An Undertaking

Overview

An Undertaking is a diddy to a dirge, a compost pile of characters, a eulogy of ourselves always shifting. This multimedia dance-theater piece will happen at Laurel Hill Cemetery East. As undertakers, it is our business to prepare for burial, and what we bury carries on underground. The arrangements have been made, like a bed once messy with little and big deaths, soiled, but planted with seedlings seeking sun while rooting down in rot. Come shed something if not a tear or a smile while Rose and Emmett lick their psychic-plates clean and compost scraps of heartfelt wishes with soft smiles and necessary neurosis. This piece is interactive by choice- choose your own adventure to witness wonder and wit. All showings are about an hour in duration.

WELCOME TO OUR FUNeral
Hello all! A good portion of the audience seating is on pavement. Another portion asks you to move with us and sit under a tree. We’ll do what we can (with tarps, blankets on the ground) but pack your camping and folding chairs if you’ve got em! You’re encouraged to dress for the FUNeral – in comfort and style. It will be outside so feel free to bring a weeping veil and parasol. We can’t wait to get buried with you!

Since 1978, the Friends of Laurel Hill has continued to serve as stewards of two historic cemeteries as well as curating year-round programs, tours, and events. Laurel Hill East is a Victorian cemetery founded in 1836, a National Historic Landmark, and an immersive outdoor performance environment for shapeshifters and taphophiles.

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About the Artist

Circuitous Situationship was born when the inimitable comedian, Crackhead Barney, thought Emmett was Rose’s husband at a show in which Rose shared her persona, Shelly Nut, and Emmett shared their persona, Yung&Bizzy. The two mingle their multitudes in this project for fun, for freaks, for family, forever.

Rose Luardo is a peri-menopausal artist, shapeshifter, creature of the world, dancer, warlock, and agent of joy. She is bouncy. She loves magic shows. One scoop wholesomeness, one scoop terror, Rose’s flavor is fizz. Her work is a soup of video art and live performance pieces. Characters and transformation are at the center of dramatic action while Rose jumps from human skin to human skin. Rose is into finding the edge where self-perception and personality break way into risk-taking and truth-seeking. Her work looks to provide a space to undo the harms of normative expectation and to provide a glimpse at something she calls “discomfort freedom”. This is the beautiful grit of human impulse and exuberant mayhem motivated by fun. All of this is done with humor and joy, which is, essential to Rose and her work. Wild cackling laughter is what much be conjured when freedom sniffing. Let her delight you with the scent of your own enema bag.

Emmett Wilson is also called ‘Ew! The Dancer’ amongst other names connected to stories they tell with their body. They grew up dancing 'inside the loop' at the Houston Met. Dance studio, earned a BFA at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where they stayed and made many body-based performances while working as the community garden coordinator of The City Library; they’re now planted in Philadelphia where they were a fellow at the Headlong Performance Institute in the spring of 2021. They often venture down to Baltimore to be with their cousin and her son (who’s a dog named Lhasa), and to play with friends and artists in the MoveMove Collaborative. Emmett graduat

Credits