Roxbury Arts Group, 5025 Vega Mountain Road, is proud to welcome Loco7 Dance Puppet Theatre for a three-week artist residency at the Roxbury Arts Center. Founded in 1985 by Colombian-born artist Federico Restrepo, Loco7 is one of New York City’s most celebrated interdisciplinary companies blending dance, puppetry, live music, acrobatics, and visual art into performances that challenge, delight, and move audiences of all ages. The company has premiered more than two dozen original works at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City and toured throughout the world.
From July 6 through 26, Loco7’s creative team will be in residence at the Roxbury Arts Center, developing new choreographic material, puppetry sequences, and musical landscapes for their new work-in-progress, Cause and Effect, an ambitious interdisciplinary performance exploring the deep connections between humans, animals, and the environment.
The residency includes three free public appearances:
• Porchfest Music + Arts Festival Saturday, July 18 from 2–6 p.m. Veterans Park, Stamford. The Loco7 company will join participants of the Kids Large Puppet Workshop with Anne Gohorel in launching this year’s Porchfest with a puppet procession in Veterans Park. Throughout the afternoon they will offer playful, imaginative, and visually stunning performances for all ages.
• Pakatakan Farmers Market Saturday, July 25, 10–1 a.m. Round Barn, Halcottsville. Catch short pop-up performances with the company’s new garden veggie puppets amid the Saturday morning bustle of one of Delaware County’s most beloved farmer’s markets.
• Cause and Effect — free preview performance Saturday, July 25, 2–4 p.m. at Hilt Kelly Hall, Roxbury Arts Center, Roxbury. The culminating event of the residency: a free preview performance of Cause and Effect in the intimate setting of Hilt Kelly Hall. Combining rod puppetry, marionettes, dance, acrobatics, live original music, and video, the work reveals the beauty and fragility of the natural world. The centerpiece of this work is a giant six-foot tall marionette. This piece illuminates how human actions ripple through animal life and the ecosystems we share.
Restrepo’s Loco7 Dance Puppet Theatre has spent four decades creating original works that explore North and South American culture, the immigrant experience, and New York City urban life. A resident company at La MaMa ETC and the producing force behind La MaMa’s bi-annual Puppet Festival, Loco7 has toured its work across the United States, Latin America, and Europe. The company is equally committed to education and community engagement, with workshops and programs at schools, senior centers, and community organizations across New York City.
All three public appearances are free and open to the community. More information can be found by at roxburyartsgroup.org or contacting Rachel Condry at programs@roxburyartsgroup.org
