INTERSECTION
A New Performance Series Concept and a Season of All Original Work
About INTERSECTION
Torn Space expands its programming model in 2022 with an entire season of original performances written and performed for specific Buffalo landmarks with the introduction of a fresh programming series entitled “INTERSECTION.” Works developed within this series intersect place, generation, identity and discipline. They bring audiences to performance spaces in the Broadway/Fillmore area and beyond, featuring artists collaborating to explore new forms of contemporary performance and creative placemaking. The 2022 season includes virtual reality, fashion shows, hip hop, artistic residencies, public art, dance, parades, music, site-specific performance and artist showcases. These projects will include Torn Space collaborations with Artpark, UB’s Arts Collaboratory, Silo City, Sneakvibing, FLATSITTER, Burchfield Penney Arts Center, Mirabo Press, NYS DanceForce, Just Buffalo Literary Center, Coalesce Center for Biological Art and countless artists and designers and many more.
Torn Space is a leader in site-based performance and since 2012 its work has centered around a specific place (Silo City) and mythology. TST will now expand this framework to a new body of work titled INTERSECTION. INTERSECTION is a community-wide site-based performance project that re-imagines Buffalo’s city streets, open lots, grain elevators, and interiors as a vast performance space. Torn Space will use performance design, community members as performers, architecture, local businesses as performance sites, public murals and conversation to activate the venue neighborhood. The work showcases and incorporates pre-existing physical structures and members of the community.
Torn Space introduced this evolution of work in 2021 with Intersection/Prototype. Designed for the open lots of Wilson Street, Intersection/Prototype activated vacant green space and transformed it into a performance space that housed a live cricket match, choreographed dualling Mercedes Benz, a local business, constructed soundscapes and theatrical design that blurred the lines between theater and reality
This multidisciplinary project is developed through partnerships of nonprofits, for-profit agencies and the private sector to develop a creative placemaking project in support of the continued revitalization of the Broadway/ Fillmore neighborhood and bring more performance to more people and to be a platform to showcase more voices.
At the center of this project is Torn Space Theater’s continued partnership with the historic Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle (AMLDC) located at 612 Fillmore Ave. Buffalo NY, in the heart of the Broadway/Fillmore community. Torn Space has been operating out of the AMLDC since 2000 and we are thrilled to welcome back the public to the renovated and expanded facility. The Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle was founded 126 years ago as a place for intellectual dialogue of art, theater and life to newly settled Polish immigrants who settled in Buffalo, NY and continued to arrive after World War II. The Broadway/Fillmore neighborhood is experiencing a rebirth with new immigrant populations, creating a dynamic and culturally rich environment. The AMLDC is one of Buffalo’s oldest continuously operating cultural institutions in WNY, featuring historic archives in their newly renovated library while providing old world hospitality with one of the largest assortment of Polish beers and liquors outside of Poland.
2022 INTERSECTION Performances:
Remnants
An immersive installation experience combining sound, light, film, virtual reality and sculpture exploring the original mythology of Torn Space. Remnants is reimagined for a second run after its successful launch in autumn 2021.
Dates: March 25 – April 9, 2022
Venue: 612 Fillmore Ave. Buffalo
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Ladies First
A deeper look at the women driving Buffalo’s burgeoning hip-hop scene, curated by Schondra Aytch. Presented by UB Arts Collaboratory, Sneakvibing and Torn Space Theater.
Date: April 23, 2022
Venue: 612 Fillmore Ave. Buffalo
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水土Water/Soil Discontent不服
A performative installation offering multimodal readings on the microbiopolitics of the movement of bodies across lands by artist Hsurae. Performance begins at 7pm followed by an artist talk with Rae Yuping Hsu. This project is presented in partnership with University at Buffalo’s Coalesce: Center for Biological Arts.
Date: May 6, 2022 7:00pm
Venue: 612 Fillmore Ave. Buffalo
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The Encounter: Buffalo
Acclaimed choreographer, dancer, director and writer Kimberly Bartosik develops a new piece in collaboration with Buffalo residents and the Torn Space design team as part of an artist residency supported by NYS Dance Force.
Dates: May 13-22, 2022
Venue: 612 Fillmore Ave. Buffalo
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Agents of Change
A collaboration with Lafayette International High School and artist Max Collins celebrates the neighborhood-based entrepreneurs of Buffalo with this year’s art installation and public presentation. This project is part of Just Buffalo Literary Center’s The Civil Writes Project.
Camp Everything
A multimedia installation and performance designed in collaboration with Adam Weekley for the Buffalo Pride Parade celebrating acceptance and inclusivity, a partner project with the Burchfield-Penney Art Gallery supported by the Cullen Foundation.
Dates: June 5, 2022
Venue: Buffalo Pride Parade – Float Installation
This event is free and open to the public. For more info about the Buffalo Pride Parade, visit the Pride Week website: Pride Parade 2022 – Buffalo Pride Week
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CrossWalk
Stop Traffic. You have the right of way.
In an intersection where things meet and converge
A conceptual fashion world
Featuring dynamic designers from WNY. Produced in partnership with Artpark.
Date: June 17, 2022 7:00pm, Rain date: June 19, 2022 7:00pm
Venue: Artpark – 450 S 4th St. Lewiston
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Ages
“Life doesn’t make any sense without interdependence” – Erik Erickson.
An operatic examination of the ages and stages of life.
Dates: August 12-14, 19-21, 2022
Venue: Silo City – 85 Silo City Row, Buffalo
Boulevard
A new virtual reality experience by FLATSITTER x Torn Space
Dates: Nov. 4-5, 11-12, 17-19, Dec. 1-3, 2022 7:00pm, 8:15pm
Venue: 612 Fillmore Ave. Buffalo
More Info & Tickets for Fundraiser Performance
Incorporating footage captured during CrossWalk, Torn Space’s summer fashion show and art party experience at Artpark, this new performance explores layers of identity through presentations of fashion, glamor, and power structures in public and private spaces. Combining symbols and archetypes from the Torn Space mythology with branded imagery from local fashion designers BUREAU, OGLXRY and Kylie Priscilla, Boulevard observes the process of constructing the self in an age of hyper-connectivity, “influencer” personas and the mysterious omnipresent audiences sponsoring their efforts toward self-optimization.
Torn Space Theater returns with its final offering of 2022- Boulevard is a multimedia immersive experience featuring virtual reality by FLATSITTER and live performance directed by Torn Space. Boulevard runs November 4-5, 11-12, 17-19, Dec. 1-3, 2022 with two time slots at 7pm and 8:15pm. There will also be a Torn Space fundraiser and preview performance of Boulevard on October 28, 7pm-9pm. All performances take place at the Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle, 612 Fillmore Ave. Buffalo, NY 14212.
Stay up to date by following us on social media: @tornspace on Instagram & Twitter, @TornSpaceTheater on Facebook.
Support for INTERSECTION comes from leading sponsors: Cullen Foundation, NYSCA, Erie County, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, Stenclik Family Charitable Foundation, Creative Arts Initiative, the June Farrington Fund, M&T Bank, REDC and NYS DanceForce. This programming is also made possible thanks to partnering organizations: Artpark, UB Arts Collaboratory, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Sneakvibing, Mirabo Press, Silo City, and the Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle