A very interesting program coming up on the historic lighthouse tender ex-USCGC Lilac at Pier 25 on the Hudson River in Manhattan. From their press release:
Linked Dance Theatre will stage “Soul of the Sea,” a site-specific immersive dance performance on board the museum ship Lilac from June 7 to 11, 2016.
“Soul of the Sea” is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s “The Fisherman and his Soul.” Wilde’s short story tells of a fisherman who falls in love with a mermaid after catching her in his net, but discovers he must give up his soul in order to marry her.
Performances begin at 6:30 on Tuesday, June 7; Thursday, June 9; Friday, June 10; andSaturday, June 11. On Wednesday, June 8, an excerpt of “Soul of the Sea” will be part of a literary salon celebrating World Oceans Day.
Except for June 8 (when separate reservations are recommended for the literary evening), the audience for each performance is limited to 40 people to allow the group to be lead through the LILAC and experience the performance while traversing the ship. Due to the limits of this immersive event, reservations are recommended although admission is free. Please reserve a spot online at Linked Dance Theatre “Soul of the Sea, And, while you are there, consider making a contribution to cover the costs of bringing these public performances to the ship.
Linked Dance Theatre is a collaborative company that tells stories by merging the worlds of theatre and dance to tell stories through movement. Their staged and immersive works subvert the conventional norms of what theatre or dance should be. The seeds of Linked Dance Theatre began in 2009 at Ithaca College as the brainchild of actor/dancer Kendra Slack. Linked premiered its first professional show “Gone in NYC” in March of 2014 and is now run by Co-Artistic Directors Jordan Chlapecka and Kendra Slack.
Lilac is the last steam-powered lighthouse tender in America and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is eligible to become a National Historic Landmark. Launched on May 26, 1933, she carried supplies to lighthouses and maintained buoys for the U.S. Lighthouse Service and the U.S. Coast Guard until she was decommissioned in 1972. Lilac is currently being restored as a unique vehicle for maritime education and community activities and is berthed at Hudson River Park’s Pier 25 in New York City. More information may be found at the Lilac Preservation Project.