Songs of Innocence & Experienceﾠ(World Premiere) / la ALTERNATIVA 2012 May 10, 2012

May 10-12, 2012, 8pm

la ALTERNATIVA presents the world premiere of Songs of Innocence & Experience, an evening-length, multi-disciplinary piece inspired by the work of William Blake as their 2012 Home Season. la ALTERNATIVA directors, 'inventive choreographer & dancer extraordinaire' Kathleen Hermesdorf and 'manically vibrant composer' Albert Mathias, lead a vividly talented international cast of dancers, musicians and video artists through a visual, visceral & psychological journey into the potential paradox and ineffable, inevitable metamorphosis as we wake up to the world, over and over again.

la ALTERNATIVA integrates unique individuals to flesh out each creative process. The directors have been called 'grandmasters of the experimental art scene', and are pleased to present an electric cast of dance interpreter/contributors this 2012 season - Abby Crain (US), Christine Bonansea (FR/US), Raoul Germano (NL) and Gabriel Todd (US). These unique artists perform for major companies and choreographers, are creators in their own right and bring a wide range of interests & experience into the process & final realization of this project. The cast is joined by visiting sonic and visual collaborators from Berlin, musician Mangrove Kipling and video artist Yoann Trellu.

Songs of Innocence & Experience pursues a purity of imagination through expressive and experimental invention. It takes its title from 2 books of poems by William Blake, representing 'two Contrary States of the Human Soul', written 5 years apart in 1789 and 1794. The poems and illustrations inspired states and situation of not knowing and knowing. Also fueling the intention of this project is Blake's exaltation of imaginative art above all other forms of artistic creation. Graffiti as a contemporary juxtaposition to Blake's style and content adds another layer to the symbolism and metaphor explored in the process and to the wrestling of the romantic/spiritual and the urban/alienated thread throughout the work.

Official Website: http://www.la-alternativa.us