L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY I magine a theatre production where common everyday ob- jects—childhood toys, grandma's dishes, school tro- phies, all those personal trea- sures we hang on to way too long—take centre stage. Now imagine that stage filled with four huge rolling shelving units, packed to the brim with the aforementioned items plus lamp shades, Christmas ornaments, soc- cer balls and plastic buckets. That's the backdrop for Alice Gosti's latest production, "Mater- ial Deviance in Contemporary American Culture: You Are Not Your Car." The performance takes a look at America's stuff-centred culture, where the things we collect over a lifetime, or even several lifetimes, can take on a life of their own. Gosti's show, known as MDICAC for short, explores the memories, dreams and hopes that lie beneath these mountainous piles of mater- ial possessions. Gosti, an Italian-American choreographer who grew up in Pe- rugia, Italy, is uniquely positioned to explore and dissect American consumerism and culture. Her mother was an American college student studying art history and Italian when she went to Italy as part of a college exchange pro- gram. There she met her future husband, a young Italian architec- ture student. Their daughter Alice trained at the Associazione Culturale Dance Gallery in Italy. A frequent visitor to the US as a child, Gosti decided to move to Seattle when she was 19. "I felt American, but I never lived here," Gosti told City Arts Magazine in 2016. "But when I lived in Italy, everyone always told me I was American. So there was this weird thing. I needed to learn what it felt like to be an American, how that side of me would feel."[Text Wrapping Break] She attended the University of Washington, where she earned a BA in dance with a focus on choreography and experimental film. Since then, she's created and presented powerful original work that has premiered at universities, theatres, museums and galleries, both nationally and internationally. She's received numerous awards, commissions and residencies. MDICAC takes a close look at the things we gather around us to tell our personal stories. At times mesmerizing and mysterious, at times mind-numbing and repeti- tious, the production moves from story to story, from item to item. Audiences are sure to recognize many objects and situations that ring painfully true. "What is trash depends on your perspective," Gosti said in a post- production conversation at Seat- tle's On The Boards recently. "How you see things, what your RITA CIPALLA Gosti is known for her collab- orative style, and MDICAC is no exception. In fact, the show takes the concept of inclusion one step further. Five days before the pro- duction premiered in late March at On The Boards, a community ritual was held in which members of the public were invited to bring an "object of significance" to the theatre. The objects were to be items that people were ready to part with but felt reluctant to do so. The donors were asked to share the story of the object so the dancers could incorporate it into the per- formance. Each accepted item found its home on the rolling shelving units that make up the set. "We created these towers, these monoliths of stuff, from the objects that people contributed," Gosti said. "Obviously, we had some rules. We could not take food, glass or anything that might be dangerous to the dancers' well- being. Before we take this show on tour nationally, we'll catalog these items and transport them with us. This is now our set." Gosti also included her dancers in this collaborative process. In addition to the core set of dancers who have worked with her for years, 10 days before the show opens in cities on the road, Gosti will audition and select five local dancers to join the cast. "I am in- terested in the way that a work enters a community," Gosti said. "I don't want to just show a piece. I want to create bridges between the work and the community." On The Boards executive di- rector Betsey Brock first saw Gosti perform nearly a decade ago, and has watched with interest as the choreographer grew her craft during those years. "Over the past decade, Alice has trans- formed my friends and colleagues into a protest parade, a church, a school of fish, a bevy of coupon clippers, and a murmuration of starlings," Brock said. "Witness- ing these acts has been magical, but even more so, [has been] see- ing that Alice's real power is evi- dent in her ability to form a true community around her artistic practice." Through aMDICAC, Gosti will continue to explore how everyday objects are imbued with multiple layers of meaning, and the magic that happens when au- diences get involved. "I want to set up a situation where there's a choice to engage," she said. "If you don't engage, then I failed, or you think I failed because I did- n't entertain you properly." There's no question about it: MDICAC will entertain you—and make you think about your attic and garage, your family and your personal relationship to things. Italian-American choreographer and hybrid performance artist Alice Gosti now calls Seattle home needs are. I wanted to portray the life of an object and the many hands that connect to it." In 2015, Gosti wowed audi- ences with an astonishing five- hour immersive performance called "How to Become a Parti- san," staged at St. Mark's Cathe- dral in Seattle. The multidiscipli- nary work, inspired by the Italian Partisan Movement, focused on the little-known women who changed the course of history and the concept of resistance. The on- line dance journal Seattle Dances.org described the perfor- mance as "hypnotic, meditative, and profoundly beautiful, [leav- ing] you with a certain sense of calm despite the heavy issues at its core." Unveiling the material world of Alice Gosti Objects big and small fill the stage in Alice Gosti's latest production that explores consumerism in American culture

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