HDC Presents: ThawOut!

Do you hear me New York? Thaw the f*@! out!

Seriously, can this winter be over yet?

Inevitably, Spring will come. In Bushwick, celebrate the figurative arrival of everyone’s favorite flowery season with The Hoover Dam Collective on Thursday,  April 2nd. This show, the sequel to last year’s FallOut, is another amazing collaboration with Nat Osborn Band and ChristinaNoel and The Creature.

The venue is called Max Cellar, and it’s located in the lower level of Amancay’s Diner. It’s “snazzy” and new and comes complete with an eccentric owner and spin the bottle. Rest assured, you will feel hip coming to this venue.

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Show Deets:

Thursday April 2nd, 2015. Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 8 and goes really late y’all. Um, by the way, it’s FREE, so go ahead and GET that extra slice of pepper jack on your veggie burger cause you can spare the funds now. Yas.

Some of the Fabulous Artists:

DOUGMORE

Nick Horner Family

The Pocket Tonics

The Whistleblowers

Nat Osborn

ChristinaNoel & the Creature

Maya Orchin

Laurel Snyder

Chafin Seymour

 

The Adorbs Flier

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Come on, fans, there’s no reason not to come!

 

NYC > DEN

On February 28th, I’m leaving New York City for Colorado after living in Brooklyn for almost 5 years.

This “goodbye” themed blog post was shaping up to be difficult to write. How do I express my feelings about bidding adieu to the Hoover Dam and leaving this city that has been my home without sounding like a midwestern-gentrifying-art-collective-photographer-white-girl-dancer-chick-dumbass? After working for a while on writing a bunch of garbage – the phrase “As the pioneering female aviator Beryl Markham wrote” was actually used in that draft – I took a break to work on packing up my things.  As I was cleaning my bathroom cabinet I found a card from my tarot deck stuck under some old toiletries. It was the Three of Cups.

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I know what you’re thinking: “The Three of Cups? I know that place – lower east side italian tavern, right? It was so good that I was worried it may not actually be gluten free and fret a lil’ that I would begin to look 8 months pregnant and start getting nausea with a headache in about 15 minutes after my first slice. But nope! It was legit!” (Taken from an actual yelp review)

Hear me out on this – sure, people take Tarot way too seriously. Old ladies can scam you out of your hard-earned Jacksons spewing crap that they think you want to hear. But one of my little idiosyncrasies is that I believe in the power of the Tarot. They’re just a set of cards that represent archetypes of human experience that are so universal that our homeboys and girls were relating to them way back in the 16th century.

The Three of Cups (in my deck) features three maidens dancing, toasting each other joyously with some boss looking chalices, their hair blowing in the wind, going all out. They are literally wearing pointe shoes. The card represents celebration, friendship, creativity, and community. This is a victory card, readers. When it comes up in your life, it means “hold on for a sec – stop getting all freaked out, don’t worry. Go to a bar with some friends, have a banquet, talk and reminisce, you are going to have a great time.” This is the Hoover Dam Card.

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I helped found the Hoover Dam Collective 5 years ago at my alma mater, Purchase College with my roommates. Our apartment, affectionately named the Hoover Dam, always had an open door, and people came and went as they pleased. We were a late night hang out, a place for musings and music and philosophical discussions and drunken karaoke renditions of Kiss from a Rose. We have since infused that energy into all of our shows, creating a space for everyone to share and talk to each other. In this city, where everyone lives in a different neighborhood, sometimes several hours of commute in between us, we need a way to come together.

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I am so proud of all of the artists that have performed in our shows. I wish I could give all of the shout outs that exist right now. Some of my talented friends are so successful I can’t even believe it. Some used The Hoover Dam Collective as a testing ground for a new set, a new art form, a vessel for going out on a limb. Now those same people are killing it out there in the world. I heard you and you on NPR, I saw you and you on TV, in that music video, you during that live show. But I can’t give shout outs now, not just because I might accidentally leave someone out or because there are just too many of you amazing people, but also because you all don’t need me to call out your successes. You’re all doing just fine on your own. Those of you who think you haven’t hit success yet, have you played a Hoover Dam show? Boom. That’s it. You’ve made it in my eyes. To all artists that have performed with the HDC –  know that I’m always paying attention and I’m thrilled with your triumphs, even if I’m all the way in Colorado.

Also, everyone should become super famous so that I can be a cool old lady that is like “Oh yes, I remember when I lived in New York, back when it wasn’t halfway underwater, and so and so performed a private concert for me and my friend at some crappy irish bar in the Village. Those were the days…”

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On Tuesday night I am bringing the abundance of joyous energy that this Three of Cups card portrays to the Hoover Dam Collective show at Muchmore’s. I want to say goodbye to all of you, but not by getting sappy and quoting stuffy female aviators. I’m going to be saying goodbye while smiling and dancing and holding up some boss looking chalice and toasting “To The Hoover Dam!”

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Ask yourself the important question – I may never see the lovely and incredible Breegan again. Is that worth 10 dollars to me? If so, see you there friend.

Facebook Event.

Impressions of ChristinaNoel and the Creature presents: “‘Murica'”

By Theo Boguszewski

The world premiere of ChristinaNoel and the Creature’s “‘murica” showcases choreographer ChristinaNoel Reaves’ signature brand of dance theater. Her unique assortment of flavors challenges, entertains, and ultimately points to a new road for the future of dance.

The piece opens to reveal Jeremy “Jae” Neal slowly circling the stage; the simplicity of his presence immediately captures our attention. From offstage and in the balcony, the sound of humming envelopes us; the cast’s vocalizations comprise the score for the first section of the piece. The regal Joanna Futral, using simple, angular movements that display incredible control, joins Neal. Aristocratic looking in long skirts and high necked leotards, their sensuous opening duet wavers between conflict and tenderness.

Reaves proves that she is more than a choreographer; she is a composer too. Her company consists of incredible dancers who can act and make music. Periodically, these performers accompany themselves by speaking and sustaining long notes. In a raucous canon performed by the full cast, the dancers stomp their feet along with flamenco-inspired hand motions, chanting in canon “you like me, you love me, you want me.”

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It is impossible not to notice the camaraderie amongst the group; they enjoy moments of improv comedy just as much as the audience. Neal issues a starling scream, and the entire cast scatters. In a gestural assertion of his manliness, Neal grabs Futral and dramatically dips her. “These are the rules of the game,” Neal announces. Some take him seriously. Others don’t. The proclamation leads to an entertaining series of mini skits evoking a modern version of the founding fathers, struggling to piece together rules for the governing of their new land.

Themes of individuality versus group allegiance (harkening back to the title “‘murica”) proliferate. Liz Beres performs a wild and indulgent solo, accompanying herself with vocalizations; one by one the others take notice and begin to chastise her for defying the group: “Liz, what are you doing?” “Liz, this is just crazy.”

The work constantly wavers between calm and chaos. Peaceful, holy music soon dissipates into heavy rock. Following a pedestrian moment, the cast mutates from humans into sensuous creatures, crawling, lunging, swiping, and gliding. “murica” juxtaposes formality and eccentricity. Reaves, deadpan and serious, appears to recite lyrics in a foreign language. Tara Nicholas performs a flamboyant voguing solo, circling her hips and chanting a catchy song.

 The dancers extend their arms behind their heads in a recurring gesture, which bears resemblance to angel wings. As the lights dim, an angelic hum is the only lingering shadow of the performance that occurred. Throughout the piece we see the cast make the transition back and forth between ethereal saints, flawed mortals, and raw creatures. It’s between these extremes that Reaves has found something that feels true to the human condition.


Impressions of: ChristinaNoel and the Creature Present: “‘Murica”

Choreographed by: ChristinaNoel Reaves and Dancers

Presented by: The Irondale

Performed by: ChristinaNoel Reaves, Liz Beres, Joanna Futral, Yeman Brown, Sean Hatch, Jeremy “Jae” Neal, Tara Nicholas, Gautam Nima, Rami Shafi

Lighting design: Adam Greene Costumes: Anastasia Meredith-Goujon and Vita Tzykun

Music: Primus, Fleet Foxes, This Will Destroy You, and original vocal compositions by ChristinaNoel Reaves

Once More at Muchmore’s

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The Hoover Dam Collective is back at one of our favorite Williamsburg hangs. We’re trying to catch everyone pre Holiday madness, although the show is kicking off on the first day of Chanukah. If you can get away from the shopping, trip-planning, and general chaos, join us for a little merriment.

We will be featuring music by

Dustin Carlson
Noelle Tannen and the Filthy No-Nos
Bad Faces

Dance by:

Maya Orchin
Holly Heidt
Megan Bascom & Dancers

Poetry by:

Carlos Guillermo Gomez Marquez
Daniel Grjonko

Comedy by:

Nate Waggoner
Alicia Camden
Garrett Barnes

The show will take place on Tuesday, December 16th from 9pm to midnight. Cover is $5 at the door.

Much love from the HDC!

Ashley Brooke Roberts Photobomb

Ashley Brooke Roberts, Comedian and Host Extraordinaire.

“I came into [doing Hoover Dam Shows] peripherally, back when shows were in this giant warehouse in Northern Greenpoint that you had to walk to for 20 minutes and I remember being like “ah, the kids are doing it for themselves!” I was really into the whole DIY spirit of the event and also that everyone was really supportive of all of the weird voices that came out.”

 PBABR

“It has always been fun. It’s never not been fun, which is hard to say about a lot of shows that I do. I usually leave feeling inspired.”

 

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Neighborhood of Residence: Bushwick!

Location of Shoot: Corner of Franklin Ave and Sterling Place.

http://www.ashleybrookeroberts.com/

Ashley Brooke Roberts will be hosting Hoover Dam Collective presents “FallOut” in Prospect Heights on Saturday, September 27th. More information here

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Thanks to everyone who attended our show at LIC bar in Queens!
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