THREE BAGATELLES FOR THE RIGHTEOUS is a suite of three dances to sound bytes of political and religious leaders, including: Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Bill Clinton and Pat Robertson. The piece explores the dichotomy of our leaders' promises and the reality of the average American's predicament. Leading into the 2004 presidential election the company revisited this work, excerpting and updating the roles of Bob Dole and Bill Clinton with John Kerry and George W Bush.
Original Premiere: Playhouse 91, New York City 1996
Premiere: The Joyce Theatre, New York City 2004
Conceived and Directed by Jane Comfort
Choreography by Jane Comfort in collaboration with the Company
Music by Klimchak
Costumes by Liz Prince
Lighting Design by David Ferri
Cast:
John Kerry......Joseph Ritsch
George Bush.....David Neumann
Kerry Handlers....Jessica Anthony, Darrin Wright, Lisa Niedermeyer
Bush Handlers.....Aleta Hayes, Peter Sciscioli, Olase Freeman
Original Cast: Rebecca Hermos, Larry Kegwin, Stephanie McKay, Suzanne Nice,
Steven Nunley, Christina Redd, Joseph Ritsch, and Edisa Weeks
Funding: The National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on
the Arts and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. Part I: Bites was originally
commissioned by Agnes Scott College, with funds from the Martha Wilson
Kessler Dance Program.
"The savvy and hilarious 1996 election-year Three Bagatelles for the
Righteous is a deadly and ingenious cartoon. Comfort, having bravely spoken
out from both heart and enraged intelligence, now shows"
-- The Village
Voice
"Three Bagatelles makes its important point brilliantly."
-- The Rocky
Mountain News
"Sharp of eye and wit, Ms. Comfort finds her strong suit in structure. In
Three Bagatelles, a political protest piece that, one notes was created just
after the 1996 election, not last week, two cartoonish contenders are
manipulated like Japanese puppets by Bunraku-style handlers. A depressed Bob
Dole faces off against a hyper Bill Clinton who unzips his pants as a female
handler in a red bra throws herself at his feet."
-- The New York Times
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