Poster and Production Design: Si Golraine

* * *     March 31 and April 1 :: 8pm     * * *
April 2 :: 2pm

Coney Island USA
1208 Surf Ave.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

FRIDAY, MARCH 31:

To the Spinal Womb
by OMER GAL OF COOKIE TONGUE

Death and Jazz
by JONATHAN KOPP

shadow mending in memento mori
by JACQUELYN MARIE SHANNON

FLOYDADA
by SISTERDADA
(with Catherine Porter and Nomi Tichman)

Crone Rope
by SUIDAE

Xis Pretty Boy Blues
by PNK VLVT WTCH
(with Clawdette Smm Smm, Honey Boy, Pink Velvet Witch,
Spicy Delight, and Viper Cazimi)

SATURDAY, APRIL 1:

To Have Done with the Judgment of God
by WHARTON TRACT

Untitled Clown
by SPRANKLES

Eccentric Elder Yoga Devi Dance Entertainer Challenges Ageism!
by AMAZING AMY
(with Wharton Tract)

Decorticate
by MISTRAL HAY

Venus Invites
by AMA DIVER

Ashita Mañana
by AIDA MIRO & KEN ARII

SUNDAY, APRIL 2:

Soulphabet
(with Anjoli Chadha, Sadé Dinkins, Jeans Gallo,
Annette Mae, Forest McGill, and Ri Tornello)
directed by SI GOLRAINE

Wings of the Falling
by ERIKA HASSAN & BOB LYNESS

Aloha
by CELESTE HASTINGS "THE BUTOH ROCKETTES"
(with Christine Coleman, Celeste Hastings,
Gabriele Schafer, and ChiqNiq)

Persephone
by OBSIDIAN ABSURD

Trailer for Polar Bear Club Documentary
  by JOHN D'AQUINO

Toilet Paper Song / Chief Polar Bear
by ALTER KACKER ROCKER AMOS

(CLICK HERE for performer bios)

On Sunday, April 2, THE AUDIENCE is encouraged to come be a part of the performance!
Wear your most expressive/outrageous costume/look to complement the
mylar / fluorescent / black-light environment,
and help celebrate the festival's theme of TRANSFORMATION.
Photographer Kristopher Johnson will be there to capture you in his photo booth!

( Appropriate for 18+ )

After 2020 was cancelled due to COVID, this marks ICL's 5th year of probing the fantastical blending of ritual and entertainment on Coney Island USA's (CIUSA) stage. ICL has again assembled an array of performance artists, musicians, puppeteers, sideshow performers, poets, dancers... tasked with presenting original works that define "ritual cabaret" though the lens of their own particular aesthetic, discipline and lineage.

The history of the Coney Island Ritual Cabaret Festival is informed by dancer/choreographer Tatsumi Hijikata who in the 1950's originated butoh with his ensemble of burlesque dancers in an effort to defy and subvert authority, including conventional notions of dance, thereby seeking transformation -- on the personal, societal and human level.

Inspired by this historical reference, in its call for proposals, ICL challenged artists to deconstruct and reinvent their particular art form, whatever it might be. We asked: If the goal is TRANSFORMATION -- of the self, of society, of humanity -- what will it take to bring this about? Is it possible to invent a new genre? What is Ritual Cabaret to you?

Cabaret, burlesque, vaudeville, and circus sideshow have a long & storied history in Coney Island, and Coney's rich legacy of amusement, community, and innovation make CIUSA the perfect venue to explore the boundaries of ritual and entertainment.