COWBOYSCOWGIRLS (sagittarius)

Presented by Pioneers Go East Collective
November 15 - 18, 2018

COWBOYSCOWGIRLS (sagittarius) is an interactive performance installation by Pioneers Go East Collective that explores and explodes the myth of the American Cowboy and Cowgirl, looking with humor at how chauvinism and bravado transpose into Gay subculture. In the piece, audience members are invited to don Western attire and sit around a theatrical campfire while performers, both live and on video, share stories of bullying, self-discovery and coming out.

DATES:
Thursday, November 15 at 8 pm
Friday, November 16 at 8 pm (Opening Night)
Saturday, November 17 at 8 pm
Sunday, November 18 at 3 pm

TEAM:
Hao Bai (sound designer/ video designer)
Mike Cotayo (performer)
Daniel Diaz (choreographer/ performer)
Beth Graczyk (choreographer/ performer)
Gian Marco Lo Forte (writer/ director)
Agosto Machado (Performer, Artist, Activist)
Marisa Tornello (performance artist/ songwriter)
Philip Treviño (lighting designer)
Fleur Voorn (performer)

Hao Bai (sound designer/ video designer) works as a designer & technician in lights, sound, & video. She’s been working with artists who have inspired her: Charlotte Brathwaite, The Talking Band, Pioneers Go East Collective, Loco7, Ping Chong Company, The Wooster Group, Split Britches. Selected Lighting Design credits: Shasta Geaux Pop (CAC, Cincinnati); Run! It’s getting ugly (by Susana Cook @ JACK); YNCAST (by Stacey Robinson @ JACK); 2017 La Mama Moves!; Kate Bornstein (La Mama); ADITL (La Mama); Being (NYU), "Medusa" and "Oddity" (TNC); Lighting/Set Design: House or Home (Park Avenue Armory); The Workroom (One Art Space); Music & Sound Design: Don Quixote Takes New York (Loco7); The Violin (59E59), Gemini Stars/Scorpio Stars (Pioneers Go East Collective); Puppet-Shows (Loco7), Paisieu (Target Margin); Video & Sound Design: American Mill No. 2 (A.R.T/New York Theatres); Lighting/Sound design: TELE-VISION (Triskelion Arts); Sound Departures (La Mama).

Mike Cotayo (performer, writer) At the age of eighteen months old, a near fatal car crash turned life around for Mike. He was severely injured due to a drunk driving accident. He had a Traumatic Brain Injury receiving a diagnosis of acquired cerebral palsy. Now an adult living with a physical disability Mike realizes that the best medicine is laughter, and his goal is to medicate the whole world (or at least three of his family members). When Mike was asked to perform on The Cringe Humor Show at The Laugh Factory in Times Square, it created a ripple effect that is still going. As a result of this show his work has been sold on iTunes, and he was aked to co-write a screenplay based on a stand up comedian with a disability. He also garnered many other opportunities such as performing on Shock Jock Radio Shows "Opie & Anthony" and "Howard Stern TV" He was also featured on Comcast Television's "Your Morning Philadelphia." His Jokes have been featured in Love's Funny That Way; Squeaky Clean Comedy; and Filthy, Funny and Totally Offensive. He was also featured in an article in "Advance Magazine," alongside Josh Blue. In addition to performing regularly at New York City Clubs, Mike continues to headline colleges across the country. Selected campuses include Kansas State University, Binghamton University, and Columbia University.

Daniel Diaz (writer, performer, choreographer) Daniel is a NYC-based performer, and writer and performer with Pioneers Go East Collective since 2013. With a focus on Modern Street and interpretative dance, his career consists of movement and choreography for several influential New York musicians including Shadow Lover, Omega Jarden, and more. Daniel has performed at major local venues including PS1 Moma,The Brooklyn Museum, The Coney Island Sideshow, Joe’s Pub, and Dixon Place, as well as various nightlife spots up and down the East Coast. He has worked as an Artist in Residence of Pioneers Go East Collective alongside Lo Forte in Gemini Stars from concept and through workshops. Daniel’s passion has drawn him to aspects beyond dance including acting, performance art, and set design - branding him “A Creature of The Stage.”

Agosto Machado (Performer, Artist, Activist)
Agosto Machado - Performer, Artist, Activist and Witness, is best known for his work with Ellen Stewart's La Mama ETC, and his association with Jack Smith, Mario Montez, Jackie Curtis, John Vaccaro , Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Marsha P Johnson, Ronald and Harvey Tavel, Ethyl Eichelberger and Peter Hujar. Agosto appeared in over 30 Off-Off Broadway plays by Ken Bernard, Jackie Curtis, Al Carmines, Harvey Fierstein, H.M. Koutoukas, Megan Terry, Jeff Weiss. A member of John Vaccaros' 'Playhouse of the Ridiculous'.

Gian Marco Lo Forte (writer and director) is a NYC-based writer and director dedicated to performance and video installations that reflect queer perspectives and vulnerability. Gian Marco founded Pioneers Go East Collective (the collective) in 2010, a company in residence at La MaMa ETC, which develops projects that include storytelling of real events with video technology for social change Gian Marco’s directing and design work has been presented in NYC at: La MaMa ETC, Dixon Place/ Hot! Festival, Galapagos, Incubator Arts Project/ Ontological Hysterical, HERE Arts with Performance Mix/NDA Governors Island/ LMCC, Art on Air/ Clock Tower Gallery; St Ann’s Warehouse; Chashama. He has designed for The Foundry, Operating Theatre, Slant, May Adrales, Ernest Abuba, Edward Einhorn, Alvin Eng, Kim Ima, Ellen Stewart. Gian Marco is in residence with Great Jones Repertory and he has designed at Biennale di Venezia and toured in Europe. Award: Opera America Director Award (2010), Process Space/ LMCC (2013-14). MFA Tisch NYU.

Marisa Tornello (performance artist, songwriter) is an interdisciplinary performance artist born and raised in NYC. Studying music in college, Marisa's passion in the performing arts is widespread, dabbling in a variety of genres, including early music, musical theater, minimalism, songwriting, bodypainting, durational performance art, and improvisational movement. Musically, Marisa is a member of the New York Choral Society, and has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, the Prudential Center, and Palau de la Musica. She has had the opportunity to perform with many artists, including Peter Yarrow, Andrea Bocelli, Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko, and the Met Orchestra. Marisa is an alumna of the Trinity/La MaMa Program and made her New York debut performing the ensemble piece Searching for Home at La MaMa in 2012. In 2015, Marisa composed, wrote, choreographed, and directed an original musical called Keeping Perfect Time, a piece that shines a spotlight on the relationship between music therapy, dementia, and caregiving. Marisa has been an active model in the NYC bodypainting community since 2015 and had the opportunity to model in an episode of Project Runway in 2014. Her piece blank premiered at the Baumann in June of 2018.

Philip Treviño (designer) recipient of a 2010 New York Dance and Performance Award (BESSIE) for lighting and scenic design of Pam Tanowitz’s Be In The Gray With Me. Scenic designer for Camille A. Brown and Company’s Mr. Tol E. Rance, 2014 BESSIE Award for Outstanding Production. Other design work for Catherine Cabeen/Hyphen Give Me More, Pioneers Go East Collective's Gemini Stars/Scorpio Stars at La MaMa directed by Gian Marco Lo Forte, and in work of Brian Brooks Moving Company, Henning Rübsam’s Sensedance, and Kymera Dance. An alumnus of San Francisco State University. Technical Director and Adjunct Professor for the Dance Department at Marymount Manhattan College.

Beth Graczyk (choreographer/ performer) is a Brooklyn-based choreographer, performer and a scientist. Graczyk has performed throughout the United States and internationally in Japan, Ecuador, France and India for the past 17 years. Concurrently, she has contributed to 11 science publications in the field of cancer research. She co-directed the performance company, Salt Horse with collaborators Corrie Befort & Angelina Baldoz (2008-2016). In 2016, Graczyk launched a solo performance project calledDesire Motor. The inaugural soloBeast, was produced by Gibney’s Work Up 3.0 program, and presented through Movement Research, CPR's Spring Movement Festival, Greenspace and toured to the Harrisburg Dance Festival (PA) and Corridor Festival (WA). Her most recent work,One of You Is Fake was presented by La MaMa Moves Festival in 2017, Marble House Project (VT), NAP program (PA), Oye Group’s Avant-Garde night and their One Catches Light Festival at JACK, andMovement Research at the Judson Church. Graczyk has most recently danced for Raja Kelly, Sara Shelton Mann, Mark Haim, K.J. Holmes, and works part-time as a Research Specialist at Rockefeller University.

Fleur Voorn (performer) is a NYC based actor, performer and puppeteer originally from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She graduated from Artez School of Arts with a BFA in Acting in 2015, same year she moved to New York for her Masters to continue her studies at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and joined the La MaMa family as an intern, Back home she had the opportunity to work with well-known directors such Joeri Vos, Suzan Boogaerdt and Bianca van der Schoot. Her recent credit includes, Amy’s Suratt’s First and Last Show (La MaMa) God of Vengeance (Stella Adler Studio Productions) and The Adventures of Seucy and Boto (Loco7 Dance Puppet Theatre Company). This is Fleur’s second project with Pioneers Go East Collective, and she is very excited to join the cast for this is a subject close to her woman’s heart, as a feminist this is a subject she loves to discuss. Although she rather calls herself “Equalitist” instead of feminist since to her those things are the same.


Photo Credit: Gian Marco Lo Forte