Oct. 2, 2023 By Emily Ramos
On the weekend before a ghostly Halloween this month, the Stone Circle Theatre, located at 59-1414 70th Ave. in Ridgewood, will offer a different music-filled experience for event seekers.
The Wendy Osserman Dance Company conjoins the musical talents of the Concetta Ensemble for LAMINARIA, a night of folk-horror music and dance performances, from Tuesday, Oct. 26, to Sunday, Oct. 29. Performances are scheduled for 8 p.m.
LAMINARIA is a theatrical performance that narrates what people fear in their everyday lives through music and the combined physical art of dance. Concetta Abbate, a synesthetic artist and classically trained violinist turned composer, blends the visual arts with music. She adopted the theme of the performance through the meaning of the word laminaria, which shares two meanings of “The Devil’s apron” and kelp believed to induce labor.
The symbolism of the word laminaria is what Abbate found most intriguing and used it as a means to shape the performance as a whole.
“It’s the title of the first movement,” Abbate says. “The first movement of the piece is about being sucked down into the ocean.”
Abbate also studies the tales of old folklore and horror films in the process of crafting the blended performance. Bringing the audience closer to how the mind develops fear, starting from childhood and well into adulthood, should captivate the minds of the audience.
“They start as children’s stories and they go through these dark places that challenge the ideas that children don’t also experience or observe the darker aspects of reality and that we also hold that fears for life,” Abbate said.
In addition to Abbate’s musical talents, she works with veteran dance choreographer Wendy Osserman, along with Lauren Ferguson, Cori Kresge and Emily Vetsch to complete what music can’t accomplish alone.
Osserman was inspired by Abbate’s work, which at the time was simply a musical performance, and she reached out in hopes of choreographing with her dancers.
A 10-person ensemble connects with The Wendy Osserman Dance Company choreography to capture Abbate’s goal of expounding on the spectrum of fears, both usual and abnormal, in LAMINARIA.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting eventbrite.com/e/laminaria-tickets-688983918447.