Mason Gross School Dance Department Artistic Director Julia Ritter of Metuchen is collaborating with Zishan Ugurlu, a resident director at New York City's La MaMa Theatre, to choreograph "Marathon Dancing: Letters to Wall Street in the Era of Wonderful Nonsense" at Rutgers.
"Marathon Dancing" cast members Sean Langford and Lillian Jorgensen. NEW BRUNSWICK -- Mason Gross School Dance Department Artistic Director Julia Ritter of Metuchen is collaborating with Zishan Ugurlu, a resident director at New York City's La MaMa Theatre, to choreograph "Marathon Dancing: Letters to Wall Street in the Era of Wonderful Nonsense" at Rutgers Dec. 3 through 6.
The performances, which will be held at Loree Dance Theater on the Douglass Campus, are inspired by the 1969 Sydney Pollack film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" and the Horace McCoy novel of the same name.
According to Ugurlu, the original script is fused with letters by people who were angered by their sudden financial ruin in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and wrote to executives of large banks. The letters were collected in the volume "The Trouble is the Banks: Letters to Wall Street." On Dec. 6, co-editor Mark Greif will be on hand for a post-performance question-and-answer session.
"The dance marathons of the 1930s were like gladiator competitions-often people in unfortunate circumstances, economically disadvantaged and searching out any possibility to make money, including subjecting their bodies to torture and abuse," said Ritter.
The show is free, but reservations are suggested and can be made by calling the Mason Gross Performing Arts Center ticket office at 848-932-7511. For more information, visit masongross.rutgers.edu/events.
The performance features loud noises, gun shots, nudity, strong language and adult themes and is not appropriate for anyone younger than 12.
Loree Dance Theater is located at 70 Lipman Drive.
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