BODHISATTVA BEER RUN

Cannonball Festival / Philly Fringe
September 14-21, 2024
Icebox Project Space — Philadelphia, PA
NY Premiere
June 20-21, 2024
PAGEANT — Brooklyn, NY

Choreography and performance by evan ray suzuki and Glenn Potter-Takata
Projection and sound design by Glenn Potter-Takata
Projection videography, lighting, and costume design by evan ray suzuki
On-screen appearances by Tei Blow and Joe Masterman

Bodhisattva Beer Run was made possible with the support of the Bronx Dance Fund, a regrant program administered by the Bronx Council on the Arts.

Bodhisattva Beer Run is an evening-length dance work that contemplates the commodification of Buddhism and the performance of gender in the context of an Asian-American multi-generational culture transition. Building on evan and Glenn’s body of work as butoh dance-makers and their interest in Shingon Buddhism, the piece conflates the iterative nature of binge drinking and the mind-altering aspects of drunken euphoria with esoteric Buddhist practices like mantra recitation and mandala envisionment as a form of unfulfilled diasporic meaning-making. Bodhisattva Beer Run is loosely based on Glenn and evan’s experiences growing up in Asian-American enclaves on the West Coast, and uses home video reenactments, audio and projection feedback loops, and beer-fueled butoh as a form of almost autobiography. Through a sometimes irresponsible use of source material, Bodhisattva Beer Run underscores the parallels between Asian-American identity and the strangeness of the American absorption of Buddhism into the greater cultural conversation.

photos by Elyse Mertz and Ashley Smith/Wide Eyed Studios

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