Choreographic Works
Photo by The Fleet
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AMERICAN PEARL (2019)
4 dancers; 26 min Original sound score composed & compiled by Willem Vorster, featuring Wendy Rene, Led Zeppelin, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kate Bush, & PJ Harvey "American Pearl" is designed to unpack the complicated anxieties that have emerged out of today’s tenuous social, political, and sexual climates. Filtered through a queer lens, the dance strives to create a democratization of bodies by stripping the dancers of their usual gendered roles to create a fluid and ever-changing choreographic landscape. The work asks: how do we keep moving when we are constantly being reminded of external forces that are actively fighting against us? Can emotional exhaustion be harnessed and transmuted into something beautiful, albeit broken? Even in the moments of stillness and reprieve, the dance never stops, with a lingering, quiet queer rage bubbling beneath the surface. Performance History: Barn Dances // Garrison, NY // June 2018 College of the Holy Cross // Worcester, MA // November 2018 Movement Research at Eden's Expressway // New York, NY // December 2018 Triskelion Arts Split Bill Series // Brooklyn, NY // April 2019 (premiere) Original Cast: Grant Jacoby, Spencer Lutvak, Bryanna Vargas, and Alaina Wilson This work was made possible with support from the space subsidy program at Triskelion Arts supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, as well as residencies at SMUSH Gallery and Spoke the Hub. |
Photo by Ian Douglas
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wish you were here. (2018)
2 dancers; 22 min Original musical score by Willem Vorster Video design by Ronan Hagarty "wish you were here." is a post-modern dream ballet that meditates on fragmented memory, sudden loss, and Trisha Brown's Newark. On an interpersonal level, the dance intends to explore what is gained and lost as we move further away from past events that haunt us. How might we step back into a physical and psychological space to unpack what once was, what has dissipated, and what still lingers? Furthermore, the work probes at questions surrounding inspiration, influence, and direct quotation. Performance History: Artbeat // Somerville, MA // July 2017 Sarah Lawrence College // Bronxville, NY // December 2017 Mark Morris Dance Studio // Brooklyn, NY // January 2018 The Dance Complex // Cambridge, MA // February 2018 Bennington College // Bennington, VT // March 2018 Sarah Lawrence College // Bronxville, NY // April 2018 (premiere) Original Cast: Ingrid Dehler-Seter and Grant Jacoby |
Photo by Rou Ye
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wish we were here. (2018)
4 dancers; 25 min Original musical score by Willem Vorster Built as an extension of "wish you were here," "wish we were here" was created out of the desire to satisfy choreographic problems proposed by Susan Rethorst and her theory of "wrecking" dances. What can emerge when you re-enter a choreographic work to unveil something undiscovered within the movement, structure, and tone of the dance? Is it possible to build something new out of the rubble of where the previous dance "failed"? As artists, do we ever leave a particular piece behind, or are we still sifting through what remains of our initial interests? Performance History: Green Space // Queens, NY // June 2018 Original Cast: Grant Jacoby, Audrey MacLean, Sasha Peterson, and Jessica Smith This piece was created largely in part due to a residency at The Dragon's Egg in Ledyard, CT. |
Photo by Short photo co.
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Wyoming (2017)
4 dancers; 20 min Original Musical Score by John Yannelli "Wyoming" is an exploration of queerness and orientation in time and space, as well as concepts of home and displacement. What exactly characterizes a home? Is it a physical structure, a specific location, a personal connection/relationship, or even just an overarching notion? How does an individual (or individuals) change when they are removed from this safe space? How do we navigate a foreign space while constantly being haunted by the familiar? Might we find solace by actually turning away from sources we know to forge our own path? Performance History: Green Space // Queens, NY // January 2017 Wax Works // Brooklyn, NY // February 2017 Bard College // Annandale-on-Hudson, NY // March 2017 Sarah Lawrence College // Bronxville, NY // April 2017 Movement Research // New York, NY // May 2017 The Dance Complex // Cambridge, MA // June 2017 (premiere) Barn Dances // Garrison, NY // June 2017 College of the Holy Cross // Worcester, MA // November 2018 Original Cast: Grant Jacoby, Timothy Merkley, Bryanna Vargas, and Alaina Wilson This piece was created largely in part due to a residencies at the Canterbury Shaker Village and The Dragon's Egg in Ledyard, CT. |
Photo by Short photo co.
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bitte, or before we were birds (2016)
6 dancers; 20 min Music: The Sound of Music, Franz Schubert, Courtney Barnett "bitte, or before we were birds" tracks the fallout of heartbreak and loss without really providing any solutions or resolutions. It is divided into four distinct states of ecstasy: denial, apathy, anger, and eventually, the glimmer of acceptance. All in all, "bitte" (which translates to "please" as well as "thank you" in German) is a coping mechanism attempting to reach some sort of harmony that may never come. Performance History: North End Music & Performing Arts Center // Boston, MA // August 2015 Green Street Studios // Cambridge, MA // December 2015 Green Street Studios // Cambridge, MA // April 2016 (premiere) Original Cast: Matty Burns, Emily Evans, Gabriella Gentille, Shannon Quinn, Jessica Smith, and Katie Suyematsu |
Photo by Short photo co.
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I got a Master's Degree in this. (2015)
3 dancers; 15 min Music: The Books, Dusty Springfield, Tyga, So Percussion, Queen "I got a Master's Degree in this." explores a number of physical, musical, and spatial relationships, all while not trying to take itself too seriously. It features a solo, a two duets, and three trios which range from calm, to athletic, to rhythmic. "Master's Degree" asks what is dance? Why do we do it? Why do we love it? Why do we hate it? Is it so ridiculous to love something that simultaneously brings us up and tears us down? Performance History: International Festival of Arts & Ideas // New Haven, CT // June 2014 The Dance Complex // Cambridge, MA // May 2015 (premiere) Dance for World Community // Cambridge, MA // June 2015 North End Music & Performing Arts Center // Boston, MA // August 2015 Cambridge River Festival // Cambridge, MA // June 2017 College of the Holy Cross // Worcester, MA // November 2018 Original Cast: Libby Carberry, Grace Finley, and Sasha Peterson This piece was created largely in part due to a residency at The Dragon's Egg in Ledyard, CT. |
Photo by Short photo co.
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Nocturne for an afternoon (2014)
4 dancers; 15 min Music: Frédéric Chopin "Nocturne for an afternoon" draws upon inspiration from The Diary of Anne Frank, text by Edward L. Hutton, and field research in the town of Mélisey, Haute-Saône. It investigates the notion of secondhand sadness, the feeling of being separated from loved ones, and the desperate need to survive. Performance History: The Dance Complex // Cambridge, MA // April 2014 (premiere) Canterbury Shaker Village // Canterbury, NH // July 2016 The Studio at 550 // Cambridge, MA // July 2016 Original Cast: Matty Burns, Libby Carberry, Audrey MacLean, and Katie McGrail |
