It also boasts Dance, a classic 1979 collaboration by choreographer Lucinda Childs, conceptual artist Sol LeWitt, and composer Philip Glass; a film called Release with a score by jazz composer Vijay Iyer at Eastern State Penitentiary; Sanctuary, by Brian Sanders, whose swimming-pool dance, Urban Scuba, was a hands-down hit last year; new work by eight local choreographers; and theater by Philly-based groups including Pig Iron Theatre Company and New Paradise Laboratories.
The festival program also lists performers from Ireland and France, and three lectures by Chinese experimental theater artist Danny Yung. But this year's roster has more domestic and local artists than previous iterations, which often bore a distinctly international flavor. It's not a result of less money, says Stuccio; the festival's $2.1 budget is about the same as last year's. "That's something that just vacillates year to year."