DANSPACE PROJECT PRESENTS
Ayano Elson + Wendell Gray II
a shared evening
Thursday, November 21 | 7:30PM
Friday, November 22 | 7:30PM
Saturday, November 23 | 7:30PM
Ayano Elson
Part Song/Immortal Life
Composer and music director
Matt Evans
Dancers
Amelia Heintzelman, Jade Manns, and evay ray suzuki
Musicians
Leo Chang, Tristan Kasten-Krause, and Zosha Warpeha
Costume Designer
Kate Williams
Lighting Designer
Lutin Tanner
Acknowledgements
I stay afloat with support from the dance community. Thank you to Danspace Project for inviting me here: Judy, Seta, Rosaly, Niko, Jodi, Marin, Allison, Emily, Em, Ella, Yolette, Luis, and Julian. Thank you to Lutin for transforming the dance. Thank you to Wendell for sharing your work with me.
Thank you to my friends, a few of whom watched early iterations of this dance. Thank you Alexa, Beth, Blaze, Juli, and Jesi. Thank you to John for recognizing how important dance is to me, and for inspiring a boldness I wouldn’t have without you. Thank you to those who donated to my fundraiser, whose support provides the resources and time to work with experimental artists like Matt, Amelia, Jade, Leah, Evan, Leo, Zosha, Tristan, and Kate.
I wish to thank my life-affirming and inspiring collaborators. Thank you to Leah. Thank you to Kate. Thank you to Leo. Thank you to Zosha. Thank you to Tristan. Thank you to my dancers, Evan, Jade, and Amelia. For taking on a larger role than originally proposed. For standing by a window for the second time in a row. For the care, presence, and devotion to get it right. What you all do is a true gift, you brought this dance to me. Thank you to Matt for your encouragement and heart. You have made me a better artist in every way.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Ayano Elson is an Okinawan-American dancer and choreographer based in New York City. Her performances have been presented by Abrons Arts Center, AUNTS, 411 Kent, CPR – Center for Performance Research, The Chocolate Factory, Danspace Project, Gibney Dance, ISSUE Project Room, Knockdown Center, Movement Research, PAGEANT, and Roulette, among others. In 2025, she will be joining The Kitchen’s Dance and Process artist in residence program as well as the Chocolate Factory’s spring residency program. She has held artist residencies at Center for Performance Research and Abrons Arts Center (2022), Lower Manhattan Cultural Center and ArtCake (2021), and Movement Research Van Lier Emerging Artist of Color Fellow (2018) and Gibney Dance (2015). She has received funding support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. She has performed in works by Laurie Berg, Kim Brandt, Jesi Cook, Milka Djordjevich, Simone Forti, Niall Jones, and Alexa West at museums, galleries, and theaters in Chicago, Los Angeles, and NYC. ayanoelson.com
Matt Evans is a Brooklyn based composer, percussionist, and producer making electro-acoustic recordings and performances that consider embodiment, interconnectedness, and lessons learned from non-human teachers. His compositions draw inspiration from millennial esoterica, natural phenomena, and science fiction, and have been described as “hyperreal and phantasmal” (Wire Magazine) and “a form of chill complexity” (New York Times). Matt has presented solo projects at the Guggenheim, The Kitchen, Roulette, and 2220 Art+Archives and has released records with Moon Glyph, Whatever’s Clever, and others. He performs regularly with ensembles Neti-Neti, Tigue, Bearthoven, Contemporaneous, and Fun Facts.
Amelia Heintzelman is a performer, choreographer, and teacher. Her work has been shown at Draftwork at Danspace Project, PAGEANT, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Snug Harbor, Lubov Gallery, and University Settlement in NYC. Most recently, she has performed for Alexa West, Jesi Cook, Ayano Elson, and Deborah Hay. She teaches at Pageant and Movement Research. www.ameliakh.com
Jade Manns is a dancer, choreographer and co-founder of the artist-run performance space PAGEANT in New York. Her work has been shown at Danspace Project, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Sundays on Broadway at Weis Acres, New Dance Alliance Performance Mix Festival and PAGEANT among others. Jade has received support from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, NYU Artist Development Program for Dance and Kino Saito Arts Center. She is a 2024/2025 NYLA Fresh Tracks Artist.
evan ray suzuki is a NY-based artist and performer of yonsei Japanese descent who creates butoh-ish multidisciplinary projects across dance, performance, and visual media. evan’s work has been presented internationally at Umbria Factory Festival in Spoleto, Italy and at venues such as Ars Nova, JACK, Movement Research at the Judson Church, PAGEANT, Center for Performance Research, Trans-Pecos, WestFest (New York), Icebox Project Space (Philadelphia), and in many galleries, parks, and basements. Recent projects have been supported by grants and residencies from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Ars Nova, New Dance Alliance, and Centro Umbro di Residenze Artistiche. evan’s performance credits include works by David Neumann, Mina Nishimura, Glenn Potter-Takata, Sara Rudner, and as a member of La MaMa’s Great Jones Repertory Company. www.evanraysuzuki.com
Leo Chang is a Korean improviser, composer, and performer of experimental music. Born in Seoul, Leo lived as an expat in Singapore, Taipei, and Shanghai, until moving to the United States in 2011. His art is an act of homemaking inspired by various musical and ideological movements that have sought to question power dynamics and imagine egalitarian possibilities. His primary methods are free improvisation, written text, graphical notation, and electronic processing. Leo’s projects have been presented and supported by the Vision Festival, Roulette Intermedium, NYC Winter Jazzfest, Korea Foundation, MATA Festival, Center for Performance Research, Ostrava Days New Music Festival, New York City Electro-Acoustic Music Festival, and Brooklyn Arts Council, among others. He holds a PhD in Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Tristan Kasten-Krause is a bassist and composer whose work enlarges the minutia of close tones and subtle gestures. As a bassist he has been credited with lending his “low end authority to vital New York institutions” (the New Yorker) and praised for his “heavenly” (the Guardian) original compositions. His music has been programmed across the United States by such presenters as the Hudson Basilica, Issue Project Room, The Stone, and Gray Sound at the University of Chicago. As a bassist his performances have spanned genre and institution – on Broadway in Justin Peck’s Illinoise and Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma!; on television in PBS’s Frontline, Netflix’s The Witcher and Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle; and at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and innumerable DIY venues which have been shuttered because they legally shouldn’t have been serving beer. He has worked closely with forward-thinking artists including Alvin Lucier, Sarah Hennies, Steve Reich and Sigur Ros. He is a member of the modern music ensembles Contemporaneous and Argento New Music as well as bassist for the experimental black metal band Scarcity.
Zosha Warpeha is a composer-performer working in a meditative space at the intersection of contemporary improvisation and folk traditions. She explores transformations of time and tonality on Hardanger d’amore, a sympathetic-stringed relative of the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, often layered with her own voice. Her current solo work is informed by the cyclical forms, rhythmic elasticity, and the physical momentum of Nordic folk music. Warpeha’s solo debut silver dawn (Relative Pitch Records) has been lauded as a “breathtaking dialogue between Warpeha and her instrument” (I Care if You Listen), her compositional process “subverting tradition not as a political act, but as a point of departure” (Peter Margasak). Her work has been supported by the US-Norway Fulbright Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Kate Williams is a multi-media artist. Her work centers around movement improvisation and choreography as well as designing clothing. She started her process of “dance” in college, where she began her focus into narrative dialogues based on personal experiences. Through movement she has been making it a part of her practice to learn how to further express and delve into these experiences, because it is a never-ending process. She is a self-taught sewer, making her own clothing since high school. This is a craft she continues to grow and learn more about. Kate’s work is to merge her two practices at the center of expression—using clothing and wardrobe she creates as a sculptural element of her movement work. She has performed in various places around New York City, and a couple shows abroad. Currently, she is part of the management team, as well as a member, of Otion Front Studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn. In addition to this she is also a freelance seamstress-working on private commissions with individuals, collaborating with other artists on costume pieces for their work, as well as designing her own garments and selling them. She attended Bard College (May 2020) where she was a joint major of Dance and Human Rights with a concentration in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Wendell Gray II
in the port’s mouth
Choreography
Wendell Gray II
Performers
Wendell Gray II, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Jamal K. White
Sound Design
Wendell Gray II + Zen Jefferson
Dramaturgy
Fana Fraser
Music
Eugene McDaniels, Vladislav Delay, Patti LaBelle, MJ Rodriguez, Ebony Jenkins, Tisha Cambell, Jennifer Hudson, JPEGMAFIA, Earth Wind, and Fire, Todd Rudgren, Diamanda Galas, Rainy Miller & Space Afrika, O$VMV$M, MHYSA, Sylvester, Ozoyo, Aaliyah, Roy Ayers
Special Thanks:
To Johnnie Cruise Mercer and Jay Carlon for the late night talks at Jacob’s Pillow. Those helped shape this work today.
To Phillip B. Williams for his novel Ours. It has followed me and guided me through this process.
To Ayano for sharing this evening with me and for the constant support, organizational skills , and flexibility through the process.
To Miguel Guttierez, Tere O’Connor, Juliana May, and Joana Kotze for your influence through working inside of your processes.
To my dear friends Natalie Cook and Jordan Demetrius Lloyd for their constant support showing up in the form of long phone calls, texts, and occasional meetups where they let me dream and throw out my ideas.
To my mom, Shenise McRoberts, for her artistic influence, self determination, and constant support of my life in the arts. To my Dad, Wendell Gray Sr, for his consistent care and connection to his lineage which inspired the work. Also to my siblings Imani, Indiya, and Jay for inspiring me in numerous ways throughout the work
Additionally Alexander Diaz, Stephanie Acosta, Masad Q, Dominica Greene, Bria Bacon, and of course, the team at Danspace Project for the invitation and trust!
Funding Credits:
The project was made possible, in part, through The Movement Research Artist-in-Residence Program, funded, in part, by a Mertz Gilmore Foundation Late-Stage Stipend.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Wendell Gray II is a dance artist, choreographer, and educator currently based in Brooklyn, NY, situated on Lenapehoking land. Wendell’s artistic journey has led him to perform with choreographers and artists including Miguel Gutierrez, Tere O’Connor, Joanna Kotze, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Pavel Zustiak, Christal Brown, J. Bouey, and Kevin Beasley, among many others. Wendell’s choreographic works have been shown at Draftwork at Danspace, PAGEANT, Coffey Street Studios, Kinosaito Arts Center, Gibney, University of the Arts, Movement Research at Judson Church, Center for Performance Research, Chez Bushwick, and Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. Wendell is a 2024-2025 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. He has additionally been supported by residency programs, including Sighlines Dance Festival (2023), STUFFED Artist in Residence at Judson Church (2021), Work Up 6.0 Artist at Gibney (2020), and Chez Bushwick (2017). He is also currently an adjunct professor of Dance at Sarah Lawrence College and additionally been a guest teacher at New York University, University of the Arts, and Dancewave among others. Wendell is an alumnus of the University of the Arts, where he graduated with a BFA in Dance under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. Originally hailing from Atlanta, GA, his artistic journey has been enriched by his upbringing in the performing arts. For more, visit wenings.com
Jordan Demetrius Lloyd is a Brooklyn based dance artist originally from Albany, NY. He has collaborated with and performed for Beth Gill, Jonathan Gonzalez, Tere O’Connor, Donna Uchizono, Netta Yerushalmy, Monica Bill Barnes, David Dorfman Dance, and more. He is an active teacher and is currently on faculty at the American Dance Festival. His work has been produced by Dancespace Project, New York Live Arts, ISSUE Project Room, BRIC, and more. For more head to jordandlloyd.com
Jamal Kamau White (Birmingham, AL) was raised in Atlanta, GA and began his training at Dance Makers of Atlanta under the direction of Denise and Lynise Heard. He studied as a scholarship student at Ballethnic Dance Academy, Virginia School of the Arts and trained in intensive programs at Kirov Academy of Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and London Contemporary Dance School. Mr. White received a B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Southern Methodist University and M.F.A at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. He has toured internationally in Rasta Thomas’ Rock the Ballet, Missouri Ballet Theater, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Alvin Ailey II, Collage Dance Collective, and BODYTRAFFIC. In these companies he’s had the pleasure of performing works by choreographers such as Nicolo Fonte, George Balanchine, Dwight Rhoden, Alvin Ailey, Stijn Celis, Richard Siegal, Victor Quijada, Hofesh Shechter, Arthur Pita, Swan Pouffer Benoit, Robert Battle, Martha Graham, and John Alleyne.
Jamal is most proud to be one of the founding members and CEO of Creative Strategies and Community Engagement for The Black Artists Dance Collective, which is a non-profit organization committed to providing resources and tuition-free programs for BIPOC dancers in the metro Atlanta area.
Most recently Jamal served as Artistic Fellow at BODYTRAFFIC and is now Assistant Professor of Dance at Marymount Manhattan College.
Zen Jefferson (he/they) is a Black & Queer multinational performer, DJ & NY Bessie nominated sound collage artist based in Berlin. Zen’s collaborations and practice navigate the intersections of cultural and spiritual expansion within performance and ritual – exploring themes of intimacy, race, community & sound as a transformative vessel for connection and healing.
Fana Fraser is a Trinidadian artist who works across dance, performance, film and theater to generate visceral experiences of the dense erotic. Fana is currently a Visiting Lecturer in Dance at Harvard University for Fall 2024. She has been an artist in residence at The Watermill Center, BAM Fisher Hillman Studio, Abrons Arts Center, Movement Research, The Shed and other spaces. Her work has been presented at several venues including: Brooklyn Museum, New York Botanical Garden, BAAD!, Gibney, Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco and Trinidad Theater Workshop with the Dance & Performance Institute. A 2021-23 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow in Dance, her short film, ‘nesting’ was commissioned by TBA21-Academy in 2023. Fana worked as Rehearsal Director for Ailey II from 2016-20. She has taught workshops in the MFA Dance program at Sarah Lawrence and the BFA Dance program at NYU. She taught as an adjunct associate professor in the BFA Dance program at University of the Arts. Fana is a 2023-24 Movement Research NYSCA Artist-in-Residence. fanafraser.com | @fanafraser
Danspace Project pays respect to Lenape peoples. We acknowledge that this work is situated on the Lenape island of Manhattan (Mannahatta) in Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland. We pay respect to Lenape land, water, and ancestors past, present and future.
ABOUT DANSPACE PROJECT
Danspace Project presents new work in dance, supports a diverse range of choreographers in developing their work, encourages experimentation, and connects artists to audiences. For 50 years, Danspace Project has supported a vital community of contemporary dance artists in an environment unlike any other in the United States. Located in the historic St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, Danspace shares its facility with the Church, The Poetry Project, and New York Theatre Ballet. Danspace Project’s Commissioning Initiative has commissioned nearly 600 new works since its inception in 1994. More about our staff, our mission, and values For information on our funders, visit danspaceproject.org/support FOLLOW US @danspaceproject danspaceproject.org