FREE ALL NIGHT LONG

FREE ALL NIGHT LONG is a choreographic and sonic commentary on the endurance required to survive as the exhaustion of constant demand marks the fleeting moments of release that punctuate our lives. Through rigor and pushing themselves to their limits in real time on stage, Lena Kira Martin, Mandolin Noelani Burns, and Celeste Olivier question the chaos of contradictions in self-commodification, fighting vs. resting and connection vs. dejection. With blends of performance, dance, and deconstructed live soundscapes – they ultimately ask the audience to consider what it means to persist, to belong, and to find catharsis in a world that constantly demands more.

The title, FREE ALL NIGHT LONG , satirizes the chronic mass marketing which promises salvation through belonging. Nothing is free all night long and no one is free all night long and we are too tired to do anything or be anywhere, all night long. Created/Performed by Martin, Burns, and Olivier.

THE ARTISTS:

Lena Martin (she/her)

CRAWLSPACE LA

lena.kira.martin@gmail.com

https://www.instagram.com/1enamartin/?hl=en

Lena Martin is an Arkansas born, LA based, German-American multidisciplinary artist & performer with a focus in choreography and improvisation. She also is an amateur guitar player and likes to sing. Her research explores memory, erotics, community care, and site-specfic performance. Lena is a CalArts Dance graduate and co-founder of CRAWLSPACE LA, a venue for experimental performance & community events. Her work has been supported by numerous residencies and festivals including Ghostlight Residency (LA), Le Centre National De La Danse (Paris), and Mudhouse Residency (Greece). The work she is most proud of is a guerrilla show she self produced that took place in an elevator and moved through multiple floors. More recently she presented an evening length show at Highways Performance Space titled “LOVERS PIECE” made in collaboration with the love of her life (Mandolin Burns), was a featured artist in the artist run WIP series, and was a featured performer in Kensaku Shinohara’s piece, tired music concert in the 2024 NOW Festival. She’s really into being cheeky and making people laugh. She’s also a little hick and is most happy when in a river.

@1enamartin

Mandolin Noelani Burns (they/them)

CRAWLSPACE LA

mandolinoelani@gmail.com

https://www.instagram.com/mandolinoelani/?hl=en

Mandolin Noelani Burns is an LA based, multidisciplinary artist & performer working across Dance & Film. Her work utilizes improvisation and virtuosic phrasework as a tool to score performance. Drawing inspiration from the physical feats of wrestling and rave culture, coupled with a practice that centers desire and care– she explores how endurance, risk, and intimacy can shape the body in states of heightened attention.

Mandolin is a CalArts graduate, and co-founder of experimental performance venue CRAWLSPACE LA. She has trained and performed globally, at venues such as LA Dance Project, Le Centre National de la Danse, New York Live Arts' Live Artery festival, the 2023 NOW Festival as a dancer for Tuxien Benet.

Mandolin presented an evening length collaborative show at Highways Performance Space titled “LOVERS PIECE”, and was a featured artist in the artist run WIP series. She performed in the world premiere of “tell the truth and shame the devil” with dance company zoe | juniper in collaboration with the band Xiu Xiu. Most recently she Choreographed & performed in Greece as part of a collaborative work created during the MUDHOUSE Residency, she then went on to dance for Volta Collective

Celeste Olivier (she/they)

CRAWLSPACE LA

https://www.instagram.com/johnnykingjohn.tooth/?hl=en

Celeste Olivier is a multidisciplinary experimental artist, organizer and performer focused on texture, catharsis, connection. Her work is based in improvisational practices, sometimes serious (sometimes silly), aims always to grapple with the secret tenders of collective emotional, mental and physical landscapes. She is the TD and co-curator at CRAWLSPACE.