From Artistic Director: Brandy Leary
I work with the body as a means of philosophical enquiry to create contemporary performances through dance-based entry points. I view my work as part of a distinctly poly-cultural lineage, integrating techniques and perspectives from East and West, defying easy categories. My diverse training in Chauu, kalaripayat (Indian Dance/martial arts), aerial work, Western theatre (direction/dramaturgy), and Axis Syllabus practices has provided me with a unique philosophy of the body, space, and choreographic composition with which to initiate a collaborative dialogue with audiences and artists. Although I am not bound by the techniques I am trained in, my viewpoint is infused with their subtle sensibilities and I offer questions from a multi-faceted perspective. I most often work with artists who do not share my artistic background and this diversity allows me to mine new places of research. While the research is still rooted in the body it is not constrained by a single dominating dance vocabulary or performance viewpoint. The essential values that inform my choreographic approach are:
• begin with the body
• be simple
• work with open source collaboration
• every structure is temporary and flexible (the body, states of being, performance space, narratives, time)
• every technique, training and background in the room is democratically equal
My current work and processes are focused on exploring performantive constructs that renegotiate the relationship between audience and performer. I am interested in what happens as we watch dance, how we construct meaning through that process, and how that meaning alters as this relationship shifts. As part of this exploration, I am interested in choreographic scores that destabilize the relationship between these two roles that form the traditional spectrum of how dance is commonly experienced.