Performance by Leah Danze and collaborators exploring the vitality of insects, with music and dance, responding to Danze's painting 'When'.
Leah Danze brings In the Belly of the Beetle to MASS Gallery on Saturday, August 29, a performance that pulls together music and dance around the life of insects. Danze is joined by collaborators Aída Reyes, Hamidreza Fallahi, Plumegirl, and Terri Mash, with the musicians and dancers responding in real time to her painted images and to each other, letting the unruly vitality of the insect world dictate the movement.
The whole thing grows out of When, a 12x15 foot painting by Danze where human and more-than-human bodies tangle as bellies, dirt, wings, and mouths. It's a tender kind of decomposition, she describes it, where it's not always clear whether a body is being devoured or held, and survival is less about remaining intact than continuing in another form. The work draws on the way insects live: they burrow, wait, multiply, and slip around what's meant to keep them out.
It's a relaxed setup: the gallery is open to the public, and guests are welcome to bring pillows for seating. The show is supported in part by an Elevate Grant from Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment.
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Doors open at 7 PM, with performances at 7:30 PM and 9 PM. Admission is free and open to the public. You'll find it at MASS Gallery, 705 Gunter St, Austin, TX 78702.
