Students Premiere Katrina’s Cabaret in Multidisciplinary Work-in-Progress

The spring Princeton Atelier course “Blood Dazzler: Collaboration and Catastrophe” culminated April 25 with Katrina’s Cabaret—A Blood Dazzler Production, a work-in-progress, end of semester showing inspired by the deadly Category 5 hurricane that decimated New Orleans 20 years ago.

A person sits in a chair a looks at a giant screen projecting "WEATHER ADVISORY" as two others read from scripts to the side of a stage.

Photo by James DeSalvo

Three people hold scripts and microphones in front of someone sitting in the opposite direction in a chair.

Photo by James DeSalvo

A puppet crocodile lurks in the darkness behind someone sitting in a spotlight holding a microphone

Photo by James DeSalvo

A puppet crocodile lurks beside someone reading at a microphone in front of a music stand

Photo by James DeSalvo

Three people perform at microphones on a stage

Photo by James DeSalvo

Two people perform back to back on a dark stage

Photo by James DeSalvo

A person dances on stage as someone else watches from a distance

Photo by James DeSalvo

A student operates a giant crocodile puppet on a theater stage

Photo by James DeSalvo

One person stands on a theater stage behind another person lounging back and looking pensive

Photo by James DeSalvo

Led by award-winning artists and Princeton faculty Patricia Smith and Davalois Fearon, students wove together poetry, dance, music, and visual art, drawing from Smith’s acclaimed poetry collection, Blood Dazzler. Their creative process included researching the hurricane’s impact and ongoing aftermath through documentaries, interviews, events, and writing.

The performance served as an early-stage exploration to spark ideas for a future, more comprehensive production, offering audiences the opportunity to see the evolution of a new multidisciplinary work.