DANSPACE PROJECT PRESENTS
Dancers, Buildings and People in the Streets Reunion
Saturday, April 12 | 3:45–8PM
Almost exactly 10 years after Platform 2015: Dancers, Buildings and People in the Streets curated by writer Claudia La Rocco at my invitation, we gather with some of the original participants to reflect on the experiments and questions she proposed. It was an unusual, perhaps singular, act for a dance presenter to invite a dance critic to enter into a new relationship to dancers and choreographers. It was both a joyous and challenging proposition and process which was extremely generative for me and, I hope, Claudia and all the artists and audiences involved.
Because this Platform took inspiration from Edwin Denby and the poet-as-critic tradition it made sense to invite Claudia to curate, as she is also a poet and a critic. The Platform also took inspiration from the overlapping dance lineages of George Balanchine, Merce Cunningham, and Judson Dance Theater; and their continued influence in choreographic practice today. Bringing together dancers from these experimental nodes, the Platform sparked new collaborations and possibilities for dance as it attempted to address the uptown-downtown divide still very present in the dance community today. Dancers were curated and paired by La Rocco and included Emily Coates and Yve Laris Cohen, Adrian Danchig-Waring and Silas Riener, Kaitlyn Gilliland and Will Rawls, Sterling Hyltin and Jodi Melnick, Sara Mearns and Rashaun Mitchell, and Jillian Peña and Troy Schumacher. Pam Tanowitz was invited to choreograph a new dance in front of an audience for a full day working for the first time with NYCB corps dancers. Filmmaker Howard Silver documented the full Platform following the artists from their first rehearsals through their performances at Danspace Project. Silver’s film excerpts will be viewed alongside reflections by original participants. Today’s program will conclude with short works by choreographers whose work inspired the initial inquiries proposed by La Rocco and Danspace Project. The accompanying catalogue is available here.
-Judy Hussie-Taylor
Co-facilitated by
Claudia La Rocco and Judy Hussie-Taylor
Panelists
Kaitlyn Gilliland, Silas Riener, Rashaun Mitchell, Jodi Melnick, Jillian Peña, Troy Schumacher, Emily Coates, Yve Laris Cohen, Pam Tanowitz
Documentary footage by
Howard Silver
Performances
Pam Tanowitz solo performed by Miriam Miller
Excerpt from Glacial Decoy (1979)
Choreography: Trisha Brown
Visual Presentation and Costumes: Robert Rauschenberg
Original Cast: Trisha Brown, Elizabeth Garren, Lisa Kraus, Nina Lundborg
Performed by: Cecily Campbell and Jennifer Payán
Signals (a solo)
Choreography: Merce Cunningham
Music: John King, 100tonecandles
Costume: Jennifer Goggans
Staged by: Jean Freebury
Dancer: Sienna Blaw
Signals was first performed by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on June 5, 1970 at Théâtre de France in Paris, France. Sienna Blaw is dancing the solo originally danced by Merce Cunningham.
Signals (1970) by Merce Cunningham © Merce Cunningham Trust. All rights reserved.
Travelogue (a solo)
Choreography: Merce Cunningham
Music: John King, 100tonecandles
Costume: After the design by Robert Rauschenberg
Staged by: Andrea Weber
Dancer: Morgan Amirah Burns
Travelogue was first performed by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on January 18, 1977 at the Minskoff Theatre in New York City. Morgan Amirah Burns is dancing the solo originally danced by Meg Harper.
Travelogue (1977) by Merce Cunningham © Merce Cunningham Trust. All rights reserved.
Pas de Deux from Chaconne
Music by Christoph Willibald von Gluck
(Ballet music from the opera Orphée et Eurydice)
Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Dancers: Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle
The performance of the pas de deux from Chaconne, a Balanchine ® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style ® and Balanchine Technique ® Service standards established and provided by the Trust.
Watermotor (1978)
Choreography: Trisha Brown
Original Cast: Trisha Brown
Performed by: Marc Crousillat
Stylist for Marc Crousillat: Willa Schwabsky
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Claudia La Rocco is the author, most recently, of the novella Drive By (Smooth Friend) and the chapbook-length essay Certain Things (Afternoon Editions). With musician/composer Phillip Greenlief, she is animals & giraffes, an improvisation collective that has released three albums and performs across the US with collaborators from various disciplines. Her novel petit cadeau was published in live, digital, and print editions by The Chocolate Factory. La Rocco was a critic for The New York Times, editorial director of Open Space, and now edits The Back Room at Small Press Traffic. Her second selected writings is forthcoming from Soberscove Press.
Kaitlyn Gilliland trained with Loyce and Lise Houlton at the School of American Ballet (SAB) and danced with the New York City Ballet (NYCB) from 2006 to 2011. After leaving NYCB, Kaitlyn freelanced in NYC and began working closely with Twyla Tharp in 2014. Kaitlyn has performed leading roles in numerous Tharp works, including the Bessie Award-winning revival of In The Upper Room at New York City Center in 2022. Now based in Minneapolis, Kaitlyn stages Tharp repertory worldwide. She founded A Dancer’s Place Productions in 2024 to create meaningful performing opportunities for classically-trained Twin Cities dancers.
Silas Riener’s work involves the building of collaborative worlds through improvisational techniques, digital technologies, and material construction. He dances in the works of Tere O’Connor, and many other experimental choreographers. His dance work is in large part in conversation with Rashaun Mitchell, since 2010 they have created multidisciplinary dance works together including site-responsive installations, concert dances, gallery performances and dances for film. Their partnership intentionally blurs authorship and maintains a commitment to queer culture and aesthetics. He was a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 2007-2012. He maintains an ongoing collaboration with sculptor Martha Friedman.
Rashaun Mitchell is a Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the 2012 New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer. His work with collaborator Silas Riener has been presented by venues such as Danspace Project, BAM/ Next Wave, EMPAC, The Walker Art Center, MCA Chicago, On The Boards, SF Moma and MoMA PS1. He has received three Princess Grace Awards, a 2013 Foundation for Contemporary Art “Grant to Artist,” and a 2011 New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award for “Sustained achievement in the work of Merce Cunningham 2004-2012.”
Jodi Melnick (choreographer, performer, teacher). In 1990, Melnick first performed at Danspace with choreographer Donna Uchizono. Since then, she has performed in this space with artists such as: Sara Rudner, Vicky Shick, Susan Rethorst, Dennis O’Conner, Irene Hultman, Beth Gill, Sara Mearns, Rashaun Mitchell, and Sondra Loring. Melnick was a member of the Twyla Tharp dance company and created solo work with Trisha Brown. Other choreographers and artists Melnick collaborate with include John Jasperse, Jon Kinzel, Maya Lee-Parritz, Liz Roche, Yoshiko Chuma, David Neumann, Charlie Atlas, and Sibyl Kempson.
Jillian Peña is a dance artist and psychotherapist living in upstate New York. Her work focuses on the most complicated relationship we all have: that of the self to itself. She is inspired by psychoanalysis, queer theory, pop media, spirituality. Jillian was awarded the 2014 Prix Jardin d’Europe, and received a 2016 Bessie Award nomination. She enjoys teaching at Bard College in the Language & Thinking Program.
Troy Schumacher (BalletCollective Founder & Artistic Director, choreographer) is a choreographer and director whose athletic aesthetic draws upon the artists he collaborates with to produce fresh, unexpected results. Dubbed a “visionary artist” by T Magazine, he is a soloist with New York City Ballet and the Founder and Artistic Director of BalletCollective. Schumacher has been commissioned to make work by New York City Ballet, the Martha Graham Dance Company, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others, and outside of BalletCollective has collaborated with luminaries including Jeff Koons and Thom Browne. In addition to live performances, Schumacher has choreographed numerous art, fashion and commercial shoots for clients including Google, Sony PlayStation, Capezio, HP, Aritzia, CR Fashion Book, Tom Ford, and The New York Times.
Emily Coates has performed internationally with New York City Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, Twyla Tharp, and Yvonne Rainer. A recipient of the Mae L. Wein Award, her career highlights include three duets with Baryshnikov, in works by Erick Hawkins, Mark Morris, and Karole Armitage. Her choreography has been commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Danspace Project (NYT Critic’s Pick 2017, NYT Fall Dance to Watch 2018), Performa (NYT Best Dance 2019, with Rainer), among others. In 2023, she was a featured artist in Hard Return at the Neuberger Museum. She is professor in the practice and founding director of dance studies at Yale University. She co-authored Physics and Dance with physicist Sarah Demers (2019), and co-edited Remembering a Dance: Parts of Some Sextets, 1965/2019 with Yvonne Rainer (2023). Emilycoates.art
Howard Silver’s been directing, shooting and editing films and video for PBS, The Met Museum, MoMA PS1, Saturday Night Live, The Kitchen, Performance Space NY and ABT. He’s enjoyed working with choreographers making dance-for-film and documenting their work. His feature documentary of Sterling Hyltin, Sara Mearns, Jodi Melnick and Rashaun Mitchell’s 2015 Platform collaboration will screen in NY this fall. https://www.artsintoproduction.net IG: howrd_silver
Pam Tanowitz is a critically acclaimed NY-based choreographer and founder of Pam Tanowitz Dance. She is the choreographer in residence at the Fisher Center at Bard and is an assistant professor of professional practice at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. She has created works for Royal Ballet, Australian Ballet, New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, and more. Honors include Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, LMCC Liberty Award, Doris Duke Artist Award, Herb Alpert Award, among others. Originally from New Rochelle, NY, Tanowitz holds degrees from Ohio State University and Sarah Lawrence College.
Miriam Miller was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and began her dance training in 2001 at the University of Iowa Youth Ballet and School of Dance. In 2006, she began studying at City Ballet of Iowa. She attended summer courses at SAB in 2011 and 2012, enrolling as a full-time student during the 2012 winter term. Miller became an apprentice with NYCB in 2015 and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2016. In 2022, Miller was promoted to Soloist and in 2025 became a Principal with NYCB. Since joining the Company, Miller has performed featured roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Pam Tanowitz, Tiler Peck, Lauren Lovette, and Amy Hall Garner. Miller is a recipient of the 2017 Princess Grace Award.
One of the most influential choreographers of her time, Trisha Brown (1936–2017) forever transformed the landscape of contemporary dance. A student of Anna Halprin, Brown participated in Robert Dunn’s choreographic workshops, leading to the formation of Judson Dance Theater and the explosion of interdisciplinary creativity that defined 1960s New York. In 1970, Brown founded Trisha Brown Dance Company (TBDC), embarking on four decades of artistic exploration. She created over 100 choreographies, six operas, and a body of visual art recognized in museum exhibitions worldwide. Her earliest works were shaped by the urban environment of downtown SoHo, where she experimented with site-specific performances. By the 1970s, as Brown developed a singular abstract movement language, her work found a home in art galleries, museums, and international exhibitions. A pivotal shift came in 1979 when she moved from unconventional spaces to the proscenium stage, integrating her experimental vocabulary into traditional theatrical settings.
Brown’s contributions earned her nearly every major award for contemporary choreographers. She was the first woman to receive the MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant (1991) and was honored with five National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, two Guggenheim Fellowships, and Brandeis University’s Creative Arts Medal in Dance (1982). France named her Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres (1988), and she received the New York State Governor’s Arts Award (1999), the National Medal of Arts (2003), and the New York Dance and Performance ‘Bessie’ Lifetime Achievement Award (2011). That same year, she was awarded the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for her “outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world.” Today, Trisha Brown Dance Company continues to honor her legacy through performances, education, licensing, and archival initiatives. The company reconstructs and remounts Brown’s major proscenium works from 1979–2011, alongside its In Plain Site initiative, which reinvigorates her choreography by adapting it to new spaces. In 2023, TBDC expanded its mission to include commissions from a new generation of artists, engaging contemporary voices whose work resonates with Brown’s legacy while reaffirming its primary role in preserving her groundbreaking contributions to dance.
Cecily Campbell is from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Now a New York City based dance artist and teacher, she received a BFA in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, danced with Shen Wei Dance Arts from 2008-2013, and joined the Trisha Brown Dance Company in 2012, where she is currently the Rehearsal Director. She has taught and re-staged Trisha Brown’s work all over the world, performed with The Merce Cunningham Trust, and with Annie-B Parson at the Metropolitan Opera and Storm King Art Center. She is delighted to share in this work with you.
Jennifer Payán (Dancer) is a first generation Dominican American, New York City based movement artist. She received her BFA in Dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Since graduating, she has performed with Punch Drunk’s SleepNoMore, Pam Tanowitz Dance, Company SBB, Netta Yerushalmy, Jasmin Hearn Collaborates, among others. Beyond the stage, she has been featured in film and performance projects choreographed by Yara Travieso, Warren Adams, Amy Gardner, Bobbi Jene Smith, Solange Knowles, Marla Phelan, among others. Jennifer currently performs with the Trisha Brown Dance Company and is in her 4th year with the company.
Sienna Blaw is a queer dance artist from Austin, TX. Since graduating from SUNY Purchase in 2017 Sienna has performed the works of Pam Tanowitz Dance, Merce Cunningham, Doug Varone, and Hannah Garner’s 2nd Best Dance Company, and they have performed Contact Improvisation scores at MoMa and Park Avenue Armory. Sienna is a co-founder of A-Y/dancers, and a collaborator with Indah Walsh, POGO Dance Projects, and Julia Antinozzi. Sienna is a Dance Church instructor, and they are also an authorized teacher of Cunningham Technique™️ through the Merce Cunningham Trust. They most recently performed at The Shed in Luna Luna: A Forgotten Fantasy, and in Punchdrunk’s NYC production of Sleep No More.
Morgan Amirah Burns, a native Atlantan is an artist fixated on her Creator. Devsing works in performance, design, cinema, and whatever else it is that must be used to shed light, Morgan Amirah isn’t interested in cannon. Earning a BFA from New York University Tisch School of the Arts (2020) with a certificate of completion from the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, her recent work includes “reprogram” in collaboration with pop musician Kilo Kish and has performed work by Rashaun + SIlas, Pam Tanowitz and more. She is the Inaugural Recipient of the Merce Cunningham Trust’s Barbara Ensley Award.
Sara Mearns: Principal dancer at New York City Ballet since 2008. Originated roles with choreographers Justin Peck, Kyle Abraham, Alexei Ratmansky, Pam Tanowitz, Bobbi Jene Smith, Christopher Wheeldon, Guillaume Cote, Beth Gill, among others. Guest Performer: Paul Taylor Dance Company, The Cunningham Centennial Celebration, Jodi Melnick Dance, Bill T Jones/Lee Ming Wei, and Wang Ramirez. NYCC: Artists at the Center, Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, Encores! I Married An Angel, Twyla Now, multiple Fall for Dances, and performed Dances of Isadora Duncan at Lincoln Center. National Ballet of Canada: Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet;” Joyce Theatre: “A Piece of Work.” Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer in 2018, Dance Magazine Award in 2019, and an Honorary Doctorate University of South Carolina in 2019. Sara also sits on the advisory board for the Dancers Resource at The Entertainment Fund and is a Mental Health Champion Ambassador at the Mental Health Coalition.
Tyler Angle joined New York City Ballet in 2004, and was promoted to Principal dancer in 2009. Mr. Angle dances much of the central Balanchine and Robbins canon at NYCB, his repertoire includes more than 90 pieces from the company’s catalogue. He has originated featured roles with numerous choreographers including Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky and Christopher Wheeldon, and has worked directly with many other dance luminaries such as William Forsythe and Mark Morris. From 2012-2022, Mr. Angle was the artistic director of the Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival, a benefit for Nantucket’s non-profit library organization. During his tenure, the festival raised millions of dollars for the Nantucket Atheneum. Mr. Angle is on the faculty of the Rye Ballet Conservatory, and regularly gives ballet and partnering masterclasses around the country. He also holds a Diploma in Visual and Performing Arts Administration from NYU’s School of Professional Studies.
Marc Crousillat has performed in works by Pam Tanowitz, Tere O’Connor, Netta Yerushalmy, John Jasperse, and others. He danced in the Merce Cunningham Trust’s Night of 100 Solos at BAM and Beach Birds. He debuted on Broadway in West Side Story, directed by Ivo van Hove and choreographed by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. For his work with the Trisha Brown Dance Company (2014–2022), he received a Princess Grace Award and a Bessie nomination for Outstanding Performer in the revival of Watermotor. He made his acting debut in Burrow (2023) at Tribeca Film Festival and recently choreographed Clairo’s Terrapin music video, directed by Ayo Edebiri.
Willa Schwabsky is a costume designer based in Brooklyn. Her work ranges from film, dance, theater, and fashion styling. While her heart lies in film, she loves to work with musicians and dancers— usually favoring bright colors and punk references to help performers stand out in their distinct worlds. Her work has been shown at Pageant, Kestrels, the Poetry Project, Studio 17, among others, and she has worked with musicians such as Voyeur, Sleigh Bells, Tei Shi, and Fcukers. Her film work has been screened at NoBudge, the Arthouse Film Festival, BAM, and the Roxy cinema.
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