Emily Johnson / Catalyst:
Being Future Being: Land / Celestial
2022
“Johnson’s expansive work [draws] our attention to the land beneath and around us. . . She heightens our awareness.” —New York Times
Being Future Being is a multi-scalar work, created by Emily Johnson for the stage and beyond. Featuring a newly commissioned score by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon and a stellar cast of performers, Being Future Being: Land / Celestial invites you into a series of intimate encounters with our more-than-human kin. As audiences journey to three separate outdoor locations, they form a powerful processional—one with the capacity to reshape the way we relate to ourselves, and to the human and more-than-human cohabitants of our worlds.
CREDITS
Created by Emily Johnson
in Collaboration with and Performed by Ashley Pierre-Louis Jasmine Shorty Stacy Lynn Smith Sugar Vendil Emily Johnson
Composed by Raven Chacon
Sound Design by Chloe Alexandra Thompson
Lighting Design by Itohan Edoloyi
Scenic Design by Emily Johnson
Mask, Wearables, Portal Design and Construction by IV Castellanos
Video Mapping and Filming by Chloe Alexandra Thompson
Quilt Beings Designed by Korina Emmerich
Quilts Designed by Maggie Thompson
Portal Tattoos by Holly Mititquq Nordlum
Costume Design by Raphael Regan
Costume Draping by Cathleen O'Neal
Production Management by IV Castellanos
Press Relations Janet Stapleton
Administrative Stewardship by Kevin Holden
Management Support by George Lugg
Additional contributors during the work’s creation process include Zachary Crumrine, Joelly Dundorf, Sara Lyons, Drew Michael, and Tyler Rai.
PRESENTATIONS
September 2022: World Premiere at BroadStage, Yaanga / Santa Monica
October 2022: New York Live Arts, Lenapehoking / New York
COMMISSIONING & SUPPORT
Being Future Being was commissioned by The Broad Stage at Santa Monica College, and is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation and Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Bunnell Street Arts Center (AK); New York Live Arts (NY); Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (OR) and NPN, with contributions from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional commissioning and development support was provided by Dance/NYC’s Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by The Howard Gilman Foundation and Ford Foundation; Abrons Arts Center; University of Massachusetts Amherst Fine Arts Center; Portland Ovations; Jacob’s Pillow’s Pillow Lab residency; a Movement Research Residency, funded by the Scherman Foundation’s Katharine S. and Axel G. Rosin Fund; and New York Live Arts’ Live Feed Residency with funding from Rockefeller Brothers Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the Partners for New Performance.
The creation of Being Future Being was made possible in part with support from Native Arts and Cultures Foundation SHIFT: Transformative Change and Indigenous Arts Award, and New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.