Sugar, Sugar!' Performing Arts Series In Domino Park

Summary

All of It Podcast Summary: "Sugar, Sugar!' Performing Arts Series In Domino Park"

Podcast Information:

• Title: All Of It
• Host: Alison Stewart
• Episode: "Sugar, Sugar!' Performing Arts Series In Domino Park
• Release Date: May 19, 2025
• Description: ALL OF IT is a show about culture and its consumers, aiming to engage thinkers, doers, makers, and creators in discussions about the what and why of their work.

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Introduction to the Sugar Sugar Series

In this episode of All of It, host Alison Stewart introduces listeners to "Sugar Sugar," a new free four-week performing arts series launched at Domino Park in Williamsburg. The series, which began on June 4th, is set against the backdrop of the historic Domino Sugar refinery site, now transformed into an outdoor amphitheater. The programming spans various art forms, including dance, jazz, interactive theater, and artistic meditations on unique subjects like horseshoe crabs.

The Venue: Domino Park's Amphitheater

Annabelle Thompson, co-founder of Public Assembly, and Elpitha Tsivikos, founder of One Whale's Tale, discuss the significance of the venue. Annabelle explains that the amphitheater's dramatic views of the New York City skyline, East River, and Williamsburg Bridge provide a unique and inspiring setting for performances.

Annabelle Thompson [01:15]: "Sugar Sugar really started with the site itself, the former Domino Sugar refinery... We envisioned activating the site in this tradition of kind of a town square by inviting local arts organizations and independent curators and art makers to bring their own creative experimentation into the space."

Elpitha expresses her excitement about the venue, highlighting its large capacity and accessibility to the waterfront—an often scarce experience in New York City. She emphasizes the importance of making art approachable and free, especially during a time when many arts institutions face significant budget cuts.

Elpitha Tsivikos [01:59]: "It was like a dream venue... Making art approachable free is literally the dream. And I think right now, but really always people so desperately need art."

Vision and Goals Behind the Series

The co-curators aim to create a vibrant community space where diverse perspectives and experimental art can thrive. They sought to reframe how art is approached in New York City by focusing on artists' dreams and inspirations rather than financial constraints.

Elpitha Tsivikos [04:38]: "I really do believe that things change by the way that you live your life every day. And so I wanted to facilitate those dialogues very specifically in hopes of, in a tiny, tiny way, yielding something different, something that's really, really truthfully about inspiration."

Programming and Performances

Opening Performances: Niall Harris and Lisa and Lena

The series kicks off with performances by Niall Harris and the dance duo Lisa and Lena, both curated by Teresa Buchheister from National Sawdust. Niall Harris is celebrated for his irreverent and honest voice, bringing a fresh and relatable perspective to his work.

Elpitha Tsivikos [03:54]: "Niall's voice is just very irreverent and present. He speaks his mind and I think it's just really needed right now..."

Lisa and Lena's performance, titled "Could Be You," is described as a shifting, experimental piece that embraces improvisation and creative exploration within the space.

Annabelle Thompson [06:26]: "Their piece is shifting and it's really a work in progress along with Niall. We're excited to bring in that experimentation and improvisation to the space."

Juneteenth Special: The Revival by Fire Ensemble

Midway through the festival, Juneteenth celebrations are highlighted with a special performance titled "The Revival" by the Fire Ensemble. This intergenerational choir focuses on BIPOC and queer communities, emphasizing community-building through large-scale music and rituals rooted in black musical traditions.

Annabelle Thompson [07:24]: "The Fire Ensemble is an intergenerational choir community centered around BIPOC and queer folks... Their work is really centered around the process and space of community that is built through gathering."

Unique Acts: Eli Nixon and Horseshoe Crabs

Elpitha introduces Eli Nixon, a performer known for "suitcase theater" and "nature drag," which involves embodying elements of nature like horseshoe crabs. Eli's performances blend environmental activism with playful, philosophical reflections on humanity's place in the natural world.

Elpitha Tsivikos [07:59]: "Eli's work ties environmentalism into a playful philosophical thought process... the horseshoe crab is one of the oldest creatures still walking this earth... Eli uses humor and interaction to engage the audience deeply."

Eli's piece, "Horseshoe Crabs," emphasizes the historical significance of these creatures and their role in modern science, particularly in vaccine and pharmaceutical research, while maintaining an entertaining and thought-provoking presentation.

Community and Accessibility

Both curators underscore the importance of accessibility and community engagement. By offering free events, they aim to make art inclusive and reach a broad audience. The series also serves as a platform for local artists and organizations to showcase their work, fostering a sense of community and cultural vibrancy in North Brooklyn and beyond.

Elpitha Tsivikos [01:08]: "We just envisioned activating the site... and present work that's really being made locally in North Brooklyn and the city."

Conclusion

"Sugar Sugar" at Domino Park represents a dynamic fusion of art, community, and accessibility. Through diverse programming and thoughtful curation, Annabelle Thompson and Elpitha Tsivikos create a space where artists can experiment and audiences can engage with culture in meaningful ways. The series not only celebrates local talent but also honors significant cultural moments, such as Juneteenth, reinforcing the role of arts in community building and cultural expression.

Annabelle Thompson [10:18]: "We love WNYC."

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Note: Advertisements and sponsor messages were omitted to focus on the content of the episode.

Transcript

[Alison Stewart]

You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Domino park in Williamsburg has launched a new free four week performance art series. It's called Sugar Sugar and It launches on June 4th. Domino Sugar. Get it? The performances will happen at Domino Square and the programming features all different kinds of art, from dance to jazz, to interactive theater to an artistic meditation on horseshoe crabs. Joining me now to preview the first ever Sugar Sugar series is Annabelle Thompson, co founder of the creative strategy and producing group, Public Assembly. Hi, Annabelle.

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

Hi.

[Annabelle Thompson]

Thank you so much for having us.

[Alison Stewart]

And also joining us is Elpitha Tiviscos. I hope I got your last name right. Founder of the production company One Whale's Tale. They work together to bring the series to life. Hi, Elpita.

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

Hi. It's Elpitha Tsivikos. I had to do that, but I'm really happy to be here.

[Alison Stewart]

Elpitha Tivicos.

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

Yeah, that's closer.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, we're closer. Annabel, why do the folks at Domino park and Domino Square want to launch this event series?

[Annabelle Thompson]

Yeah, so Sugar Sugar really started with the site itself, the former Domino Sugar refinery, where of course, our series takes its name. And it's this new outdoor amphitheater space in Domino park, which is the super, super unique outdoor performance space that has this dramatic backdrop of the city skyline and the east river and Williamsburg Bridge. And we just envisioned activating the site in this tradition of kind of a town square by inviting local arts organizations and independent curators and art makers to bring their own creative experimentation into the space and present work that's really being made locally in North Brooklyn and the city.

[Alison Stewart]

Elpito, what made you excited about working at this venue?

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

It was like a dream venue. Annabel approached me in the late summer right before the amphitheater had been completed. And a lot of my work is site specific. It's in public parks and community gardens. And Annabel knows that and has seen a lot of my work. And she invited me to partner with her on this. And when I saw the space, I thought it was a dream come true. I mean, it was. It has a huge capacity, which means a ton of people get to come. You have the New York City skyline behind you. You can see all three bridges and you're close to water, which is something we barely ever get to experience in New York. For me, making art approachable free is literally the dream. And I think right now, but really always people so desperately need art. With pretty much every institution facing massive budget cuts, as well as independent production companies across the board, the arts are going through a real, we could call it transformation. I feel like this is the greatest gift in the world, being able to co curate this with Annabelle and bring so many different types of art to so many different people.

[Alison Stewart]

Annabel, you invited some guest curators to help out with the programming. Who did you want to invite?

[Annabelle Thompson]

Well, I mean, North Brooklyn is just such a rich history of being home to some of the leading experimental organizations and curators. We went directly to National Sawdust, of course, and Teresa Buchheister, the former artistic director of the Brick Theater, Sasha Ochstein and others.

[Alison Stewart]

Elpitha. Let's talk about the opening night. Wednesday, June 4th. There'll be two performances. Let's start with Niall Harris. For those who aren't familiar with Niall Harris's work. What makes him special? What makes him so special?

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

I think Niall's voice is just very irreverent and present. He speaks his mind and I think it's just really needed right now because I think the more we see people just being honest about their perspectives, the more people relate to them. And Niall Harris was brought in via Teresa, who, as Annabel just said, was the former artistic director of the Brick Theater and a longtime mentor to pretty much everyone in the downtown theater community. Niall was a part of the Device Theatre Working Group at the Public Theater a few years ago and has just had a really interesting and exciting career. So we were really excited by that suggestion from Teresa and totally went for it.

[Alison Stewart]

It sounds like his piece was very inspired by the architecture of Domino Park.

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

Yeah, well, we wanted the artists to do whatever they wanted in the space. One thing that I felt was really important when I began these dialogues with the different artists is I wanted to try to reframe the way that we approach art in New York City, because as an artist myself, I can say that the first point of contact is always about money. And so because we need it, we all need it desperately. New York City is a cutthroat city. It's a tough place to live, and it's the best place in the world simultaneously. So with all of the artist dialogues, what I tried to do was say, what's your dream? Here's the space. What do you want to do? What's inspiring you about it? What have you been thinking about? What have you been working on from that is how we kind of started with all of the artists. And where we landed is where we'll see if you come to all of the commissions in June. But I felt that, you know, I really do believe that things change by the way that you live your life every day. And so I wanted to facilitate those dialogues very specifically in hopes of, in a tiny, tiny way, yielding something different, something that's really, really truthfully about inspiration. And so for Niall, it was about the architecture. And I mean, if we go through all of the different artists, everyone took a different little thing away from the space, its history, its location, what they've been thinking about themselves as artists. I mean, it's really colorful and vibrant.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Annabelle, on June 4th, there's a special dance performance. What can you tell us about this Could Be youe?

[Annabelle Thompson]

Lisa and Lena are part of that first show with Niall, all guest curated by Teresa Buchheister. Their piece is shifting and it's really a works in progress along with Nyle. And we're really excited to kind of bring in that experimentation and improvisation to the space.

[Alison Stewart]

We are talking about Sugar Sugar happening this June at Domino park on the Williamsburg waterfront. Events are free. They'll run from June 4th through June 28th. My guests are co curators Annabelle Thompson and Elpitha Civiscos. Elpita. Juneteenth's gonna happen right in the middle of the festival. I understand. There's a special performance called the Revival. It is our duty. How does it celebrate Juneteenth?

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

I think this is a better one for Annabelle to answer because she's been working with Troy for a lot longer than I have.

[Alison Stewart]

Go for it, Annabelle.

[Annabelle Thompson]

Yes. My team had the privilege of working on this original commissioning of this piece and it's a joy to see it in its next phase. The Fire Ensemble is an intergenerational choir community centered around bipoc and queer folks who rehearse and workshop and perform large scale music and rituals rooted in predominantly black musical styles. And their work is really centered around the process and space of community that is built through gathering. So we're super excited to be presenting this piece in celebration of the Juneteenth holiday.

[Alison Stewart]

Who can I ask about the Horseshoe Crabs?

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

You can ask me.

[Annabelle Thompson]

All right.

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

But I also wanted to say quickly about Lisa and Lena. There's a very special surprise appearance of my almost 25 year old convertible PT Cruiser on the stage. So it's not to be missed, but we can talk about Eli Nixon and the Horseshoe Crabs. Eli Nixon's an incredible performer that does what they call suitcase theater. I was a part of the Devise Theater working group with them last year at the Public Theater and had the privilege of watching their piece develop and it was absolutely beautiful. Eli's work is something that I think you can be 4 years old or 60 years old to appreciate. It's visual. They work with all different types of costumes, but they also really lean into sort of digressions and dialogue. And they're able to tie in their environmentalism because Eli's an activist and is really into the environment and does really interesting site specific environmental work. And the way that they tie that into a sort of playfulness of like how ridiculous it is to be human, how small we are, but you know that we're still on this earth. And Eli loves to interact with the audience. They do this thing called nature drag, which is really about embodying nature, different characters from nature. Horseshoe crabs is one of them. And I mean, you're just going to laugh, but also be really deep in a sort of philosophical thought process of like the horseshoe crab is one of the oldest creatures that's still walking this earth. And they use the blood of the horseshoe crab for a lot of vaccines and pharmaceutical research. And so Eli kind of ties this prehistoric creature into modern times and kind of in a humble way of us being small, but them being so big in terms of the history of the earth. And then you laugh the whole time because Eli's just a clown.

[Alison Stewart]

Sugar Sugar is happening this June at Domino park on the Williamsburg waterfront. Events are free and they run from June 4 through June 28. Annabel and Elpita, thank you so much for joining us.

[Annabelle Thompson]

Thank you so much, Allison. We love wnyc.

[Elpitha Tsivikos]

Thanks, Alison.

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