bouquet and festival girl!

Hello, my name is Catherine Messina, I am a professional dancer and creator operating between New York and Atlanta.

This fall, I am spearheading a few large projects with a variety of collaborators:

-rogue wave's evening length performance of 'bouquet' (NYC)

-multiple affordable open class series (NYC, ATL)

-the annual Fall for Fall/Spring for Spring Dance Festival, which features over 30 independent choreographers and a guest choreographer from out of state (ATL)

My community work bucks the norm, as my first and foremost priority is getting all money back into the hands of all participating artists. As I look to the future and continue to improve my community offerings, there are expenses I cannot afford at this time (try as I might!) ((I am in grad school)). Your donations would cover the following:

-Increased artist pay

-Cost of studio space rental

-Continuing to improve our Marley floor and sound system for Fall for Fall

-Compensation for videographers and photographers, so I can continue to offer this to the artists free of charge

-Providing meals for team

If there is a specific avenue that you wish your donation to go towards, please feel free to write that! Rest assured, I am continuing to apply for as many grants, funding opportunities, and partnerships as possible so I can continue this work far into the future. If you are unable to donate but have in-kind offerings, please reach out to me.

If you have enjoyed any of my work or received opportunities from my public programming over the past year, and have anything to spare, now is the time! Thank you so much for considering :)

What is rogue wave?

rogue wave, founded by Catherine Messina, is a contemporary company based in New York City that uses neuroscience as a jumping-off point for many of their works. Their movement lives at the intersection of this scientific research with human, familiar music, big bodied floorwork with gestural specificity, and humorous moments with brute physicality. Receiving several festival invitations, the company has performed throughout New York, Atlanta, Richmond, Portugal, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. This includes theatres such as Dixon Place, Arts on Site, The Tank, Georgia Tech's Ferst Center for Performing Arts, Vino Theatre, Mark Morris, mignolo dance center and Emory University at festivals such as Koresh Dance Showcase, Kun-Yang Li Inhale Festival, Dance Canvas, Yes! Dance Festival, Hot Dance, 8-in-show, and the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy, to name a few. Her work has recently been described as "quirky and gestural, serving the choreographic objective while sparking curiosity," "wit, engaging vocabulary and a devil-may-care attitude," and "beautifully structured...wonderful to watch."

rogue wave is made up of the lovely Ashley Cassetta, Emily Hoff, Mayu Nayaka, Rebecca Neish, and Emmy Wildermuth. Other artistic collaborators and friends include Leighann Kowalsky, Danny Rocha, and Joseph Heitman. Thanks for believing in us!

What is Fall for Fall?

For me, art and community building go hand-in-hand. Fall for Fall is an outdoor dance festival showcasing the work of over thirty local choreographers each hiring their own set of dancers. I create the application, arrange the schedule, oversee all marketing and ticketing, secure the locations, and run the technical production of the events. What makes this festival unique from the standard module?

-All ticket sales and donations go directly to the artists involved.

-No application fee.

-Complementary photos and videos to every choreographer.

-Each night is at a different location in order to provide accessibility to the city.

-Multimedia: the evening often includes a DJ and visual art

-Residency program: a choreographer comes from out of state to set a world premiere on Atlanta dancers

-Director’s choice: one choreographer is chosen to further develop a new work through Decatur School of Ballet’s residency program in the following spring session

-Affordable class series!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I love this art AND I WANT TO DO IT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

Any questions - email [email redacted]

Thank you so much!

Catherine (Katie) Messina