Have any questions?
(614) 292-3535
Contact Us
Past Performing Arts | Interdisciplinary
Virtual | Columbus Premiere | Wex Commissioned Project
Free for all audiences
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.
This digital dance/theater duet between two consummate performers—Paul Lazar and Bebe Miller—incorporates text by Wexner Prize–winner John Cage.
Cage Shuffle was originally a 50-minute dance/theater solo by actor, writer, and Big Dance Theater cofounder Paul Lazar that premiered at the American Realness festival in New York City in 2017 and continues to tour nationally and internationally.
For this presentation reconceived in the era of COVID-19, Lazar teams up with renowned choreographer, dancer, and Ohio State Distinguished Professor Bebe Miller and media artist Eamonn Farrell to present a series of one-minute stories written by musician John Cage while simultaneously dancing a complex choreographic score by Lazar, Miller, and Annie-B Parson, artistic director of Big Dance Theater.
Mixing multiple images of the dance to the speaking of Cage’s playfully philosophical text, the live event will be a cinematic adventure that continually forms and reforms in accordance with Cage’s signature chance techniques—a philosophy and methodology that seems especially relevant today. In a moment of multiple crises, when we are physically isolated yet virtually omnipresent, Cage Shuffle: A Digital Duet employs chance, live performance, and technology to create a piece that speaks to our current complicated and contradictory moment.
Conceived and Directed by Paul Lazar Performed by Bebe Miller and Paul Lazar Choreography by Annie-B Parson, Bebe Miller, and Paul Lazar Directorial consultant: Annie-B Parson Video Design by Eamonn Farrell Lighting Design by Sonia Baidya Sound by Stephen Trefnoff Costumes by Eamonn Farrell, Bebe Miller, and Annie-B Parson Streaming Technician: Stephen Jones Stage Management by Ilana Khanin Production Management by Andrew Hensler and John Smith Produced by Sara Pereira da Silva Tour Representation and Production: ArKtype/Thomas O. Kriegsmann Associate Producer, Performing Arts: Adam Elliott Director, Performing Arts: Lane Czaplinski
Commissioned by the Wexner Arts Center for the Arts
INDETERMINACY by John Cage © 2009 by Henmar Press Inc. Reprinted by agreement with Wesleyan University Press and John Cage Trust. All rights reserved. Used by permission of C.F. Peters Corporation.
“Gay Guerrilla,” composed by Julius Eastman, published by Music Sales Corp. (ASCAP) o/b/o Itself and Eastman Music Publishing Company (ASCAP)
Acknowledgments: Thank you to Craig T. Peterson at Abrons Arts Center for his continuous support of Big Dance Theater, to the Wooster Group who kindly made their space available for rehearsals, and Annie-B Parson for her valuable choreographic and directorial input.
Bebe Miller and Paul Lazar in Cage Shuffle, photo: Annie-B Parson
Bebe Miller and Paul Lazar in Cage Shuffle | Photo by Annie-B Parson
MADE POSSIBLE BY Greater Columbus Arts Council American Electric Power Foundation The Columbus Foundation Ohio Arts Council Institute of Museum and Library Services Huntington Bank Nationwide Foundation
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams Kaufman Development Cardinal Health Foundation
Past Performing Arts
Big Dance Theater
