2018 FESTIVAL
The 3-day inaugural Kindling Arts Festival took place in Nashville’s vibrant Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood at Track One, abrasiveMedia, Bastion, and the Flamingo Club.
Featured performances included:
Numinous Flux
The Birth of Mere
Track One - Silo Room
Experience the wild birth of a magical sea creature plucked from her normal life and thrown into an unknown journey. Numinous Flux's new contemporary dance piece THE BIRTH OF MERE, choreographed by acclaimed Nashville-based choreographer Laura Valentine, invites audiences into a mystical world where society tries to strip this beautiful creature of the things that make her different and keep her wild. A meditation on coming of age, isolation, and grief, THE BIRTH OF MERE offers dazzling choreography with a big heart in Track One's evocative Silo Room.
Nate Eppler
Booze + Learn: A Passion Point Party
Bastion
BOOZE & LEARN is a one-of-a-kind Passion Point Party, inviting presenters to give 3-4 minute PowerPoint presentations on things they are actually passionate about, such as "Wannabe by The Spice Girls: Gateway Drug to Feminism" or "What To Do If You Are Attacked by Karate Students Dressed as Skeletons." It's like a series of super interesting, oft hysterical, fun-sized TED talks set one of Nashville's most hip hangouts (Bastion Nashville). Audiences are invited to connect with new ideas, have a few fancy cocktails, and get their learn on in a loose, fun environment.
Alicia Dawn, Kinetic Kristen, Tori Keenan-Zelt + Jessika Malone
Kindling Arts Circus: Spellbound
Track One - Garage
Kindling Arts Circus: SPELLBOUND is a modern, feminist spin on Little Red Riding Hood and other fairytales told through movement and circus arts. With a non-verbal narrative by New York-based playwright Tori Keenan-Zelt, local talents Alicia Dawn and Kinetic Kristen unfold this twist on the classic tale through contortion, acro, lyra, and clowning under the dynamic direction of Jessika Malone. SPELLBOUND makes for a magical evening of outrageous tricks and clever storytelling
Dorse Brown + CAT Choreography
Ignite the Night
The Flamingo Club
This high-energy, hip-hop dance party will close out each day of interdisciplinary performance with one giant celebration of community on the fabulous Flamingo Club’s dancefloor. Some of Nashville’s most innovative choreographers will lead a troupe of local dancers in a pulsating dance set until the energy in the room is so high, everyone has to join them on the dancefloor. IGNITE THE NIGHT will invite audience members to share a collective space and meet the neighbors they may not know they have.
Madeleine Hicks
Potty Mouth
abrasiveMedia
If your toilet could talk, what would it say? POTTY MOUTH is an offbeat performance piece that blends comedy, puppetry, and theater as Madeleine Hicks shares a series of lavatory-centric tales about finding her artistic voice and navigating the anxiety that comes with both art making and girlhood alongside a fast talking toilet and a tap dancing ladybug. Fresh off a rave-worthy showcase at Radio Cafe, POTTY MOUTH arrives at Kindling Arts Festival featuring the extraordinary talents of friends and fellow potty patrons Cassie Hamilton, Steve Parnell, and Kara McLeland.
Matthew Marcum
Pollock - A Frequency Parable
abrasiveMedia
POLLOCK: A FREQUENCY PARABLE is an "avant-operatic" sound performance piece that explores elements of abstract expressionism through nonlinear narrative and extended vocal techniques. Matthew Marcum is an interdisciplinary performance artist that infuses text, sound, movement, and optics to create contemporary theatre productions, live art exhibitions, and conceptual installations. Mixing vocal prowess and fierce intellect, Marcum’s work is both innovative and captivating giving new definition to what it means to be an “expressionist."
Suspended Gravity Circus
Refraction
Track One - Garage
REFRACTION explores the sublime and psychedelic, combining uncanny elements to form an unexpected evening of circus arts, aerial dance, and breathtaking performance. Some of Nashville's best aerial performers will perform jaw-dropping stunts to covers of classic songs such as "Comfortably Numb,” "Wicked Game," "Billie Jean," and more. With REFRACTION, Suspended Gravity reminds us that things aren't always as they seem, that sometimes it's just about the light in which you see it.
The Nerve
Story Slam: Come Ups and Comebacks
Track One - Garage (Lounge)
Saturday, Aug 25th @ 8:30PM
Enjoy an evening of stories of success, failure, and returns to power! The Nerve Slam: Come Ups & Comebacks will invite local storytellers to tell a true, personal tale in six minutes in front of an audience that focuses on a personal victory, professional disaster, or other story that fits within the theme. A winner will be chosen at the end for having the ultimate Nerve!
Laura Peek
Stupid Titties
abrasiveMedia
A hilarious show with an outrageous name, STUPID TITTIES is an evening of sharp-witted and unexpectedly moving stand-up comedy from Laura Peek, one of the most exciting comedians working in the Southeast. In between the struggle to quit smoking, being called ridiculous names by men, and tales from one wild summer at Nashville Shores, Laura’s deeply personal, subversive, and confessional style will have you so wrapped up, you might even forget that it’s called STUPID TITTIES? But probably not.
Sejal Mehta, Diego Gomez, + Natalie Risk
We Play Here Too
Track One - Silo Room
In our world, who is invited to play, and who is left out? WE PLAY HERE TOO explores memories of youthful play, instances of inclusion and exclusion, and how those experiences impact our adult psyches, particularly in situations of racial and ethnic isolation. This devised theatrical performance is directly inspired by Omari Booker's portraiture series "I Live Here Too" which focuses on community inclusion for the marginalized segments of our society. WE PLAY HERE TOO brings together an all-star cast in a bold statement of belonging told through movement, monologue, and music.
WE PLAY HERE TOO is funded in part by Metro Arts.