GASP!, Creative Loafing’s multi-disciplinary performing arts fest at the Tampa Museum of Art, returns March 16 with its most eclectic lineup yet.
Dance fan? We've got it all: contemporary, improv, hip-hop, belly-dancing, even a troupe of Irish step-dancers (because Mar. 16 is, after all, the night before St. Patrick's Day). Musical acts cover the gamut, too, from electronica to rock to a solo chanteuse. From the world of theater, two of the area's finest actresses perform exclusively during the VIP-only hour from 6 to 7, and from the realm of spoken word, the Heard Em Say teen poets return to awe audiences.
Then there's the stuff that's so unique it eludes categorization, like Santiago Echeverry's visually stunning adaptation with artist Marie Yoho Dorsey of a Japanese fable (another VIP exclusive); the comic karoake of Ari Richter's "Arioke"; Brian Feldman's latest feat of endurance; Tom Sivak's mini rock opera; and the world premiere of a dancer/actor/playwright collaboration to be performed throughout the evening on a grassy slope above the Tampa Riverwalk.
Look for in-depth artist profiles and a full schedule in coming weeks and in the special GASP! issue of CL on Thurs., Mar. 15. Meanwhile, here’s the complete list of artists.
PERFORMANCE
“Air-Earth-Fire-Water.” Two actors, four dancers, and a hill — plus parachutes, a kiddie car and who knows what else? Scientists wrangling with the real world join dancers exploring imaginative movement in this joyous outdoor work created especially for GASP! by an all-star team of local artists: playwright Sheila Cowley, dancer/choreographer Helen Hansen French, co-choreographer Paula Kramer, actors Eugenie Bondurant and Chris Rutherford, and dancers French, Erin Cardinal, Brian Fidalgo and Alex Jones.
“Crane Wives.” Santiago Echeverry, UT’s resident visionary, returns to GASP! in a new collaboration with acclaimed multi-disciplinary artists Marie Yoho Dorsey and Elena Cifuentes that incorporates dance, theater and fabric art. It’s based on the Japanese fable “The Crane Wife,” in which a man rescues an injured crane and returns it to the wild, then marries a mysterious woman whose talent for weaving greatly increases his wealth — and his greed.
Brian Feldman: The Four-Hour GASP! “Endurance artist” Feldman’s “Skill Crane Kid” was one of the biggest hits of GASP! ’17. Now he’s back with a GASP! performance that may literally take your breath away — or his.
Ari Richter: “Arioke.” Richter, a comedian, singer, performance artist and Blake High grad, returns from Brooklyn to his old stomping grounds to share his slightly warped variation on karaoke — think the satirical bent of Weird Al Yankovic, presented with a style that’s all Ari’s own.
DANCE
Step Dancers from the Scariff/Gilleoghan School of Irish Dance. GASP! takes place on St. Paddy’s Day Eve, so who better to join the festivities than a troupe of fast-stepping Irish dancers from the area’s leading Irish dance school?
HCC Dancers: “Choose Your Own Distraction.” Choreographer Christina Acosta’s light-hearted dance pokes fun at the dichotomy between news broadcasts and children’s toys. Performed by Caleb Baker, Kiara Bussey, Dani Heagey and Sam Wilson.
Chasedance: “Heavy the Rise.” Choreographed by Mary Chase Doll, this site-specific work explores the nature of resilience in the face of life’s challenges, no matter how many times we fall. Sharp-eyed audience members may discover some of the materials of this dance hidden in plain sight all around them.
VYB Dance Company. The dynamic Tampa-based hip-hop troupe whose witty, perfectly executed moves took 1st place at World of Dance Atlanta 2017.
Moving Current Dance Collective. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary of producing contemporary dance in Tampa Bay, MC will present an improv project choreographed by guest artist Heidi Henderson, the internationally recognized artist recently seen on tour at HCC with her troupe elephant JANE.
Heidi Henderson: “posture.” An examination of standing, Henderson’s “posture” will enliven the space of the museum with oddities of the body. “There is something about working quietly that quiets a room of watchers,” says Henderson. “The quiet is a shared experience.”
Collective Soles Dance: “I AM MY (word).” An excerpt from a full-length interdisciplinary work that will premiere in St. Pete at the Studio@620 March 17-18 and in Tampa at CASS Contemporary Art Gallery March 24-25. Part of the company’s ColLab series, it wlll feature dance students from the University of South Tampa, University of Tampa, and Manatee School for the Arts.
Hip Expressions. The inimitable, exuberant corps takes belly dance to new creative realms, including the contemporary fusion piece “Like a River.”
RogueDance. The sparkling contemporary dance troupe from St. Pete led by powerful dancer/choreographer Kellie Harmon brings two new pieces, infused with R&B and hip-hop — plus a bit of improv, too.
THEATER / OPERA
Jan Neuberger. A veteran Broadway actress who’s also a terrific writer, Jan brings alive the strange story of Mary Toft, the “trickster” who inspired Sarasota artist Rob Tarbell to create the ceramic rabbits now on view at TMA as part of the Skyway Curator’s Choice exhibit.
Jonelle Meyer. The ever-hilarious and versatile actress will be present in multiple guises, including her Best of the Bay-winning newscaster Mort LaCourt.
Roxanne Fay: An excerpt from Jobsite Theater’s HIR. Fresh from her acclaimed performance as Prospera in Jobsite’s The Tempest, Roxanne shares a very different kind of mother with us, the newly liberated woman at the head of the comically dysfunctional family in Taylor Mac’s HIR.
Frankie & Gianni: A Mini Rock Opera. In award-winning composer Tom Sivak’s humorous twist on the traditional tale of Frankie and Johnny, rock 'n' roller Frankie discovers her man has done her wrong — by singing opera! Colleen Cherry and Brandon Evans star.
SPOKEN WORD
Heard Em Say Youth Arts Collective: “This Land Is… Whose Land?” The teen poets of Heard Em Say are always a GASP! highlight, and this year they’re tackling such highly topical subjects as immigration, education, politics, diversity and culture. Come hear our future.
MUSIC
Slim Figga. A Sarasota-based rapper who’s proudly staking his own path with music that consciously rejects lyrics that degrade women or promote drug use and crime.
Jim Chambers Music Box presents Sick Hot. The Best of the Bay-winning music academy turns out great young bands, and Sick Hot is one of the best: three teens who will rock your world (including a guitarist Chambers calls a “borderline prodigy”).
Kasondra Rose. A singer whose voice has variously been described by press (including CL) as silky, buttery, warm and enchanting, Rose will perform a set from her latest album of original music, Out of Thin Air, that utilizes the TCHelicon VoiceLive Touch, a vocal/instrument looper that allows her to layer vocal sounds and effects to deliver a rich, textured performance.
Billy Mays III: Infinite Third. Billy Mays’s Ambient Installation mesmerized audiences at GASP! 2017, and this year he returns to what we’re now calling The Infinity Lounge with excerpts from Infinite Third’s latest album, Channel(s).
Terrapin. St. Pete synthwave artist Nick Capone brings his own brand of ambient groove to the Infinity Lounge, where some folks may just want to hang out all night long.
Zerobabies. CL alum Joe Bardi returns to make some big noise with his band Zerobabies and their brand of “instrumental rock/punk/funk/whatever-it-is” — plus fractals!
The Real Clash. This hip-hop-influenced band of “harmonically apt beatniks” has made a big mark since graduating from SPC’s Music Industry Recording Arts program. At last year’s GASP! they tore the place up, and they’re eager to do it again with a set of “awesome new material.”
Noel Rochford. The rollicking, roving electric ukelele virtuoso will once again be all over GASP!, playing solo as well as providing improvised sounds for “Air/Earth/Fire/Water” and other dance artists.
AJ Vaughan. The multi-talented electric violinist (seen last year in Tank & Tilly and a Donald Trump mini-musical) brings his distinctive sounds to GASP! for a second year.
FASHION & BODY ART
Nicole Hays/The Curiositorium. We saw one side of Nicole’s unique talents last year at GASP! as she contorted herself acrobatically inside a sphere and danced playfully with AJ Vaughan. But Nicole is also a superb body artist — she made it to the Final Four in the first season of Skin Wars — and this year that’s the genre in which she’ll be making us gasp.
Jessica Steele / Family-Friendly Entertainment. Award winners at the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance MUSE Awards gala, Jessica and company will be bringing a bit of the auld sod to GASP! with St. Paddy’s Day-themed face painting and giant shamrock headdresses.
Mark Byrne: Balloon Fashions & Poppin’ for Dollars. He’s the man who popped out of a giant balloon at GASP! 2017, leaving an indelible impression on all who saw it. This year he shows us another side of his ballooning talents: eye-popping balloon fashions, like the ones that he’s dazzled audiences with at Dunedin Fine Art Center’s annual Wearable Art show. Plus, there’s a bonus for the luckiest balloon-poppers.
