<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>PERFORMANCE</div>Brian Rogers/The Chocolate Factory: <i>Hot Box</i><br>Friday & Saturday, February 15 + 16, 8 PM<br>EMPAC Studio 2<div>Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY<br>$18 general admission; $13 non-Rensselaer students, seniors, and Rensselaer faculty & staff; and $6 Rensselaer students<br><a href="http://empac.rpi.edu/events/2013/spring/hot-box">http://empac.rpi.edu/events/2013/spring/hot-box</a><br><br><div><img id="54011f1a-844d-48e0-89c5-7d0ecc1fe83a" height="155" width="320" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:B7F256A0-E046-4A5D-885F-53E276CAA38A@dynamic.rpi.edu"><br> </div><div><i>Hot Box</i> is loud, dark, foggy, sweaty, and very live.<br> <br></div><div><i>Hot Box</i> draws inspiration from a cinematic vocabulary—pans, zooms, cuts, etc.—while attempting to find a sustained stillness in an uncomfortable environment. Inspired by films like <i>Apocalypse Now</i> and <i>Fitzcarraldo</i>, a live performance situation is constructed that is violent and chaotic; and from that chaos, it attempts to compose a sequence of video images that are quiet, sustained, focused, and organized.<br> <br>Conceived, directed, and performed by Chocolate Factory artistic director Brian Rogers, <i>Hot Box</i> is a companion piece to his Bessie-nominated 2010 performance <i>Selective Memory</i>. Where <i>Selective Memory</i> was extremely clean and minimalist in its approach, <i>Hot Box</i> is noisy and messy.<br> <br>Brian Rogers is a director, video artist, co-founder, and artistic director of the Chocolate Factory Theater in Queens. Since 1997, Rogers has conceived and/or directed numerous large scale performances at the Chocolate Factory and elsewhere including <i>Hot Box</i> (2012, co-presented with FIAF’s Crossing the Line Festival), the Bessie-nominated <i>Selective Memor</i>y (2010/11), <i>(re)DEVELOP (death valley)</i> (2009), <i>2 Husbands</i> (2007), <i>Gun Play</i> (2006), <i>Audit</i> (2004), and <i>Fundamental</i> (2002). Rogers also curates the Chocolate Factory's visiting artist program. He has collaborated with Shaun Irons and Lauren Petty, Aynsley Vandenbroucke, Tara O'Con, and Jillian Sweeney, among others.<br> <br><i>Hot Box</i> was first presented at the Chocolate Factory in September 2012 as part of FIAF’s Crossing the Line Festival, and re-performed in January 2013 as part of PS122’s COIL Festival. Major production support is provided by The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional commissioning support is provided by NYSCA’s Individual Artists Program. Residency support is provided by Mount Tremper Arts.</div><div><br></div><div><div>+ The Chocolate Factory: <a href="http://www.chocolatefactorytheater.org/home.html">http://www.chocolatefactorytheater.org/home.html</a></div><div>+ Time Out interview with Brian Rogers + Madeline Best: <a href="http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/director-brian-rogers-and-dancer-madeline-best-talk-about-hot-box">http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/director-brian-rogers-and-dancer-madeline-best-talk-about-hot-box</a></div> <br>Tickets are $18 general admission; $13 non-Rensselaer students, seniors, and Rensselaer faculty + staff; and $6 Rensselaer students (must provide ID for discounted tickets).<br> <br><i>Evelyn’s Café will open at 7 PM with a full menu of meals, snacks, and beverages as well as a selection of wines. Service continues after the performance. Parking is available in the Rensselaer parking lot on College Avenue.</i><div><br></div><div><div>More information can be found on the EMPAC website: <a href="http://empac.rpi.edu/">empac.rpi.edu</a>. Questions? Call the EMPAC Box Office: 518.276.3921.</div><div><br></div><div><div><div><div><i>EMPAC 2012-2013 presentations, residencies, and commissions are made possible by continuous support from the Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts. Additional project support by the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the New York State Council for the Arts; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Council Norway, Fond for Lyd og Bilde, and Fond for Utøvende Kunstner.</i></div></div></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>---</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; "><div><div>The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)<br>Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute<br>110 8th Street<br>Troy, NY, USA 12180</div></div><div><i><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; "><div>518.276.3921</div></div></i></div><div><a href="http://empac.rpi.edu">http://empac.rpi.edu</a></div></div></i></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>