Shana Nys DambrotA space commune of chosen fam seeks refuge…
Vibration Group is a new sci-fi rock opera from Anna Luisa Petrisko and company, but visitors to see its performances at LACE on Hollywood Boulevard this weekend are transported off-world way before the music starts. Combining the elegant quirk of a DIY aesthetic with a slick, retro-futurist flair, right away the environmental design of bright lights, video installation, living plant sculptures, shared experiences and set’s organic architecture all signals an unfamiliar perspective on terrestrial life. And, indeed, you soon discover that you are already on a spaceship.
Vibration Group at LACE, installation view (Photo by Shana Nys Dambrot)
The premise is that the crew of the craft, en route to terraform a distant planet, abhorring the prospect of becoming colonizers but unwilling to return to the dire situation back on Earth, instead opt for an enlightened state of suspension and perpetual motion. Like a soft-disco commune on Battlestar Galactica, the talented cast of singers, dancers, musicians, and sound and video designers perform the process of figuring out what all this promise, potential, danger and uncertainty might mean. It’s a powerful metaphor, and a plea for more conscious living in the now. It’s also full of joy and catchy as hell.
Vibration Group at LACE (Photo by Shana Nys Dambrot)
They do this through a sequence of charming, danceable, sometimes profoundly emotional musical numbers based equally on somber ceremony and flashy dance-breaks, lyrical existentialism, and low-key cultish manifestos and mantras about the essential connectivity of people to both the universe and to each other. The opera itself is called Group Therapy and because life in space-drift can be stressful, there’s also a VR relaxation spa treatment, for deep care, as they say, Of the spheres: psycho-spiritual-body…
Vibration Group at LACE, installation view (Photo by Shana Nys Dambrot)
There’s limited seating for a groovy intimate vibe and with performances through Sunday, November 24 only (opening night on November 20 already sold out) make your plans at warp speed.
welcometolace.org/event/the-vibration-group
Vibration Group (Photo by Dalton Blanco)
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