Vinyl Retro was inspired by a work created by Karen Bernard in 1996, which she performed the solo originally titled Vinyl wearing a yellow vinyl dress to a series of Supremes songs. A woman alone at a party or perhaps at a party for one. Barbara Mahler had an interest in performing this piece, but when she tried the dress on the vinyl disintegrated. The “relic” piece was immersed into a duet where Bernard became the director and controller of the projector, lighting and sound. The relationship between Mahler and Bernard kept shifting. During the development of the piece, Mahler left the country for two weeks. Left to her own, Bernard created a solo to “Standing at the Crossroads of Love” sung by the Supremes. As Mahler enters the piece the score (deconstructed from the movie “Last Days of Disco”) begins to drift in and out parallel to our relationship ourselves and the environment. The work grapples with loss, aging, the act of performance and a myriad of complex emotions.
Performers: Karen Bernard and Barbara Mahler
Vinyl Retro presented at The Kitchen in NYC, May 6-7, 2016
Karen Bernard’s Vinyl Retro | Performers: Barbara Mahler & Karen Bernard
Photo by © Paula Court | Courtesy of The Kitchen
Karen Bernard’s Vinyl Retro | Performers: Barbara Mahler & Karen Bernard
Photo by © Paula Court | Courtesy of The Kitchen
Vinyl Retro was made possible through Dance in Process at The Kitchen, NYC.
K.J. Holmes, photo by Elyse Mertz
“Performance Mix Festival has its own life, and Karen and the staff continue to evolve with the times in a way I appreciate…it was tremendous to be a Liftoff AIR and then get to show the work I had continued to explore as an AIR a year later at PMF!”
– K.J. Holmes
New Dance Alliance
182 Duane Street
New York, NY 10013
(646) 510-1824
All venues are wheelchair accessible.
