other stories attempts to unearth the stories of our lives through a physical process. More simply, I believe that we store emotional, intellectual, psychological and spiritual material in our neuromuscular system, skeletal system, and in the energetic pathways of the body. The fallout from our lives, like flakes of snow in a snowglobe, is suspended inside of us. I am working to find a way to describe our lives physically and emotionally, through unconscious storytelling. The process will include copious amounts of writing and improvising, and eventually will reveal a set of vivid, interconnected stories from each performer. These stories collectively make us who we are as individuals. As a group, these stories create a series of woven patterns that function as relationships. Those relationships create a community.

We are entering the process as scientists, archaeologists, sociologists: with a set of questions. What are our personal narratives? What do our stories look like when visualized through the body? How do our stories resonate with each other (triggering passions both seductive and explosive)? What happens if we understand, or even adopt each other’s narratives? What would happen if, on a larger scale, we were able to do that as citizens, as countries, as animals sharing a planet? What power lies in the telling of our stories?

"other stories" is a co-commission of Summer Stages Dance at Concord Academy and The Institute of Contemporary Art as part of their Co Lab: Process + Performance series.