Renowned Philadelphia-based performance artist, Gunnar Montana, is making his New York City debut with KINK HAUS, an eye-opening tale about the search for one's true identity, and the ongoing demand for freedom and self-love.
Told through dance, heavy music, visual arts, and superb performances by artists Avi Bourochoff, CJ Coleman, Jessica Daley, Dylan Kepp, Frank Leon, and Stephanie Lyneice, the autobiographical piece beautifully weaves together experiences often faced by young queer teens, through the eyes of Montana, its creator and choreographer.
With exquisite lighting design by Oona Curley, Gunnar and his crew manage to arouse a uniquely American story about what it's like coming to terms with one's own individuality. Each performer owns the spotlight with their cutting edge dance pieces, evoking a call to the soul many people born on the outside of cultural standards might recognize as their own.
For the Montana-born creator, bringing the show to N.Y.C. was indeed a journey. Since 2013, the Philadelphia staple has produced sold-out performance pieces to high acclaim. But this one is by far his most personal yet.
"It's autobiographical in the sense that it goes through my twenties, themes in my twenties, which were you know: boys, booze and drugs," Montana says. It's also about "how I was affected and how I got to the point where I am now, which is sober and a little more clear-headed," to which he quips, "I'm looking back on my twenties and being like, ugh, you were such trash."
While the show is certainly celebrating freedom -- each performer is decorated in bright colors, elaborate costumes, and killer stilettos -- there is a method to the in-your-face (fabulous) madness.
KINK HAUS is currently playing atthe Tony Award-winning La Mama Experimental Theater Club, Thursdays through Sunday at 8:00 p.m. with a 10 p.m. performance on Fridays. The show runs till Sunday, October 14.
Gunnar Montana (in blue) and Avi Bourochoff (in green) deliver a passionate piece depicting the intense tug of war to maintain your true self inside a paradigm of toxic masculinity. With effortless talent and clear focus, Bourochoff leaves audiences in tears.
"I usually think of acts individually and think about what I want people to say," Montana says of his process. "Usually it will start with an idea, and then it will morph into something else that fits into this world."
Performer Jessica Daley's standout performance was set inside a bathtub, where the dancer fearlessly interprets an aggressively powerful sentiment about womanhood, tagged with Stephanie Lyneice's nuanced dance sequence beautifully laying her naked body on an imagined dance floor, alone and vulnerable, yet still bold and powerful.
"It started off as kind of a more melancholy," Montana says of the bathtub sequence. "And then women started marching on Washington, and you got this very intense, angry, powerful vibe from women. I was like, let's capture that right now, because that's relevant, that's happening now... And that anger, that angst, that frustration counteracted with Stephanie and the oil."
Pictured is Stephanie Lyneice, led onstage by her costars.
On his hopes for performance art, Montana says, "I feel like it's going in so many different directions. I'm seeing so much crazy shit, you know. After Gaga, anybody can do anything ,you know, and everybody is."
Montana, pictured lip-syncing to a dildo microphone depicting a twisted delicious version of the American dream, adds, "What I like about my work is that anything goes, but there's still a lot of structure to it. And there's still a program and, you know, and there's still technical dance, and you have all that, and it's very thought out -- whereas, in the nightlife scene, anything goes [but] it goes to a very crazy place and it's like whoa, what's going on? At least here, there is an arc, there is an experience you can have, and I'm hoping that people can hone in on all of their art forms, and bring a similar experience. I see a lot of crazy stuff for the sake of being crazy."
Pictured: Dylan Kepp (standing), Jessica Daley (left), and Frank Leon (right).
Pictured: Avi Bourochoff delivers a gym-inspired dance piece.
Montana's advice for young queers living in rural areas of the country where there is little exposure to LGBTQ people: "Be your own gay!"
"When I was in Montana, all I had was Queer as Folk," he says. "I was a little upset because I feel like that put me in a rough twenties. I was like this is gay: Babylon! I'm going to be that kind of gay boy because that's the only gay boy I know. So, I encourage people to be their own gay, and to just do that."
To buy tickets to KINK HAUS, click HERE.
