Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts today announced the world premiere of You Are Here, a public sculpture, sound, and live performance installation conceived by Andrea Miller, award-winning choreographer and artistic director of movement-based production company GALLIM. The commission is supported by the Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund (ADIF) and will be presented as part of Restart Stages, beginning July 14, 2021. https://www.lincolncenter.org/lincoln-center-at-home/show/you-are-here-696.

In a process that invites co-creation with the Lincoln Center site and local New York community, Miller continues her investigation of the human pursuit of understanding through the alchemy of performance in this ambitious work that focuses on processing this past year. Throughout the end of July, the campus will become a site for communion as we find our way through a pandemic and multiple civic crises.

Restart Stages is part of the SNF-Lincoln Center Agora Initiative with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), which activates outdoor space through artistic and community initiatives that speak to our current moment and reimagines public space for a new era. 

Visitors will first experience You Are Here as a sculpture and sound installation on the iconic Josie Robertson and Hearst Plazas. Sculptures created by Tony Award-winning scenic designer Mimi Lien will stand in the space of the human beings; each sculpture will house a speaker through which the audio portraits of New Yorkers are projected. Sound artist Justin Hicks will create this aural garden that stretches across the footprint of the installation. Artists, ushers, security guards, educators, and other staff members from within the Lincoln Center family alongside New Yorkers from across the city will tell a story, dance, sing, breathe, or reflect — offering a window into their experiences.

During the second half of the installation, the audio portraits will gradually be replaced by live performances by the participants. Live performances will each feature several portraits now brought to life in Hearst Plaza, with choreography created by Andrea Miller and performed by GALLIM dancers. The final evening of the installation will feature all of the performers live and on-site. The project is designed with inclusion integrated throughout so that all guests, including those with disabilities, can experience the work.

“I was inspired to create You Are Here in the plazas,” said Andrea Miller. “Creating a performance is an essential expression of hope, and this piece is a practice of sharing and witnessing each other, of placemaking in the heart of an art center, and art-making in the eye of a global storm. It’s a way for me to honor artists and the huge unseen community that makes the arts possible, that makes this labor of rebuilding possible. The title describes it best, I think, I hope.”

“As we begin to see hope through this pandemic, there is much to grapple with throughout our city and communities,” said Henry Timms, President and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. “We’re proud to offer You Are Here as part of our collective reflection, processing of shared experience, and renewal during a time of trauma.”

“Andrea Miller’s innovative concept for Lincoln Center is a powerful demonstration of the SNF-LC Agora Initiative’s vision for transforming public spaces into active creative incubators,” said SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos. “This sort of communal project is exactly the antidote we need for the isolation of the past year.”

“Andrea Miller’s newest work, You Are Here, exemplifies why the Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund was created,” said Jody Gottfried Arnhold, Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund. “Connecting communities, voices, and experiences through dance, music, and sculpture on the Lincoln Center campus is the kind of innovative, conceptual thinking we need as our city begins to heal from the trauma of the last year.”

About the Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund
You Are Here is a project of Lincoln Center’s Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund (ADIF), a source of support for creative, risk-taking artists who are innovating in the dance field, particularly those exploring new approaches to technology (performance and delivery platforms), community (partnering with fellow dancers and creators, sharing learnings, addressing social issues), education, and diversity.

You Are Here 
July 14-31, 2021
Choreography, Co-Director, Conceived by Andrea Miller
Co-Director: Lynsey Peisinger
Production Designer: Mimi Lien
Sound Artist: Justin Hicks
Dramaturge: Iyvon Edebiri

Artist bios and photos are available at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x1y8g4q4bkzbcxj/AAAKmW_rIU4TtWu63l2Il0_fa?dl=0.

Since the pandemic began, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has driven efforts to bring the power of the arts to New Yorkers outdoors and digitally—from Love From Lincoln Center concerts for individual essential workers to works of art that elevate the voices and lived experiences of people of color in America, such as Carrie Mae Weems’ installation Resist COVID/Take 6!, Davóne Tines’ Vigil, and digital commissions like The Baptism by Carl Hancock Rux. Future SNF-Lincoln Center Agora Initiative international collaborations with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens (SNFCC) will bring new approaches to cultural engagement in both cities. These are just the beginning of a reorientation towards prioritizing openness, access, and inclusive excellence – elevating talent from every corner of the globe and fostering a sense of radical welcome on the campus.