wolfthicket is a dance theater spectacular. it is a place: the periphery, the woods, the basement. it is games of make believe: hopscotch, hand-patting, tennis, music video, sunbathing. it is a world of the women(+) who feed it: the dancers, florence mills, mendelssohn, serena, miriam, anne carsen, who else?

Wolfthicket is set of games that fit into a flexible overall score or ritual spectacle. It is vaudevillian in structure, in that it has many small acts that mess around with each other and the audience. It invites the audience to applaud, cheer, or  heckle.

these dancers were not grown on industrial farms. Well, some of the short busty ones fled the terrors of dance training industrial complex, others are lanky physical theater performers. All have become clowns. At least one is a certified doula. Our youngest can just only legally drink and our oldest is forty but NOT MARRIED. The choreography dares to take care of both the of dancers and the dancing.

past & present thicket: amalia colon-nava, johanna kasimow, maddie hopfield, kelsey lanceta, chelsea murphy, lillian ransijn, eva steinmetz, mary carmen webb, elizabeth weinstein

“Provocation & Delight” - Thinking Dance

“Truly a Gem” - Philadelphia Dance

Sept 2018. Philadelphia Fringe Festival

Metal is unexpectedly soft. Kind is unabashedly sharp. Together, they present a collage of new solo work designed for folks secretly underwhelmed by new solo work. Metal and Kind are both multidisciplinary powerhouses working in and around social and folk dance, devised dance theater, and experimental storytelling.

Available as excerpts or in full. Can be mounted in non-traditional theater and dance spaces.

Vernacular Jazz, also known as Solo Jazz or Jazz Roots, refers to black vernacular dances styles ranging from Cake Walk and Charleston through to Be-bop and early rock and roll. It indicates dancing without a partner (rather than dancing with a partner, like Lindy Hop). Unlike Broadway Jazz, it has limited influences from ballet. Solo Jazz can be improvised or choreographed. It ranges from sly and slinky to aerobic and goofy.

Teaching: Sundays 4:30 - 5:30 pm at Urban Movement Arts. For more info:

www.ragtagempire.com

photo credit: Jerry Almonte

Lindy Hop was created by young black teenagers in Harlem in the 1930's. Lindy Hop is danced with a partner to classic big band music, swampy New Orleans jazz , or even Motown.

I started Lindy Hopping in 2009 in Baltimore. I was invited to perform with Gaurdian Baltmore which encouraged my anthropological thinking about social dance forms in the 21st century. After attending countless swing dance events and festivals all over the world, including Stompology, Herrang, ILHC, and more I created Ragtag Empire with Heather Houde, a Philly based swing dance business. We host parties, teach classes, and share history.

photos: Katrina D’Autrement

a synthesis of many somatic and improvisational methods that provides accessible tools for any body to enhance their physical improvisation alone or in a group.

photo credit: pugs pugliese.

Collaborative dance-making with young people (high school or college age) can be transformative and empowering for the participants and the audience. I care about the cultural capital (stories, references, friendships) young people carry. It is possible to use this material in an environment of consent and creativity to express something new, and usually, quite hilarious. Much better than homogenizing young bodies.

I have set dances on students at the California Institute of the Arts and Concord Academy.

how to make a dance in america, is a small manual that outlines technical, compositional, historical, and dramarugical basics of making and producing dance in the america today. wether you’re a ‘non-dancer’ starting to make performance art, or a seasoned professional dancer suddenly trying to make a ballet in a tiny gallery, you may be wondering what the hell is the difference between a DMX and an XLR cable anyway? you might wonder also, about how to make dances cheaply, in order to make them independently. this manual includes original technical drawings.

this project has been informed by over a decade of producing my own work as well working on others’ well resourced projects. i also share this knowledge as the director of the artists in residence program at urban movment arts.

coming 2019

2009 - 2015 | Baltimore, MD
“Effervescent bridges the city’s burgeoning DIY performance and music scenes with collaborations as inclusive as they are kinetic.”

— Baltimore Magazine, Best of Baltimore, 2012

As the founding director of Effervescent Collective, I supported the creation of way-more-than-we-kept-track-of-number of original full evening dance works, dance parties, pop-up performances, and more. Effervescent was a volunteer based organization full of a believe in Baltimore, each other, and the nourishing power of making dance.