Production Details / Press Releases
Ann Liv Young’s Cinderella is a reinterpretation of the classic fairy tale, inspired by versions as disparate as Disney’s and the macabre Grimm brothers’. It is a one-woman show starring Sherry, Young’s southern wildcat alter ego. Sherry, playing all characters (but primarily the princess), confronts personality extremes of kindness, helplessness, and wickedness in conjunction with the stereotype she deals with most directly in her own life: the aggressive woman. We watch as Sherry and these storybook characters tackle decisions together and learn from one another. What unlikely similarities will we find? Why does one tend to prefer the demure Cinderella over the bold and assertive Sherry? Ultimately, Sherry critiques male authorship which created onedimensional female characters (Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother, the wicked Stepmother and Stepsisters) in ways which were pleasing to men. Our version of Cinderella pleases no one.
Ann Liv Young was born on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and has been creating performance work for over eight years. She is one of the youngest artists whose work has been presented at major venues in New York City and Europe, such as MOMA PS1, The Kitchen, Dance Theater Workshop, P.S. 122, Judson Church, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Brooklyn Museum, Flea Theater, Laban Centre London, Impulstanz, Springdance, The Arches, Tanz im August, Motel Mozaique, Donau Festival, City of Women, Théâtre de la Bastille, Kampnagel, Brut Wien, Gender Bender, Inkonst, ISSUE Project Room, Black Box Teater Oslo, Teaterhuset Avant Garden, Landmark Gallery presented by BIT Teatergarasjen, and Melkweg, among others. A 2003 graduate of Hollins University’s prestigious dance program, Young has also studied at Laban Centre London. Her work has been praised by Art Forum, the New York Times, the Village Voice, and The Guardian, among other publications, and was featured in Michael Blackwood’s documentary New York Dance: States of Performance (2010). Ann Liv performed “Sherry” in “Girl Monster Orchestra” presented by Chicks on Speed in Switzerland and Sweden in March 2010. She’s reinterpreted the stories of Snow White (2006–2008), George and Martha Washing- ton (in The Bagwell in Me [2008–2009]), and, now, Cinderella.
Cinderella premiered at Inkonst in Sweden in March 2010 and has since been performed at ISSUE Project Room, Black Box Teater Oslo, Teaterhuset Avant Garden, Landmark Gallery presented by BIT Teatergarasjen, Brut Wien, University of Dance and Circus, and Melkweg.
Ann Liv Young is currently artist in residence at SNDO in Amsterdam. She is creating a show on students 37 Sherrys which will be presented at the Something Raw Festival. She previewed another new show Mermaid Show at the American Realness festival in January. Ann Liv’s Sherry Show at last year’s American Realness was chosen as one of the top ten performances of 2010 by Art Forum.
Cast & Credits
By and with: Ann Liv Young
Coproduction: brut Wien.
Sponsored by: Départs Network with the support of the European Commission as part of the Education and Culture DG program
HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU3)
Tempelhofer Ufer 10
10963 Berlin
Tickets: +49 (0)30 259 004 27
tickets@hebbel-am-ufer.de
Video Documentation
The video documentation is produced on behalf of the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. The purpose of this contract is to document productions in the field of contemporary dance in Berlin. The master recordings are archived by the University Library of the Berlin University of Arts. Copies of the recordings on DVD are available for viewing exclusively in the reference collections of the following archives (at media desks in these institutions):
University Library of the Berlin University of Arts
Mediathek für Tanz und Theater des Internationalen Theaterinstituts / Mime Centrum Berlin
Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT)