Performance of Self
National Sawdust, Brooklyn
Creative Team
Creator & Composer
JODIE LANDAU
Director & Designer
PEABODY SOUTHWELL
JODIE LANDAU
PEABODY SOUTHWELL
About
Performance of Self is an immersive piece by Jodie Landau which uses chamber music and dance to weave its way through songs and stories about queerness, gender, sexuality, [online] dating, choice, consent, attraction, desire, expectations, conforming to someone’s needs vs. self-preservation, language and communication, dance, drag, costume, and the performance of self.
“We continuously construct and curate our lives, our relationships, and our selves,” said Landau, “ by choice or by circumstance. We weave the stories given to us, those we gather, and those we choose to retell to form a sense of identity. In identifying ourselves and each other we look to codify and define, and in such things we find both comfort and tribulations, as well as opportunity and limitations. Within all this, gender and sexuality are heavily weighted and fascinating topics, or at least have been for me, by choice and circumstance.”
Support
Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, Raulee Marcus, & Stephen Block.
![The West Coast premiere of TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD marked another successful addition to the rich legacy of collaborative efforts between Beth Morrison Projects and LA Opera (@laopera)! We're looking back at some of our favorite productions over the years to celebrate!
DOG DAYS - DOG DAYS marked the first production of the whirlwind partnership in 2015. Hailed by the New York Times as a riveting, soon-to-be “groundbreaking American classic,” the post-apocalyptic tragedy made waves at its LAO presentation and put BMP on the West Coast map.
P R I S M - P R I S M marked another milestone in our joint history. Not only did Ellen Reid’s (@ellenreidmusic) debut opera make its world premiere with LA Opera at REDCAT (@calartsredcat), but this collaborative project would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2019. It was a major development for BMP, LAO, and, of course, Ellen Reid, who “[took] her place among the host of promising young American opera composers” (The Financial Times).
ANGEL'S BONE - Another Pulitzer Prize-winning BMP production, ANGEL'S BONE, was planned as part of the 2020 season. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation pivoted, becoming the first in our history to be presented digitally. The show was streamed by 20,000 people, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our bond with LAO.
TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD - Finally, Emma O’Halloran’s (@emmamohalloran) TRADE/Mary Motorhead made its West Coast premiere last month at REDCAT. We're thrilled to celebrate another year of BMP and LAO sharing boundary-pushing, cutting-edge opera with this incredible production starring Naomi Louisa O’Connell (@naomi_louisa_oconnell), Marc Kudisch (@marckudisch), and Kyle Bielfield (@bielfield)!](https://bethmorrisonprojects.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)