Who are Sonali, Emmett, and Rose?
enjoy this triptych of reindeer that was buried amongst other ephemera in at the FUNeral site of An Undertaking while you read their bios below:
SONALI SINGH
CONCERT caretaker in this situation.
From busking on Broad Street to playing the bassoon within the tender clutches of a weeping willow in moonlit Laurel Hill cemetery, Sonali lets themselves be swept into the madness and passion of Philadelphia's creative and improvisation scene.
They ache to soothe hurt souls on this shared journey for the return to home that we have collectively lost through the grips of colonialism and capitalism by spreading weirdness, curiosity, and compassion with a little help from their friends.
Breaking free from the conservatory mold of Western classical music by reclaiming the foundational roots of improvisation through their homeland of India, find Sonali sonically carving out their name into places like the Philadelphia Magic Gardens and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival to the corners of Upstairs at Abyssinia, Headlong Dance Studio, Studio 34, and Chi Movement Center.
Sonali is an active member of the People’s Music Supply, a nonprofit improvisation collective, and has a mild addiction to seltzer water, their two cats, and petrichor.
ROSE LUARDO
tends THEATER in this situation.
Rose is a peri-menopausal artist, shapeshifter, creature of the world, dancer, warlock, and agent of joy. She is bouncy. She loves magic shows. One scoop wholesomeness, one scoop terror, Rose’s flavor is fizz.
Her work is a soup of video art and live performance pieces. Characters and transformation are at the center of dramatic action while Rose jumps from human skin to human skin with her quick-change character work. Rose is into finding the edge where self-perception and personality break away into risk-taking and truth-seeking.
Rose’s work looks to provide a space to undo normative expectation and to provide a glimpse at freedom. A freedom that’s experienced when we nosedive into human impulse, exuberant mayhem and emotional jazz. All of this is done with humor and joy, which is essential to Rose and her work. Wild cackling laughter is what must be conjured when freedom sniffing. Let her delight you with the scent of your own enema bag.
EMMETT WILSON
steward of DANCE in this situation.
Emmett makes dance-theater-performance art to make mistakes to harness the power of embarrassment with Others. He grew up in Houston, grew some more in Salt Lake City, and is now planted in Philadelphia as a resident at the Headlong Performance Institute and as a licensed massage therapist; his practice is called Dear Body Healing Arts.
Emmett was selected for an audience choice award at the 2022 Philly FringeArts festival for their work, Afternoon of an Alter: a not so lonely solo. The following year he presented An Undertaking with Rose Luardo, Sonali Singh, and ‘The Gals’ - Emmett’s parents, Marcella and Ray Wilson - at the Laurel Hill Cemetery.
Emmett has been commissioned to facilitate workshops to ‘find and physicalize alter-egos’ for queer youth across this so-called country. Emmett is a veritable gardener of plants, but also a curious gardener of the poetic personas and stories that bubble out of the body in subtle and gross ways.
“...Edwin H. Fitler supplied ropes to the country [when] enslavement was rampant and racism a customary value. The audience is invited to fly across his grave, arms as wings, feet gliding across the grass."
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- desiree amaiya
"...delights and confuses passersby...has Philly talking and the comments are hilarious."
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- Stephanie Farr