Announcing American Idle, a performance by Maia Chao, Times Square Arts’ Second Public Artist-in-Residence

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Chao S immersive work studies the human dynamics in the heart
of Times Square, which sees an average of 250,000 people each
day. Wednesday, July 9th Broadway
between 46th and 47th STS 3:00 PM.
Six PM. 8:00 PM. Rain date Thursday, July 10th.

(00:23):
Times Square Arts is pleased to announce their second public
Artist in residence, Maya Chow and her work titled American
Idol. During her two year residency,
Chow developed a live performance for Times Square by
observing the social behaviors in the public plazas of one of
the city's busiest centers. The hour long performance,

(00:45):
choreographed by Lena Engelstein, will take place on
Wednesday, July 9th at three PM,6:00 PM and 8:00 PM in the
middle of Times Square American Idol by Maya Chow, Wednesday,
July 9th, 3:00 PM, six PM, 8:00 PM, Duffy Square, Broadway and
46th St. RSVP to

(01:07):
[e-mail] her artistic practice, Chow
becomes deeply embedded in her environment, and in American
Idol, the artist blurs the line between life and performance,
mirroring the dynamics of the crowds and real life scenarios.
Choreographed by Lena engelsteinand devised with dancers Miguel

(01:30):
Alejandro Castillo, Marin day, Benjamin Hart, and ampersand
Paris, American Idol is a movement series drawn from chow
S studies of the crowds Bustlingpatterns amidst the blinking
lights in Times Square. Through durational looping and
techniques of doubling, glitching, and mirroring, the
piece enacts A recursive system where unscripted social behavior

(01:54):
becomes performance and the outline of certain archetypes
begin to form. The kissing couple, the tired
mother, the lost tourist. American Idol explores how the
unique conditions of a public space can homogenize public
behavior, including the performance of self for the ever
present camera. In this feedback loop of image

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and enactment, being seen supersedes being present.
Blurring the roles of spectator and subject, American Idol
momentarily reframes the commodification of attention,
visibility, and movement in one of the most densely populated
commercial districts in the country.
As part of her research, Chow shadowed the Times Square

(02:39):
Alliance S sanitation and publicsafety teams, who's often
overlooked work revealed A practiced eye for noticing what
the average visitor may tune out.
Cracks in the sidewalk. Graffiti on a street sign.
A sticker on a bench. The sanitation and safety staff
document each of the tasks that require repair or removal,

(03:00):
capturing the fleeting moments when what is meant to disappear
becomes visible. French fries scattered across
the Plaza. An empty stroller left on the
sidewalk. From these evocative images,
Chow began inventing narratives,imagining the everyday dramas
that gave rise to these accidental tableaus, then

(03:20):
turning her attention to the close observation of pedestrian
behaviors which ultimately shaped American Idol the
performance as well. Chow consulted with the broad
network of the Times Square Alliance, including the in
District organization Theater ofthe Oppressed, NYC Tonic, the
nonprofit dedicated to using theatrical games and exercises

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to empower communities from adverse backgrounds.
In these programs, actors and audiences engage in theatrical
brainstorming with the aim of catalyzing creative change on
individual, community, and political levels.
Chow pursued further training inthis method with independent
practitioners Morgan FitzpatrickAndrews and Christian Hayden.

(04:08):
Designed around the unique characteristics and communities
of Times Square, the Times Square Arts Public Artist in
Residence program supports multidisciplinary artists
interested in exploring social, cultural, or political concerns
within the context of New York City S most iconic commercial
and cultural district. As part of the program, Times

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Square Arts facilitates connections with relevant
individuals and organizations inTimes Square, which could
include theaters, restaurants, retailers, hotels, nonprofits or
street vendors, and provides resources and expertise from the
broader Times Square Alliance team across departments,
including from operations to policy and research.

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In addition to a fee covering the residency period, artists
are eligible for funding toward the public presentation of an
artwork in Times Square. American Idol is created in
collaboration with choreographerLena Engelstein and devised with
dancers Miguel Alejandro Castillo Marande, Benjamin Hard

(05:15):
and Ampersand Paris. About Maya Chow Maya Chow is an
artist who works collaborativelyin performance, film and social
practice. She is Co creator of the social
practice project Look at Art GetPaid 2015 to 20 with Josephine
de van Vieux, which piloted at the RISD Museum.

(05:40):
She has since made collaborativeworks with artists Ethan
Philbrick, Fred Schmidt Aronels and Ree Bradley.
Chow has created commissioned films and performances for the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Shed and MO ma
Education. Her work has been presented at
the Bronx Museum, Cucha Frito's gallery, Mural Arts

(06:01):
Philadelphia, Boston Center for the Arts, Tufts University art
galleries, Smack Melon, and Oregon Contemporary.
She has completed fellowships and residences from the Fine
Arts Work Center, Pioneer Works,and Queer Art.
In 2022, she was named a Pew Fellow and in 2023 she attended

(06:25):
the Skowgang School of Painting and Sculpture based in
Philadelphia. Chow is an artist member of the
art collective and DIY space VoxPopuli.
She holds ABA from Brown University and an MFA from the
Rhode Island School of Design. She is currently full time

(06:45):
faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
MICA. About Lena Engelstein Lena
Engelstein is a Brooklyn based dancer, performer and
choreographer. Her work has been dubbed The
High Weird by critics and the New York Times lauded her and
long time collaborative partner Lisa Fagan as fully committed
comics unafraid to make donkeys of themselves.

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She and Fagan received a Commission for New York Live
Arts 2025 Spring season, and thepair received the 2025 FCA
Grants to Artist Award in Dance.Engelstein has presented work at
New York Live Arts, The Collapsible Hole, the Brick
Theatre and Life World. This fall, she will be the

(07:31):
inaugural resident of Colorado College's Dance and Theater
Alumni Residency program. Recent performance credits.
Alexa W Barnett Cohen. Interdisciplinary performance
Collective Child. Faye Driscoll.
ESA Specter. Joanna Kotza, Miguel Alejandro
Castillo and 3rd rail company. Then she fell company member

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2019 to 2020. She has taught choreography
direction at SUNY Brockport, Colorado Mesa University,
Barnard College, University of Maryland and the field Center.
Engelstein holds ABA in mathematics from Colorado
College. About the Devising Collaborators

(08:17):
Miguel Alejandro Castillo, Concept Choreographer, Director,
is a choreographer, director, educator and performer from
Caracas, Venezuela. Recognized as one of the 25 to
watch in 2024 by Dance Magazine,Castillo is drawn to cross
disciplinary and multicultural collaborations.

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His current research investigates diasporic
imagination and future folklore.As a dancer, he has performed in
EU dot S and internationally in works by Faye Driscoll Janine
during Delfo's Danza Contemporania, among others.
Residences include dance WEB scholarship at IM Pool's Tans

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Festival 2021, fresh tracks at New York Live Arts 2022 to 23.
Castillo holds ABA in dance and Theater from Middlebury College,
an MFA in Choreography and Performance from Smith College,
and he is the 2025 to 2026 OperaDirecting Fellow at the Marcus

(09:24):
Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard Marin.
Day is a dancer and arts worker currently living in Brooklyn,
NY. She has been fortunate to
perform works by Miguel Castillo, Britt Falcon, and
Betsy Miller and his half of thedance collective Pep Talk with
Maddie Hopfield. Marin is currently on staff at

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Dance Pace Project and is the associate producer for Sister
Sylvester. She holds ABA in Southwest
studies and dance from Colorado College.
Benjamin Hart is an actor, dancer, and comedian hailing
from San Antonio, TX. Recognized by Vogue for Aught,
Ben does Italian guy voice whileeating a New York City hot dog.

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I love him. Ben is drawn to authenticity and
naturalism and brings his charming spontaneity to any
project he tackles. Recent performance credits
include process dance works withBessie Award winner Nicole
Mannarino, acting in a feature film with Troma Pictures
recurring character in Hulu S the come up and 3rd place at the

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inaugural Pigeon Impersonation Pageant on the Highline.
He is extremely grateful and excited to be working with such
an incredible crew on this project for the Times Square
Alliance. Ampersand Paris is an
interdisciplinary performing artist, fermentation revivalist,
and the founder of Fail Space, Adesign and communications agency

(10:51):
built for culture. She mostly recently collaborated
with the experimental collectiveChild, directed by Lisa Fagan.
Their performance work has been shown at the Center for
Performance Research, the Schoolfor Contemporary Dance and
Thought, SCD and T, the Northampton Center for the Arts,
multiple ACDA regional conferences, Camp under score

(11:15):
and Dance Festival, the Midwest R8 Fest, and the Turner Fisher
Center for Opera. Their field guide to lacta
fermentation was published in the Spring 2022 Movement
Research Performance Journal. They have taught nationally and
internationally at McAllister College, SCD and T Dance Art

(11:35):
Academy, and Moss and Co Studio.They hold ABA in dance from
Middlebury College, where they were the recipient of the 2017
Mollingaya Family Dance Prize. About Times Square Arts Times
Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square
Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and

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cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one
of the world's most iconic urbanplaces.
Through the squares, electronic billboards, public plazas,
vacant areas and popular venues,and the Alliance's own online
landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary
creators such as Charles Gaines,Joan Jonas, Jeffrey Gibson,

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Pamela Counsel, Mel Chin, and Kahinda Wiley to help the public
see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a
cultural district and place of risk, innovation, and
creativity, and the arts programensures these qualities remain
central to the district's uniqueidentity.

(12:42):
About the Times Square Alliance The Times Square Alliance works
to improve and promote Times Square, cultivating the
creativity, energy and edge thathave made the area an icon of
entertainment, culture, and urban life for over a century.
Founded in 1992, the Alliance keeps the neighborhood clean and

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safe, promotes local businesses,manages area improvements, and
produces major annual events with partners including New
Year's Eve, Solstice in Times Square, and Taste of Times
Square. As the custodians of Times
Square, the Alliance works everyday to improve the quality of
life for the neighborhood, residents and businesses while

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driving economic growth in New York City.
Support for Maya Chow S AmericanIdol is provided in part by the
New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the
Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and
public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural
Affairs in partnership with the City Council.