The real story of the Supremes’ rise to fame is mostly unsung, says Peter Benjaminson, author of “The Lost Supreme,” but this weekend it will be acted out at an art house in Washington Heights.
Through interpretive dance, performance artist Athena Kokoronis will act out the life story of Supremes member Florence Ballard, who went from a founder to a sideliner to a rock ‘n’ roll tragedy.
“She gives everything to the audience, and then it’s all over,” Benjaminson says of Kokoronis’s performance, “which is just like it was for Flo’s life.”
Benjaminson interviewed Ballard at great length in 1975, just before she died at the age of 32.
“I’ve been trying to sell the book for the last 32 years,” he says. “I finally managed to do it because of the Dreamgirls movie. The book is the true story of the very gussied up, Dreamgirls version of the Flo’s life.”
You can catch Kokoronis’s performance from 3 to 6 on Sunday, in the GWB Ramphouse at 752 W. 178th St.