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Scratch Night
Thursday, September 12
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!
Join our email list by clicking here.
Follow us on Instagram.
Stay up-to-date on future Scratch Nights!
Join our email list by clicking here.
Follow us on Instagram.
TONIGHT'S LINEUP ** NOTE FOR ARTISTS - RUN ORDER NOT YET DETERMINED - DRAFT ** |
Laetitia Hohenberg featuring Calvin Arsenia and DRUMMERTBADDED “The Fragility of Things” Run time: approximately 20 minutes followed by an audience feedback interlude |
Katie Brennan + collaborating artists "Snaking Through" Run time: approximately 15 minutes followed by an audience feedback interlude |
Frank Jurden/Jack Minor "Tiny Soundtrax" Run time: approximately 15 minutes followed by an audience feedback interlude |
Movement House (Kennedy Banks & Malik Battle) Run time: approximately 10 minutes followed by an audience feedback interlude |
Please feel free to stick around after the performance for another beverage and a mingle! |
Laetitia Hohenberg feat. Calvin Arsenia: “The Fragility of Things”
About the piece: A journey into the unreal, Laetitia uses her sculptures as participants endowed with personality and corporeal entity. With both formed and raw clay, the piece explores transformation, regeneration, and reincarnation. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we take on different forms but our essence remains the same.
About Laetitia Hohenberg: Deeply informed by breakthroughs in feminism, I have been painting all of my life. Six years ago, I returned to dance, after a 25- year hiatus, and simultaneously took the deep dive into the moving image, creating sumptuous yet austere one-woman video pieces that encourage viewers to think in new and astonishing ways about the body in motion. Performance, dance, photography, painting, sculpture, film, poetry and sound are among the different mediums I use to question and explore the female condition. Sexuality, absence, tender madness, abandonment, seduction, solitude, and maternity are themes I visit with ambivalence, humor, and rhythm – all in a perpetual motion. I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, spending formative time with fellow artists William Eggleston, Lynn Sachs, Ira Sachs and others. I received my BFA at the Kansas City Art Institute. For the last 36 years, I lived and worked in Paris and moved back to the United States in July 2021. www.laetitiahohenberg.com
About collaborator Calvin Arsenia: “Jeff Buckley meets Nina Simone with this soul of Sam Cooke, and the sparkle of Bjork.” Singer, harpist, and author Calvin Arsenia has built a reputation for turning the arts world on its head. Voted Kansas City's Best Musician 2018 - 2023 (The Pitch), and featured on Billboard.com, NPR.org, NEWNOWNEXT, Pride.com, and GRAMMY.com, Arsenia’s angelic stylings on voice and harp create rare harmonies and arrangements that look past the boundaries of his traditional gospel and classical upbringing. Known for his elaborate and ceremonious sensory concert experiences that merge jazz and electronic influences, “Calvin has consistently deliver(s) genre-bending (and gender-bending) shows that tackle sexuality, religion, and race in a stunningly unorthodox manner - somewhere between sacred and sacrilege." - Fally Afani. The music is just one part of his prodigious performances, for Calvin believes the art is in crafting the perfect moment. His music is best served live, with sensational performances and high fashion from the visually striking performer who stands at 6’6”. In 2021, Arsenia released a book of poems and stories called Every Good Boy Does Fine; Both a journey of individual healing and a call for action, these poems show that, with a little love and acceptance, anyone can flourish. www.calvinarsenia.com
About collaborator Matt DeCapo: Matt DeCapo is a musician, educator, and gardener who has studied West African, Cuban, Brazilian, and Haitian drumming with the Traditional Music Society since 2017.
About Laetitia Hohenberg: Deeply informed by breakthroughs in feminism, I have been painting all of my life. Six years ago, I returned to dance, after a 25- year hiatus, and simultaneously took the deep dive into the moving image, creating sumptuous yet austere one-woman video pieces that encourage viewers to think in new and astonishing ways about the body in motion. Performance, dance, photography, painting, sculpture, film, poetry and sound are among the different mediums I use to question and explore the female condition. Sexuality, absence, tender madness, abandonment, seduction, solitude, and maternity are themes I visit with ambivalence, humor, and rhythm – all in a perpetual motion. I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, spending formative time with fellow artists William Eggleston, Lynn Sachs, Ira Sachs and others. I received my BFA at the Kansas City Art Institute. For the last 36 years, I lived and worked in Paris and moved back to the United States in July 2021. www.laetitiahohenberg.com
About collaborator Calvin Arsenia: “Jeff Buckley meets Nina Simone with this soul of Sam Cooke, and the sparkle of Bjork.” Singer, harpist, and author Calvin Arsenia has built a reputation for turning the arts world on its head. Voted Kansas City's Best Musician 2018 - 2023 (The Pitch), and featured on Billboard.com, NPR.org, NEWNOWNEXT, Pride.com, and GRAMMY.com, Arsenia’s angelic stylings on voice and harp create rare harmonies and arrangements that look past the boundaries of his traditional gospel and classical upbringing. Known for his elaborate and ceremonious sensory concert experiences that merge jazz and electronic influences, “Calvin has consistently deliver(s) genre-bending (and gender-bending) shows that tackle sexuality, religion, and race in a stunningly unorthodox manner - somewhere between sacred and sacrilege." - Fally Afani. The music is just one part of his prodigious performances, for Calvin believes the art is in crafting the perfect moment. His music is best served live, with sensational performances and high fashion from the visually striking performer who stands at 6’6”. In 2021, Arsenia released a book of poems and stories called Every Good Boy Does Fine; Both a journey of individual healing and a call for action, these poems show that, with a little love and acceptance, anyone can flourish. www.calvinarsenia.com
About collaborator Matt DeCapo: Matt DeCapo is a musician, educator, and gardener who has studied West African, Cuban, Brazilian, and Haitian drumming with the Traditional Music Society since 2017.
Laetitia's questions for you:
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Katie Brennan & collaborating artists: "Snaking Through"
About the piece: Over the course of 2022 and 2023, dancers related to the Blue River at various points throughout the seasons. This was documented and is now being edited into a dance film, a portion of which will be shown tonight. The first segment of the film will be shown in conjunction with two live performers as they support the landscape in embodied form and bring the audience closer to the Blue River, in areas not easily accessible to an audience.
About Katie Brennan: movement artist, choreographer, and dance movement therapist, Katie has performed in Kansas City’s 940 Dance Company, City in Motion, and Gurukul Indian Dance Company. She performed with Core Project Chicago before moving to NYC where she completed dance therapy post-graduate work and performed with Kinesis Project Dance Theater. Katie returned to Kansas City in 2020 after performing and creating work in Miami with NWD projects, Karen Peterson & Dancers, and Momentum Dance Company. Katie co-founded Brillo Performance with collaborator Oscar Trujillo and created four site-specific works during the pandemic in Kansas City. She directed and produced the first National Water Dance event in KC in 2022 followed by its second biennial event in 2024. Katie maintains a private psychotherapy practice and continues to be interested in site specific work, waterways and the embodied exploration of internal and external landscapes.
David Steele Overholt (videographer) is a new media art expert, standing for 25+ years at the intersection of tech with art. Making, teaching, and consulting companies on Art and Digital Curation, Creative Technology, and the use of web3 and AI.
Non Edwards (film editor, featured performer) is a dancer, choreographer, and fitness/movement trainer, located in Minnesota since 2009. A 2020 McKnight Dancer Fellow and former member of the 940 Dance Company, Non has worked across a range of style and genre, performing modern, postmodern, improvisation and performance art in galleries, theaters, video, and DIY and public spaces. As a choreographer, Non creates situations for performers to exercise agency and audience to connect to their own bodies, often working at the intersection of dance with other forms.
Brigitte Benyei (featured performer) a native of Minnesota, 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.
Andrea Skowronek (featured performer) received her B.F.A. in Dance from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. A native of Seattle, Washington, she received her early training from the Cornish Institute. Andrea began dancing with City in Motion Dance Theater, in Kansas City, Missouri shortly after the group was founded in 1985. She was an Artistic Co-Director of City in Motion from 1995 - 2019, choreographing many pieces for the professional dance company. Andrea is currently on the faculty of St. Teresa's Academy in Kansas City, where she teaches dance and yoga.
Alexis Borth (featured performer - film only) was born in Minneapolis, MN, and spent her younger years in Australia. She graduated magna cum laude with a BFA from the Conservatory of Music & Dance at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, which propelled her into her performances with Kansas City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Quixotic, and performances of George Balanchine’s Serenade at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Some of her highlighted credits include performing with Complexions Contemporary Ballet for their season performances in Los Angeles, at the Met with American Ballet Theatre for Alexei Ratmansky's The Golden Cockerel, New York Fashion Week, and Dance Theatre of San Francisco. Her choreography has premiered at the San Francisco Art Institute, Yerba Buena Arts Center for Berkeley Ballet Theater, and various independent projects and music videos. She has been on faculty for LINES Ballet's BFA & Training Programs as well as teaching dance classes for LINES Dance Center in San Francisco. She is a certified GYROTONIC®, GYROKINESIS® and yoga instructor and is currently performing, choreographing and teaching in Kansas City and around the country.
About Katie Brennan: movement artist, choreographer, and dance movement therapist, Katie has performed in Kansas City’s 940 Dance Company, City in Motion, and Gurukul Indian Dance Company. She performed with Core Project Chicago before moving to NYC where she completed dance therapy post-graduate work and performed with Kinesis Project Dance Theater. Katie returned to Kansas City in 2020 after performing and creating work in Miami with NWD projects, Karen Peterson & Dancers, and Momentum Dance Company. Katie co-founded Brillo Performance with collaborator Oscar Trujillo and created four site-specific works during the pandemic in Kansas City. She directed and produced the first National Water Dance event in KC in 2022 followed by its second biennial event in 2024. Katie maintains a private psychotherapy practice and continues to be interested in site specific work, waterways and the embodied exploration of internal and external landscapes.
David Steele Overholt (videographer) is a new media art expert, standing for 25+ years at the intersection of tech with art. Making, teaching, and consulting companies on Art and Digital Curation, Creative Technology, and the use of web3 and AI.
Non Edwards (film editor, featured performer) is a dancer, choreographer, and fitness/movement trainer, located in Minnesota since 2009. A 2020 McKnight Dancer Fellow and former member of the 940 Dance Company, Non has worked across a range of style and genre, performing modern, postmodern, improvisation and performance art in galleries, theaters, video, and DIY and public spaces. As a choreographer, Non creates situations for performers to exercise agency and audience to connect to their own bodies, often working at the intersection of dance with other forms.
Brigitte Benyei (featured performer) a native of Minnesota, 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.
Andrea Skowronek (featured performer) received her B.F.A. in Dance from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. A native of Seattle, Washington, she received her early training from the Cornish Institute. Andrea began dancing with City in Motion Dance Theater, in Kansas City, Missouri shortly after the group was founded in 1985. She was an Artistic Co-Director of City in Motion from 1995 - 2019, choreographing many pieces for the professional dance company. Andrea is currently on the faculty of St. Teresa's Academy in Kansas City, where she teaches dance and yoga.
Alexis Borth (featured performer - film only) was born in Minneapolis, MN, and spent her younger years in Australia. She graduated magna cum laude with a BFA from the Conservatory of Music & Dance at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, which propelled her into her performances with Kansas City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Quixotic, and performances of George Balanchine’s Serenade at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Some of her highlighted credits include performing with Complexions Contemporary Ballet for their season performances in Los Angeles, at the Met with American Ballet Theatre for Alexei Ratmansky's The Golden Cockerel, New York Fashion Week, and Dance Theatre of San Francisco. Her choreography has premiered at the San Francisco Art Institute, Yerba Buena Arts Center for Berkeley Ballet Theater, and various independent projects and music videos. She has been on faculty for LINES Ballet's BFA & Training Programs as well as teaching dance classes for LINES Dance Center in San Francisco. She is a certified GYROTONIC®, GYROKINESIS® and yoga instructor and is currently performing, choreographing and teaching in Kansas City and around the country.
Katie's questions for you:
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Frank Jurden/Jack Minor: "Tiny Soundtrax"
About the piece: Frank Jurden and Jack Minor share excerpts from an ongoing project melding live instrumental soundtracks with silent film shorts.
About Frank Jurden: tbadded
About Jack Minor: tbadded
About Frank Jurden: tbadded
About Jack Minor: tbadded
Frank and Jack's questions for you:
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Movement House (Kennedy Banks & Malik Battle)
About the piece: Charlotte Street Studio Resident choreographer/performer Kennedy Banks and KCAI animator/illustrator Malik Battle together form collaborative duo Movement House.
“The eye of the storm is one of the calmest, most beautiful parts – eerie, quiet, almost too good to be true. See through the eye that although there is promise of danger and chaos, we can take solace in its temporary-ness.”
About Kennedy Banks: born and raised in Chicago, IL, Kennedy began her training at The Chicago High School for the Arts and received her BFA in Performance and Choreography at The University of Missouri-Kansas City (2021). During her time at UMKC she worked with numerous world-renowned choreographers and instructors. Kennedy has choreographed works for festivals throughout the country, as well as collaborated with multiple artists and composers for a few works. She is currently based in Kansas City, MO as a freelance choreographer/performer, full-time teaching artist with Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey and a studio resident at Charlotte Street Foundation.
About Malik Battle: Animator and illustrator trained at the Kansas City Art Institute. All that I’ve created is infused with the elegant and visceral sensibilities of Japanese animation and manga. Comical, lighthearted, Disturbing, Poetic, and Existential, all themes and emotions translated through ink and motion. All that I create as a vessel for exploration; exploration of the Self - reaching up to my highest peaks to feel the warmth of the suns glow; Exploration of the Shadow - embracing the raging chaos within my heart; To allow myself to the freedom to be myself in all of my splendor. exploration of technique in motion asthenic, filmmaking, and visual storytelling.
“The eye of the storm is one of the calmest, most beautiful parts – eerie, quiet, almost too good to be true. See through the eye that although there is promise of danger and chaos, we can take solace in its temporary-ness.”
About Kennedy Banks: born and raised in Chicago, IL, Kennedy began her training at The Chicago High School for the Arts and received her BFA in Performance and Choreography at The University of Missouri-Kansas City (2021). During her time at UMKC she worked with numerous world-renowned choreographers and instructors. Kennedy has choreographed works for festivals throughout the country, as well as collaborated with multiple artists and composers for a few works. She is currently based in Kansas City, MO as a freelance choreographer/performer, full-time teaching artist with Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey and a studio resident at Charlotte Street Foundation.
About Malik Battle: Animator and illustrator trained at the Kansas City Art Institute. All that I’ve created is infused with the elegant and visceral sensibilities of Japanese animation and manga. Comical, lighthearted, Disturbing, Poetic, and Existential, all themes and emotions translated through ink and motion. All that I create as a vessel for exploration; exploration of the Self - reaching up to my highest peaks to feel the warmth of the suns glow; Exploration of the Shadow - embracing the raging chaos within my heart; To allow myself to the freedom to be myself in all of my splendor. exploration of technique in motion asthenic, filmmaking, and visual storytelling.
Movement House's questions for you:
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Lighting Designer & Event Technician: Selena Gonzalez-Lopez
PA: Shelby Marquis
Event Photographer: Vaughan Harrison, Seen Productions
Scratch Night Series Curator/Producer: Jay Gilman, borderlandsKC
PA: Shelby Marquis
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.
