Scratch Night
Thursday, July 11
Scratch Night is a multidisciplinary salon of works-in-progress from Kansas City’s most exciting generative performing artists. Help shape what’s new and what’s next on Kansas City’s stages by participating in our unique audience feedback framework.
Stay up-to-date on future Scratch Nights!
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Stay up-to-date on future Scratch Nights!
Join our email list by clicking here.
Follow us on Instagram.
TONIGHT'S LINEUP |
'Still With Me', new choreography from Brigitte Benyei Run time: approximately 10 minutes followed by an audience feedback interlude |
A new KC history + comedy podcast experiment Run time: approximately 25 minutes followed by an audience feedback interlude |
Improvisational music from ShiP Duo: Henry Scamurra + Isaiah Petrie Run time: approximately 15 minutes followed by an audience feedback interlude |
Please feel free to stick around after the performance for another beverage and a mingle! |
'Still With Me'
New choreography from Brigitte Benyei with Arianna Hughlett
About the piece: Themes of timelessness, run-on-sentences, dot dot dots, and a romanticized representation of everyday life. Exploration of memory, true connection, finding one’s way. This piece explores contemporary movement en pointe — blurring the lines of classical ballet.
Music: Still With Me - Balanescu Quartet, Ink Blot - Joan Jeanrenaud
About choreographer Brigitte Benyei: a native of Minnesota, Brigette grew up dancing and exploring the outdoors. In Kansas City, she pursued a BFA in Dance & Choreography from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Since graduating, she has enjoyed dancing professionally with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Storling Underground, National Water Dance, and various Charlotte Street projects. Outside of performance and choreography, Brigitte enjoys exploring her Hungarian roots and hopes to bring this influence into her choreographic endeavors.
About collaborator Arianna Hughlett: Arianna Hughlett is a freelance dancer and choreographer based in her hometown of Kansas City. She began her training at Kansas City Ballet School from a young age and received additional formative training at Kansas School of Classical Ballet. She grew up traveling to attend summer programs at The Royal Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, and others. In 2019, she joined Boston Ballet School as a Trainee under Margaret Tracey's direction and entered the Graduate Program a season later, training with Kathleen Mitchell and Peter Stark. During this time, she performed in the Company’s productions of Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Giselle, and Chaconne and danced featured roles in Boston Ballet II performances, including works by Balanchine, Petipa, Jorma Elo, and Mikko Nissinen. She then danced with Grand Rapids Ballet for the 2022-2023 season as well as Aspen Santa Fe Ballet for their 2023 production of The Nutcracker. At Boston Ballet School, she participated in the Student Choreographic Project which led to her work Quartet premiering as the first student-choreographed work for Next Generation at the Citizens Bank Opera House in May 2022. Since then, she has choreographed other works for Boston Ballet II, Boston Ballet School’s Graduate Program, and Grand Rapids Ballet.
Music: Still With Me - Balanescu Quartet, Ink Blot - Joan Jeanrenaud
About choreographer Brigitte Benyei: a native of Minnesota, Brigette grew up dancing and exploring the outdoors. In Kansas City, she pursued a BFA in Dance & Choreography from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Since graduating, she has enjoyed dancing professionally with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Storling Underground, National Water Dance, and various Charlotte Street projects. Outside of performance and choreography, Brigitte enjoys exploring her Hungarian roots and hopes to bring this influence into her choreographic endeavors.
About collaborator Arianna Hughlett: Arianna Hughlett is a freelance dancer and choreographer based in her hometown of Kansas City. She began her training at Kansas City Ballet School from a young age and received additional formative training at Kansas School of Classical Ballet. She grew up traveling to attend summer programs at The Royal Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, and others. In 2019, she joined Boston Ballet School as a Trainee under Margaret Tracey's direction and entered the Graduate Program a season later, training with Kathleen Mitchell and Peter Stark. During this time, she performed in the Company’s productions of Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Giselle, and Chaconne and danced featured roles in Boston Ballet II performances, including works by Balanchine, Petipa, Jorma Elo, and Mikko Nissinen. She then danced with Grand Rapids Ballet for the 2022-2023 season as well as Aspen Santa Fe Ballet for their 2023 production of The Nutcracker. At Boston Ballet School, she participated in the Student Choreographic Project which led to her work Quartet premiering as the first student-choreographed work for Next Generation at the Citizens Bank Opera House in May 2022. Since then, she has choreographed other works for Boston Ballet II, Boston Ballet School’s Graduate Program, and Grand Rapids Ballet.
Brigitte’s questions for you:
- What inspires or drives you to show up at an art/live performance event in Kansas City?
- Share an emotion that arose for you while watching the choreography.
- Which elements of the production made the biggest impression: music, costumes, lighting, or staging?
- What was your very first impression of the piece, and what was your last? Feel free to write or draw your answer.
A new KC history + comedy experiment
About this experiment: conceived and produced by Scratch Night's lead Jay Gilman - and strongly inspired by the BBC's "You're Dead to Me" - we're testing out a new format that pairs history and comedy. Our goal is to eventually grow this idea into an ongoing, regular live recorded podcast series. Each episode will be up to 60 minutes in length, feature a new topic, and rotate various historical experts and comedian guests.
In this 'pilot' episode, we explore two Kansas City's ghosts: Eliza Wornall and Emeline Twiss (explored in Secret Kansas City by Anne Kniggendorf)! Over the long-term, we have many ideas and topics we'd like to explore: Walt Disney's KC origins, the Pendergast Machine, prohibition, our prehistoric history at the bottom of a Crustaceous ocean, and more.
Anne Kniggendorf is a writer and editor at the Kansas City Public Library. Her work has appeared in most local, a few national, and a couple international publications. She's the author of Secret Kansas City and co-author of Kansas City Scavenger. Learn more at www.annekniggendorf.com.
Comedian Dawit Kassahun is a well-known emerging stand up in the KC scene. Dawit has performed at open mics and venues across KC, including a recent special with The Emerald Theater.
In this 'pilot' episode, we explore two Kansas City's ghosts: Eliza Wornall and Emeline Twiss (explored in Secret Kansas City by Anne Kniggendorf)! Over the long-term, we have many ideas and topics we'd like to explore: Walt Disney's KC origins, the Pendergast Machine, prohibition, our prehistoric history at the bottom of a Crustaceous ocean, and more.
Anne Kniggendorf is a writer and editor at the Kansas City Public Library. Her work has appeared in most local, a few national, and a couple international publications. She's the author of Secret Kansas City and co-author of Kansas City Scavenger. Learn more at www.annekniggendorf.com.
Comedian Dawit Kassahun is a well-known emerging stand up in the KC scene. Dawit has performed at open mics and venues across KC, including a recent special with The Emerald Theater.
Our questions for you:
- What is a KC history topic, theme, or person you would want to see featured in this series?
- What do you think would be an ideal length for each episode? Only choose one option: less than 30mins; 30mins; 45mins; 60mins; more than 60mins.
- What is a potential title for this project?
- Who are institutions or companies that would make good co-producers, partners, or corporate sponsors for this project?
- The show from which we draw inspiration features something called a 'Nuance Window': a 90-second, uninterrupted moment towards the end of the episode when the historian gets to share one idea about the topic, fully uninterrupted. Do you have other ideas for how we might shape and structure our conversation?
ShiP Duo
ShiP Duo tells a story through various sonic landscapes and emotional portraits. Henry and Isaiah are two young faces of the jazz scene in Kansas City. Being entirely improvised, each performance is its own window into the present moment. ShiP Duo has been described as "unlike anything you can hear elsewhere online or in person".
About Henry Scamurra: 20-year-old Henry Scamurra is currently at UMKC's Conservatory working towards a BM in Jazz Studies where he's being taught by legendary musicians Carl Allen, Adam Larson, and Stephen Martin. Recently he was selected for the 2024 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center. Raised in St. Joseph, MO, Henry was recognized early on being accepted into the 2020 Jazz Band of America at 16 years old. He knew he wanted to share music by then and has been scheduling and performing in the Kansas City area for the last five years. As a performer, Henry has played at the Coleman Hawkins Jazz Festival, Northwest Missouri State Jazz Festival, and was a part of the KCJO's Riff Generation cohort for 2023.In 2023 Henry formed a new group named Urban Forums0-= based in Kansas City which performs his original music and is set to release his first album in the second half of 2024. www.henryscamurra.com
About Isaiah Petrie: Petrie studies with Peter Schlamb at UMKC’s Conservatory under the direction of Carl Allen. He was a 2023 Riff Generation Resident Artist with KC Jazz Orchestra. He’s played with jazz greats Ernest Melton, Ryan Lee, Eddie Moore, DeAndre Manning and others at various local venues, including The Blue Room, Westport Coffee House and The Ship. He also plays restaurant gigs and corporate events and he has formed his own band, the DJ Quartet, including Dougan Smith, Nsikoh Bebe Lala and Jaylen Ward, which released a recording, “Vision External,” this summer. Plasticsax.com wrote that the recording “seems destined to be the unofficial debut showcase of Isaiah Petrie. The young vibraphonist is a rising star in Kansas City’s music community... and the quartet as bringing “refreshing vitality to Kansas City’s mainstream jazz scene.”
About Henry Scamurra: 20-year-old Henry Scamurra is currently at UMKC's Conservatory working towards a BM in Jazz Studies where he's being taught by legendary musicians Carl Allen, Adam Larson, and Stephen Martin. Recently he was selected for the 2024 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center. Raised in St. Joseph, MO, Henry was recognized early on being accepted into the 2020 Jazz Band of America at 16 years old. He knew he wanted to share music by then and has been scheduling and performing in the Kansas City area for the last five years. As a performer, Henry has played at the Coleman Hawkins Jazz Festival, Northwest Missouri State Jazz Festival, and was a part of the KCJO's Riff Generation cohort for 2023.In 2023 Henry formed a new group named Urban Forums0-= based in Kansas City which performs his original music and is set to release his first album in the second half of 2024. www.henryscamurra.com
About Isaiah Petrie: Petrie studies with Peter Schlamb at UMKC’s Conservatory under the direction of Carl Allen. He was a 2023 Riff Generation Resident Artist with KC Jazz Orchestra. He’s played with jazz greats Ernest Melton, Ryan Lee, Eddie Moore, DeAndre Manning and others at various local venues, including The Blue Room, Westport Coffee House and The Ship. He also plays restaurant gigs and corporate events and he has formed his own band, the DJ Quartet, including Dougan Smith, Nsikoh Bebe Lala and Jaylen Ward, which released a recording, “Vision External,” this summer. Plasticsax.com wrote that the recording “seems destined to be the unofficial debut showcase of Isaiah Petrie. The young vibraphonist is a rising star in Kansas City’s music community... and the quartet as bringing “refreshing vitality to Kansas City’s mainstream jazz scene.”
ShiP Duo’s questions for you:
1. How did the description of the performance differ from what you heard? How did your preconceptions impact what you heard? Be specific.
2. In just a few words, what was the feeling or emotion did you feel during the piece?
3. Was there a moment that felt familiar or relatable? If so, when?
4. How often would you go to hear improvised music similar to this? (A) A lot more (B) About the same as I listen now (C) Sometimes (D) Not often / never / it's just not my thing.
2. In just a few words, what was the feeling or emotion did you feel during the piece?
3. Was there a moment that felt familiar or relatable? If so, when?
4. How often would you go to hear improvised music similar to this? (A) A lot more (B) About the same as I listen now (C) Sometimes (D) Not often / never / it's just not my thing.
Lighting Designer & Event Technician: Selena Gonzalez-Lopez
Lighting Assistant: Kyle Womelduff
PA: TBD
Event Photographer: Vaughan Harrison, Seen Productions
Scratch Night Series Curator/Producer: Jay Gilman, borderlandsKC
Lighting Assistant: Kyle Womelduff
PA: TBD
Event Photographer: Vaughan Harrison, Seen Productions
Scratch Night Series Curator/Producer: Jay Gilman, borderlandsKC
About borderlandsKC
A new cutting-edge live + digital arts incubator, borderlandsKC presents adventurous projects that expand Kansas City's spectrum for artistic invention. borderlandsKC is Jay Gilman's producing entity. A recently-returned KC native, Jay spent more than a decade as a curator, producer, and civic practice artist in Minneapolis and Philly, including as Artistic Director of Minnesota Fringe where he funded and launched three new festivals (including the site-specific outdoor festival Beyond The Box and Minnesota FamilyFringe). Jay serves on Charlotte Street's Performing Arts Programming Committee; and has previously served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, Missouri Arts Council, Minnesota State Arts Board, and other entities. As a director, some of his favorite projects include an actor-instrumented production of 'Spring Awakening'; a production in collaboration with Autistic designers and production advisors of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'; and a stripped down production of 'Peter & The Starcatcher'. www.jaygilman.com
Stay up-to-date by joining our email list here and following us on Instagram here.
Stay up-to-date by joining our email list here and following us on Instagram here.
Our Thanks
The staff and board of Charlotte Street Foundation, especially Pat Alexander, Amanda Middaugh, and Lilah Powell; Lynn Murray + Richard Gilman. Scratch Night is made possible through the Open Call program at CSF. Thanks to CSF's sponsors and funders for making this event possible!
Applications are open for future Scratch Nights!
Are you an artist interested in applying for the Scratch Series? Click here to learn more and apply. We review applications on a rolling basis.