Kindling Arts has unveiled the line-up for its highly-anticipated 2023 Festival. The 4-day celebration of local Counterculture runs Thursday, July 27 through Sunday, July 30, 2023, at five distinct venues across West Nashville, with seventeen performance-based projects selected from record-setting application numbers.
Events include a futuristic space opera with intricate fight choreography set to karaoke of 90s nu-metal music, a musical comedy send-up of Nashville’s most popular social media page, an interactive late-night party featuring reimaginings of classic county fair activities, and a multiplicity of fascinating new dance performances. The dizzying array of often unclassifiable performance experiences will be held at OZ Arts Nashville, Darkhorse Theatre, Nashville School for the Aerial Arts, The Barbershop Theater, and the Global Education Center.
Of particular interest are three events featuring African American artists and themes. They include Bar Fight 2666: Broken Vows, showcasing Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva in the lead as “Mother Death”; Allison Underground, a narrative burlesque retelling of Alice in Wonderland through a Black lens; and Limitless: A Dance Showcase, featuring two brilliant Black choreographers presenting new works.
Headlining the Festival will be two of the most innovative, interdisciplinary and interactive theatrical projects to be seen in Nashville this year. Bar Fight! 2666: Broken Vows (Let the Bodies Hit the Floor) is the genre-hopping, sci-fi space opera by Jessika Malone & Daniel Carter, collectively known as Rabbit Effect. It has an all-star cast led by local icons Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva and Blake Holliday, with performances at OZ Arts Friday and Saturday, July 28-29.
OZ Arts will also be home to two dance showcases, featuring some of the brightest local choreographers. Limitless features Kourtney “Koko” French, showcasing a new group piece with a mix of hip-hop and contemporary styles, and Alexandra Winer, showing a new solo dance exploring physical limitations. In Limitless, artists test their physical, spiritual, and creative limits to reach their full potential. The diverse line-up, Thursday, July 27 at 7PM and Saturday, July 29 at 2PM, includes choreographers Emily Rizo Davis, Kourtney “Koko” French, Melissa Miller, Sandy Perez, Amanda Reichert, and Alexandra Winer.
Betty Vou Plaît + Back to Black Burlesque’s Allison Underground, a modern, seductive reinterpretation of the literary classic Alice in Wonderland as told through the Black lens premieres Friday, July 28th at 9PM and Saturday, July 29th at 7:30PM at Darkhorse Theatre (4610 Charlotte Ave). Go down the rabbit hole to a Wonderland unlike any you’ve seen before. Allison Underground brilliantly twists Lewis Carroll’s classic novel into a sensual modern myth that indulges the fantastical elements of the beloved story. Directed by acclaimed burlesque artist Betty Vou Plaît and featuring the stunning performers from Back to Black Burlesque, this updated Alice puts Black voices at the center of this literary classic. Don’t be late for this very important date! Run time is 90 minutes with no intermission.
A complete schedule, individual tickets, choice of two Wildfire passes, including VIP, and a variety of other packages are available now at kindlingarts.com.
