She was
She was is a hybrid musical performance in collaboration with butoh dancer Aneesha. Where artistic urgency veers into self-destruction, She was reflects on the complexity of pedagogy and mentorship—the loss, or merging, of personal identity, the price of perfection, and the role of intimate and communal care. At the intersection of Eastern and Western conceptualizations of art, devotion and spiritual practice, we dive into perilous gaps in understanding and the student-master bond. We make a ritual of our grief over friends lost, and attempt a gesture towards collective healing.
Presented by: On Bodies International Festival, Nicosia (2024)
Touch(ed)
A solo performance using autobiographical events to confront gender bias and cultural ideals around intimacy—in life, in art-making, and in dance itself. The artists ask how art can be a vehicle for transgressive ideals which prove difficult to uphold in real life, pointing to “slut-shaming” and the Madonna-whore dichotomy as a cultural mythology propagated in art and life alike—a status quo which hardly serves the de-sexualized mother-artist.
Presented at: Rialto Theatre, Limassol (2024); Theatro Dentro, Nicosia; Polyxoros Synergeio, Limassol (2023)
Developed in the framework of the Residency Programme for Performing and Live Arts by NiMAC at Theatro Polis OPAP, Nicosia, Cyprus and Supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant
ALARM
An original vignette-based work in collaboration with choreographer Brigette Dunn-Korpela (LA) and visual artist Dasha Sur (Russia). The symbiotic development of extended vocals, movement and object uses security alarms and the ancient Greek Sirens as points of departure to embody the act of trespassing, ownership of space, and the physical and disembodied experiences of the alarm state.
Selected vignettes presented by: REDCAT Studio, LA (2017); L.A.N.D. & WILD ART GROUP at Blue Roof Studios, LA (2018)
Development took place in residency at The Watermill Center with the support of New Music USA.
Madame de Sade
(in development)
2020 premiere postponed due to COVID-related venue closure
Physical Plastic stages Madame de Sade, Yukio Mishima’s semi-historical account of the Marquis de Sade’s transgressions through the eyes of the women in Sade’s life. Drawing inspiration from spoken-word and voguing to drive the narrative with dueling musical, vocal and gestural motifs, the ensemble uses the characters’ passionate debates to create dialogue between modern philosophical and feminist movements.
TO KY O
(in development)
A hybrid performance work confronting the incompatibility of art with care. Inspired by the late career plays preceding Tennessee Williams’ substance-induced death, we examine the nature of innovation and interrogate the myth of the tortured-genius as a romantic conceit, while our personal stories reckon with the grim correlation of suicide and creativity. Prompted by Williams’ juxtaposition of Eastern philosophy and American neuroses around art, money, and death, we explore Zen practices vis-à-vis the brutality of the artist grappling with their work. We look to the punk poet as prophet and the drag queen as guide in a post-tragic, post-Camp pop era, to create a theatrical experiment where practice and performance are blurred.
Still, Study: Lulu
Study: Lulu
(Film, digital) Short study for the screenplay Lulu created by Zoe Aja Moore, Amanda Jane Shank and Liz Toonkel, inspired by Frank Wedekind's plays. Installed as part of the project's live performance series in Los Angeles in 2015.