SUPERNOVA performance art festival kicks off!

The first SUPERNOVA performance art pieces took place in downtown Rosslyn last week. Over three days, performances popped up in various places unannounced to give a taste of what's to come when the festival debuts in June 2013. Performances were met with a combination of delight, oblivion, and confusion as commuters scurried to and from their offices.

SUPERNOVA is a new performance art festival (brought to you by the Rosslyn BID and produced by Pink Line Project) that will take place throughout Rosslyn, VA in raw spaces, office lobbies, rooftops, the Metro station, parks and public spaces, sidewalks and other unexpected places. This performance art festival is poised to establish itself as a major performance art festival, attracting performers and attendees from around the world.

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So what happened last week?

One day, we set up old-fashioned typewriters in a cute concrete park and stationed writers there to write love letters, loathe letters, apologies, poems, plays, or anything that anyone wanted. Visitors got to keep their new literary masterpieces! We called this performance the Typorium Electrique Presented By Holly Bass (it was her idea!) and the awesome writers were Eames Armstrong, Buck Downs, and Karen Robinson.

Another day, we presented the first edition of the First Amendment Society. For twelve hours, every genre of spoken word performance was explored by poets, comics, monologists, thinkers, researchers, rappers, storytellers, magicians, debaters, instigators, whisperers, fortune-tellers, and even some figures that defied a vague and reaching classification. Local philanthropist Lisa Markuson curated the Society. All she asked: "Allow yourself to be surprised, challenged, and entertained, and incorporate a unique thought into your humdrum existence. Consider it an ear enema."

Dance performances that popped up around Rosslyn were choregraphed by Ilana Silverstein, Hayley Cutler, and Sylvana Christopher. The brilliant and talented Irfana Jetha and Juliana Mascelli curated and managed the program.

Ilana Silverstein is a DC based dance artist, educator, and community organizer. She is a founding member of force/collision and Tia Nina.  Ilana’s work has been presented by the Philly Fringe Festival, the Source Festival and Gaia.  She is a resident artist at Georgetown Hospital and pursuing her MFA in Dance at  GWU.  Ilana performed with Leah Curran Moon, Amanda Abrams, and Hannah Kerr.  Ilana’s movement score was titled,  "Dude."

Hayley Cutler is a critically acclaimed choreographer from Washington, DC. In 2010, she founded darlingdance, a company that has performed in numerous venues throughout DC and in Chicago. In 2012, Hayley was a finalist in the Emerging Choreographer category of the MetroDC Dance Awards. She also teaches at Joy of Motion and dances for Aras Dance Company. Hayley performed with Rick Westerkamp.

Sylvana Christopher is a DC native, but has roots from Germany to Guam. Sylvana has performed with Bowen McCauley Dance Company, Rincones & Company Dance Theatre, Arts United of Washington,Gesel Mason Performance Projects, BosmaDance, Contradiction Dance and Kate Jordan Dance. She now serves as the Artistic Director of Glade Dance Collective. Sylvana performed with Grace Cunningham, Emma Dozier, Stephanie Vadala, Jon DeVilbiss, May Kesler, Ivan Barahona, and Paula Lopez Cardona.