WPA Virtual Commissions: "STORM" by Sara Mearns, Joshua Bergasse, Zoe Sarnak, and Margo Seibert

"We created this piece in April at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, as we tried to make sense of what our communities were going through. We created this piece to inspire hope. So much has happened since then. We stand in solidarity with the protests against racial injustice in our country. They inspire profound hope and we hope, change."
Joshua Bergasse, Sara Mearns, Zoe Sarnak, and Margo Seibert
"STORM"
Co-presented by Barrington Stage Company, Broadway Dance Center, Kaatsbaan | cultural park for dance, The Kennedy Center, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Jerome Robbins Dance Division at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Spoleto Festival USA, Society for the Performing Arts, and Works & Process at the Guggenheim
Performed by Sara Mearns
Choreographed by Joshua Bergasse
"The Storm Will Pass Soon Now" - Music and Lyrics by Zoe Sarnak
Vocals by Margo Seibert
Piano by Zoe Sarnak
Filmed by Joshua Bergasse
Edited by Lee Cherry
Artist Statement: Joshua Bergasse
"For me this was all about dichotomy; I was feeling so many opposing emotions. Sometimes debilitatingly negative, and then extraordinarily positive and powerful. That’s where the movement came from. And I wanted to capture Sara’s state of being against Zoe's song of hope."
Artist Statement: Sara Mearns
"We filmed this at the height of the pandemic in New York City, every morning we would wake up to the numbers rising. At that point, I felt lost & questioning what my role or contribution was to society, I felt helpless. I felt my being was crying out, this song and the choreography allowed me to express the pain I was in."
Artist Statement: Zoe Sarnak
"Writing music is a way for me to take an ache that I feel and turn it into some piece of hope. Like so many artists, I find myself trying to make meaning of this moment of confusion, pain, and loss. I hope that this song can provide the kind of strength and solace to viewers that working with Margo, Josh, and Sara has provided to me."
"STORM" will be entered into the collection of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts representing art created during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Works & Process Artist (WPA) Virtual Commissions
To financially support artists and nurture their creative process during these challenging times, Works & Process at the Guggenheim will grant over $150,000 for artists to create new works while observing social distancing guidelines. New works posted every Sunday and Monday at 7:30pm. Please consider a donation. Every dollar you give will go directly to the artists.
DONATE - www.paypal.com...
WPA Virtual Commissions has been supported by Stuart Coleman, Antonio Convit and Tim McGraw, Lucy Dobrin, Adam Flatto, Bart Friedman, Bond Koga, Jayne Lipman, Cynthia Hazen Polsky, Stephen Kroll Reidy, Denise Saul, Annalyn Swan, Shelby White and many others. Virtual video design supported by Anupam and Rajika Puri. New music for dance supported by The Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation.
Lead funding for Works & Process is provided by the Ford Foundation, Christian Humann Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Evelyn Sharp Foundation, with public funds from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Works & Process has received support from U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program and NYC Employee Retention Grant Program.
Works & Process at the Guggenheim
Described by The New York Times as “an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process,” for 35 years, New Yorkers have been able to see, hear, and meet the most acclaimed artists in the world, in an intimate setting unlike any other. Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to generations of leading creators and performers. Most performances take place in the Guggenheim’s intimate Frank Lloyd Wright-designed 273-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. In 2017, Works & Process established a new residency and commissioning program, inviting artists to create new works, made in and for the iconic Guggenheim rotunda. In 2020, Works & Process Artists (WPA) Virtual Commissions was created to financially support artists and nurture their creative process during the pandemic. worksandprocess.org.

[@tamalastumon9293]

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾OMG….. my HEART…..this is so sooo beautiful! Thank y’all 🙏🏾 for blessing us with your exquisite artistry…!

[@ellenfleysher9737]

Just gorgeous. Thank you W&P.

[@AnikaGuptaDigital]

there's something really beautiful and also really devastating about watching sara's extraordinary dance (which ordinarily i would have paid to watch on stage!) through this narrow window of youtube, and in the confined space of her apartment (those dramatic black bars on the window only emphasize the limited contours of the space in a glorious way). it really brings home to me how our world has narrowed since the pandemic began, and how much more of a struggle it is to find beauty in it sometimes. i also couldn't decide which i liked more - the dancing or the song! both are remarkable on their own, and something else when put together. thanks for creating this!

[@pablozitofontan9428]

So so beautiful! Thanks!!

[@EhlieLuna]

Beautiful!

[@brigittesieger8402]

Beautifully simple and yet complex. Thank you.

[@BJORNHANTOFT]

So beautifull both the dance and the place. Thank you

[@JustinWoo]

Absolutely love this. Thank you.

[@bonniemaslin2038]

Art heals. Thank you. Beautiful.

[@pamelayoung621]

what a stunning piece. thank you!

[@cathiianno5121]

This is incredibly beautiful. Thank you for this.

[@bartfriedmanongmail.9826]

Impressive and meaningful.