POWERPLAY
About this commission
A World Premiere Shed Commission
In times of trauma, can our joy be our power? POWERPLAY is an evening of storytelling and music exploring themes of healing, personal power, and universal change. Developed by an intergenerational roster of artists—led by LATASHÁ and including Nona Hendryx, Ashley August, and New York City high school students in The Shed’s DIS OBEY program—POWERPLAY presents stories of individual power and collective action through hip hop, spoken word, music, dance, and moving images. Over the course of the evening, performers will consider how our power can be taken away, how we decide we deserve power, and how we can create it for ourselves.
Creative Team
LATASHÁ, a multimedia artist from New York City, began her career as a songwriter and recording and hip hop performance artist in 2010. She has opened for artists including Q-Tip, Big Sean, and Princess Nokia and headlined and toured various festivals and venues including the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Academy of Music, SXSW, and AfroLatino Fest.
LATASHÁ has explored an array of creative avenues including becoming the first hip hop artist-in-residence at the artist-run New York City venue National Sawdust, touring her self-directed multimedia performance INTRO TO LATASHÁ, and beginning her first company Trulyte, dedicated to guiding and support artists through their performance process.
By breaking barriers everyday as an unsigned artist, LATASHÁ works to inspire creatives to see new means of success by taking control of their lives and dreams. LATASHÁ is working on two new albums, an upcoming art expo called SheBeAGod, and a film; she is collaborating with Nick Littlemore of Empire of the Sun and Pnau on a project due 2020.
LATASHÁ
Ashley August
DJ Bembona
Lela Harper
Nona Hendryx
Monique Letamendi
Rosangelica Lopez
Joshua Negron
Nathaniel Swanson
With a video appearance by Carrie Mae Weems
Juno Arreglado, Keyboards
Will Calhoun, Drums, Pads, etc.
Ki Ki Hawkins, Backing Vocalist
Davy Levitan, Music Director/Guitar and Synth
Warren McRae, Bass
Jack Fuller, Backing Vocalist
Guerdley Cajus
Mya King
Courtney Paige
Tamara McCaw, Chief Civic Program Officer
Tanya Selvaratnam, Producer
María Fernanda Snellings, Assistant Producer
Marc Warren, Director of Production
Isaac Katzanek, Production Manager
Pope Jackson, Production Supervisor
Maggie MacTiernan, Director of Artist Services
Indigo Sparks, Production Assistant
Location and dates
May 19 at 7 pm
Details
- Running time: 60 minutes
- Doors open one hour before the performance
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POWERPLAY was created for audiences age 16 and older
- Membership does not guarantee ticket availability, so we encourage you to book early
- All tickets sales are final; times and performers are subject to change
Acknowledgments
Thank you to our partners
The creation of new work at The Shed is generously supported by the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Commissioning Fund and The Shed Commissioners.
Major support for live productions at The Shed is provided by the Charina Endowment Fund.