John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori (…in Thailand)

Fri 24 Jun, 2011, 8pm
Sat 25 Jun, 2011, 8pm

Since 2007, New York performance-duo John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori have created a quiet sensation among presenters across European touring-circuits. A series of small, intimate performances have developed a reputation as being both “revolutionary”, and unusually simple to present. Having toured extensively throughout the UK, Germany, Poland and Fringe Festivals all across Europe, composer John Moran and dancer Saori Tsukada are currently planning their first U.S. tour, beginning in New York City in June 2011.

Their latest work, John Moran + Saori (...in Thailand) - which premiered in May 2010 - has been described by critics as “emotionally riveting”. Perfect for a small (or unusual) space, the 70 minute work of autobiographical story-telling, dance, precision performance-art, and ground-breaking musical composition has left audiences spellbound. The Guardian UK has written, “It is a performance with real genius as it’s foundation”.

John Moran has generally been known in America as the protege of composer Philip Glass. In 2003, Glass was quoted as saying, “I am convinced that there is no more important composer working today, than John Moran.” His large-scale works of music-theater were well known in NYC throughout the 1990’s, often at venues such as Lincoln Center for The Performing Arts, American Repertory Theater, The Public Theater and others, and featured performers such as Uma Thurman, Iggy Pop and Allen Ginsberg. The New York Times often referred to Moran as “One of the leading vanguards of American music-theater”, and The Boston Globe even went so far as to write, “Moran is a modern-day Mozart.” Then suddenly, Moran and his work disappeared.

Five years later (in 2005) a very different Moran re-emerged in the late-night clubs of Brooklyn, with a completely new approach to music-theater. Gone were any traces of large-scale, multi-media. Now he appeared simply (and deceptively) as himself, speaking to audiences directly about his life and work, and a self-proclaimed obsession with his next-door neighbor and ‘muse’: a young dancer from Japan, named Saori Tsukada. A short time later (after The New York Times described the duo as “one of the most important and innovative collaborations of 2007.”) their work relocated to Europe, and has toured almost continuously since. The two have frequently performed at leading venues in Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, London, Bristol, Brighton, Oxford, Berlin, Münster, Düsseldorf, Warsaw, Lodz, Tel Aviv, and more. Having had the chance to develop their skills and new works in front of such a wide variety of audiences, John Moran and Saori will at last bring their unique style of dance and music-theater back to the U.S. for the months of June and July, 2011.

The Darmstadt Institute is made possible, in part, through generous support from the Dedalus Foundation and with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council