Distance Duet
HDTS is excited to present Distance Duet, Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs' dance opera that considers intersecting griefs of climate emergency, isolation, and division as catalysts for transformation and connection. This epic performance is a new iteration of a multi-year project—first presented in Prelude to Distance Duet at HDTS in December 2022—in which Riggs continues her exploration of and centers on non-human narratives—stones, wind, water, and desert grasses. Site specific and engaging in themes of local ecology, each performance takes place at dusk in the bouldered wash at A-Z West.
Scored and written by Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs, and co-directed with artist/choreographer Ryan Heffington, Distance Duet features additional movement by Caroline Partamian.
Performers include: Jess Basta, Rachel Beetz, Sharon Chohi Kim, Obsidienne Obsurd, Kathryn Shuman, and HDTS's very own (drop-in!) High Desert Choir.
Don't miss this must-see performance made for and about the High Desert! Click the link below to reserve your free seat.
Friday, November 22 and Saturday, November 23
Arrive by 3:30pm, Performance at 4pm
A-Z West
62923 Sullivan Rd
Joshua Tree, CA
About the Artists
Through an interdisciplinary practice that incorporates sound, sculpture, scent and site-specific collective performance, Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs (b.1981) creates new myths and their paraphernalia - hymns, relics, costumes, instruments, rites and rituals - for an alternate past, and still-possible future. Riggs was born in Oakland and currently lives in the High Desert of Southern California. Her work explores themes of magic and myth, connection and isolation, conflicts between structures of power and modes of care and overwhelm in the Anthropocene.
Riggs is known for creating experimental opera and vocal performances that collapse the boundaries between audience and performers including “Form Forget This” (High Desert Test Sites, Joshua Tree); compost opera “All Again/Todo de Nuevo” (CURRENT LA Public Works Biennial, with choreographer Annie Gimas); “A Journey That Wasn’t: Empire Folds” (The Broad Museum); “Sky Score” (The Getty Center); “The Portal: Mothers Choir” (Hammer Museum, w/ Jagangormarsh); and “GORGON” (REDCAT Theater). She is the creator of the site-responsive performance ensemble, “Song of Eurydice;” and the founder of “Community Chorus,” a drop-in, on-call, protest chorus, often featuring conductor Tany Ling. Riggs has also presented work at the SFMOMA, deYoung Museum, Anchorage Museum, Portland Art Museum, Printed Matter, Bangkok University and Berkeley Art Museum. She has been featured in “NYT Magazine,” “LA Times,” Artforum.com, Frieze.com, X-TRA and “Rookie Magazine.”
Ryan Heffington is a two time Grammy nominated, and Emmy winning choreographer and director. Pioneering contemporary dance in a commercial context, Heffington’s global exposure came in 2014 for Sia’s “Chandelier” (winner MTV’s Best Choreography of the Year Award).
In March 2020, Ryan Heffington became a north star of empowerment and self-expression for hundreds of thousands of people through his free, online dance class SWEATFEST. Together with his community they raised over 300k for charities that supported Black Lives Matter, LGBTQI+ and other organizations.
Heffington happily resides in the high desert a few hours outside Los Angeles where he throws “TITS + PALMS” - a monthly dance party for queers and their allies. He is currently developing a residency for multi-disciplinary creatives, DESERTRADE, continuing to build community as he did in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years.
Caroline Partamian is an interdisciplinary artist trained in dance. Her work has taken on the form of choreography, compositions, graphic notations, sound environments, books, video, and more. She has shown work at ISSUE Project Room, Marfa Open, Flux Factory, and Anthology Film Archives. She co-founded Other Desert Radio, an experimental community-based radio station in the High Desert; and Weird Babes press. She is the co-founder of the Armenian Creatives group who celebrate the multiplicity of diasporic histories via gatherings and publications.
She received her MA from NYU’s Museum Studies program, where she focused on applying teaching methods of postmodern dance to the conservation of contemporary performance art acquisitions at museums. She has worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and artist Laurie Anderson.
Support
High Desert Choir and Distance Duet are made possible with generous funds through The Puffin Foundation and individual donations. This activity is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency.