Uptown/Downtown Series: Memoirs of the Sistahood: Chapter 1

From the Contemporary Arts Center:

Using dance, sculpture, original music and film, Memoirs of the Sistahood is a unique multimedia performance featuring the works of sisters Babette Beaullieu, a New Orleans-based sculptor, and Becky Beaullieu Valls, a performer/choreographer in Houston. Focusing on female archetypes and the six Beaullieu sisters (Beth, Becky, Babette, Bonnie, Bitsy, and Barbara), they build themes about women, family, home and religion, while drawing inspiration from their large Catholic family in South Louisiana.
The springboard for Memoirs includes sculptures from Babette's Trinity III (1998) exhibition at d.o.c.s. Gallery (New Orleans), as well as Becky's choreographic work, White Bird, which premiered in 2004 at the University of Houston, where she is an Assistant Professor of Dance. Because the two works shared a common image of females housed in closed structures, Babette created additional life-sized alter boxes constructed from wood, windows, doors and other recycled materials that she salvaged from the streets of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. The sculptures or "spiritual totems of each sister," appear onstage to house the dance performers and are exhibited after the performance for audience viewing.
From sisterhood to the matriarchs of their ancestry, from the collective unconscious (Catholic tribe) to the female archetypes (i.e. princess, martyr, victim, queen) of 1950s Louisiana, the Beaullieu sisters provide a work of visual storytelling that is equally entertaining, provocative, disturbing and heartfelt.

Also featuring original music composed by opera singer Misha Penton (Houston Grand Opera, Opera Vista, Lone Star Lyric Festival, Houston) and video clips by filmmaker Deborah Schildt (Boodog: How to Roast a Mongolian Marmot).

Tickets: $20 gen.; $18 students, seniors; $15 CAC members
To purchase advance tickets: visit the CAC (900 Camp St.) from 11am-4pm; or call the CAC Box Office at 504-528-3800. On day of show, tickets can also be purchased in person from 11 a.m. to one-half hour after curtain.