Ligia Lewis, A Plot/A Scandal, 2022

A dance between affect and embodiment, seeing and being seen, Ligia Lewis’s new work, A Plot/A Scandal, constructs the poetics of refusal at the edges of representation. It is a scene in the making where excitement for that which does not fit might find its place.

In Lewis’s own words, “A plot exposed, a foul deed enacted, invites scandal. In the spirit of revolution or romantic musings, scandals provoke an imagining of the impossible. Utopian or mundane, how might scandal reveal what lies unwittingly close to our fantasies? And how does it expose where society places its limits? If life is a scandal waiting to be plotted, how do we position ourselves within its matrix? Immoral and lacking propriety, scandals are incidents where fantasy and pleasure take center stage.”

Guided by the questions of whom this pleasure is for and at what expense, Lewis’s newest plot explores the stage where scandals abound by weaving together historical, anecdotal, political, and mythical narratives—ranging from the Enlightenment thinker John Locke, 16th-century Santo Domingo slave rebellion leader Maria Olofa (Wolofa), Cuban artist and revolutionary José Aponte, and Lewis’s great-grandmother, a figure Lewis turns to within her plot as a guide of resistance.

Following the performance on Friday May 5, artist Malik Gaines will join Lewis for a short conversation about her practice and process.

Cast & Credits
Concept, choreography, artistic direction, text: Ligia Lewis
Performance: Ligia Lewis
Choreographic assistance, alternating performer: Corey Scott-Gilbert, Justin Kennedy (in LA)
Research/Dramaturgy: Sarah Lewis-Cappellari
Research: Michael Tsouloukidse
Lighting design & technical direction: Joseph Wegmann
Music composition & Sound design: George Lewis Jr AKA Twin Shadow & Wynne Bennett
Drums: Guillermo Brown
Voice over: George Lewis Jr AKA Twin Shadow
Sound technician: Manuel Pessoa de Lima, Max Eilbacher, Wynne Bennett (in LA)
Set design: Ligia Lewis
Set fabrication (in LA): MOCA with Forma Design Studio
Costume: SADAK
Stage technician: Şenol Şentürk, Jachya Freeth
Production & administration: Sina Kießling
Production & distribution: Nicole Schuchardt
Production assistance: Julia Leonhardt

Production: Ligia Lewis
Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), Ruhrtriennale, Arsenic - Centre d'art scéniquecontemporain (Lausanne), Tanzquartier Wien, Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER (Gent), Kaserne Basel, The Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis MN).

With the residency support of: Callie’s, O Espaço do Tempo.
Supported by: the NATIONALES PERFORMANCE NETZ Coproduction Fund for Dance, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Funded by: Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Ligia Lewis (b. Dominican Republic) lives and works in Berlin. As an experimental choreographer, her works are often marked by physical intensity and humor. In her work, sonic and visual metaphors meet the body, materializing the enigmatic, the poetic, and the dissonant. Her work has been presented across Europe and the US, at venues such as HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin; Tanzquartier, Vienna; MCA Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Kaaitheater, Brussels; Arsenic, Lausanne; High Line Art, New York; Performance Space, New York; OGR Torino; Stedelijk, Amsterdam; TATE Modern, London, amongst others.

Wonmi’s WAREHOUSE Programs is organized by Alex Sloane, Associate Curator, and is produced by Amelia Charter, Producer of Performance and Programs, with Brian Dang, Programming Coordinator, and Michele Huizar, Programming Assistant, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Wonmi's WAREHOUSE Programs is founded by Wonmi & Kihong Kwon and Family.