AMERICAN UTOPIA ON BROADWAY SERIES

The show had been due to return this fall, a plan shelved now that Broadway theaters will remain shuttered until June.īut in a way, even this American Utopia allows us to “leave our homes” in some sense.

They’ve all been closed since the beginning of this pandemic, which caused theaters, among other places, to shut down less than a month after American Utopia ended its run at the Hudson. Even if we wanted to visit the Hudson Theatre, or any Broadway stage, we couldn’t. We haven’t left our homes to go and see this version of American Utopia. Now, as the stage show is transmitted to us via televisions, tablets, and cell phones, that innocuous statement becomes unintentionally ironic. When he said this during the show’s live run, which ran from October of 2019 to February of 2020, it was a sincere expression of gratitude for those who had spent their time and money to witness this dynamic performance of Byrne’s music, both from his American Utopia album and his broader career, including his years as frontman for the Talking Heads. Currently commissioned by the Petronio Residency Center to create upcoming UFLYMOTHERSHIP work for spring 2022, she gives thanks and blessings for life, love, breath, and the pursuit of happiness through creativity.David Byrne says this to an audience at the Hudson Theatre near the start of American Utopia, the filmed version of Byrne’s Broadway concert/musical that airs Saturday on HBO. She continues to build her pedagogy as a teaching artist occasionally at NYU Tisch and as a B.O.L.D Facilitator for Urban Bush Women. Lang, Marjani Forte'-Saunders (7NMS), ASÉ Dance Theater Collective, Nathan Trice/ Rituals Performance Project 'StrangeLove', Jim Findlay's 'Electric Lucifer' workshop & Philadelphia Operas’ We Shall Not be Moved directed by Bill T. Other solo/collaborative choreographic works have been featured at Gibney Dance, in partnership with Stephen Petronio Residency Center, Live Ideas: Drexciya Redux - An Afrofuturist Cabaret at NYLA, Movement Researches’ Spring Festival, Czech Republic of NY, “ Prague Effects” Residency, Dancespace 'Collective Terrains ' platform, Spelman Colleges' 'Toni Cade Bambara Scholar- Activism Conference, Harlem Stage E-Moves 2019, Hi-ARTS: Critical Breaks Residency, BRICLab, Dance Mission Theaters' D.I.R.T Festival 2021 & Park Armorys' 100 Women/ 100 Years and Lincoln Center's Restart Stages. Former touring company member of Urban Bush Women, Tendayi is also longtime collaborator with partner Greg Purnell under the alias UFLYMOTHERSHIP with sonic/choreographic projects Heroiné, Incog-negro, U.F.O: Unidentified Fly Objects, U.F.O: Stardust Melanin, & U.F.O 'The Mixtape'. Recently, Tendayi performed as a background vocalist/dancer & original cast member of Specal Tony Award Winning David Byrne's America Utopia on Broadway as well as its World Tour since 2018 and HBO Film adaptation directed by Spike Lee. International dancer, choreographer, singer, & songwriter, Tendayi Kuumba is a graduate of North Atlanta High School of Performing Arts and Spelman College. David Byrne has been honored with an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy awards, along with Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel and Theatre World awards for his work in the New York theater. Since 2010, David Byrne has spoken several times at TED Talks conferences.

AMERICAN UTOPIA ON BROADWAY SERIES

An advocate for cycling, Byrne designed a series of custom bike racks that were placed in different locations in New York City in 2008. In 2005, Playing the Building, an installation that turned buildings into playable musical instruments by connecting the structures electronically to a pipe organ debuted in Stockholm, followed by runs in London and New York. For theater and dance, Byrne has written music for Twyla Tharp’s Catherine Wheel (1981) In Spite of Wishing and Wanting, for Wim Vandekevbus’s Belgian dance company Ultima Vez Robert Wilson’s Civil Wars – The Knee Plays and The Forest (1988) and, Here Lies Love (2015) and Joan of Arc: Into the Fire (2017). Since leaving the Talking Heads, the band he co-founded in the 1970s, Byrne has released nine solo studio albums, most recently American Utopia (2018). Born in Dumbarton, Scotland, he grew up in North America and was educated at art schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. David Byrne is a singer, songwriter, musician, film director and producer, author, lecturer, photographer and visual artist.

American utopia on broadway