Benched – Jersey City

When Samantha Geracht, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble‘s Artistic Director, received a Jersey City Arts Council Individual Artist Grant, she took the opportunity to create a dance that has been on her mind for several years. “Benched” is a work which examines what it means to be benched, to take a knee, and….

Inspired by Talley Beatty’s masterwork, Mourner’s Bench, as well as Leni Williams’ Sweet In The Morning, she has worked closely with dancer Clarence Brooks to create a new solo which will premiere at this event.

The program will include other dance works which use a bench as a metaphor for being set aside, left out, or isolated. Clarence Brooks will perform Mourner’s Bench by Talley Beatty. Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble will perform Janis Brenner’s The Shekhinah/Voices* and an excerpt from Robert E. Cleary’s Bound and Determined. And featuring a bench in an entirely different role will be Anna Sokolow’s surreal take on Magritte’s painting “The Menaced Assassin,” from Magritte, Magritte.

This event is made possible in part by the Individual Artist Fellowship program provided by the Jersey City Arts Council and the Jersey City Arts & Culture Trust Fund.