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Existing Otherwise Music by LABOUR | 2019  
251 S. 18th Street, Philadelphia                                      


the ensemble of horn players is performing outside as their approaching the building they are crossing the street with all the dancer performers and audience following them the piece is existing otherwise by isabel lewis with music by hacklander hatam of labour the ensemble is going up the stairs with a performer leading them up the stairs in the piece existing otherwise by isabel lewis with music by hacklander hatam of labour performer on the banister throwing their hair as they go up the staircase to the upper level dancer performer on the floor with their hair covering their face with audience looking on the piece is existing otherwise with music by hacklander hatam of labour performers on the landing of the stairs with one crawling down the stairs the speakers are visible they have their back to the camera
Existing Otherwise by Isabel Lewis Music by LABOUR  

Existing Otherwise proposes alternative modes of engagement with site and architecture as ways of moving towards strategies of healing and evacuating violent modalities of reproduction or representation in the addressal of the past.

This work takes the form of a walk that begins with a brass quartet at the center of Rittenhouse Square and moves through the former Wetherill Mansion on the square’s edge, where LABOUR composed a 10-channel electronic sound, arranged throughout multiple rooms and floors, presents a dramaturgy of shifting temporalities and tensions amidst choreography, storytelling and „scent ghosts“ directed by Isabel Lewis, inviting visitors to stretch their senses to the limits of the sensible and approach the extrasensory in order to become receptive to the multiple forms of presence we live and die alongside. 


concept, direction and choreography:  Isabel Lewis
sound, sonic dramaturgy and musical direction: LABOUR
brass quartet: members of "Z" Big Band at University of the Arts, Philadelphia
performers: Elyse Browning, Jhelan Gordon-Salaam, Neva Guido, Mads Klemm, Hillary Pearson, Megan Quinn, Majesty Royale, Micah Love Spencer, sav vawter, Parker Wagar, Jiamond Watson, AJ Wilmore, Miles Yeung-Tieu
special Thanks to: Callie’s Berlin
Performed on 25th of September 2019 at The School for Temporary Liveness 251 S. 18th Street, Philadelphia