{"id":352552,"date":"2026-09-21T16:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/352552\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T16:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:14:08","slug":"programming-revealed-for-inaugural-democracy-cycle-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/352552\/","title":{"rendered":"Programming Revealed For Inaugural Democracy Cycle Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Programming has been revealed for the inaugural Democracy Cycle Festival, which will be held\u00a0January 15\u201323, 2027 at Perelman Performing Arts Center<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An extension of The Democracy Cycle\u2014a\u00a0multi-year commissioning program to assist in the development of works across theatre, opera, dance, and music exploring themes relating to democracy\u2014the festival will present\u00a0two world-premiere productions of Democracy Cycle-commissioned works, as well as\u00a0free and open-to-the-public events that include a keynote speaker event, work-in-progress readings of Democracy Cycle commissions currently in development, panels, gatherings, musical performances, and networking opportunities.<\/p>\n

The two works receiving main stage\u00a0world premieres are\u00a0Ang\u00e9lica Negr\u00f3n’s\u00a0The Puerto Rico\u00a0Experiment\u00a0and\u00a0Baye & Asa’s\u00a0At the\u00a0Altar.\u00a0Both productions are bring presented in partnership with Under the Radar.<\/p>\n

The Puerto Rico Experiment,\u00a0written by\u00a0Puerto Rican-born composer\u00a0Negr\u00f3n with her Brooklyn-based indie electronic band Bal\u00fan teaming\u00a0up with Grammy-winning vocal innovators Roomful of Teeth, will run\u00a0January 16-21. The tropical song cycle explores\u00a0what it means for a territory without full political representation to be repeatedly treated as a laboratory. Created in collaboration with four Puerto Rican poets (Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, Nicole Delgado, Mara Pastor, and Ashley P\u00e9rez Garc\u00eda), each sonic vignette traces a specific incident in the island\u2019s history as a site of experimentation, from mass sterilization campaigns and imposing English in public schools to the U.S. Navy occupation of Vieques and UFO sightings in Lajas.<\/p>\n

Choreography team\u00a0Baye & Asa’s\u00a0dance piece\u00a0At the Altar\u00a0will run January 19-23. The work explores worship through\u00a0propulsive movement and evocative scenic design, reckoning with\u00a0the pitfalls of extreme idolatry and questions the cost of pedestalizing any one person or idea.<\/p>\n

The festival will also host an opening assembly on January 15, uniting\u00a0artists, cultural leaders, and changemakers, as well as a keynote speaker January 22, and “Performing Public Meetings” on January 16\u2014a\u00a0participatory workshop led by Aaron Landsman and Perfect City that transforms the rituals of local government into a space for performance, reflection, and possibility. Several panels will be offered throughout the festival as well, plus lobby stage performances, and a closing reception January 23.<\/p>\n

Several work-in-progress readings of\u00a0Democracy Cycle-commissioned works that are still in development will also be presented, with\u00a0Holly Bass’s\u00a0Civilities, Or How to Secede Without Really Trying\u00a0January 17;\u00a0Vickie Ramirez, Ty Defoe<\/a>, and\u00a0Jeanette Harrison<\/a>‘s\u00a0Six Nations: One Fire\u00a0January 17; Nathan Yungerberg<\/a>‘s\u00a0Barry, the 1970s Black Sitcom That Never Happened\u00a0January 19; and Daniel\u00a0Leeman Smith and Blossom Johnson’s\u00a0Proclamation to the Great White Father and All His People\u00a0January 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe artists have a unique ability to open up new ways of seeing and can deepen our understanding of what democracy can be,\u201d said artistic director\u00a0Bill Rauch<\/a> in a statement.\u00a0\u201cWe received more than 2,000 artistic submissions for The Democracy Cycle commissioning project, from artists around the world and across every performance genre. That enthusiasm inspired us to launch this Festival, to bring artists and audiences together to connect, share ideas, and explore democratic values through the power of artistic expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, visit PACNYC.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Programming has been revealed for the inaugural Democracy Cycle Festival, which will be held\u00a0January 15\u201323, 2027 at Perelman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":["post-352552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}