The Exponential Festival
Xiaoyue Zhang: Braiding Water
January 17 - 18, 2025

Created and Performed by Xiaoyue Zhang
Co-directed by Brittney Brady, Xiaoyue Zhang

Braiding Water is a tender exploration of grief and a reimagining of mourning practices for unnamed losses and the dead who could not be honored.

"Drawing loosely on historical tragedies in China from the 1950s to the present, I trace the experiences of loss and silence across four generations in my family through this solo performance. Merging technology with Traditional Chinese Massage therapy, I delve into the somatic relics of grief, seeking to understand the rituals and physical actions that accompany emotional processing.​"

The Exponential Festival
Yibin Wang & Yejia Sun: Tongues
January 24 - 25, 2025

Directed by Yibin Wang
Dramaturgy by Yejia Sun

Tongues is a gathering, an event, and a performance where we’ll re-enact the most mundane daily moments, belt out our go-to karaoke songs, and, of course, explore the art of swearing in our native Asian languages. Join us as we connect and create new, shared experiences through the power of our mother tongues.

Modesto Flako Jimenez: ¡Harken!
February 6 - 8, 2025

Co-Created by Modesto Flako Jimenez & Victor Morales

¡Harken! is a transfiguration of the flawed and fragmented pieces of his­to­ry written about Juan Rodriguez – a mixed-race Atlantic Creole who arrived in 1613 from Santo Domingo as a fur trader for the Dutch. In ¡Harken!, Rodriguez’s ghost, wanting desperately to be a real person, asks ChatGPT to tell him more about his life. The AI responds with hallucinations, and distortions based on secondhand accounts written by colonizers and accepted as “history.” Using generative AI, audience prompts, face-swapping, and image generation, ¡Harken! Audiences help Rodriguez re-write his story by ‘feeding’ the AI new information generating new images and landscapes.

JACK's programming is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with Mayor Eric Adams, Speaker Adrienne Adams and the City Council, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development with the support of City Council Member Crystal Hudson, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest, Howard Gilman Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, The Jerome Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Emma A. Sheafer Charitable Trust, The Hyde & Watson Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Bains Family Foundation, The John Golden Foundation, Ridgewood Savings Bank, Jody Falco & Jeffrey Steinman in addition to many generous individuals.