Experience Music Project: Disco, A Decade of Saturday Nights

[EMP]

Disco: A Decade of Saturday Nights

November 23, 2002 - May 26, 2003
Disco — the mere word sets off memories of Qiana shirts and Halston dresses, Donna Summer and the Village People, high society and suburban hustle champs. Nostalgia for the 1970s never seems to wane, but disco was more than an innocent craze. It was the soundtrack to the sexual revolution and a hugely influential musical trend that still touches dance floors around the world.

With Disco: A Decade of Saturday Nights, Experience Music Project becomes the first museum to explore the rich, complex world of disco in a major exhibition. Pulsating with light and sound, EMP's exhibit follows disco from its beginnings in New York club culture to the fad created by Saturday Night Fever, the ensuing backlash, and disco's influential afterlife.

The show is rich with artifacts, including the drum kit used by Earl Young, the inventor of the disco beat; the Plexiglas guitar played by Nile Rodgers of Chic; one of Saturday Night Fever's famous white suits; a selection of photographs taken by Andy Warhol at Studio 54; and rare artifacts from legendary nightspots ranging from the Loft to the Paradise Garage. Artists represented include Nile Rodgers of Chic, Donna Summer, Grace Jones, the Bee Gees, Sylvester, and many more.

Beyond the dazzling collection of material, Disco features a fully operational dance floor complete with light show; an interactive DJ booth; video arrays flashing multiple vintage images; and dozens and dozens of key songs to be heard at listening stations, kiosks, and on EMP's audio tour. Through film and audio, Disco presents original interviews with the people behind the phenomenon — from the groundbreaking producer Giorgio Moroder to the Queen of the Discos, Gloria Gaynor.

With help from a group of expert consultants led by Vince Aletti, the first journalist to write nationally about disco in 1973, EMP's curatorial team has created an exhibit that will forever change people's thinking about a musical genre that has been hugely important and hugely misunderstood.

Continue to visit emplive.com for the latest on Disco related events and to experience emplive.com's Disco features. They will include multimedia pages on Disco 101, video interviews of key artists, and highlights of underground discos.

www.emplive.com
email: experiece@emplive.com
Seattle, WA