Charlotte Crawford, photo Joyce Marshall
Over the Bridge Arts has announced the lineup for Burning Woman, two full evenings of empowering performances around a theme of “Save the Planet” in dance, music, spoken word, performance art, visual art and film.
Over the Bridge Arts is a Dallas arts nonprofit based in Oak Cliff that supports new works and new artists, and has created 19 arts productions since its founding in 2017.
The seventh annual Burning Woman performances will be held October 25-26 at 723 Fort Worth Ave. in Dallas. A pre-performance reception with art installation opens at 7 p.m. each evening, followed by performances at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are on sale at ticketdfw.com.
This festival’s theme is “Save The Planet” to draw attention to the ongoing climate crisis. The outdoor art installation, “Garden of Art”, is curated by Sorany Gutierrez, and the indoor digital art exhibit is by Alisa Eykilis. The onstage live performances vary from poetry to flamenco dance to drumming.
The program will open with a film from Lindsay Roche titled “The Dry Salvages.” Live performances include work by the following artists and groups: Tammy Melody Gomez, Lyrique Jaye, Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson, Aminah Dece, Jennifer Mabus, Danielle Georgiou, Jenny Lobo, Tina Mullone, and Kena Sosa.
“Burning Woman 2024 event offers local artists a platform to express their thoughts on the responsibilities we have for our shared planet,” said Assistant Artistic Director Sorany Gutierrez.
Gutierrez has appeared as a solo performer and creator in several art genres, as well as in several productions by Artstillery, Cara Mia Theatre and Teatro Dallas, among others.
Burning Woman artist Jennifer Mabus talked about her contribution to the program, “So Ham.”
“The mantra ‘so ham’ basically means. ‘I am that,'” she says. “We hope that by focusing on this mantra in sound and movement, we can deepen our understanding of our connection with the earth, and this can impact how we treat the planet, each other and ourselves.”
Mabus is a well-known choreographer, teacher and performer in DFW and Houston, and a former member of Bruce Wood Dance. Burning Woman began with six female-identifying performers in 2018 during the #metoo movement. The production has grown to include all genders, ages, ethnicities, background, cultures and sexual identities. Applications to Burning Woman are curated by a committee of local arts professionals.
This year’s production of Burning Woman is supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Moody Fund for the Arts and the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture. Information on ways to get involved in environmental efforts will be available from the City of Dallas, Texas Trees Foundation and the Texas Land Conservancy.
