World Premiere of Miguel Gutierrez & The Powerful People’s

Walker Art Center—Commissioned World Premiere of Miguel Gutierrez & The Powerful People’s And lose the name of action Opens 2012-2013 Performing Arts Season

“At a time when so much art lacks a heartbeat, Mr. Gutierrez’s chest pounds … smart and moving and full of questions, the way only real art can be.”—New York Times

Minneapolis, August 28, 2012—We proudly kick off our new season with the world premiere of a major work by one of the most forward-thinking and provocative dancemakers of his generation. With intimate onstage seating, Miguel Gutierrez brings the audience close to the wit, adrenaline, and immediacy of this vital work, And lose the name of action, which draws on the mysterious logic of improvisation and explores his persistent questions about the wonder of living with an ephemeral body into the beyond. Along with a star-studded cast, this production features sound design by Neal Medlyn, lighting by Lenore Doxsee, and visuals and writing by Boru O’Brien O’Connell. And lose the name of action will be performed Wednesday–Friday, September 19–21, 8 pm; Saturday, September 22, 3 and 8 pm. Copresented with the National Performance Network (NPN).

Exploring the ghostlike traces that dance leaves on your mind and body, And lose the name of action is an evening length performance for six unforgettable, award-winning performers. Michelle Boulé, Hilary Clark, Luke George, Miguel Gutierrez, K.J. Holmes and Ishmael Houston-Jones come together to form an incongruent family and create a moving scéance for the 21st Century. Inspired by Jørgen Leth’s film The Perfect Human, the elusive logic of dance improvisation, philosophical quandaries about the brain, and the 19th century spiritualist movement, And lose the name of action draws connections between the analytical and the unexplainable, grappling with the limits of language and the ever present spectre of death.

Warning: Performance may contain nudity.

Miguel Gutierrez assembled the first incarnation of the Powerful People in the fall of 2001 when he was invited for a choreographic residency in the pilot season of the Ensemble Studio Theater’s Lexington Center for the Arts. Never having been interested in a traditional model of a “company,” Gutierrez sees the participating artists in his work–dancers, composers, designers and visual artists–as part of an ever-expanding net of inspiring collaborators. Gutierrez’s interest in working with others is related to the questions in his work involving group identity and communal experience. He continues to work in solo form and on smaller scale pieces. Regardless of the size of the project, it is Gutierrez’s goal to create challenging and thought-provoking performance experiences. The work has enjoyed considerable attention in the printed and virtual press. The company is engaged to perform in venues across the country and internationally. Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People have created: enter the seen, I succumb, dAMNATION rOAD, Retrospective Exhibitionist and Difficult Bodies, myendlesslove, Everyone, Nothing, No thing, HEAVENS WHAT HAVE I DONE, And lose the name of action and Last Meadow.

Tickets to Miguel Gutierrez & The Powerful People’s And lose the name of action are Wednesday evening and Saturday matinee, $18 ($15); Thursday–Saturday, $22 ($18) and are available at walkerart.org/tickets or by calling 612.375.7600.

Balcony Bar
Meet the artists, talk about the show, and enjoy a drink at happy hour prices, including specialty cocktails with Prairie Organic Vodka. Located in the McGuire Theater, the Balcony Bar is open one hour before and after all evening performances.

Commissioned by the Walker Art Center with support provided by the William and Nadine McGuire Commissioning Fund, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts. Additional commissioning support by BIT Teatergarasjen, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Flynn Center, MANCC, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, NPN, On the Boards, and Portland Institute of Contemporary Art.

Performing Arts Supporters
The Walker Art Center’s performing arts programs are made possible by generous support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through the Doris Duke Performing Arts Fund, the William and Nadine McGuire Commissioning Fund, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Producers’ Council
Performing Arts programs and commissions at the Walker are generously supported by members of the Producers’ Council: Russell Cowles; Sage Cowles; Nor Hall and Roger Hale; King’s Fountain/Barbara Watson Pillsbury and Henry Pillsbury; Emily Maltz; Dr. William W. and Nadine M. McGuire; Leni and David Moore, Jr.; Josine Peters; Mike and Elizabeth Sweeney; and Frances and Frank Wilkinson.