Mabou Mines Benefit – April 18, 2011 from Andy Horwitz on Vimeo.

Benefit season is upon us!!!

On Monday, April 18th Mabou Mines hosted a 40th Anniversary gala at the Paula Cooper Gallery with performances from Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, John Kelly, Steve Paxton, David Neumann and more. Culturebot was in attendance and had a great time hobnobbing with friends old and new. The crowd was filled with a who’s who of downtown performance art stars and friends of Mabou going back forty years. Mark Russell gave a moving speech about Mabou’s role in the avant-garde theatrical landscape. Philip Glass also gave a short speech talking about his days with Mabou back in the 70’s and offered a moving window into a very special time and place.

Mabou Mines is legendary and it was heartwarming to see their friends and family assembled in one place to celebrate their work – which is ongoing and still manages to surprise, provoke and entertain.

In case you missed the event I shot some “shaky-cam” video of some of the performances. And please – get your giving on! You can still donate to the cause here.

More benefit coverage to come – PS122 next Monday, LMCC next Wednesday, BAX 20 Awards on May 5th and more.