"95 POEMS"
Presented by tedted Performance Group with support from
the City Artist Corps and the Hall Brooklyn
47 Hall Street, Brooklyn, NY
October 22-24, 2021
7pm
"95 POEMS" is a world based on the ideals and themes of the works of e e cummings. Much like any of us, the work has changed, it has lost, and it has grown. Follow a surreal year in the life of the inhabitants of this world as they move through the love and loss of life as defined by the works of e e cummings.
This work runs approximately one hour and a half with a 15 minute intermission.
ACT I
Winter
The stark cold, the peaceful chaos, the something from nothing.
Spring
The reawakening, levity, the absurd, the comical.
INTERMISSION
ACT II
Summer
Freedom, oppression of the sun, thirst, joy.
Fall
The ugly truth, death, the realization that everything ends.
Choreography by Teddy Tedholm in collaboration with Alexis Cash, Lauren Crosslin, Cameron Dunham, Kal Green, Destini Rogers, Jordyn Santiago, and Christian "Niki" Saludez.
Bree McCormack, Production Designer
Ezra Fisher, Production Coordinator
Alexis Cash, Production Consultant
Promotional photos by Lory Lyon
Special thanks to Ching Ching Wong, Chesterfield Dance Center, and all supporters of tedted Performance Group. Become one HERE!
Music by Fuji-Yuki, Lost Souls of Saturn, Beethoven, Sir John Tavener, Jarmila Veselá, Marta Kučerová, Bohumil Zeman & Tomáš Procházka, Josef Zíma, Mariah Carey featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard, Arca, Har Mar Superstar, Juliette Irons, Luniz, Chris Merrick Hughes, Patti Smith, Gazelle Twin, Peter, Paul, & Mary
Performed by:
Lauren Crosslin
(she/her)
Lauren Crosslin was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee where she grew up dancing and building a foundation of jazz, ballet, and modern technique. In 2018, she graduated from Nashville School of the Arts where she trained for four years under the direction of Stacie Flood-Popp while working with well known choreographers Erica Sobol, Teddy Tedholm, Andre Fuentes, Morgan Burke, Justin Conte, and Lukas van der Fecht. Her self-choreographed and produced full-length show "behind the gesture" has been presented in excerpts at Big River Dance Festival and RAD Fest Dance Festival. After moving to New York, Lauren has had the opportunity to apprentice with Teddy Tedholm, and now dance in his company tedted Performance Group. Since the pandemic, Lauren has begun training with Judith McCarty, dancing with her company, Afro-Afriqué. With Afro-Afriqué she’s had the opportunity to perform at the African Entertainment Awards and be featured for the cover of Dancegeist Magazine, and much more. Lauren is excited to continue developing as an artist and very grateful for every single opportunity that has come her way thus far,. She can’t wait to see what comes next.
Cameron Dunham
(he/him)
Cameron Dunham is a dancer/choreographer originally from Houston, Texas. Prior to moving to New York Cameron trained under the direction of Erica Sobol where he learned from artists from as Batsheva, Netherlands Dans Theater, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, William Forsythe Company, the YC, and more. As a young artist Cameron looks to share a soft vulnerability within space ultimately in hopes of fulfilling a passion to learn, build community and expand creative environments. He hopes to continuously unfold what our bodies and minds are really capable of.
Christian "Niki" Saludez
(he/they)
Born and raised in a small city in Virginia, Christian “Niki” Saludez is a dancer, choreographer, and creative currently based in New York City. With training based in hip hop choreography, street styles, and contemporary dance, Niki has performed and created works up and down the east coast for the past ten years. In that time, he has worked with artists such as Don Diablo, Katy Perry, Frankie Zulferino, and Spencer Ludwig, as well as with choreographers like Emily Greenwell, Luam Keflezgy, Neil Schwartz, Ryan Miller, and Theresa Stone. He also dances as a current company member of tedted Performance Group and the art collective, CLOUDE.NYC. Through movement, storytelling, and community, Niki pursues his call to create safe spaces where people, as a collective, can honor and explore their body, mind, spirit, and creativity.
Gabriella Sibeko
(she/her)
Gabriella Sibeko is a freelance dance artist originally from Ontario, Canada and raised in Montreal, Durban and Cape Town, South Africa. She is now based in New York City and is a graduate of The Ailey School Scholarship & Certificate programs.
Her artistry has been shaped profoundly by the choreographers she has worked with including, Mike Esperanza, Mary Grace McNally, Jon Rua, Katherine Maxwell, Ellenore Scott, Lauren Cox, Mathew Rushing, Teddy Tedholm, Desmond Richardson, Andrea Ward and Yoshito Sakaruba, to name a few.
She has performed for musical artists, Alison Sudol, ELENI, Sondre Lerche, Noah Souder-Russo and Ana Kay. Gabriella has formerly danced for NYC-based companies, Abarukas, Bare Dance Company, Nathan Trice Rituals, iKada Contemporary Dance and Cullen&Them and has worked as an assistant for Nathan Trice, Emily Greenwell and Erica Sobol.
Gabriella was one of the lead dancers in the 2018 Capezio A.C.E. Award’s winning piece entitled, Not For Picking and most recently, performed as a featured dancer for the PHISH NYE concert held at Madison Square Garden, choreographed by Jon Rua.
She is currently a member of Hivewild, Jon Rua’s TheGrit, MG + Artists and Channel:Dig. She is a dance educator and choreographer both in the Tri-State area and Montreal. She is also the co-host and co-founder of danceCONNECT: a series of stages and stories, which is an interview-style podcast that centers around conversing with a variety of dance artists. Gabriella is a featured dancer in an upcoming Netflix documentary, entitled Malinche, set in Ibiza, Spain.
She is beyond grateful to be performing in 95 Poems with tedted Performance Group!
Teddy Tedholm
(he/him)
Described as “anything but conventional” by Dance Magazine, Teddy Tedholm creates work that pushes boundaries. Teddy’s wide-ranging background helps inform his unique movement style. Over his career he has worked with Sidra Bell, Douglas Becker, Kate Sicchio, Netta Yerushalmy, Curt Haworth, Erica Sobol, and Emily Shock. On top of these influences he was a participant in the Doug Varone DEVICES Choreographic Intensive in 2017.
A graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Teddy has presented work throughout North America. In addition to a nomination for a World Dance Award in the Best Choreography Concert/Live Performance category, Teddy has been a finalist in the McCallum Theater Choreography Festival, the REVERB dance festival, and a two-time finalist in the Capezio ACE Awards. He believes that the creation of art can be a valuable research method, a concept that propels his work forever forward and also makes him a highly sought after instructor. Though having taught workshops and set work all over the world, he enjoys returning to New York where he directs tedted Performance Group. This group of multi-faceted artists has performed throughout New York City transforming spaces from living rooms to riversides into fully developed performances to great acclaim. Between performances around the city he can be found teaching as a faculty member of Broadway Dance Center and Peridance.
Ezra Fisher (Production Coordinator)
Ezra Fisher (he/him) is a trans lighting designer based in New York. After training at the Experimental Theatre Wing, he moved into the world of production. He has designed plays and musicals at Arte Pa'Mi Gente/Art For All Festival, RAVE festival, Winterfest 2020, Summerfest 2019, and Emerging Artists in Theatre (EAT) Festival. He has also written and directed several short films and plays.
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About tedted Performance Group:
tedted Performance Group is a group of artists of different backgrounds who believe in creating work that defies definition. Since its inception in 2015, tedted Performance Group has rapidly carved out a unique space in the heavily saturated landscape of performance in New York City. With an emphasis on experimentation, the group has presented groundbreaking work in unusual spaces; from riverbanks to living rooms and warehouses to the occasional stage. The Boston Globe called their performance at the Huntington Theater eye popping. The aim of all their work is to stir conversations among audiences in order to help bring people together into a truly global community.
About e e cummings:
(October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), An American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobiographical novels, four plays, and several essays. He is often regarded as one of the most important American poets of the 20th century. Cummings is associated with modernist free-form poetry. Much of his work has idiosyncratic syntax and uses lower-case spellings for poetic expression.