David Byrne Brings Color Guard to Barclay’s Center
If you remember those snooze-worthy days in high school where you watched pep-rallies in the gym, you most likely recall your school’s color guard–the team that came on after the cheerleaders to wave flags to a little music and even less fanfare. Well, according to David Byrne, there’s much more to the choreographed, flag waving displays of color guard than what you see in your overzealous high school assemblies.
That’s why Byrne is producing Contemporary Color, an event that will bring color guard theatrics to what he sees as their deserving place in our discussions of art, music, and dance.
“They are, in my way of looking at them, a sophisticated folk art form that flies under the official cultural radar. They never get reviewed in the culture pages of the papers and most New Yorkers, I would wager, have never even heard or seen them,” Byrne writes on Contemporary Color’s website.
Byrne’s event will blend the work of ten composers, all of whom have never scored a color guard performance, with the dance moves of ten color guard teams, in what Byrne says will involve “elaborate costumes, professional athleticism combined with modern dance, and rock stars in their element.” He contends that this will be “the biggest glitter cannon show of your life.”
All of the teams are from the East Coast or Canada, but the various participating composers run a pretty wide gamut–the likes of Nelly Furtado, Zola Jesus, Money Mark and Ad Rock should provide a pretty pulsing soundtrack for the color guard teams.
You can buy tickets to the Barclay’s Center performances on June 27th and June 28th here.
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