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An exhibition and live performance event by Lise Haller Baggesen

Centered on an eco-feminist science fiction narrative of life in the year 2069, this exhibition includes the artist’s handmade costumes, lightbox portraits, and video of the 2019 performance of HATORADE RETROGRADE: THE MUSICAL.

Combining counter cultural history of the late 1960s, science fiction, and camp, the central story imagines resistance to a future dystopia impacted by cataclysmic climate change and an oppressive technocracy. Set in the toxic outskirts of a domed city, the characters of HATORADE RETROGRADE: THE MUSICAL struggle to survive and understand the world they live in. The immersive soundtrack features an avery r young-composed score, which draws heavily on funk and psychedelic music of the late 1960s. Visitors to the exhibition will experience the narrative and musical audio over “silent disco” headphones.

The central performance, HATORADE RETROGRADE: THE MUSICAL, will be performed live by Chicago-based dancers over the last two weekends in June 2020. The performance at an outdoor location on Chicago’s south side features new, site-specific choreography by Aaliyah Christina.

The speculative narrative, which is set in what is now San Francisco, evolved in collaboration with the Youth Advisory Board teen artists of San Francisco arts organization Southern Exposure. The young people shared their hopes and fears for the future with the artist, inspiring Haller Baggesen’s development of her story’s characters, themes, and settings. Ephemera related to the San Francisco workshops and the story’s development will also be included in the exhibition.

HATORADE RETROGRADE: THE MUSICAL was originally commissioned, supported, and presented by Southern Exposure, San Francisco. Southern Exposure premiered the performance on October 12 and 13, 2019 in San Francisco’s McLaren Park.