Conjured by Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo Ovalles Morel
With actions by Luis A. Lara Malvacías, Priscilla Marrero with Ferran Martín, and Larissa Velez-Jackson
Presented with La Academia Desposeída
Those wishing to attend MUST arrive at Governors Island by 6:30 PM / Please dress in black
In Wicca, Drawing Down the Moon, which is also the title of a classic publication by Margot Adler, points to the practice of invoking the Goddess as symbolized by the moon, and hence inviting her to enter the High Priestess. In the case of this nocturnal curation, Nicolás asks three Latinx dancers to raise energy from the Earth and to send it up to Spirit or Life Force, whatever their own personal understanding of this concept might be. The three actions in question are meant to be kindled during the night, and within the echoes and reverberations of New York City’s urban web of noises, sounds, creatures, and energies. This program arises from Nicolás’s belief that what is referred to as Art today initially served a spiritual purpose, that is, before devolving into a profession, tradable objects–corpses– and consumable/ marketable events; a spectacle. With this in mind, all three movements in Lifting Up the Moon are meant to return art, in whatever modest ways this might be possible, back into the sacred, especially at a time when patriarchy and capitalism are acting upon a necrophiliac agenda, and when the call is to resist and honor GAIA and creation/emanation, including its satellite the Moon.
All those willing to attend are asked to dress in black, so to blend into the night as we traverse the waters by way of the Governors Island Ferry.