Dance Punk! explored how different subcultural communities have embodied the anti-conformist and rebellious spirit of punk ideology and style thrrough the 1970s and 1980s realms of punk rock, disco/punking/waacking, punk ballet, and the early 2000s hipster scene. Dramaturgically, Larissa Wodtke’s book Dance Punk (2023) and Tim Lawrence’s books Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979 (2003) and Life and Death of the New York Dance Floor, 1980-1983 (2016) provided historical insights.Choreographed in collaboration with the cast of Muhlenberg College students: Annalise Christie, Lily Courtney, Ellie Dean, Liliana DeMoya, Gnama Hartney, Shira Holtz, Rowan Joyce, Kerry Kaufman, Emma Lindquist, Natalie Ottaviano, Hannah Perfetti, Zoe Pizzuto, Doriangelys Ruiz, Hailey Smith, Lexy Widi, and Chloe Zurkan.
Undertow, an abstract, modern-dance rooted exploration of the power of water, was created in collaboration with fifteen students at Muhlenberg College. The creative process included individual reflections on the theme, a collaborative shaping of movement material, and the creation of a cooperative community. The work featured performers Maddy Cilley, Ruthy Freeberg, Emma Giordano, Allie Gleeson, Kerry Kaufman, Nora Klotz, Jordan Bleu Lavalle, Samantha Lipson, Emily Lyons, Madeline Miller, Hannah Perfetti, Mackenzie Schultz, Des Suarez, Hannah Warren, and Eilidh Wright. Photo credit: Marco Calderon.
With Increasing Frequency, a structured improvisational solo, is the most recent iteration of a dance about the life story of Soviet inventor Leon Theremin to explore ideas about power, creativity, and forces beyond our control.
The work was presented as part of the 2022 Fringe Festival' in (R)evolution, a triple bill shared with Muyu Ruan and Christina Eltvedt.
There's a hole in the wall (REMIX) is a twenty-minute, site-specific installation and structured improvisation that riffs on historical research and critical analysis of the ties and tensions between burlesque and aesthetic dance in the early twentieth century, as well as their reverberations today. The work was created as part of Season 2 of Iowa City Community Supported Art (ICCSA), a subscription-based program curated by Public Space One, Iowa City. This solo premiered November 18, 2012, at ps-z/the First United Methodist Church in Iowa City. Photo credit: Bill Adams.