Support Choreography by Paige Phillips
Donation protected
Dear Friends, Family, and Arts Advocates,
I invite you to support my upcoming project, 'The air is describing us / lining our bodies / squeezing us gently / inside and out' which will culminate as an evening of dance and installation at Mascher Space (Philadelphia) May 10-11, 2019. I’ve been choreographing dances for the past 15 years, and my casts typically consist of 2-3 performers, but this project is engaging 11 extremely talented collaborators. For the first time, I am actively seeking donations from individuals in order to complete the scope of work. Any amount that you can give -you’d be surprised by what we can do with $5!- would be greatly appreciated.
I fully believe in the power of art to create change and build powerful, articulate, and loving communities. In a world where communicating through technological devices is ubiquitous and pop-culture suggests that happiness can be found through material goods, my artwork seeks to explore how corporeal and person to person interactions offer alternative ways to create purposeful meaning. Whether near or far, I hope that you can contribute to this critical work, and for those who are nearer than farer, we encourage you to join us at the performance this May.
**Cover photo by Stephen Takacs
About the Work:
The evening will consist of 2 pieces: 'The air is describing us / lining our bodies / squeezing us gently / inside and out' and 'It’s just easier this way.' 'The air is describing us' began by asking six performers to explore the physicality of falling, and spiraled into a dichotomous community that feels isolated, yet requires the full support of the group to complete tasks. It acts as a metaphor for contemporary life, as we propel ourselves forward together despite ceaseless crashes around us. This will be it’s premiere. Performers include: Ani Javian, Katherine Kiefer-Stark, Ashley Lippolis, Celine McBride, Kate Seethaler, and Mary Carmen Webb. 'It’s just easier this way' is a continuation of a collaboration I began last spring with Josh Hines and Kelly Hurlburt, dancers from Columbus, OH, and presented informally at High Tide gallery. Hines and Hurlburt’s partnership in real life allows the dynamics of the duet to be intimate. It is at times sexy, funny, uncomfortable, and intense. Moving from the personal to the public, the work grapples with the tired, gendering tropes that our culture places upon heteronormative relationships. Sound design for the evening will be by Liam O’Connor (Chicago), and installation/set design by Evan Dawson (Philadelphia).
What Your Contribution Covers
-Performer fees (dancers will spend over 100 hours in the studio rehearsing)
-Space rental for rehearsals and performances
-Costumes
-Photographic documentation
-Video documentation
-Materials for set design
-Sound design
-Printing of promotional material and programs
-Travel (to and from Columbus, OH)
About Me
Paige Phillips wears many hats: choreographer, interdisciplinary artist, arts administrator, educator, performer, friend, family member, and cat lover. She spent the first 30 years of her life jumping around to new locations every few years (descending chronological order: Bangkok, Nepal, Columbus, NYC, Seattle, West Virginia), but is very excited that she and her husband have decided to commit to Philadelphia and it's community for the long haul. In addition to engaging with projects as an independent artist, Paige works for two dance centers, Mascher Space and the Performance Garage, where she enjoys facilitating opportunities for local art makers. Some of her highlights from living life as an artist include: presenting work at institutions like National Museum of Singapore, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Park Gallery (Kathmandu), Urban Arts Space (Columbus), and Velocity Dance Center (Seattle); performing inter/nationally for choreographers and visual artists such as Yael Bartana, Cyrus Khambatta, Josiah McElheny, and Owen David, and; receiving an incredible education from The Ohio State University (MFA in Dance / specialization in Folklore Studies), Cornish College of the Arts (BFA in Dance), and Interlochen Arts Academy.
About My Work
My artwork is situated on the intersection between the performing and visual arts, engaging most frequently with dance, movement scores, installation, and video. It is concerned with identity politics, and looks at how rituals and pop-culture play a role in forming community, spirituality, and self-awareness. Pulling from varied sources, content is drawn from referential actions that have cultural subtext. By fusing together seemingly disparate aesthetics and structures, displaced images are formed that destabilize stereotypes and complicate binaries, such as what is worthy of value and the assumed difference between the sacred and profane. The tone is often poetic and mythical, and through repetition, developments, and revisions, space is granted to contemplate how meaning is being constructed inside my works, and in conjunction with the world at large.
Bios of Collaborators
This project is overloaded by the talent and experience my collaborators bring to the process. We've all been moving and grooving since we were kids. Please take a moment to learn more about us and see how we've grown.
Ani Javian is a New Jersey-based dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Her work is rooted in her ideas about humans as story-tellers, story-holders, and story-makers. She is a dedicated improviser, and is committed to interdisciplinary collaboration. Her choreography has most recently been presented at REDCAT in Los Angeles, and has received support from the Ohio Arts Council and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Ani was previously a member of OhioDance’s Board of Trustees and holds an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and a BA in Dance and English from Connecticut College. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.
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Josh Hines graduated from The Ohio State University with a BFA in dance improvisation and performance in 2014. Since graduation he has been establishing himself in Columbus, Ohio as a dance artist, teacher, and improviser as well as traveling throughout the country to extensively research and practice dance improvisation and contact improvisation. Josh is the Founder and Co-dIrector of SeaBus Dance Company. He is passionate about growing and strengthening the Columbus Art's scene and is a founding member of Columbus Dance Alliance. Josh finds dance improvisation is paramount for his work: "For me there is nothing more human than curiosity and living in the moment. The sincerity that improvisation generates causes dancers to become more genuine in their movement, more alive and sensitive. The applications of dance improvisation are endless and that is what I love about it so much."
--
Kelly Hurlburt is a movement artist based in Columbus, Ohio. She received a B.F.A. in Dance at OSU and has performed and taught nationally across the US, and internationally in Israel, China, Spain and Denmark. She has led workshops at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, Shanghai University, Beijing Dance Academy, Zichri Theater in Kibbutz, Ga’aton and throughout Denmark. She has worked with Bebe Miller, Noa Zuk, Abby Zbikowski and Nancy Stark Smith. Kelly frequently travels to continue her movement research nationally to places like Earthdance, SFDI and Dragon’s Egg. Kelly co-directs SeaBus, a collaborative improvisational dance company, with partner, Josh Hines. She is also a performing artist with contemporary dance company, FluxFlow Dance Project. When she isn't performing, Kelly dedicates time to facilitating class in the Columbus Community and being an advocate for dance in Columbus by participating as a founding member of Columbus Dance Alliance.
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**left photo by Mom / right photo by JH Kertis
Katherine Kiefer Stark is a Philadelphia-based movement-artist, educator, and the artistic director of The Naked Stark. Rooted in the philosophy that the world is socially constructed, Katherine's work aims to examine her conscious and unconscious contributions to the status-quo and spark thought and conversation amongst the audience. Her work has been presented along the East Coast and in Chicago by organizations including First Person Arts Festival (2013), Capital Fringe (2016), and FringeArts (2012). Katherine received her MFA in choreography from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and her BA in dance from Connecticut College. As a free-lance dance artist she has been fortunate to work with a variety of choreographers and companies including Luis Lara Malvacias, Deganit Shemy, CTS Dance, Vervet Dance, Stone Depot Dance Lab, Colleen Hooper, Guillermo Ortega Tanus, Jessica Warchal-King and is excited to be working with Paige Phillips on this project. Katherine also enjoys improvising with her two children.
--
Ashley Lippolis is a dancer and art advocate in Philadelphia, originally from Upstate New York. She works for the Association for Public Art, a nonprofit that commissions and cares for public art in Philadelphia, and helps manage The Iron Factory studio and residency space in Kensington. She is a company member of allendance (Lora Allen), and previously danced for Tori Lawrence + Co. and Amy Lynne Barr, among others. Ashley has a BA in dance and psychology from Franklin & Marshall College, and a background that includes plenty of singing and musical theatre. Most of her time is spent enjoying her beloved whippet.
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**left photo by Mom / right photo by Stephen Takacs
Celine McBride studied dance at Muhlenberg College. She was a member of the improvisational performance group, Six Meters. She graduated in 2011. Since then she has danced for various Philadelphia dancers and choreographers, including Loren Groenendaal, Darcy Lyons, Katherine Kiefer Stark, and Meredith Stapleton. Celine has performed her own work at Little Berlin, the Iron Factory, and Space 151 in Philadelphia and at Ponderosa in Stolzenhagen, Germany. Celine performed with the Femme Collective in the fall of 2017 for which she also made a dance film with Margot Electra Steinberg.
--
**left photo by Mom / right photo by Jim Coleman
Kate Seethaler is an improviser, choreographer, educator, and performer. Her work moves from a multitude of questions about the audience/performer relationship. Kate has most recently collaborated with choreographers Michael Figueroa, Barbie Diewald, and Deborah Goffe. She has served on the faculties of Springfield College, School for Contemporary Dance & Thought, Aldrich Pilates, The Taft School, and Smith College. Kate earned an MFA from Smith College in 2016, and a BA from Springfield College in 2008. She has performed in dance works by Jennifer Nugent, Joy Davis, Kellie Ann Lynch, and Stephanie Maher. Kate teaches weekly at Mascher Space Cooperative, where she is also Membership/Rental Coordinator and Artist-in-Residence.
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Paige Phillips Bio Above / Not much has changed
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**photo by Stephen Takacs
Mary-Carmen Webb moved to Philadelphia in 2015 after graduating with honors from Hollins University. Upon moving to the Philadelphia area she has performed for varying artists including Pidgeon, Femme Collective, Lyons and Tigers, and Group Motion, to name a few. In 2017 Mary-Carmen began her journey of strong body and mind by completing her 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Certification and later becoming a Bar Method Instructor. Mary-Carmen enjoys staying in motion, and will forever be caught up in her dance party of one.
--
**photo by Stephan Takacs
Based in Philadelphia, Evan Dawson earned his MFA in Sculpture at The Ohio State University in 2012, and was a Lecturer in the Department of Art there until 2014, teaching Sculpture, Expanded Media, and Drawing. His work has been shown at the Columbus Museum of Art, the Sculpture Center (Ohio), Microscope Gallery (New York), Park Gallery (Kathmandu, Nepal), Ubaan Art Station (Bangkok, Thailand), and the Singapore Fringe Festival. He has an upcoming solo exhibit at Fleisher Art Memorial.
--
Liam Ze’ev O’Connor is a Chicago-based artist and educator. Liam grew up on a small suburban island near San Francisco, and received a BA from Lewis & Clark College and a MFA in Sculpture + Expanded Practice from The Ohio State University. Through works in video, photo, and sound, Liam’s work explores the complexity of American-Jewish identity, the Israel/Palestine conflict, and how we can access the divine through digital media. Recently, Liam’s work has been shown at HUME (Chicago), Roman Susan (Chicago), H Space (Cleveland), After School Special (Milwaukee), Royal Academy America (New York) Gallery Umakart, (Brno, CZ) and with MOTE Gallery at the Supermarket Independent Art Fair (Stockholm, SE).
--
To learn more about my work, please visit my website: www.movepaige.com
Tickets for 'The air is describing us / lining our bodies / squeezing us gently / inside and out' will be available for purchase through my website on April 13, 2019.
I invite you to support my upcoming project, 'The air is describing us / lining our bodies / squeezing us gently / inside and out' which will culminate as an evening of dance and installation at Mascher Space (Philadelphia) May 10-11, 2019. I’ve been choreographing dances for the past 15 years, and my casts typically consist of 2-3 performers, but this project is engaging 11 extremely talented collaborators. For the first time, I am actively seeking donations from individuals in order to complete the scope of work. Any amount that you can give -you’d be surprised by what we can do with $5!- would be greatly appreciated.
I fully believe in the power of art to create change and build powerful, articulate, and loving communities. In a world where communicating through technological devices is ubiquitous and pop-culture suggests that happiness can be found through material goods, my artwork seeks to explore how corporeal and person to person interactions offer alternative ways to create purposeful meaning. Whether near or far, I hope that you can contribute to this critical work, and for those who are nearer than farer, we encourage you to join us at the performance this May.
**Cover photo by Stephen Takacs
About the Work:
The evening will consist of 2 pieces: 'The air is describing us / lining our bodies / squeezing us gently / inside and out' and 'It’s just easier this way.' 'The air is describing us' began by asking six performers to explore the physicality of falling, and spiraled into a dichotomous community that feels isolated, yet requires the full support of the group to complete tasks. It acts as a metaphor for contemporary life, as we propel ourselves forward together despite ceaseless crashes around us. This will be it’s premiere. Performers include: Ani Javian, Katherine Kiefer-Stark, Ashley Lippolis, Celine McBride, Kate Seethaler, and Mary Carmen Webb. 'It’s just easier this way' is a continuation of a collaboration I began last spring with Josh Hines and Kelly Hurlburt, dancers from Columbus, OH, and presented informally at High Tide gallery. Hines and Hurlburt’s partnership in real life allows the dynamics of the duet to be intimate. It is at times sexy, funny, uncomfortable, and intense. Moving from the personal to the public, the work grapples with the tired, gendering tropes that our culture places upon heteronormative relationships. Sound design for the evening will be by Liam O’Connor (Chicago), and installation/set design by Evan Dawson (Philadelphia).
What Your Contribution Covers
-Performer fees (dancers will spend over 100 hours in the studio rehearsing)
-Space rental for rehearsals and performances
-Costumes
-Photographic documentation
-Video documentation
-Materials for set design
-Sound design
-Printing of promotional material and programs
-Travel (to and from Columbus, OH)
About Me
Paige Phillips wears many hats: choreographer, interdisciplinary artist, arts administrator, educator, performer, friend, family member, and cat lover. She spent the first 30 years of her life jumping around to new locations every few years (descending chronological order: Bangkok, Nepal, Columbus, NYC, Seattle, West Virginia), but is very excited that she and her husband have decided to commit to Philadelphia and it's community for the long haul. In addition to engaging with projects as an independent artist, Paige works for two dance centers, Mascher Space and the Performance Garage, where she enjoys facilitating opportunities for local art makers. Some of her highlights from living life as an artist include: presenting work at institutions like National Museum of Singapore, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Park Gallery (Kathmandu), Urban Arts Space (Columbus), and Velocity Dance Center (Seattle); performing inter/nationally for choreographers and visual artists such as Yael Bartana, Cyrus Khambatta, Josiah McElheny, and Owen David, and; receiving an incredible education from The Ohio State University (MFA in Dance / specialization in Folklore Studies), Cornish College of the Arts (BFA in Dance), and Interlochen Arts Academy.
About My Work
My artwork is situated on the intersection between the performing and visual arts, engaging most frequently with dance, movement scores, installation, and video. It is concerned with identity politics, and looks at how rituals and pop-culture play a role in forming community, spirituality, and self-awareness. Pulling from varied sources, content is drawn from referential actions that have cultural subtext. By fusing together seemingly disparate aesthetics and structures, displaced images are formed that destabilize stereotypes and complicate binaries, such as what is worthy of value and the assumed difference between the sacred and profane. The tone is often poetic and mythical, and through repetition, developments, and revisions, space is granted to contemplate how meaning is being constructed inside my works, and in conjunction with the world at large.
Bios of Collaborators
This project is overloaded by the talent and experience my collaborators bring to the process. We've all been moving and grooving since we were kids. Please take a moment to learn more about us and see how we've grown.
Ani Javian is a New Jersey-based dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Her work is rooted in her ideas about humans as story-tellers, story-holders, and story-makers. She is a dedicated improviser, and is committed to interdisciplinary collaboration. Her choreography has most recently been presented at REDCAT in Los Angeles, and has received support from the Ohio Arts Council and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Ani was previously a member of OhioDance’s Board of Trustees and holds an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and a BA in Dance and English from Connecticut College. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.
--
Josh Hines graduated from The Ohio State University with a BFA in dance improvisation and performance in 2014. Since graduation he has been establishing himself in Columbus, Ohio as a dance artist, teacher, and improviser as well as traveling throughout the country to extensively research and practice dance improvisation and contact improvisation. Josh is the Founder and Co-dIrector of SeaBus Dance Company. He is passionate about growing and strengthening the Columbus Art's scene and is a founding member of Columbus Dance Alliance. Josh finds dance improvisation is paramount for his work: "For me there is nothing more human than curiosity and living in the moment. The sincerity that improvisation generates causes dancers to become more genuine in their movement, more alive and sensitive. The applications of dance improvisation are endless and that is what I love about it so much."
--
Kelly Hurlburt is a movement artist based in Columbus, Ohio. She received a B.F.A. in Dance at OSU and has performed and taught nationally across the US, and internationally in Israel, China, Spain and Denmark. She has led workshops at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, Shanghai University, Beijing Dance Academy, Zichri Theater in Kibbutz, Ga’aton and throughout Denmark. She has worked with Bebe Miller, Noa Zuk, Abby Zbikowski and Nancy Stark Smith. Kelly frequently travels to continue her movement research nationally to places like Earthdance, SFDI and Dragon’s Egg. Kelly co-directs SeaBus, a collaborative improvisational dance company, with partner, Josh Hines. She is also a performing artist with contemporary dance company, FluxFlow Dance Project. When she isn't performing, Kelly dedicates time to facilitating class in the Columbus Community and being an advocate for dance in Columbus by participating as a founding member of Columbus Dance Alliance.
--
**left photo by Mom / right photo by JH KertisKatherine Kiefer Stark is a Philadelphia-based movement-artist, educator, and the artistic director of The Naked Stark. Rooted in the philosophy that the world is socially constructed, Katherine's work aims to examine her conscious and unconscious contributions to the status-quo and spark thought and conversation amongst the audience. Her work has been presented along the East Coast and in Chicago by organizations including First Person Arts Festival (2013), Capital Fringe (2016), and FringeArts (2012). Katherine received her MFA in choreography from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and her BA in dance from Connecticut College. As a free-lance dance artist she has been fortunate to work with a variety of choreographers and companies including Luis Lara Malvacias, Deganit Shemy, CTS Dance, Vervet Dance, Stone Depot Dance Lab, Colleen Hooper, Guillermo Ortega Tanus, Jessica Warchal-King and is excited to be working with Paige Phillips on this project. Katherine also enjoys improvising with her two children.
--
Ashley Lippolis is a dancer and art advocate in Philadelphia, originally from Upstate New York. She works for the Association for Public Art, a nonprofit that commissions and cares for public art in Philadelphia, and helps manage The Iron Factory studio and residency space in Kensington. She is a company member of allendance (Lora Allen), and previously danced for Tori Lawrence + Co. and Amy Lynne Barr, among others. Ashley has a BA in dance and psychology from Franklin & Marshall College, and a background that includes plenty of singing and musical theatre. Most of her time is spent enjoying her beloved whippet.
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**left photo by Mom / right photo by Stephen TakacsCeline McBride studied dance at Muhlenberg College. She was a member of the improvisational performance group, Six Meters. She graduated in 2011. Since then she has danced for various Philadelphia dancers and choreographers, including Loren Groenendaal, Darcy Lyons, Katherine Kiefer Stark, and Meredith Stapleton. Celine has performed her own work at Little Berlin, the Iron Factory, and Space 151 in Philadelphia and at Ponderosa in Stolzenhagen, Germany. Celine performed with the Femme Collective in the fall of 2017 for which she also made a dance film with Margot Electra Steinberg.
--
**left photo by Mom / right photo by Jim ColemanKate Seethaler is an improviser, choreographer, educator, and performer. Her work moves from a multitude of questions about the audience/performer relationship. Kate has most recently collaborated with choreographers Michael Figueroa, Barbie Diewald, and Deborah Goffe. She has served on the faculties of Springfield College, School for Contemporary Dance & Thought, Aldrich Pilates, The Taft School, and Smith College. Kate earned an MFA from Smith College in 2016, and a BA from Springfield College in 2008. She has performed in dance works by Jennifer Nugent, Joy Davis, Kellie Ann Lynch, and Stephanie Maher. Kate teaches weekly at Mascher Space Cooperative, where she is also Membership/Rental Coordinator and Artist-in-Residence.
--
Paige Phillips Bio Above / Not much has changed
--
**photo by Stephen TakacsMary-Carmen Webb moved to Philadelphia in 2015 after graduating with honors from Hollins University. Upon moving to the Philadelphia area she has performed for varying artists including Pidgeon, Femme Collective, Lyons and Tigers, and Group Motion, to name a few. In 2017 Mary-Carmen began her journey of strong body and mind by completing her 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Certification and later becoming a Bar Method Instructor. Mary-Carmen enjoys staying in motion, and will forever be caught up in her dance party of one.
--
**photo by Stephan TakacsBased in Philadelphia, Evan Dawson earned his MFA in Sculpture at The Ohio State University in 2012, and was a Lecturer in the Department of Art there until 2014, teaching Sculpture, Expanded Media, and Drawing. His work has been shown at the Columbus Museum of Art, the Sculpture Center (Ohio), Microscope Gallery (New York), Park Gallery (Kathmandu, Nepal), Ubaan Art Station (Bangkok, Thailand), and the Singapore Fringe Festival. He has an upcoming solo exhibit at Fleisher Art Memorial.
--
Liam Ze’ev O’Connor is a Chicago-based artist and educator. Liam grew up on a small suburban island near San Francisco, and received a BA from Lewis & Clark College and a MFA in Sculpture + Expanded Practice from The Ohio State University. Through works in video, photo, and sound, Liam’s work explores the complexity of American-Jewish identity, the Israel/Palestine conflict, and how we can access the divine through digital media. Recently, Liam’s work has been shown at HUME (Chicago), Roman Susan (Chicago), H Space (Cleveland), After School Special (Milwaukee), Royal Academy America (New York) Gallery Umakart, (Brno, CZ) and with MOTE Gallery at the Supermarket Independent Art Fair (Stockholm, SE).
--
To learn more about my work, please visit my website: www.movepaige.com
Tickets for 'The air is describing us / lining our bodies / squeezing us gently / inside and out' will be available for purchase through my website on April 13, 2019.
Organizer
Paige Phillips
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA