choreography by Tom Pearson (Coharie), in collaboration with the performers

Performed by Donna Ahmadi, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Zach Morris,
Tom Pearson, Mayuna Shimizu, Michael Taylor (Chocktaw).

Production Staff

Live Score by Louis Mofsie (Hopi/Ho-chunk) with the Heyna Second Sons (percussion)
& Rob Mastrianni (guitar)

Assistant Director - Zach Morris
Production Stage Manager - Andrea Dohar

Project Support

Lacuna was originally commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. for Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors and was made possible by a Harkness Space Grant from the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center. Additional support for the work came from Materials for the Arts/New York City Department of Cultural Affairs/Department of Sanitation, and Third Rail Projects with support from The Lucky Star Foundation and individual and institutional donors.

Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors is sponsored by Bloomberg and PepsiCo Inc. with additional generous support from foundations, corporations, individuals and government agencies.

Press Coverage

The New York Times | Lacuna | August 30, 2006
”On Endless Stages, Outdoor Dance Tempts Audiences and Trouble” by Roslyn Sulcas
“What I like about outdoor work is that it’s a collaboration with the public” –Tom Pearson (in an Interview with Roslyn Sulcas)

The New Yorker | Lacuna | August 28, 2006
Preview: Lacuna by The New Yorker Staff
“Tom Pearson creates urban rituals…impelled by the drums of the Heyna Second Sons… Pearson and his dancers pivot at the pelvis like oil pump jacks”

DOWNLOAD THE PRESS RELEASE FOR LINCOLN CENTER OUT-OF-DOORS