Last Stop: Desire
Last Stop: Desire is an evening length dance/theatre adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. The show draws on Williams’ text and includes choreography culled from ballet, modern, jazz and American social dance forms of the 20th century. Now set in the 1960s, the ending is re-imagined for Blanche DuBois in which she ascends to freedom, rather than ascending to madness; harnessing the sexual and social freedoms women gained in the era. With a musical score of jazz standards and original music created by New Orleans based musician Richard Bates.
RUSSIAN BALLERINA
Russina Ballerina captures the humorous trials and tribulatations that dancers go through while training. Drawing on ballet and American social dance forms of the 20th century, the work captures the difficulty and the regality of life as a ballerina.
the home (project)
Home (in Four Seasons) is an extended version of the The Home (Project) which explores the theme of home and is a journey into the literal and metaphorical responses to home. Narratives are drawn from personal experience that capture the individuals’ struggle in a feminist, political and socio-cultural frame. Weaving together dance, theatrical tableaus, music and text, the work is conciliatory as well as revelatory, sometimes attached to landscapes, as it explores the complex associations and experiences of home.
lovers and strangers
Lovers and Strangers is a solo work that depicts a common experience for many women of trying to get ready for a party and the mixed emotions of the task. It shows the numerous choices she makes and the accompanying feelings of sensuality, excitement, frustration, and compulsion which are captured in dance. Eventually, at the breaking point, the dancer is unbounded, and leaves the stage in frustration, but then returns with the dress draped over her shoulder to make one determined attempt to finalize her choice.
Requisition of the Senses
Requisition of the Senses is an ensemble work that draws on a physical dance vocabulary coupled with spoken word and live music to capture the multiplicitous facets of urban life. The piece explores the urban realities that face us in our everyday lives: the dance we do around each other in public spaces, the intense energy that drives us to a frenzy, as well as the sorrowful reflection on lives lived as we try to find beauty in depleted and exhausting moments. The work is accompanied by original music, and the debut included traditional and folk accordion tunes by Norbert Slama, original piano composition by Seth Kaufman, and The Gas Tank Orchestra who created instruments out of industrial and car parts to create an avant-garde soundscape. The work received The Classical Arts Award for Best Modern Dance Choreography in New Orleans.
Into the Room Walked a Woman
(Who Loved a Man Singing Opera)
A solo woman, struck by the passion of Luciano Pavarotti singing Una Furtiva Lagrima, feels longing and wistfulness. As the song moves into its climax, the woman’s longing increases, reflected in the intensity of the tempo and repetition in her movement. The piece captures the way in which a voice can move us. How many times have we felt swept away by a singer and prompted to dance? Pavarotti's soulful voice brings the dancer together with the singer, even though they have never meet.
IN THE BLUE ROOM
In The Blue Room is a dance/theatre work with 4 dancers and an actor. Dancers move away and together as they explore the constant push pull in romantic relationships. Text by Jeanette Winterson underscores both the tenderness and brutality of these persistent power struggles in love.