Nejma Nefertiti Opens "Mermaid's Howl" at La MaMa
Nejma Nefertiti invoking the spirits Recently our own Nejma Nefertiti collaborated with theatre artist Marina Celander in a stage production presented by La Mama Experimental Theatre Club for its Series of One: A Solo Performance Festival, titled Mermaid's Howl . The title is an homage to the legendary South Korean female sea divers, who f or hundreds of years have made their living harvesting seafood by hand from the ocean floor. Known as haenyeo , or sea women, they use no breathing equipment, although a typical dive might last around two minutes and take them as deep as ten meters underwater. At one point, a wolf also speaks through Marina - ergo the "Howl." Celander's play utilizes lights, sound effects, costumes, dream-work, and spiritual channeling to tell the story of her immigrant Korean/Japanese/Swedish mother as she struggles to establish her identity.