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Updates and Highlights:

Ray Toy - - STUDIO WORKS summer 2024

Artist Talkback - - STUDIO WORKS summer 2024

Leigh Huster, Ray Toy, Patricia Graham

Christina Gesualdi - STUDIO WORKS

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Ray Toy - - STUDIO WORKS summer 2024

1/19

Performance

Celebrating STUDIO WORKS

We are incredibly grateful to all the artists and supporters who have been a part of our STUDIO WORKS programs this past year. We are honored to be in community with you all.

Studio Works is an informal, works-in-progress series designed for makers of all disciplines creating live work to share new and old work at any stage of development.

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Leah Stein Dance Company

carry with you this place

An iterative deep listening movement-sound practice weaving in personal story, images and metaphor.

More info on our practice and public showings in 2024 coming soon.

pictured left to right: Maddie Hopfield, Kimya Jackson, Shannon Brooks, Josie Smiith. Subcircle residency 2023.

this is about where and how satisfaction begins and ends. about wading through pleasure, collapse, pain, and futility. tor wants to try something he’s always wanted to try! and maybe learn more about enough being enough.

Catch and tumble with tor (@toebreen) this Thursday at STUDIO WORKS ⎯ Dec 12th, 7pm at The Art Room Studio: 2329 s 3rd st. - 2nd fl ! $10 - $35 ⎯ pay at door ⎯ no one turned away for lack of funds!

Full program and accessibility information using the link in bio!

tor breen is a white, queer, trans dance artist living on Lenni Lenape land, currently known as Philadelphia. playing with obsession, intimacy, shame, and aggression, he devises circumstances for sensory satisfaction and physical risk. tor creates landscapes that are precisely current, a way of honoring prolonged global, local, and personal crisis and catastrophe. tor has lived in New Hampshire and Minneapolis, where he learned so much from the mountains and the river and from artists including Ananya Chatterjea, Carl Flink, Erin Thompson, Chris Schlichting, HIJACK, and Leslie Parker.

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Photo credit: mik phillips

Witness Nerissa Tunnessen (@_nerissat_) and Sam Xia Cody (@scodyxiao) as they share a new work exploring dance and violin this Thursday at STUDIO WORKS ⎯ Dec 12th, 7pm at The Art Room Studio: 2329 s 3rd st. - 2nd fl ! $10 - $35 ⎯ pay at door ⎯ no one turned away for lack of funds!

Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

Nerissa and Sam are a creative dance and music duo based in Philadelphia, PA. They practice a cross-disciplinary investigation of form through text, conversation, and embodied practice.

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Photo credit #1: Rosie Simmons
Photo credit #2 and #2: Isaac Harrell

Join AZ in a cosmic exploration of their research MAR-Z: A Menstrual Musical this Thursday at STUDIO WORKS !

Dec 12th, 7pm at The Art Room Studio: 2329 s 3rd st. (2nd fl). $10 - $35 ⎯ pay at door ⎯ no one turned away for lack of funds!

Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

AZ Espinoza (@azsp_noza ) will share their work/research with MAR-Z: A Menstrual Musical. AZ Espinoza is building a map out of the dysphoria of the masculine menstruation experience. Explorations of movement and ritual, astrological inspirations, imaginary friends from childhood, and the tropes of standup comedy are the tools for building a narrative for stories where words fail to make meaning or provide comfort. MAR-Z is a duet for one body, a trans confessional, and a laboratory for perpetual transformation (it’s also funny). This piece was initially developed with Severin Blake and Lu Donovan at Subcircle Residency in Biddeford, Maine.

AZ Espinoza is an afro-futurist-trans-masculine-feminist making magic through theatre. As a playwright, director, mover and maker, their praxis is grounded in community building, embodiments of queer joy, and decolonial ritual practice. AZ’s solo performance work has been supported by Subcircle Residency in Biddeford, Maine and recent collaborations include Thomas Choinacky’s Forehand Down the Line and Dream Sweet, Rough Man with Lu Donovan and Micah Lockman-Fine. His plays All My Mothers Dream in Spanish, Homeridae, and Caribbean King have been supported and produced by Azuka Theatre, National New Play Network, Black Spatial Relics, and the Four Seasons Playwriting Residency. AZ is a student of liberation everywhere, and for everyone.

STUDIO WORKS ⎯ December 12th, 2024 ⎯ 7pm ⎯ The Art Room Studio: 2329 s 3rd st. - 2nd fl

Join us for our cozy, fall Studio Works this December featuring experiments in performance, sound, and materials with local artists AZ Espinoza, Nerissa Tennessen, and tor breen!

$10 - $35 ⎯ pay at door ⎯ no one turned away for lack of funds!

Studio Works is an informal performance series for local artists to share work in any stage of their process. Artists are given studio space and complete full agency over how and what they share. All proceeds go to the artists.

Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

AZ Espinoza (@azsp_noza ) will share his work/research with MAR-Z: A Menstrual Musical. AZ Espinoza is building a map out of the dysphoria of the masculine menstruation experience. Explorations of movement and ritual, astrological inspirations, imaginary friends from childhood, and the tropes of standup comedy are the tools for building a narrative for stories where words fail to make meaning or provide comfort. MAR-Z is a duet for one body, a trans confessional, and a laboratory for perpetual transformation (it’s also funny). This piece was initially developed with Severin Blake and Lu Donovan at Subcircle Residency in Biddeford, Maine.

Nerissa Tennessen (@_nerissat_ ) and collaborator Sam Xiao Cody will share a work in its very beginning phases, a new project for dance and violin.

Tor breen (@toebreen ) will share research about where and how satisfaction begins and ends. about wading through pleasure, collapse, pain, and futility. tor wants to try something he’s always wanted to try! and maybe learn more about enough being enough.

Interested in sharing research at a future Studio Works? Email us at artroomstudiophilly@gmail.com to get involved!

Join 2024 REAP artist Kimya Imani Jackson (@artsciencehybrid ) for a multimedia workshop Love Letter to Gas Stations: a collage Sunday October 20th 11am-1pm. 🌈

full workshop description, accessibility info and RSVP using the link in bio!

Workshop Description: Public space. Private space. Gas stations exist in both spaces simultaneously while also being a place that all of us will pass through at least once in our lifetime. This 3-hour workshop will explore our experiences/stories at gas stations. A mashup of movement exercises, questions, photos, sounds, discussion, and snack breaks will guide us in creating our collage. Open to adults at all levels of movement experience.

About Kimya Imani Jackson: I am a dancer, creator, clown and Ph.D. trained Biobehavioral Health scientist. I work in these mediums because I am excited by the extraordinary nature of ordinary things. I believe that magical things are happening every day if one just pays attention.

About REAP: Residency for Emerging Artists Project (REAP) is an artist-centered and self-led residency typically spanning from three months to one-year for 2-3 local artists in Philadelphia working across dance, music, theater, and performance. The length of each artist’s residency is decided by REAP artists at preliminary meetings with LSDC’s team. Artists are offered unlimited FREE studio space at The Art Room Studio, 10-hours of mentorship from an artist of their choice, and administrative support for a culminating event. There is no requirement for artists to execute a project within any set parameters, however, artists have the opportunity to share work in a culminating event in any form/format that supports their work (private/public showing, workshop, etc).

Connect, reset and immerse yourself in Patricia Graham’s installation Neuro-Box-Reshuffle this Saturday at STUDIO WORKS - AUGUST 24th - 7:30pm @ The Art Room Studio!

Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

Image credit by Maya Jackson. Image description in alt text provided by artists.

Be intrigued, be very intrigued.

Join Ray Toy as they lead the audience on a peripatetic journey powered by love, irony, and humor this Saturday at STUDIO WORKS - AUGUST 24th - 7:30pm @ The Art Room Studio!

Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

Ray Toy is an experimental novelist and performer. They hold an MA from the Royal College of Art in London, UK and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, US.

Image description in alt text provided by artists.

What does it feel like to clap for the soil, a tree, the sky? While our planet continues to warm from systems of capitalism, we can still celebrate and reconnect with these ecological communities in an effort to cultivate awareness and action on a collective scale….

Join Leigh Huster (@jock_witch ) in experimenting with somatic gratitude this Saturday at STUDIO WORKS - AUGUST 24th - 7:30pm @ The Art Room Studio! Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

More on clapping for nature: Clapping is a contagious behavior, like a yawn or laughter. An individual clap soon becomes collective, prefiguring the type of responses necessary for halting the damage to our ecosystems. This outdoor, immersive dance performance attempts to restore our relationship with our local ecosystems through tapping into the radical present through a combination of performance and somatic practice.

Featured collaborators in STUDIO WORKS clapping for nature iteration: shannon brooks (they/she), kimya jackson (she/her)

Leigh Huster is a mover and performance artist based in Philly. They are a dance instructor and organizer with West Philly Queerobics, a collectively-run, monthly accessibility-centered, all-levels community aerobics class. Additionally, they are an assistant producer of Night of 1,000 Kates, an evening of Kate Bush performance art and worship. They completed an artist residency in 2019 with Headlong Performance Institute.

Image description in alt text provided by artists.

STUDIO WORKS
AUGUST 24th 2024 at 7:30pm

Featuring experiments in performance, sound, and materials with local artists Leigh Huster (@jock_witch ), Patricia Graham (@patriciagraham654 ), and Ray Toy (rayyytoyyy ).

The Art Room Studio: 2329 s 3rd st. 2nd fl
$10 - $35 • pay at door • no one turned away for lack of funds

Studio Works is an informal performance series for local artists to share work in any stage of their process. Artists are given studio space and complete full agency over how and what they share. All proceeds go to the artists.

Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

Leigh Huster: What does it feel like to clap for the soil, a tree, the sky? While our planet continues to warm from systems of capitalism, we can still celebrate and reconnect with these ecological communities in an effort to cultivate awareness and action on a collective scale. Clapping is a contagious behavior, like a yawn or laughter. An individual clap soon becomes collective, prefiguring the type of responses necessary for halting the damage to our ecosystems. This outdoor, immersive dance performance attempts to restore our relationship with our local ecosystems through tapping into the radical present through a combination of performance and somatic practice.

Ray Toy will lead the audience on a peripatetic journey powered by love, irony, and humor.

Patricia Graham: neuro-box-Reshuffle, an immersive video experience.

Radiating in memories from our 2024 Studio Works series! Here are a few of our favorite moments from this past January’s Studio Works with artists (gen)ise paige (@gen.aissance) and Mikah Simone(@sheheretoda.y), with Aya Razzaz (@leila_delicious) and Vanessa Rosensweet (@ness_rose_ ).

Enjoy more experiments in performance at our NEXT STUDIO WORKS this AUGUST 24th with local artists Leigh Huster (@jock_witch ), Ray Toy (rayyytoyyy), and Patricia Graham (@patriciagraham654 ).

August 24th 7:30pm
The Art Room Studio (2329 s3rd st. fl 2)
$10 - $35 • pay at door • no one turned away for lack of funds

Studio Works is an informal performance series for local artists to share work in any stage of their process. Artists are given studio space and complete full agency over how and what they share.

Envelop yourself in the world of Blood Baby! Repost from our friends at @paintedbrideartcenter
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Disco. Boulders. An electric hug. This June, immerse yourself in Blood Baby (@_bloodbaby), a multidisciplinary dance project by Meg Foley (@actionisprimary) exploring queer & gender-expansive identity and family-building.

Engage in queer parent groups, interactive libraries, movement performances, and more at sites across Philadelphia this Pride Month! Get tickets and learn more about Blood Baby‘s five-part constellation of offerings at the link in the bio.

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Pic 1: performance of “Carpet Womb”
Pic 2: participant in “Touch Library”
Pic 3: “Primordial” installation UB

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Made possible with support from @pewcenterarts, with additional support from @nefa_arts and @npnarts

“We are figuring out the Echosystem”. This is: A duet that exists in phases. A duet that transposes space. A duet that transmits the energy. A duet that acts as the carbon. A duet that is built from and for more than just us.

Glide into and engage with Aubrey and Shana’s reverberating flow this Saturday at STUDIO WORKS - JUNE 1st - 8pm @ The Art Room Studio! Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

We are Shana Crawford and Aubrey Donisch, a long-distance dancing duo from Minneapolis. Shana by trade is a lighting designer and production manager in New York City, and Aubrey is a Philadelphia-based dance teacher and arts administrator. We have a deeply embedded shared history of movement as a practice of access. We ground ourselves in principles of shared authorship, building around the people who are in the room, autonomy over one’s own body and thoughts, and a belief that dancing isn’t about image, it’s about people.

Image description in alt text provided by artists.

“I’m taking up so much space I’m excreting it.” This work in progress explores themes of abundance and scarcity in our individual lives, communities, and ecosystems. Whenever I approach clarity of what abundance might look like for me personally, I snag when I consider how my wildest hopes or dreams would affect the environment or communities around me. How could we actually navigate personal and collective abundance? And what is that, past the buzzwords, anyway?...

Bask in your edges and untangle the mess with Miryam Coppersmith’s work this Saturday at STUDIO WORKS - JUNE 1st - 8pm @ The Art Room Studio! Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

Featured collaborators: Shannon Brooks (@shalynbro ), Leigh Huster (@jock_witch) , Kimya Imani Jackson (@artsciencehybrid ).

** slide to the end to witness Miryam take their TIME to untangle yarn after a recent rehearsal **

2nd photo credit Johanna Austin

Miryam Coppersmith (she/they) is a Philadelphia-based performance artist, writer, dance leader, and teacher. In her own performance, she works with movement, speech, and sound coming from her body, drawing on training in Contact Improvisation, Six Viewpoints, acting, Black American social dance, and other influences. She is also a skilled Yiddish dancer, having trained under Steve Weintraub. Miryam’s solo dance/theater piece “Mirele Lernt Zich Yiddish” which premiered in the Cannonball Festival this September, was hailed a “must-see performance” by The Dance Journal, and recently opened SoloFest at the Bridge Street Theater in Catskill, NY. miryamcoppersmith.com

“building a house for a home” explores what it means to seek steady ground. Collaborative and interdisciplinary, this piece considers recollection, displacement, lineage, and homemaking – a calling back to move forward. Featured collaborator: Daniel Sohn (@sanieldohn )

We are honored and delighted to be with Vyette Tiya’s work at this Spring’s STUDIO WORKS - Saturday, JUNE 1st - 8pm @ The Art Room Studio! Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

Vyette Tiya (she/her) is a Kenyan-American dancer and performance artist based in Philadelphia. Her work often explores cultural heritage and sense of belonging. Vyette is most interested in interdisciplinary collaboration, improvisation as practice, and centering movement as a way to tap into our authentic selves. Vyette studied international studies and dance at American University and she holds an MPA from Princeton University. Connect with her at vyettetiya.com or by following them at @vyettetiya

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STUDIO WORKS
June 1st 2024 at 8pm
Featuring experiments in performance, sound, and materials with local artists Vyette Tiya (@vyettetiya ), Miryam Coppersmith (@miryam.moves ), and Aubrey Donisch (@aubrey_rsr ) with Shana Crawford (@sortofhere).

The Art Room Studio: 2329 s 3rd st. - 2nd fl
$10 - $35 • pay at door • no one turned away for lack of funds

Studio Works is an informal performance series for local artists to share work in any stage of their process. Artist are given studio space and complete full agency over how and what they share. All proceeds go to the artists.

Vyette Tiya
“building a house for a home” explores what it means to seek steady ground. Collaborative and interdisciplinary, this piece considers recollection, displacement, lineage, and homemaking – a calling back to move forward.
featured collaborator: Daniel Sohn (@sanieldohn ).

Miryam Coppersmith
“I’m taking up so much space I’m excreting it.” This work in progress explores themes of abundance and scarcity in our individual lives, communities, and ecosystems. Whenever I approach clarity of what abundance might look like for me personally, I snag when I consider how my wildest hopes or dreams would affect the environment or communities around me. How could we actually navigate personal and collective abundance? And what is that, past the buzzwords, anyway? This ensemble of artists has been exploring these questions through discussion, movement, and play in space.
featured collaborators: Kimya Imani Jackson (@artsciencehybrid ), Shannon Brooks (@shalynbro ), and Leigh Huster
(@jock_witch ).

Aubrey Donisch and Shana Crawford
We are figuring out the Echosystem. This is: A duet that exists in phases. A duet that transposes space. A duet that transmits the energy. A duet that acts as the carbon. A duet that is built from and for more than just us.

Full program and accessibility information using the link in our bio.

“…Our intention was to meet people where they were and create immersive artistic experiences that enhanced or awakened their day…”

Immersive yourself into physicality and interconnection in 'SU.21.AC', a work from Camille Rennie, Company of Collaborative Artists (CoCA @cocamoves ) at FILM WORKS, Saturday 5/18 at 7pm in the basement of the The Art Room Studio (2329 s 3rd st).

In the summer of 2021, the Company of Collaborative Artists made the commitment to continue to bring dance art to people despite the global shutdown and closing of theaters and traditional performance spaces for dance. We elected to bring our creative process and performances outdoors and into public spaces, making dance art accessible to new and unsuspecting audiences. Our intention was to meet people where they were and create immersive artistic experiences that enhanced or awakened their day. This film work was created in residency at Stockton University and recorded in one-take on the boardwalk in front of their Atlantic City campus residence hall. [Music: “Ahya Simone Enough No BPM” by Kelela (the remixes) “Waking up in Assam” by Dan Savell]

Camille Rennie (MFA, Rutgers University) is a freelance choreographer and dance artist from New Jersey who serves her community as a choreographer, a university professor in dance and somatics, a wellness practitioner, and a certified yoga instructor (RYT 200-hour). She currently presents her choreography, movement practices, and artistic collaborations through the artwork & immersive events of her dance company, the Company of Collaborative Artists; a 501c3 nonprofit dance company with a mission to spread love and light internationally through dance arts and creative community…

Read more about Camille Rennie and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio.

image descriptions in alt text - written by artists

“Red Shadow is an impermanent body duet shifting constantly through past and present…”

Feel the textural wash of time in Leslie Bush’s (@midden_heap_movement ) work Red Shadow at FILM WORKS, Saturday 5/18 at 7pm in the basement of theThe Art Room Studio (2329 s 3rd st). RSVP using the link in bio to receive the link!

Leslie Bush is a Philadelphia based interdisciplinary artist working with dance and media. Fascinated by discrete/discreet movements, her improvisational practice exists in the in-between, the unstable, and the hard to describe. Her creative process amplifies the subtle body, often through technological mediation…

Read more about Leslie Bush and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio.

“When are you safe? Where are you safe?…”

Witness Megan Mizanty’s (@mizanty.art ) vulnerable inspection of security, risk, and safety with her work Everyday at FILM WORKS, Saturday 5/18 at 7pm in the basement of theThe Art Room Studio (2329 s 3rd st). RSVP using the link in bio to receive the link!

When are you safe? Where are you safe? “Everyday” explores the lived experiences of walking alone in a myriad of places circumstances, real and imagined.

Megan Mizanty, Audren Harden and Lillian Stamey are artists based in the tri-state region.

Read more about Megan Mizanty and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio.

image descriptions in alt text - written by artist.

“Rooted in interviews with displaced individuals and housing activists, the work interrogates power structures and policies that have displaced generations of US residents and surfaces solutions to our national housing crisis…”

Experience Aviva Geismar/Drastic Action’s (@avivageismar ) passionate look into power in their work ‘Dis Place’ at FILM WORKS, Saturday 5/18 at 7pm in the basement of theThe Art Room Studio (2329 s 3rd st) RSVP using the link in bio to receive the link!

Dis Place: Paper Edition” investigates our national legacy of displacement under the banner of “urban renewal.” Rooted in interviews with displaced individuals and housing activists, the work interrogates power structures and policies that have displaced generations of US residents and surfaces solutions to our national housing crisis.

Aviva Geismar is a New York City-based dancer, dance educator, choreographer and artistic director of Drastic Action, a contemporary dance company. She is also an Associate Professor at Queensborough Community College. Since 1989 she has been creating a body of theatrical dances, rooted in a full-bodied physicality and an interest in social justice…

Read more about Aviva Geismar/Drastic Action and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio.

image descriptions in alt text - written by artist.

“It’s hard to be a colonizer. Constant anxiety, nervous breakdowns. Nature dying and stuff...”

Experience Irina Varina’s (@irvarina ) investigation with Colonizers at FILM WORKS, Saturday 5/18 at 7pm in the basement of theThe Art Room Studio (2329 s 3rd st) RSVP using the link in bio to receive the link!

Irina Varina makes movies and theater. She moonlights as the Minister of Loneliness on the streets of New York and Philly collecting people’s loneliness claims.

Read more about Irina Varina and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio.

image descriptions in alt text - written by artist.

“Clarity and obfuscation, entropy and order...”

Witness Oona Taper’s (@oonataper ) textural world Sound of Sinking Ships created with video, degraded 16mm, 8mm film and hand drawn animation, at FILM WORKS, tomorrow Saturday 5/11 at 7pm on ZOOM ! RSVP using the link in bio to receive the link!

Clarity and obfuscation, entropy and order- explored through movement, music, video and film. The Sound of Sinking Ships is a dance improvisation documented in film, video, and animation. This video highlights movement itself as the figure flows through mediums, styles and levels of obfuscation and abstraction- including video, degraded 16mm and 8mm film and hand drawn animation.

Oona Taper is a Chicago-based artist creating films, installations and animations that are invested in the materiality of moving images to create tactile and embodied experiences for the viewer.

Read more about Oona Taper and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio.

“…an embodied exploration of integrating the shadow self using archetypes in astrology and tarot… “

Join us for the second screening of FILM WORKS, Saturday 5/11 at 7pm on ZOOM, and feel the embodied, esoteric experience of Amber Hongsermeier’s (@amber_in_motion ) video “Penumbra”. RSVP using the link in bio to receive the link!

“Penumbra” is an embodied exploration of integrating the shadow self using archetypes in astrology and tarot. Important archetypes used for movement generation were the dance artist’s Cancer Sun sign and the Four of Swords card that was pulled multiple times throughout the creative process.

Amber Hongsermeier is a neurodivergent and interdisciplinary movement artist, educator, and dance filmmaker. She received her BA in Dance with a history minor from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she was awarded the Porter Award for Creativity in Dance. In 2021, she earned her MFA in Dance from Rutgers University with her thesis focused on finding embodiment by exploring archetypes in astrology and tarot…

Read more about Amber Hongsermeier and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio.

image descriptions in alt text - written by artist.

“…both an investigation of physical surfaces and a contemplation of the nature of space and time...”

Join us for the second screening of FILM WORKS, Saturday 5/11 at 7pm on ZOOM, and dive into the surreal explorations of Christy Walsh’s (@christy_walsh_ ) video Cistern;After Murakami. RSVP using the link in bio to receive the link!

Cistern; After Murakami; Inspired by the author’s surrealistic use of empty wells as a conduit between multiple realities, Cistern places the dancer in an empty stone reservoir. Later, in true Murakami style, she suddenly finds herself on a desolate rock formation by the sea. The dance is both an investigation of physical surfaces and a contemplation of the nature of space and time. The recorded passage of chronological time in the dark cistern seems to pass very slowly, even though there is little of it. On the beach, where most of the action takes place, the sense of time is condensed because of the relative sense of freedom. The dancer explores the cistern’s contours, she has a dance with her shadow, the floors, and the walls, but she makes no attempt to leave. She just happens to find a spot on the wall that leads elsewhere. Like one of Murakami’s characters, she is in the cistern by choice, passively awaiting the adventure that will find her if she remains open to the possibility.

Christy Walsh started her performance career as a child, singing, acting and dancing with her grandmother, Alice Wamsley, in Wamsley’s musical theater company, Norfolk Musical Theater. Walsh went on to study with Gene Hammett, Glenn White, Susan Boree and others at the Tidewater Ballet in Norfolk, Virginia, where she also graduated from the Governor’s Magnet School…

Read more about Christy Walsh and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio.

image descriptions in alt text - written by artist.

“ … | community | noun: a feeling of interpersonal connection with others, as a result of sharing attitudes, interests, goals, or experiences…”

Join us for the second screening of FILM WORKS, Saturday 5/11 at 7pm on zoom, and witness Loren McFalls’ (@lorencatherine_ ) stunning exploration of interconnection with her film | community |. RSVP using the link in bio to receive the link!

Loren McFalls is a choreographer, performer, and teaching artist. Her dance training began in 1993 and continues indefinitely. She is most notably a member of the Drexel Dance Ensemble, co-founder of the femme. artists’ collective, and a board member with DanceATL. She currently teaches at Pointe of Grace, Atlanta Ballet, and is a live stream engineer for Core Dance. Her works have been featured in Philadelphia Fringe, DanceATL’s A.M. Collaborative Program, Spring for Spring & Fall for Fall Festivals, Zoetic Dance’s MIXTAPE, Full Radius Dance’s MAD Festival, Peace One Day, and Core Dance’s REEL Arts Series.

Read more about Loren McFalls and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio.

image descriptions in alt text - written by artist.

“We could plant fruit trees/Podríamos plantar arboles frutales”

We are so grateful for the warmth and intentional research Amalia (@amalia_cn_ ) has brought to LSDC and The Art Room Studio throughout 2023-2024 as one of our REAP artists!

Read details below on upcoming opportunities to connect with Amalia’s research “We could plant fruit trees/Podríamos plantar arboles frutales”, and join Amalia at the Art Room Studio on MAY 17th for a workshop exploring journaling in dance and playing with archival processes.

Details below and on our website!

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Repost from @dirtbabyfarm

After a winter of traveling and volunteering at farms in Mexico & Puerto Rico, Amalia is integrating and sharing her experiences through art and community offerings this spring! Digesting history, legacy, land, and family with our Philly community here.. and seeing how this journey radiates outward. This multifaceted project is called We could plant fruit trees/Podríamos plantar arboles frutales; which is something @amalia_cn_ ‘s grandmother has said to them many times about their family’s land in Mexico.

Below are details for the events of this project! 🍊

MAY 8 & 9th, 7pm
Performance: We could plant fruit trees/Podríamos plantar arboles frutales
Presented by @philadelphia_dance_projects
@ Christ Church Neighborhood House
$20 tickets

MAY 17th, 7-10pm
Workshop: “We could plant fruit trees—journaling in dance and playing with archival processes”
@leahsteindanceco, ArtRoom Studio
$5-15 sliding scale

“…Conjuring the absent presence of community during the global pandemic, this work is about listening and includes movement, marches, choreographies, music, and rites as a love letter to Pittsburgh…”

Witness Propelled Animal’s (@propelledanimals) spectacular exploration of a community in motion with SWITCH SIGNAL at FILM WORKS tomorrow SUNDAY, APRIL 21 at 7pm in The Art Room Studio-basement (2329 s 3rd st.)

Commissioned by Kelly Strayhorn Theater, SWITCH SIGNAL is a site-responsive film rooted in the technologies of imagination and mindfulness taught by Pittsburgh’s beloved Mister Rogers. The film was shot on location at Kelly Strayhorn Theater and throughout Pittsburgh with moments in The Hill District and at Carrie Furnace in June 2021. Conjuring the absent presence of community during the global pandemic, this work is about listening and includes movement, marches, choreographies, music, and rites as a love letter to Pittsburgh.Through performance we simultaneously mourn what we lose in our quest for growth, while embodying hope for the future….

**Full film description on our website - link in bio

Propelled Animals are: Esther Baker-Tarpaga (Philadelphia), Barber (Chicago), Heidi Wiren Bartlett (Pittsburgh), Raquel Monroe (Austin), Doc Courtney Jones (Boca Raton), Papa Djiga (Ouagadougou). Founded in 2014, Propelled Animals is a group of artists, dancers, scholars, musicians, and designers who embed innovative and provocative art in unconventional spaces. We are committed to creating work that interrogates, challenges, and ultimately attempts to dismantle the systemic “isms” of oppression. We adapt our projects and processes to address the specific needs of the communities we engage. Our performances encourage efficacy of the body, resilience, and radical tenderness as strategies for self-empowerment. Our work is centered on art as social action and ritual as performance…

**Read more about Propelled Animals and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS on our website, using the link in our bio

image descriptions in alt text - written by artist.

“… I/we were playing with the idea of brothers of different races being family and how they need or don’t need each other…”

Take witness to the breath and connection in S’KIN to SKIN by Meredith Rainey (@meredith_rainey_dance ) at FILM WORKS this SUNDAY, APRIL 21 at 7pm in The Art Room Studio-basement (2329 s 3rd st.)

“S’KIN to SKIN” was conceived of as a video response/continuation of S’KIN a site-specific work that premiered In Kent, CT at the Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts. In S’KIN I/we were playing with the idea of brothers of different races being family and how they need or don’t need each other. In S’kin to SKIN we wanted to take some of the movement vocabulary, motifs and intention and put them outside - figuratively and literally.

Meredith Rainey began dancing at 15 in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale. In 1985, he became the first African American dancer of the Milwaukee Ballet. In 1987, he joined the newly formed Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet, when the collaboration ended, he remained with the Pennsylvania Ballet for 17 years—much of that time as a soloist—until his retirement in 2006…

Read more about Meredith Rainey and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio

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“The hinges are off the office the door. The ham is on the face…”

Bask within the absurd tomfoolery inherent in the 9to5 worklife with Office Best Practices, brought to us by Circuitous Situationship (@roseluardo and @e.w.www ) at FILM WORKS this SUNDAY, APRIL 21 at 7pm in The Art Room Studio-basement (2329 s 3rd st.)

The hinges are off the office the door. The ham is on the face. The donut has been dipped in the coffee, and the dildo dipped in the donut. Somewhere between a dance video and an industrial film, Office Best Practices is a work out, and an absurd study of deviant work-craft.

Circuitous Situationship was born when the inimitable performer, Crackhead Barney, thought Emmett was Rose’s husband at a show in which Rose shared her persona, Shelly Nut, and Emmett shared their persona, Yung&Bizzy. The two mingle their multitudes in this project for fun, for freaks, for family, forever.

Read more about Circuitous Situationship and all the other brilliants artists sharing works through FILM WORKS using the link in our bio

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“They arrived with costumes and makeup, and just played...”

Immerse yourself in a radiant, playful-flow in And Eat It Too (I always do the dishes right on time) from Kayla Bobalek, Julia Bryck, and Maddie Hopfield at FILM WORKS this SUNDAY, APRIL 21 at 7pm in The Art Room Studio-basement (2329 s 3rd st.)

The last time Bobalek (@sneaky.veg ), Bryck (@jbryckhouse ), and Hopfield (@wibmd ) were all in the studio together was in February 2020. They throught their rehearsals would be on pause for a couple of week. Instead, they grieved and waited. When they finally returned to the studio in August, it was like being let our for recess. They arrived with costumes and makeup, and just played. Seriously, collaboratively, continuously. And eat it too (I always do the dishes right on time) shares their joy in movement and togetherness.

Kayla Bobalek, Julia Bryck, and Maddie Hopfield met in 2013 while studying dance at Bard College. They have collaborated on and off for many years, performing work in Philadelphia and New York…

(Read more about Kayla Bobalek, Julia Bryck, and Maddie Hopfield using the link in our bio)

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Six dancers explore the slipperiness of connection, to themselves and to each other, shifting and snapping between locations.

Traverse space, relationship and the body in Ella-Gabriel Mason's video The Road Is Long at FILM WORKS this SUNDAY, APRIL 21 at 7pm in The Art Room Studio Basement (2329 s 3rd st.)

Click the link in our bio to learn more about all the brilliant artists and films/videos we are sharing at FILM WORKS. Looking forward to connecting with you!

Ella-Gabriel Mason is an artmaker, educator and bodyworker, they combine rigorous academic research with lived experience, words with dance, brain with body, living in the tension between ways of knowing and methods of being...
(Read Ella-Gabriel Mason's full bio using the link in our bio)

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