GRIFTER’s Gambit 3.0, New York University, Audio Lab 230 at 370 Media Commons, Brooklyn, NY, October 21 - 23, 2025
GRIFTER’s Gambit, Composition 1 (2023-2025) is a multi-sensory, operatic video and 8-channel surround sound installation immersing us in a 13:08-minute tragi-comic experience. It combines vocal composition with vibrant large-scale moving text in concert with a fifth projection of dancers onto a translucent scrim. The dancers pose & vogue in florescent pattern-rich costumes.
Vocalists sing the libretto with humor & irony, while periodically parodying melodies from recognizable sinister showtunes known for their wit, such as “Hey Big Spender” and Cabaret’s “Mein Lieber Herr”. The text explores the narcissistic archetype and human failings that bring us repeatedly into conflict. We experience the collision of personal and collective desires; pressures that constantly jockey for power and influence.
Sensory over-load gives people a chance to create new neural connections as mind and body simultaneously process this camp, playful atmosphere. Will we and when will we recognize the suffering of the many under the weight of a “might makes right” attitude? What might society and the planet look like if we choose to let each spirit flourish?
NYU Audio Lab 230 recording studio. Isadora configuration.
Original concept drawing for GRIFTER’s Gambit
GRIFTER’s Gambit 3.0 at NYU Audio Lab 230, Brooklyn, NY
October 21 – October 23, 2025
Composition 1 is a 13:08-minute vocal work grounding the two video works created and composed by Michelle Jaffé; presented in 8.1 Surround Sound with 4 immersive moving text video projections augmented with video projections of two dancers choreographed specifically for this work.
Credits
Michelle Jaffé
GRIFTER’s Gambit, 2023–2025
Concept, Libretto, Vocal Composition, Moving Text and Dance Videos, Costume Design and execution, Concept Drawings, Production
12’ x 23 1/2’ x 23 1/2’
9 Projectors, 8.1 Surround Sound, Isadora, ProTools, Logic, Fabric
Choreographer: Sarah Yasmine Marazzi-Sassoon
Dancers: Christine West and Magali Johnston-Viens
Vocalists: Joanna Dudley and James Danner
Support from
New York State Council on the Arts
Queens Council on the Arts
New York Foundation for the Arts, Fiscal Sponsorship