Richard Kennedy Performs Ballet ‘Both’ At ‘The Artists Space’ In Lower Manhattan
In the Artists Space's long gallery in Lower Manhattan, Richard Kennedy performed his new ballet, "Both". It will be the first program to be held following the removal of the partition wall at Artists Space Books & Talks.
With long butane lighter in one hand before lighting two pillar candles, Richard Kennedy, dressed in camouflage-print sweatpants and a beanie cap, began his new ballet. According to the Arts News, "Both" was a three-person performance divided by two short intermissions with three 12-minute movements.
It was accompanied by the soundtrack mixing Indian pop fusion from Sheila Chandra, angst-ridden electronica from VIOLENCE, and experimental cello music from Kelsey Lu, as well as the artist's own live vocals produced by a vocoder. It was Kennedy who choreographed suspended limbs and liquid spines, at once light with a sensual joy and heavy with sorrowful emotion.
Kennedy wholeheartedly explored the disorderly potential of instilling a classic form. According to the Arts Space, the dancer Richard Kennedy is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. He appeared in the musicals Wicked, Fosse, & West Side Story he also choreographed for SSION, Chino Amobi & DonChristian. He was featured in and cast videos for NOWNESS, Nicopanda, and Hercules & Love Affair.
Richard co-wrote "You Can Shine" and "For Some Reason" before releasing his debut EP Open Wound in a Pool of Sharks. At Signal Gallery, he presented two operas, Black Rage & Comeuppance and in 2019 he receives his Master's degree in Fine Arts from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College.
The performance is all about deep feelings of uniqueness a mixture of violence and self-care, it also explores themes of control, loyalty, and abandonment which made Kennedy to a kind of spiritual authority to an ominous figure.
