Now and Then

Now and Then was a reading series, which featured performance texts (and texts about performance) from the past in conversation with current writings.

Each event included two writer/readers sharing a recent work as well as an older piece. Together, we explored changing trends and contexts of performance in New York City – and beyond.

Following the readings, a brief Q&A flowed into an opportunity for more casual conversation.

Now and Then was part of my Nonlinear Lineage project.

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Nonlinear Lineage  is mostly on pause. It may restart.

It’s an effort to share a criss-crossing artistic lineage of experimental dance and performance in New York City through elements of oral history, an ephemera archive, live interviews and other events which highlight historic performance in conversation with contemporary practice. The recordings and other artifacts are presented in periodic live events.

Nonlinear Lineage is an auto-ethnographic project organized by Sarah Maxfield in collaboration with Elliott Cennetoglu. Linking artists by self-defined influences, and grounding the stories within the context of NYC’s ever-changing landscape, the project explores an artist-driven history in form and content that reflects the impact of artists on the city and vice-versa. It also takes into account the imperfect nature of memory and the importance of context to present a mapping of history that is fluid and contains multiple points of view.

Advisors to the project have included curator/producer Carla Peterson, artists/educators Lenora Champagne and Holly Hughes, as well as Susan Kraft, Coordinator of the Oral History Archive and Project at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.