The Dress Up Show
By Michael Helland
Created in collaboration with asubtout, Biba Bell, Laura Berlin Stinger, and Regina 
Hosted by robbinschilds, Rebecca Brooks, Jean-Marie Leary, Isabel Lewis, Daniel Linehan, and Friends
Performance with Stephanie Booth, Anna Carapetyan, Carly Pansulla, and Miriam Wolf
Lighting by Christine Shallenberg
Music by Stephen Cooper and Lani Rowe
Visuals by Sera-Kim Huenergard

The Chocolate Factory, May 24-26, 2007 (Queens)

The Dress Up Show is a fantasy come to life harking back to the primordial creativity and power of imagination that everyone has as a child. This live art installation presents the public with a vibrant cast of performance hosts ready to greet them and offer treasures from the bountiful dress up apparatus. Choosing from hundreds of outrageous and divine costume combinations, participants experience their own physical transformation before having their portrait taken and sitting for an evening of performance in the round, plus an after party. The Dress Up Show starts with the premise that everyone who comes to the show is part of the show, forming the basis for a unique communal experience and adventure into the creative light.

The Dress Up Show project was presented at various stages of development and adapted for multiple performance contexts:

Installation:
Dress Up Party, SCOPE New York at Lincoln Center, 2008 (New York)
Untitled, AUNTS Populous at the American Dance Festival, 2007 (Durham)

Documentary Performances:
It just didn’t sparkle…, New Dance Alliance Performance Mix Festival at Joyce SoHo, 2008 (New York)
It just didn’t sparkle…, Dixon Place Hot Festival, 2008 (New York)

Solo Performances:
Dress Up Piece, Catch at Galapagos, 2007 (Brooklyn)
Dress Up Piece, Movement Research at Judson Church, 2007 (New York)
Dress Up Piece, AUNTS Individual Viewing Experience at Space Space, 2007 (Queens)
Dress Up Piece, American Dance Festival, 2007 (Durham)

Group Performances:
The New Performance Project, Brooklyn Arts Exchange Space Grant Showcase, 2006 (Brooklyn)
The New Performance Project, Danspace Project Food for Thought, 2006 (New York)
The New Performance Project, AUNTS Aut 4 One at the Event Center, 2006 (Brooklyn)

The Dress Up Show was commissioned for the Visiting Artist Program of the Chocolate Factory in New York and co-sponsored by AUNTS, with additional support from New Dance Alliance, The Silo/DancenOw/NYC, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange.

View The Dress Up Show Flickr Photo Archive

Photos by Steven Shreiber