The Clothesline Muse
Fri-Sun March 14-16 |8 pm, Sun March 16 | 3pm
$25 in advance/$30 day of show | Members: $18.75/$22.50

The Friday, March 14th 8pm show is SOLD OUT. We will begin a waiting list one hour before the show, in person only.

Before we were online, there was the clothesline…

The Clothesline Muse is a multi-discipline project that explores the clothesline as a metaphor of our community lifeline and it’s ties to our environment. Between old-school and new cool, a grandmother and granddaughter engage by unfolding stories from the “line.” The performance includes dance, percussive music, spoken word, interview text, video and interactive art. The cast includes 6 dancers and jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon as “The Muse.” We will honor our ancestors by transforming the task of washing clothes by hand into beautiful imagery, dance and song.

Maya Freelon Asante will use still and moving projections as reflections of the history and future of the clothesline. Her colorful tissue paper art will hang on the clothesline, alluding to laundry drying in the sun. Kariamu Welsh’s choreographed movements are inspired by hand washing, drying, folding and ironing. When detached from their original roles of domestic work, the motions of washing, pressing and wringing take on a new empowered significance. Our composer, Nnenna Freelon, is inspired by the soundscape of washing clothes in an outdoor environment and work song.

The Clothesline Muse was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.