UMO Ensemble: one of the most innovative, compelling and critically acclaimed not-for-profit performance companies based in the Pacific Northwest, thanks to work like El Dorado and more. In the past 23 years, UMO has made over twenty mind-blowingly gorgeous, original pieces of physical theatre. For just a tiny taste of our past work, visit:

http://www.umo.org/retrospective_03.html 

And now, in the year 2012, it is time. Time for BRAND NEW UMO:

Maldoror – Birth of a Villain

UMO's newest work dives deep into the mind and soul of a villain - Maldoror. Inspired by 19th century Surrealist writer le Comte de Lautréamont (pen name for Isidore Ducasse), UMO brings Maldoror to life with its highly physical, acrobatic, virtuoso theatre. Poetry, athleticism, and head-rattling dissonance combine to look behind the mask, to unearth the highly relatable passions behind a resolutely violent and nihilistic personality. 

Dark, giddy and hallucinatory 

UMO delves into Lautréamont's animal imagery to create characters never before seen on stage: zoomorphs. These zoomorphs throw themselves into collage-like scenes created in collaboration with Seattle musician Andre Sanabria, a multi-instrumentalist with roots in noise, industrial, ambient drone and experimental electronics. Surrealism, noise, costumes that produce sound through movement – all blended together in a concoction both thrilling and terrifying, an exploration of a true villain – in an interchangeable series of scenes performed on the streets and in theatres across Seattle.  

All this, plus FILM…. Thanks to the Northwest Film Forum, UMO is going on camera. Cinema will never be the same.

WHEN? When can I see this?

Maldoror premieres at the NW Film Forum “Live” series in September 2012, followed by a run at West of Lenin in Fremont - with free, outdoor surprise showings on Vashon and in Seattle. Who knows where the zoomorphs may roll into...

Who else knows about this?

Thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts and NW Film Forum, we have a strong investment to begin this project – but we need your help to help make it a reality. We need to raise $7,000 to cover artist fees and costume construction. YOU can – and should - help these amazing artists do what they do best – create.

Who is on Team Maldoror?

Oh, just some of the most super-villainous artists around. Lead by: Lyam White - lead artist, performer & writer, and Andre Sanabria - composer/musician, and a true super-human. Along with UMO Founder Janet McAlpin, leading the team in character development, and UMO Executive Artist Elizabeth Klob, creating the most amazing costumes known to human-kind. PLUS Scott Bradley, flying in from Chicago (and not even using a plane to do it) to direct; Michelle Takashima, boldly and bravely stage managing the insanity, and a cast of beautifully grotesque zoomorphs: Kajsa Ingemansson, Christine White, Sharon Barto, and Ryan Higgins. Along with the extraordinary contributions of: Glenn Easley...acro flying yoga instructor, Nick Junke...film maker, videographer, and the incomparable Shep Siegel...UMO Board sponsor/adviser.

AND.... YOU. With your pledge, you too get to join Team Maldoror. 

plus - UMO is a 501c3 non-profit organization. All donations to this project are tax deductible. 

Trust us – there is no other team to be on.  

Really. Love, UMO.

for more UMO, visit http://www.umo.org/ 

and 

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With great thanks to the amazing artists who help make UMO shine: Michelle Bates, photographer; and Nick & Laura Junke of Visual Anthem Studios.