Open Call: Niall Jones

JUL 21 – 23, 2022
A performance event that moves through audience and site to address the demands of visibility

About this commission

a n
u n r e a l    theater draped in techno and light

a n
u n r e a l    place for the disruptive unfolding of relations; a solicitous linger somewhere between performance and non-performance that explores virtuosic f( r )ictions, ephemeral ensembles, and shifting proximities

a n
u n r e a l    remains forever in transition

About the Artist and Performers

A black-and-white photo of the artist Niall Jones. The photo is a close-up on Niall's face that cuts off the left side of his face. The background is blurry but dappled with light.
Photo: Miles Yeung-Tieu.
Niall Jones
Niall Jones
Niall Noel Jones is an artist working and living in New York City. Jones constructs, inhabits, and explores the theater as a mode and location of instabilities. Working through an ongoing fascination with labor, temporality, and fantasy, Jones creates immersive, liminal sites for practicing incompleteness and refusal. Jones received a Bessie Award nomination for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer in 2017 and, more recently, a 2021 Grants-To-Artists Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Art. Recent works include: A Work for Others at The Kitchen OnScreen (2021); Fantasies in Low Fade at The Chocolate Factory, New York (2019); Sis Minor: The Preliminary Studies at Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, Germany (2018); Sis Minor, in Fall at Abrons Arts Center, New York (2018); and Splendor #3 at Gibney Dance, New York (2017). Jones received a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He teaches at the University of the Arts School of Dance in Philadelphia, where he is also producer and co-curator of The School for Temporary Liveness (Vol. 1 & 2).
Aleeza Garcia
Performer
Aleeza Garcia (they/she) is a Chicanx, Mexican-American, Tejana dance and performance artist from Fort Worth, Texas. Aleeza’s formal training started at Arlington Heights High School Gold Seal Dance Program under the direction of Rachel Wade. In 2022, they received their BFA in dance from the University of the Arts, graduating with magna cum laude honors. Throughout their education they have performed works by Tommie-Waheed Evans and Katie Swords Thurman, Jesse Zaritt and Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Sidra Bell, Marguerite Hemmings, Da'Von Doane, Helen Simoneau, Fana Fraser, Mark Haim, and Niall Jones. She has also attended training programs with Sidra Bell Dance New York WINTER|MODULE22 as a research artist participant and at the Centre national de la danse CAMPING 2022 festival.
Jesse Zaritt
Performer
Jesse Zaritt’s work engages drawing as dancing—a visual and physical practice linked to dreaming, drafting, and materializing futures. His choreographic, performance, and teaching practices research the ways in which excessive, contemplative, and resistive dance practices change how movement arises in the world and how dancing participates in processes of social transformation. A series of solo works made between 2008 and 2022 interrogate attachments to Jewish ritual and community, seeking to queer dominant paradigms of familial/national belonging, religion, gender, and sexuality. Zaritt is an associate professor at the University of the Arts (PA) and currently works in creative dialogue with Sara Shelton Mann.

Shed Production Team

Itohan Edoloyi, Lighting Design Coordinator
DJ Potts, Audio Design Coordinator
You-Shin Chen, Scenic Design Coordinator
Josh Galitzer, Head Carpenter
Maytté Martinez and Stuart Burgess, Head Electricians
Seth Haling, Head Audio
Micah Zucker, Head Video
Caren Celine Morris, Stage Coordinator

Accessibility

Seating

Each performance includes accessible seating. Please let our ushers know if you are staying in a wheelchair for a performance or using a theater seat.

Assistive Listening

Assistive listening is available at The Shed via the free Listen Everywhere app on your personal device. To find directions on how to download the app, visit the Accessibility page.

Devices are available for you to borrow at the ticketing desk if you do not want to use your own smartphone.

The Shed offers free Wi-Fi to facilitate your use of Listen Everywhere. Connect to the network TheShedFreeWiFi.

Audio Description

Audio description will be available via the free Listen Everywhere app.

Purchasing Tickets

The Shed’s online ticketing system includes the option to submit accommodation requests beyond the access points detailed here.

Contact Us

For questions or other requests, visit the Accessibility page, email accessibility@theshed.org, or call (646) 455-3494.

Details

  • Running time: 1 hour, no intermission
  • This production includes moments with haze and strobe effects.
  • This performance includes mature language and partial nudity.

Location

This event takes place in Level 4 Overlook.

What to Expect

Arriving at The Shed

Welcome!

Thank you for planning a visit to The Shed. We’re looking forward to welcoming you for Open Call. You are welcome to enter the building through one of three different entrances. These are located off of The Shed’s Plaza, at 545 West 30th Street, or on the Hudson Yards Public Square.

Arriving by Public Transportation

The closest accessible subway station is the 34 St–Hudson Yards/7 train station. It’s the final stop on the 7 subway line in Manhattan arriving from the east side and Queens.

The bus lines with stops closest to The Shed include the M11 along 10th Avenue, the M12 along 11th Avenue, and the M34 SBS, which provides select bus service to Hudson Yards along 34th Street.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority operates the Access-A-Ride program as a service for people with disabilities. Please visit the MTA’s Access-A-Ride webpage for more information.

Arriving by Car

This entrance provides an accessible passenger loading zone allowing for automobile pick-up and drop-off access to the building.

There are two parking garages in close proximity to The Shed on West 30th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. One is on the north side of the block, beneath Hudson Yards. An additional garage is located across the street from The Shed at 552 West 30th Street.

Tickets

Tickets to Open Call will be checked by a staff member at the entrance to the theater or performance space, once you are inside. You should have received your tickets in an email. You can find them by searching for the address tickets@theshed.org.

Masks and Vaccination

Currently, visitors must wear a properly fitting mask covering their nose and mouth at all times while in The Shed, except when dining or drinking at Cedric’s, a bar in the lobby. Please noteL proof of vaccination is required for Yo-Yo Lin’s performances (July 8 – 9) and Kinetic Light’s performances (August 25 – 27).

Additional Information

For additional information about accessibility at The Shed, visit our Accessibility page. For any additional access needs or requests, please email accessibility@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494.

Entering Through The Plaza

Outside The Shed

The Plaza is adjacent to the High Line, on the same level as the Hudson Yards Public Square and the 34 St–Hudson Yards/7 train subway station, which is serviced by an elevator.

On Friday and Saturday evenings from 5 pm to sunset, The Shed’s Plaza will be lively, with visitors enjoying DJs, dance, and music performances outside. There will be wooden structures covered in soft, recycled rubber that you can sit or lounge on to rest or enjoy the evening.

Entering the Building

The Plaza entrance at the southwest corner of the building is staffed by a friendly member of our Visitor Experience team who will greet you. They’ll be wearing a black t-shirt and ID badge on a purple lanyard. At this entrance, there are two glass doors that open outward. The floor inside the building is level with The Plaza as you enter.

Escalators and Elevators

Once inside, the building feels airy with high ceilings and large windows along the escalator bank a short distance down the hall from the entrance. Immediately on your left after entering will be an elevator if you would prefer to ride it to Level 4 for The Overlook or to Level 6 for The Griffin Theater. The escalators and elevators both open onto the hallway on each level where you will find the entrances to the performance spaces.

Restrooms

There are restrooms on the floor below in the lobby and on the floors above. The closest accessible and all gender restrooms are on Level 4, up one level.

Entering Through the Hudson Yards Public Square Entrance

Outside The Shed

This entrance is located along Hudson Yards Boulevard. The entrance is marked with The Shed’s name above it in white letters.

Entering the Building

This entrance is equipped with a push button to open the door, with a friendly staff member to greet you as you enter the building. They’ll be wearing a black t-shirt and ID badge on a purple lanyard.

Restrooms

From the entrance doorway, continue straight ahead, past the video screens and staircase , and then turn left. Down a short hallway you will find three restrooms: one with stalls, one with stalls and urinals, and a private, all gender restroom.

Elevator

The staircase leads down into the main 30th Street Lobby. Behind the staircase to the right is an elevator that you can use to reach the lobby or to go up to Level 2 (Gallery), 4 (The Overlook), or 6 (The Griffin Theater).

Open Call performances take place in either the Level 4 Overlook or The Griffin Theater on Level 6.

Entering Through The 30th Street Lobby

Entering

The 30th Street Lobby entrance, between 10th and 11th Avenues, is on the street level beneath the Plaza level (beneath the High Line on West 30th Street). The 30th Street Lobby entrance is equipped with a push button to open the door, with a friendly staff member to greet you as you enter the building. They’ll be wearing a black t-shirt and ID badge on a purple lanyard.

The Bar

Before a performance, the Lobby may be lively. Cedric’s, a bar, is located in the lobby. Friends and visitors may be sharing drinks and snacks while music plays on overhead speakers. When less crowded, Cedric’s offers a calm, cool spot to sit and relax before or after a performance.

Escalators and Elevators

At the back of the lobby, you will find the escalator and elevators to the upper floors. The escalator is directly across from the main lobby doors, behind a transparent glass wall. Two elevators are located at either back corner of the Lobby, on the same wall as the escalator. One to the left and one to the right. The escalators and elevators both take you up to the main hallway on each level where you will find the entrances to the performance spaces.

Open Call performances take place in either the Level 4 Overlook or The Griffin Theater on Level 6.

Restrooms

Accessible restrooms are located in the back corner of the lobby, behind the escalators and adjacent to the bar. These restrooms include one with stalls and one with stalls and urinals. The nearest private, all gender restroom is located on Level 4.

Entering The Overlook

Once you’re on Level 4, a staff member will be standing outside the performance space to greet you and check tickets. If you have any questions, there will be a solution station with another staff member to help you.

Once inside The Overlook performance space, seating for performances is general admission, and will vary per production. If you would like help in finding a seat, a staff member at the entrance can guide you. If ASL interpretation is available the day of your performance, a staff member will be available to direct you to a reserved section of seats close to the interpreter.

The nearest restrooms are located on this floor, to your right as you exit The Overlook. Follow the hallway away from the escalators on the other side of the floor. You will find one restroom with stalls and one with stalls and urinals, as well as a private, all gender restroom.

This Production

Seating

As you enter The Overlook, the performance space is empty except for an arrangement of theater equipment: a pair of l black speakers and vertical pipes placed throughout the room. As part of the audience, you are free to move around the space. If you would like to sit, there are benches available, and wheelchair users are welcome to move anywhere in the space.

During the Performance

During the performance, three performers move in various other ways throughout the space. The movements, seemingly improvisatory, range from subtle and elusive to virtuosic and boisterous. There will likely be noises similar to speaking, laughing, shouting, and singing. At other moments, music will play throughout the space, some with heavy bass or techno music like you would hear in a nightclub.

The projector throws a video against the walls, and light filters in through the floor-to-ceiling windows along one side of the room. At one point, a performer will turn on a machine producing a haze effect in the space. The production also includes moments with strobe lighting effects.

For any additional access needs or requests, please email accessibility@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494.

In The Works
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ONGOING
New art for New York

Thank you to our partners

The Lead Sponsor of Open Call is
Support for Open Call is generously provided by

Additional support for Open Call is provided by Warner Bros. Discovery 150, The Wescustogo Foundation, and Jody and John Arnhold | Arnhold Foundation.

The creation of new work at The Shed is generously supported by the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Commissioning Fund and the Shed Commissioners. Major support for live productions at The Shed is provided by the Charina Endowment Fund, with additional support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.