Nels Cline, Olga Bell, Trisha Brown Dance Company, and Eiko Otake are among some of the artists performing at River to River Festival 2015 (R2R). Produced by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), the multi-day affair has been bringing an eclectic assortment of music, dance, theater and visual art events to parks, plazas, hotels, historic landmarks and various other downtown locations since 2002. R2R is known for presenting site-responsive works and for involving the audience in the creative process through open studios, talks and other social activities. This year’s festival serves up 60 events and runs June 18-28.

Olga Bell

Highlights of 2015 include concerts by Olga Bell (June 23) and Roomful of Teeth (June 24), both co-presented by New Amsterdam Records. Bell, a Russian-American composer who has done time with Dirty Projectors and Nothankyou, is performing KRAI, her sonic love letter to her Russian homeland. Her score features cello, electric guitar, bass, percussion and electronics and is accompanied by projections created by Alejandro Crawford of MGMT. As for Roomful of Teeth, the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble are performing selections off their new album Render and are adapting their yodels, Tuvan throat singing and trills for Wally Gunn’s The Ascendant. The group will also present Caroline Shaw’s music, film and theater video installation Ritornello.

Eiko Otake performing “Body in a Station”
at the Amtrack’s 30th Street Station in Philadelphia
Photo by William Johnston

The dance performances at R2R are always rewarding experiences. Among those to have on your radar are Souleymane Badolo’s Dance my life (June 19, 21 & 22), the Twyla Tharp ensemble’s performance of her 1970 work The One Hundreds in Rockefeller Park (June 20), and Trisha Brown Dance Company’s site-specific Trisha Brown: In Plain Site (June 21). Dancer/choreographer Eiko Otake is also slated to perform the next iteration of her ambitious A Body in Places solo project, A Body in a Station, which she first performed inside Philadelphia’s 30th Street Train Station last year. For R2R, she’ll be performing at Fulton Center, June 22-24.

CAN-D & DRELLA
Photo courtesy of artist

CAN-D and DRELLA are coming out to play for R2R. The alter egos of artists Amy Khoshbin and Raja Feather Kelly, the raucous pop-culture-loving pair host two evening soirees (June 23 & June 28) at Vbar Seaport. Expect dancing, rapping, drag angels, and crazy surprises.

Two anchor events that return to R2R for 2015 are Bang on a Can Marathon and Night at the Museums. This year, Bang on a Can Marathon brings Asphalt Orchestra, So Percussion, Bobby Previte, Nels Cline and many more to the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place for 10 hours of mind-blowing music on June 21. A couple days later, on June 23, your brain can expand once again when 14 museums and historic sites offer free evening admission (4pm-7pm). You can take a stroll through Poets House, visit the National September 11 Memorial Museum, or count the money at the Museum of American Finance.

Lastly, an Obie Award-winning performance is also being re-conceived for this year’s fete. John Kelly’s Love of a Poet, which first premiered in 1990 at Lower Manhattan’s Battery Maritime Building, is being re-constructed for the Arts Center at Governors Island with an open dress rehearsal on June 25 and performances June 26-28.

Most of the performances are open to all and have no advance registration, but there are a few with limited capacity. RSVPs are required and now open for Love of a Poet, Rachel Tess’ Souvenir Undone, the imperial ballets of King Louis XIV-inspired Court/Garden, These are bodies, These are motions, This is the place, and The Set Up: Saya Lei.  

The 11-day fest kicks off June 18 with a block party-esque celebration in Battery Park City co-sponsored by Conrad New York and Goldman Sachs. For a complete schedule, visit the River to River Festival website.