Jose Sebastian and the Hamptons Dance Project return with another exciting mix of new and classic work from a diverse blend of noted choreographers featuring artists from American Ballet Theatre and beyond. The event will be presented on a beautiful 20-acre property overlooking Gardiners Bay.
The program will showcase a world premiere by Gemma Bond with music by singer/songwriter Pat Alger, excerpts from Justin Peck’s “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”, Christopher Wheeldon’s “This Bitter Earth”, an electrifying tap number by Demi Remick, and much more. This year’s company includes Isabella Boylston, Aran Bell, Skylar Brandt, Catherine Hurlin, Devon Teuscher, Cory Stearns, Thomas Foster, and others.
Click HERE for more about this year’s project and the stunning waterfront venue!
See more about Hamptons Dance Project in this mini documentary from the 2020 show HERE.
A note about COVID-19 protocol for Hamptons Dance Project attendees: Guild Hall will not require six feet of social distancing at outdoor programs and face coverings are now optional for fully vaccinated guests and children under the age of 2. Unvaccinated attendees are required to wear face coverings due to full seating capacity.
STROMAN PRESENTS! A WEEKEND CELEBRATION WITH BROADWAY’S CELEBRATED DIRECTOR SUSAN STROMAN
A Conversation on Broadway’s The Producers
Featuring Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Brad Oscar and more special guests TBA!
Musical Direction by Greg Jarrett
Susan Stroman joins us live to reminisce about the 20th anniversary of Broadway’s record breaking smash, The Producers – the musical which at the time broke box office records and won the most Tony Awards ever in one year. Susan will be joined in person by Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Brad Oscar and more special guests to be announced.
THIS PROGRAM WILL NOW TAKE PLACE INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER. Guests attending any INDOOR John Drew Theater programs must show proof of FULL vaccination. At this time, only fully vaccinated guests are permitted to attend programs in the indoor theater. Face coverings are required indoors for all guests, regardless of vaccinated status.
Click HERE for full COVID-19 information to review prior to your visit.
THIS PROGRAM WILL NOW TAKE PLACE INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER. Guests attending any INDOOR John Drew Theater programs must show proof of FULL vaccination. At this time, only fully vaccinated guests are permitted to attend programs in the indoor theater. Face coverings are now optional for fully vaccinated guests.
Click HERE for full COVID-19 information to review prior to your visit.
Part-tribute, part live-archive, part new work, GET DANCING is an evening of downtown dance history re-imagined. Presented in partnership with The Watermill Center, the program includes dances from the 1970s by the late choreographer Andy de Groat re-staged by Catherine Galasso, as well as Galasso’s notes on de groat featuring original choreography and a contextualization of de Groat’s legacy, revealing “an aesthetic of task lifted by beautiful music, of circles of the mind, of patience and poetry” (Wendy Perron, 2016).
Andy de Groat emerged as a choreographer in the 1970s. His early choreography places spinning and pedestrian movement within a complex framework, presented with a keen sense of timing, phrasing, and rhythm. He is known for numerous collaborations with Robert Wilson, including the choreography for the original Einstein on the Beach in 1976. de Groat and his company, red notes, were based in France for 30 years where he was nominated twice to the National Order of Arts and Letters. This collaboration with Galasso, created while de Groat was still living, was commissioned by Danspace Project, developed at The Watermill Center, and nominated for a New York “Bessie.”
Galasso will once again re-stage de Groatʼs Fan Dance and Get Wreck, this time with local community performers from the East End, alongside Galasso’s company dancers. The program also includes a film by Jon Meaney and Andrew Horn of de Groatʼs Rope Dance Translations (1979), as well as music by Catherine Galassoʼs father and frequent de Groat collaborator, the César Award-winning composer Michael Galasso, who is best known for his soundtrack for Wong Kar Waiʼs In The Mood For Love.
On Thursday night, July 29 at 7pm, Guild Hall and The Watermill Center are proud to present Viewpoints, a conversation engaging the community through intriguing dialogue and creative collaboration by leading voices in the arts and humanities. Moderated by Dr. Lauren DiGiulio, Viewpoints with Sheryl Sutton and Robert Wilson explores the legacy of collaboration in the early work of The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds, Wilson’s early performance collective. Sutton and Wilson will use GET DANCING and its foundation in the work of the late Andy de Groat, a Byrd himself, as an entry point into a discussion about generational exchange, the role of archives in contemporary performance practice, and the function of performance training in the Byrds’ work. The conversation will be followed by a live performance of GET DANCING, in which Catherine Galasso reimagines historic downtown works that de Groat developed in the late 1970s alongside fellow Byrd, composer Michael Galasso.
Run time: Approx. 70 minutes
FUNDING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The creation and premiere of GET DANCING was made possible, in part, by the Danspace Project 2015-16 Commissioning Initiative, with support from the Jerome Foundation. Additional support provided by the Bossak/Heilbron Foundation, individual donors, and the 92nd Street Y. The project was developed through residencies at Robert Wilsonʼs Watermill Center, the Centre Nationale de la Danse Pantin, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center in Tivoli, New York, East Village Dance Project, and through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Councilʼs Extended Life Dance Development program made possible in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Directed by Amanda Kate Joshi
Featuring Shalin Agarwal, Irene Glezos, Lué McWilliams, and Will Porter
Guild Hall celebrates our 90th anniversary season with a look back at the work of the luminous artist members of our Academy of the Arts. Playwright Terrence McNally was a great friend of the John Drew Theater as well as a Lifetime Achievement Honoree in 1993, the same year his heartfelt and spiritual play A Perfect Ganesh opened to acclaim at the Manhattan Theatre Club, and later went on to be nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Amanda Kate Joshi returns to the Drew to direct this special one-night reading as a highlight of our PLAY IN THE GARDEN series of staged readings.
In A Perfect Ganesh, two middle-aged American women travel to India hoping to heal from their personal tragedies and find inner peace. After experiencing true culture shock upon arrival, the women are joined by the Hindu god Ganesha. This god of wisdom accompanies them, assuming many different guises along the way. As the women struggle to overcome their traumas, Ganesh provides wisdom, humor, and safety, which allows them a glimpse into another world, and a deeper look into themselves. A Perfect Ganesh draws on the tragic and the comic, showing us that while one can look for solace outside oneself, it is ultimately within oneself where it is found.
Run time: Approx 2 hours
Originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club on June 27, 1993. A PERFECT GANESH is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
THIS PROGRAM WILL NOW TAKE PLACE INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER.
Guests ages 5 and up attending any indoor John Drew Theater program must show proof of full vaccination or recent negative COVID-19 test results. Face coverings are required for all patrons over the age of 2 regardless of vaccination status.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING PROGRAMS INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER
Guests ages 5 and up attending any indoor John Drew Theater program must show proof of full vaccination or recent negative COVID-19 test results. Face coverings are required for all patrons over the age of 2 regardless of vaccination status.
In order to attend programs indoors in the John Drew Theater, guests will be responsible for displaying proof of one of the following on arrival:
Full vaccination, meaning both doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine received at least 14 days prior to the day of the program
A negative test result from a COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the day of the program
A negative test result from a COVID-19 Antigen test taken within six (6) hours of the program’s scheduled start time
Current New York State Excelsior Pass with proof of vaccine or negative testing/Antigen results. Click HEREto download the free app for seamless entry.
Note: Social distancing will be followed indoors, and seats will be assigned with ample space between each party.
Jose Sebastian and the Hamptons Dance Project return with another exciting mix of new and classic work from a diverse blend of noted choreographers featuring artists from American Ballet Theatre and beyond. The event will be presented on a beautiful 20-acre property overlooking Gardiners Bay.
The program will showcase a world premiere by Gemma Bond with music by singer/songwriter Pat Alger, excerpts from Justin Peck’s “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”, Christopher Wheeldon’s “This Bitter Earth”, an electrifying tap number by Demi Remick, and much more. This year’s company includes Isabella Boylston, Aran Bell, Skylar Brandt, Catherine Hurlin, Devon Teuscher, Cory Stearns, Thomas Foster, and others.
Click HERE for more about this year’s project and the stunning waterfront venue!
See more about Hamptons Dance Project in this mini documentary from the 2020 show HERE.
A note about COVID-19 protocol for Hamptons Dance Project attendees: Guild Hall will not require six feet of social distancing at outdoor programs and face coverings are now optional for fully vaccinated guests and children under the age of 2. Unvaccinated attendees are required to wear face coverings due to full seating capacity.
Join us for a very special intimate conversation between world renowned artists and good friends Laurie Anderson and Julian Schnabel. These multi-talented artists and Guild Hall Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts award winners will discuss life, art, friends and folly.
Run time: Approx 1 hour
THIS PROGRAM WILL NOW TAKE PLACE INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER. Guests attending any INDOOR John Drew Theater programs must show proof of FULL vaccination. At this time, only fully vaccinated guests are permitted to attend programs in the indoor theater. Face coverings are now optional for fully vaccinated guests.
Click HERE for full COVID-19 information to review prior to your visit.
Laurie Anderson, 2018. Photo: EbruYildiz Julian Schnabel, Paris 2016. Photo: Louise Kugelberg
THIS PROGRAM WILL NOW TAKE PLACE INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER. Guests attending any INDOOR John Drew Theater programs must show proof of FULL vaccination. At this time, only fully vaccinated guests are permitted to attend programs in the indoor theater. Face coverings are required indoors for all guests, regardless of vaccinated status.
Click HERE for full COVID-19 information to review prior to your visit.
Directed by Harris Yulin
A. R. Gurney’s internationally acclaimed stage hit is a heart-warming, poignant play about two people, Andy Ladd III and Melissa Gardner, who write letters to each other over a period of fifty years. Andy is a serious, down-to-earth attorney. Melissa is a lively, free-spirited artist. But these two opposites have a definite attraction. They are childhood friends who share a lifetime of experiences through a voluminous series of letters and notes written from the age of six to sixty-five. Poignant, romantic and frequently funny, their correspondence follows a bittersweet path of boarding schools, marriage, children, divorce and missed opportunities. It’s the life journey of two soul mates – enacted through words both written and unsaid – who share the greatest gift of all: the gift of love.
Run time: 90 minutes
LOVE LETTERS was presented at The Long Wharf Theatre, Edgar Rosenblum, Executive Director; Arvin Brown, Artistic Director. LOVE LETTERS is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
Click HERE for full COVID-19 information to review prior to your visit.
Evan Sherman is coming back to the East End for The Center! The young jazz lion was the Jazz for Jennings band leader for 3 years, followed with evening shows at the Talkhouse. Join us on August 12 for a concert under the stars featuring Evan Sherman, Cyrus Chestnut, and Dezron Douglas, to benefit Guild Hall and the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center.
Jose Sebastian and the Hamptons Dance Project return with another exciting mix of new and classic work from a diverse blend of noted choreographers featuring artists from American Ballet Theatre and beyond. The event will be presented on a beautiful 20-acre property overlooking Gardiners Bay.
The program will showcase a world premiere by Gemma Bond with music by singer/songwriter Pat Alger, excerpts from Justin Peck’s “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”, Christopher Wheeldon’s “This Bitter Earth”, an electrifying tap number by Demi Remick, and much more. This year’s company includes Isabella Boylston, Aran Bell, Skylar Brandt, Catherine Hurlin, Devon Teuscher, Cory Stearns, Thomas Foster, and others.
Click HERE for more about this year’s project and the stunning waterfront venue!
See more about Hamptons Dance Project in this mini documentary from the 2020 show HERE.
A note about COVID-19 protocol for Hamptons Dance Project attendees: Guild Hall will not require six feet of social distancing at outdoor programs and face coverings are now optional for fully vaccinated guests and children under the age of 2. Unvaccinated attendees are required to wear face coverings due to full seating capacity.
THIS PROGRAM WILL NOW TAKE PLACE INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER. Guests attending any INDOOR John Drew Theater programs must show proof of FULL vaccination. At this time, only fully vaccinated guests are permitted to attend programs in the indoor theater. Face coverings are now optional for fully vaccinated guests.
Click HERE for full COVID-19 information to review prior to your visit.
The next great innovation revolution: CRISPR, gene editing, and Jennifer Doudna
The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein, and Steve Jobsreturns with a gripping account of how Nobel prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and improve the human species.
Bestselling author Walter Isaacson has established himself as the biographer of creativity, innovation, and genius. Einstein was the genius of the revolution in physics, and Steve Jobs was the genius of the revolution in digital technology. We are now on the cusp of a third revolution in science, a revolution in biochemistry that is capable of curing diseases, fending off viruses, and improving the human species itself. The genius at the center of his newest book, The Code Breaker (available on March 9, 2021), is American biochemist Jennifer Doudna (pronounced DOWD-nuh), who is considered one of the prime inventors of CRISPR, a system that can edit DNA.
Doudna’s story begins when she was a sixth-grader in Hilo, Hawaii, and she came home from school one afternoon to find a book on her bed. It was The Double Helix, James Watson’s account of how he and Francis Crick had discovered the structure of DNA, the spiral-staircase molecule that carries the genetic instruction code for all forms of life. Doudna put the book aside, thinking it was a detective tale. When she read it, she discovered that she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the race to put together clues, both in competition and cooperation with other scientists, that culminated in the 1953 discovery of the building block of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn’t become scientists, she decided she would.
The structure of DNA was the 20th century discovery that would have the most effect on the 21st. But at first its impact was somewhat underwhelming. Beginning in 2006, Jennifer Doudna helped change that. Her studies focused not on DNA, a field dominated by men, but on what seemed more of a backwater in biochemistry: figuring out the shapes and structure of RNA, a closely related molecule that enables the genetic instructions coded in DNA to express themselves by directing the creation of protein for new cells.
Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what James Watson told her was the most important biological advance since his co-discovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned their curiosity into an invention that would transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions
“This year’s prize is about rewriting the code of life,” the secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy proclaimed in announcing that Doudna and her collaborator, Emmanuelle Charpentier, had won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. “These genetic scissors have taken the life sciences into a new epoch.”
The Moral Dilemma With The Code Breaker, Isaacson shows what it took for Doudna to defy the odds as woman in a male-dominated field. His gripping narrative twists and turns through the risks she took, the rules she broke, the alliances she formed, the competition she bested, and the moral dilemmas she faced along the way. After helping to discover CRISPR in 2012, Doudna became a leader in wrestling with the ethical implications of this invention and helping set up the guardrails we are going to need as a civilization.
Because at the core of this book is a moral dilemma: Should we use our new evolution-hacking powers to eliminate dreaded disorders like Tay-Sachs and sickle cell anemia? Should we edit our genes to make us less susceptible to deadly viruses? And what about preventing congenital deafness and blindness? Or being very short? Or being depressed? Should we allow parents to enhance the IQ or memory or muscles of their kids? Our newfound ability raises some uncomfortable questions about what might that do to the diversity of our societies. If these offerings at the genetic supermarket aren’t free (and they won’t be), will that greatly increase inequality—and indeed encode it permanently in the human race?
In 2018, the world’s first “designer babies” were engineered and born: twin girls in China with genes that had been edited with CRISPR to make them immune to the virus that causes AIDS. There was an immediate outcry of shock and awe. After three billion years of evolution, one species (us) had developed the talent and temerity to grab control of its own genetic future. There was a sense that we had crossed the threshold into a whole new era, like when Adam and Eve bit into the apple or when Prometheus snatched fire from the gods.
Doudna has been at the forefront of scientists who are grappling publicly with these moral issues. At one point when she was developing CRISPR, Doudna had a nightmare in which she was summoned to meet a powerful client who wanted to learn how it worked. When the client looked up, it was Adolf Hitler. That spurred her to become a key organizer of groups that are trying to find a path forward that allows CRISPR to fulfill its promising potential while preventing it from being misused.
The Coronavirus Vaccine Most recently, however, Doudna and the other pioneers of CRISPR have been deployed in the war against our most immediate threat—the coronavirus—and Isaacson brings readers up-to-the-moment reporting on that fight. The gene-editing tool that Doudna and others developed in 2012 is based on a virus-fighting trick used by bacteria, which have been battling viruses for about three billion years. CRISPR systems allow bacteria to remember and then destroy deadly viruses. In other words, it’s an adaptive immune system against viruses—just what we humans need in an era that has been plagued by repeated waves of viral epidemics.
From the moment COVID-19 emerged, catching the federal government flatfooted, Doudna recast her team’s gene-editing system to develop a scalable and reliable test for the virus, with the eventual bigger goal of making us invulnerable to the future ones coming our way. Up until COVID-19, Doudna and her rivals were elbowing each other out of the way to get ahead in the race for CRISPR and other big discoveries. But when the pandemic hit, they put their competition aside and locked arms in the race to save lives. CRISPR has since enabled new forms of testing and treatments, and it has helped with the creation of an easily reprogrammable vaccine that can quickly be tailored to any new virus that comes along.
The Code Breaker tells Jennifer Doudna’s story, a thrilling scientific tale that involves the most profound wonders of nature, from the origins of life to the future of our species and carries the urgency of meeting the crisis we face today. As Isaacson writes, “the development of CRISPR and the race to fight coronaviruses will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution: a life-science revolution. Children who study digital coding will be joined by those who study the code of life.”
