ANIMA - An Immersive Night of Opera, Poetry, Dance & Light Sculpture Ritual
About this Event
Event Information
WHAT
SOLO-ARTS Gallery Presents
ANIMA Andate
The second movement in the experimental interdisciplinary performance series - an inquiry into consciousness, transformation, and the act of becoming.
WHO
Conceived, Curated, Directed & Produced by Vida Patricia Rodriguez Castro
Founder & Artistic Director, SOLO-Arts | Arts Center, Cultural Playground & Gallery
FEATURING ORIGINAL WORKS BY
• Nico Patino — Poet
• Elliot Menard — Opera Performer-Composer (Voice & Live Electronics)
• Michael MacLean — Installation Artist
• Seda Aybay -- Choreographerr- Dancer
WHEN (two shows)
Saturday, August 1, 2026 Opening Night
Saturday, August 8, 2026
TIME
Doors Open: 8:30 PM
Performance Begins: 9:00 PM Sharp
WHERE
SOLO-Arts
Arts Center, Cultural Playground & Gallery
236 Pine Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90802
ADMISSION
Advance Ticket Purchase $25 / Regular Price $35 July 28th-August 1st
Advance Purchase Recommended
Limited Seating
EXPERIENCE
ANIMA Andante is an immersive interdisciplinary performance where poetry, sound, voice, movement, installation, and light converge in an inquiry into consciousness, transformation, and the act of becoming. Guests are invited to experience a symbolic environment that unfolds from darkness into a red womb, where language, vibration, and the body engage in a living philosophical dialogue.
PLEASE NOTE
• Performance begins promptly at 9:00 PM
• Please arrive early.
• Out of respect for the artists and audience, late entry will not be permitted.
HOSTED BY
SOLO-Arts | Arts Center, Cultural Playground & Gallery
WEBSITE
www.solo-arts.com
CONTACT
[email protected]
INSTAGRAM
@so.lo.arts
Vida Patricia Rodriguez Castro
Curator • Director • Producer
Founder and Artistic Director of SOLO-Arts | Arts Center, Cultural Playground & Gallery, Vida Patricia Rodriguez Castro is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, producer, and cultural architect whose work explores consciousness, human potential, and interdisciplinary artistic practice. Her curatorial vision dissolves the boundaries between performance, installation, philosophy, movement, music, and poetry, creating immersive experiences that invite audiences into profound acts of reflection and transformation. ANIMA is the cornerstone of her evolving artistic inquiry into the architecture of consciousness.
Nico Patino
Poet
Poet and multidisciplinary artist Nico Patina returns from the inaugural ANIMA in Metamorphosis, where his spoken word became the bridge between vibration and language. In ANIMA Andante, his poetry serves as invocation, calling consciousness into existence and opening the philosophical dialogue that unfolds throughout the evening.
Elliot Menard
Opera Performer–Composer
Performer-composer Elliot Menard creates interdisciplinary works for voice, live electronics, movement, and improvisation that explore the expressive possibilities of the human voice. Inspired by the surviving poetry of Sulpicia, the only female poet of ancient Rome whose work remains, her performance in ANIMA Andante investigates the primordial act of speaking oneself into existence.
Michael MacLean
Light Sculpture Installation Artist
Light Sculpture Installation artist and industrial designer Michael McLean creates immersive environments where light, space, and color become instruments of psychological and emotional exploration. His work activates memory, perception, and the subconscious through sculptural installations that transform architecture into experience. For ANIMA Andante, McLean collaborates with Vida Patricia Rodriguez Castro to create an immersive symbolic landscape in which light becomes an active participant in the performance.
ANIMA Andante: Movement II
ANIMA Andate
Is an experimental interdisciplinary performance series - an inquiry into consciousness, transformation, and the act of becoming
LONG BEACH, CA — SOLO-Arts | Arts Center • Cultural Playground • Gallery proudly presents ANIMA Andante, the second movement in ANIMA, an ongoing curatorial performance series conceived, curated, directed, and produced by Vida Patricia Rodriguez Castro, Founder and Artistic Director of SOLO-Arts.
Following the inaugural ANIMA in Metamorphosis, which explored the emergence of consciousness through vibration, movement, and language, ANIMA Andante advances the inquiry through a new point of origin. Here, poetry becomes invocation, sound becomes embodiment, and the audience is invited into an immersive environment where consciousness unfolds as a living experience.
The performance begins in complete darkness before the gallery gradually transforms into a symbolic crimson womb—a space of potential, origin, and becoming. At its center stands a monumental Fibonacci shell, conceived by Vida Patricia Rodriguez Castro and realized in collaboration with installation artist Michael MacLean. Serving as the symbolic heart of the performance, the shell represents the continuous unfolding of life and the recurring patterns of growth observed throughout the natural world.
From this sculptural form emerges performer-composer Elliot Menard, embodying ANIMA as consciousness awakening into physical existence. Through operatic voice, live electronics, movement, improvisation, and ancient text inspired by the surviving poetry of Sulpicia, Elliot explores the primordial act of becoming—where sound, body, memory, and intuition converge.
Opening the evening, poet Nico Patino philosophizes through original poetry, contemplating consciousness, existence, and the enduring dialogue between language and being. His words establish the philosophical landscape from which Elliot's sonic and physical presence emerges, creating a living conversation between thought and embodiment.
Acclaimed choreographer Seda Aybay contributes her distinctive movement language to the work, extending the performance beyond traditional choreography into a shared exploration of humanity's elemental nature. Surrounding the central performance are illuminated sculptural installations representing Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, creating an immersive symbolic environment where dancers emerge from each cardinal direction and the architecture itself becomes an active participant in the experience.
Rather than presenting a conventional narrative, ANIMA Andante unfolds as an interdisciplinary meditation on our shared origins. Drawing upon symbolic geometry, elemental cosmology, poetry, voice, movement, light, and sound, the performance invites audiences to contemplate the dynamic relationship between intuition and intellect, masculine and feminine, order and chaos, and the invisible forces that continually shape human existence.
ANIMA is not a theatrical production. It is an evolving curatorial inquiry into consciousness that dissolves the boundaries between artistic disciplines, creating immersive experiences where philosophy is encountered through sensation rather than explanation. Each movement expands upon the last, inviting artists and audiences alike into an ongoing exploration of what it means to become.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 28.52
