| Degenerate Art Ensemble | |
|---|---|
| Choir | |
| Origin | Seattle, Wa USA |
| Founded | 1999 (25 years ago) |
| Genre | Performance and Visual Arts |
| Website | http://degenerateartensemble.com |
Degenerate Art Ensemble (often abbreviated DAE) is a Seattle-based multi-art performance company whose work is inspired by punk, comics, cinema, nightmares and fairy tales driven by live music and visceral movement theater and dance.[1] The group was founded and is co-directed by dancer/performer/director Haruko Nishimura and composer/conductor/performer Joshua Kohl. Degenerate Art Ensemble is both a multi-discipline performance company and a band, having performed major dance and live music works, orchestral concerts, rock shows and site-specific street spectacles.
Kohl has described the group's philosophy as follows: "We aim to achieve the intensity of a sacrificial rite to tear away the waking world revealing alternate realities filled with characters that are transformers expressing unimaginable possibilities. We throw audiences into this world, asking them to make sounds en-masse enveloping and activating space. Characters climb over the audience – removing the barriers that normally separate us, creating an environment that arouses our interconnectedness." [citation needed]
The group has performed both music shows and dance/theater performance works in 10 countries of North America and Europe in festivals, theaters, clubs and museums.[1]