Warlé: A Multimedia Event Exploring LGBTQ+ Caregiving and Community
Program Notes
September 7, 2024
Presented By: Epsilon Spires and Valley Village
Co-hosted by Friends of Argentine Tango and Queer Council of Brattleboro
Concept, Story, and Production: Andrew Ingall
Choreography: Walter Perez
Dance: Mariana Parma, Walter Perez, Leonardo Sardella
Costume Design: Ethan Gekow
Production Stage Manager: Rishauna Zumberg
Wardrobe Supervisor: Sloan Wyse
A/V: Tobin Bartolo
Andrew Ingall has been working in arts, culture, and community engagement for over twenty years as a curator, scholar, writer, performer, and producer. His collaborators have included cultural workers, artists, scholars, faith leaders, activists, health care professionals, and funeral directors. With Reimagine and SAGE, Andy organized a panel discussion on housing initiatives for LGBTQ+ older adults and other series on aging and caregiving.. He is an Associated Artist at Culture Push, a 2022 Fellow at LABA New York, and a 2024 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council grantee, supported by Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone. https://www.pandamonium.work
Ethan Gekow is an artist and designer based in NYC. Drawn towards the human form, organic colors/ textures, and sexual fantasy, his body-based approach to design focuses on clothing that equips the wearer with mobility and sensuality. Graduating from Parsons School of Design, with a focus in men's intimate wear and activewear, Ethan aims to further explore the dissolve between sexuality, movement, and clothing. He currently works on a made-to-order system, creating one of a kind pieces. https://ethangekow.cargo.site/
Mariana Parma is a multi-hyphenated artist, based in New York City. Raised in New Jersey by her Uruguayan parents, she’s a Jersey Girl at heart with strong ties to her South American roots. As a dancer/choreographer/instructor, her experience in the realm of Argentine tango is vast. She spins in her stilettos seamlessly between TV/Film, Broadway, and commercials nationally and internationally. She has coached Chita Rivera, Tommy Tune, and internationally acclaimed Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan in Argentine Tango. Mariana's latest endeavor is her first short film, “El Montage", which she wrote, produced, and starred in. It premiered in 15 film festivals in the US and abroad, along with receiving Best Narrative, Best Original Music, Best Direction, and Best Choreography. www.marianaparma.com
Walter Perez was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was introduced to Argentine tango in 1993, and trained with many renowned Argentine Tango masters. He has appeared as a featured dancer in many tango productions in Buenos Aires, New York and around the world, on stage and in television. In 2011 Walter formed the Malevaje Dance Company with Leonardo Sardella. Walter co-founded the annual New York Queer Tango Weekend with Leonardo Sardella, the next one taking place October 26-29, 2023. For all things Walter Perez visit: www.nymaletango.com
Leonardo Sardella was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He began studying tango and other dance at the Conservatorio Nacional de Danza at the age of eight. Leo went on to study with many tango maestros. Leo has been a leading or featured dancer in tango shows presented in prestigious theaters in Buenos Aires and around the world. In recent years, he has toured, taught and performed in the United States and Europe. With Walter Perez, Leo co-founded Malevaje Dance Company, Atlantic Tango, The New York Queer Tango Weekend, and Friends of Argentine Tango. Leo and Walter are highly regarded teachers and performers, known for their seamless exchanges of lead and follow, creativity and musicality. For all things Leonardo Sardella visit: www.nymaletango.com
Epsilon Spires
Located in a renovated historic cathedral in the heart of downtown Brattleboro, Epsilon Spires provides opportunities to engage in creative experimentation and critical thinking through innovative performances, art exhibits, film screenings, panel discussions, and educational workshops. We offer our community a safe environment for civil discourse by addressing current topics through the integration of diverse forms of expression on multimedia platforms. Our name combines a reference to the iconic architectural structure of our building with the greek letter epsilon, which when applied in physics can be understood as "pushing the envelope."
https://www.epsilonspires.org/
Valley Village
Valley Village is a Vermont nonprofit that provides affordable community housing, care, and compassion to residents who want to age in place with others.
Friends of Argentine Tango
Friends of Argentine Tango (FoAT) was created in 2013 to promote and bring the positive benefits of dancing Tango and other Latin Social Dances to people who might otherwise never try it. We are introducing dancing to seniors, children, people coping with chronic conditions (Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s) and disabilities. We believe that our programs and performances promote inclusion and diversity, teaches social etiquette a creative outlet for the disenfranchised, physical and emotional therapy, and an opportunity to experience a sense of community. FoAT offers free Latin Dance classes to older adults at the Y and other community centers across New York City.
https://www.friendsofargentinetango.org/
Warlé
Using archival documents, photography, original artifacts, dance, and creative nonfiction, Warlé conjures the lives of long-lost gay relatives who were partners in life and business for 58 years.The goal is twofold: to encourage others to explore their queer ancestry and to generate conversations about how we care for LGBTQ+ elders and refugees today. Warren Kronemeyer and Leon Ingall co-founded Warlé, a small business on Manhattan's Upper East Side specializing in antiques, contemporary objects, art framing, restoration, and interior decoration. Leon was a Jewish refugee and fashion designer who fled Bolshevik Russia, relocated to Weimar Berlin, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1940; Warren was a writer, journalist, antiques dealer, and an operative of the WWII-era U.S. Office of Strategic Services. After several decades together in New York, they left the city in 1980 and relocated to Townshend, Vermont and became beloved citizens of this rural community. The people of Townshend took good care of them at the end of their lives; they were, in the words of Armistead Maupin, “logical” family. The work of Warlé is to repair broken branches in our family trees, to graft new ones, and to think expansively about kinship and caregiving.
Music Credits
Tango Jalousie, 1938. Jacob Gade. Performed by the Peter Kreuder Orchestra.
Letter from Magadan, 2009. Vadim Kozin. Performed by Marc Almond
Letter from Magadan, 2009. Vadim Kozin. Performed by Marc Almond.
When Youth Becomes a Memory, 2009. Vadim Kozin. Performed by Marc Almond.
Friendship, 2009. Vadim Kozin. Performed by Marc Almond.
Resources
National Resource Center on LGBT Aging
Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital
Acknowledgments
JoAnne Blanchard, Valley Village; BCTV; Double Edge Theatre; Roshe Hebert; Scott Heller & Dave King, Frog Meadow; Starr Latronica, Brooks Memorial Library; Jamie Mohr, Epsilon Spires; Aaron Naparstek & Joanne Nerenberg; New England Youth Theatre; Andrea Seaton, Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital; Elsie Smith, New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA); Serenity Smith.
Warlé is supported in part by the Vermont Humanities, Vermont Community Foundation, The Windham Foundation, Arts Council of Windham County/Brattleboro Town Arts Fund, Valley Village, Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital, and individual donors.
Warlé is a fiscally-sponsored project of Out in the Open.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Vermont Humanities.