Events

World Premiere of ‘The Next TiMes’ Announced by Kinetic Light

The Next TiMes; photo Cherylynn Tsushima.

Kinetic Light, the internationally renowned disability arts company, announces the world premiere of its newest work, The Next TiMes, October 9-11 at New York Live Arts. The Next TiMes cast features Kinetic Light Founder & Artistic Director Alice Sheppard, founding member Laurel Lawson, and Collaborating Artists Tatiana Cholewa and Kayla Hamilton.

Founded in 2016 by Alice Sheppard, Kinetic Light is a leader in the dance, disability arts, performing arts, and tech spaces, creating immersive work that emerges from disability culture and is centered in aesthetically and artistically equitable access. The Next TiMes is the company’s third evening-length work, following DESCENT (2017) and the aerial work Wired (2022). Kinetic Light’s repertory also includes territory (2025), a disability-centered, accessible virtual reality project. 

The Next TiMes is about secrets—about what we know, what we think we know, and what can be revealed. We immerse ourselves and our audiences in an otherworldly not-so-distant future, a space where survival and relationships are tenuous,” shares Alice Sheppard, Kinetic Light Artistic Director. “We are thrilled to expand our company and welcome Kayla Hamilton and Tatiana Cholewa as Collaborating Artists for this work, and to return to New York Live Arts.”

With fervent energy and luscious intimacy, The Next TiMes wrestles with solidity, uncertainty, and the fragile mysteries of the human body in an exploration of resilience, love, power, and connection. The Next TiMes is a stunning multimedia work, realized through performances by Cholewa, Hamilton, Lawson, and Sheppard; an original score by Josh A. Loar; novel audience and access technology by Laurel Lawson and Colin Clark; supernatural video projection by Carlos Johns-Dávila with Kate Freer; lighting design by Annie Wiegand; and production design by Lawson. Audio description artists for The Next TiMes are Tatiana Cholewa, Kayla Hamilton, Laurel Lawson, Azure D. Osborne-Lee, Mo Pickering-Symes (using The Rationale Method), Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Alice Sheppard, and Brad Smith.  The Next TiMes Production Manager is Steve Zakszewski and Production Stage Manager is Liz Weber.

Access is central and generative in all Kinetic Light projects and practices; The Next TiMes embodies Kinetic Light’s core belief that access is art, featuring multitrack audio description via the company’s Audimance platform, novel haptic (vibrational) experience created specifically for this work, artistic music and sound captions delivered via CART, and practices including sensory kits, quiet space, open entry, and more. 

Kinetic Light’s The Next TiMes will be at New York Live Arts October 9-11 at 7:30pm. Tickets are pay-what-you-choose. Please note, masks are required for all performances. Visit newyorklivearts.org to book and learn more.

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