dreaming with the body creative workshops and intensives

From July to December 2023, I hosted a series of creative workshops and intensives for youth and community in association with my latest professional performance project, For you, I dream of me. These intensives, Dreaming with the Body, invited a range of participants of any gender identity to examine classic fairy tales, ranging from The Little Mermaid to Beauty and the Beast and beyond, questioning the role of sacrifice as a necessary means for happiness. Through individual and group reflections and creative prompts, such as drawing, dancing and journaling, we reimagined the tales' "happy endings" in favor of plot points that leave more space for autonomy, nuance, self-empowerment, and joy. It is my hope that with continued funding and support, I can offer more of these workshops across Central and Eastern MA leading up to an eventual premier of For you, I dream of me in the 2024-25 season.

For you, I dream of me

This contemporary dance theater project will explore the themes of love, sacrifice, and violence depicted in fairy tales and lore from various cultures and traditions around the world to reveal through motion biases and assumptions embedded in mainstream culture.  

Fairy tales are stories that describe a society’s cultural morals. These morals become the lens through which society defines its boundaries and biases. The plight of women, particularly queer, BIPOC, and otherwise disenfranchised women, historically become cautionary tales in these stories. By exploring both classic and contemporary texts through movement, For you, I dream of me seeks to convey more expansive, complex and nuanced depictions of character, conflict, and resolution that highlights and challenges accepted cultural biases.

Stories to be investigated include Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid”, “A Rose for Zemira” by Fred Crump Jr, and two selections from Carmen Maria Machado’s collection of short stories “Her Body and Other Parties” (“The Husband Stitch” and “Real Women Have Bodies”).

This project is made possible by the JMAC Worcester's Project Sponsorship grant program, administered in collaboration with the Worcester Cultural Coalition and funded by the Barr Foundation. Additional support provided by the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Worcester Arts Council, développé Dance Studio, and Boston Moving Arts Productions, among others.

The project will be presented as an in-process showing December 15-16, 2023 at the JMAC Worcester Brickbox Theater.