PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An LGBTQ artist in Philadelphia has built an immersive, haunted world for his latest dance production: “Black Wood: Winterborn.”
Gunnar Montana does it all — he choreographs, produces, directs, dances, and builds his own sets.
For “Black Wood,” he created a 100-foot mural of a forest in the winter that wraps around the whole room. That aesthetic extends onto a stage covered in snow, and wooden planked platforms where performers dance above the audience.
“It feels like a total playground,” Montana said.
“It's really just like the kitchen sink of art. … They have a lot of aerial stuff going on, aerial pole dancing, there's burlesque, there's more nudity, there's more sex, there's more everything, and the athleticism is just out of control.”
The immersive performance is a sequel to the show he produced last fall about a coven of witches.
“I just really like witches,” he said. “… It just feels like a really fun, queer extravaganza in a dark world, which is just so right up my alley.”
Montana adds that the performance evolves even during the run of the show, based on what the performers put into it.
“It's a whole organic process that is growing up to the end of it for sure,” he said. “And a lot of people love to see that journey.”
The show is for mature audiences. It runs through Halloween at The Latvian Society of Philadelphia on 7th and Spring Garden streets. For tickets and more information, click here.