WHO'S WHO IN THE COMPANY
TRISHA BROWN (Founding Artistic Director/Choreographer) is one of the most acclaimed and influential choreographers of her time whose groundbreaking work forever changed the landscape of art. A student of Anna Halprin, Brown participated in the choreographic composition workshops taught by Robert Dunn – from which Judson Dance Theater was born – greatly contributing to the fervent of interdisciplinary creativity that defined 1960s New York. With the founding of the Trisha Brown Dance Company in 1970, Brown set off on her own distinctive path of artistic investigation and ceaseless experimentation, which extended for forty years. The creator of over 100 choreographies, six operas, and a graphic artist, whose drawings have earned recognition in numerous museum exhibitions and collections, Brown’s earliest works took impetus from the cityscape of downtown SoHo, where she was a pioneering settler. In the 1970s, as Brown strove to invent an original abstract movement language – one of her singular achievements – it was art galleries, museums and international exhibitions that provided her work its most important presentation context. A major turning point in Brown’s career occurred in 1979, when she transitioned from working in non-traditional and art world settings to assume the role of a choreographer working within the institutional framework associated with dancing – the proscenium stage.
In her lifetime Trisha Brown was the recipient of nearly every award available to contemporary choreographers. The first woman to receive the coveted MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant (in 1991), Brown was honored by five fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts; two John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships; and Brandeis University’s Creative Arts Medal in Dance (1982). In 1988, she was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the government of France In 1999, she received the New York State Governor’s Arts Award and, in 2003, was honored with the National Medal of Arts. She has received numerous honorary doctorates, is an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was awarded the 2011 New York Dance and Performance ‘Bessie’ Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2011, Brown received the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for making an “outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.”
Today, the Trisha Brown Dance Company continues to perpetuate Brown’s legacy through company programming, educational activities, professional licensing, and engagement of the archive. The dance company continues the process of reconstructing and remounting major works that Brown created for the proscenium stage between 1979 and 2011and the "In Plain Site,” initiative which draws on Brown’s model for reinvigorating her choreography through its re-siting in relation to new contexts. In 2023 TBDC expanded its activity to include new choreographic commissions giving the 50+ year-old company an opportunity to engage with contemporary artistic voices that have a connection to Brown’s work, while reaffirming its primary role of preserving Brown’s legacy.
LEE SERLE (Choreographer, Time Again) graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Dance in 2003, and has presented
his choreographic work to critical acclaim worldwide, creating dances on all scales, from grand stages to the intimate and personal, commissioned by the Lyon Opera Ballet (France), Sydney Dance Company, Lucy Guerin Inc, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Dancenorth, among others. Lee choreographs within varied contexts and forms creating proscenium works, site-specific and interactive performance, intimate solo dances, and within the gallery, engaging a broad range of artistic collaborators.
Lee began his career as a sought-after collaborator and performer in Melbourne, contributing to the works of notable choreographers including Lucy Guerin, Gideon Obarzanek, Shelley Lasica, among others, and in 2010 was awarded a prestigious Fellowship from the Rolex Arts Institute to be mentored by seminal American choreographer Trisha Brown. Following this he was awarded an Australia Council ‘Creative Australia’ Fellowship that facilitated his ongoing choreographic practice for two years mentored by another seminal American choreographer Tere O’Connor. Lee has also received Fellowships from the City of Sydney and the Chloe Munro Bequest awarded via Lucy Guerin Inc.
Lee is a highly regarded educator having lectured and choreographed at tertiary institutions in Australia, USA and Europe, and was Education and Licensing Director for Trisha Brown Dance Company in 2017 facilitating the dissemination of Brown’s work globally.
MATEO LÓPEZ (Set Designer, Time Again) lives and works between Bogotá and New York. He studied architecture for two years at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá before switching to Visual Arts at Bogotá’s Universidad de Los Andes. López’s work engages with cartographies, journeys and construction processes while grappling with themes of chance, encounter and time. His practice traces a conceptual approach, expanding from drawings to installations, architecture, films and sculptural choreography. Key international solo exhibitions include Sin Principio/ Sin Final, Museo de Arte Universidad Nacional, Bogota, Colombia (2018); Undo List, The Drawing Center, New York, USA (2017); A Weed is a Plant Out of Place, Lismore Castle Arts, Lismore, Ireland (2016), and Deriva, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Spain (2009). Important group exhibitions include United States of Latin America, curated by Jens Hoffmann and Pablo León de la Barra, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, USA (2015); A Trip from Here to There, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA (2013) and Ha sempre um copo de mar para um homem navegar, 29 Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2010). Major awards and residencies include the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. William Kentridge’s Protégé, Geneva Switzerland in 2012, and the Gasworks Residency Program, London, UK in 2010, which was followed by an exhibition. López’s work can be found in public collections around the world, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Banco de la Republica, Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, Bogotá, Colombia, Inhotim, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY.
JOHN TORRES (Lighting Designer, Time Again) is a New York based lighting designer working in theatre, fashion, motion, print, and exhibitions. Professionally trained in theatrical lighting design, John has designed for
artists such as stage designer and director Robert Wilson, choreographers Lucinda Childs and Trisha Brown, and directors Yuval Sharon and Zack Winokur. Recent and upcoming theatrical engagements include, Turandot at Opera National de Paris and Tristan and Isolde at Sant Fe Opera. In fashion, John has designed recent shows for Gucci, Bottega Veneta, and Proenza Schouler and is a regular collaborator with fashion photographer Steven Klein. In live music, John is a frequent collaborator with Solange Knowles and recently designed the residency for Usher at The Colosseum in Las Vegas. Within the visual art world, John has designed the exhibition Who is Queen? with artist Adam Pendleton at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and will be collaborating with the artist Camille Norment for her upcoming exhibition at Dia Chelsea in New York.
ALISDAIR MACINDOE (Composer, Time Again) is a multidisciplinary choreographer and sound designer based in Melbourne, celebrated for his innovative exploration of sound, technology and dance. His work intertwines dance, music, coding, and electronics; probing themes of technology, identity, and the human experience in a rapidly changing world. Alisdair’s sound design and composition have garnered critical acclaim, earning him Australian and international accolades including the 2017 New York Bessie Award for Outstanding Musical Composition/Sound Design. He has collaborated with leading dance companies and artists across Australia and internationally, crafting work that challenges traditional boundaries and invite audiences to engage with contemporary issues through an artistic lens.
BEVERLY EMMONS (Lighting Designer, Opal Loop/Cloud Installation #72503 and Sons Gone Fishing) has designed for Broadway, Off-B’way, Regional Theater, Dance. and Opera, both in the USA and abroad. Her Broadway credits include Annie Get Your Gun, Jekyll & Hyde, The Heiress, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, High Rollers, Stepping Out, The Elephant Man, A Day In Hollywood A Night in the Ukraine, The Dresser, and Piaf and Doonesbury. Her lighting of Amadeus won a Tony award. Off B’way, she lit Vagina Monologues and has designed many productions with Joseph Chaikin and Meredith Monk. For Robert Wilson, she has designed lighting for productions spanning 13 years; most notably in America, Einstein on the Beach and the Civil Wars Pt V. Ms Emmons’ designs for dance have included works for Trisha Brown, Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. She has been awarded seven Tony nominations, the 1976 Lumen award, 1984 and 1986 Bessies, and a 1980 Obie for Distinguished Lighting, and several Maharam/American Theater Wing Design Awards.
CAROLYN LUCAS (Associate Artistic Director) attended North Carolina School of the Arts and graduated with a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase before joining Trisha Brown Dance Company in 1984. Lucas originated roles in some of Brown’s most acclaimed works including Lateral Pass (1985), Carmen (1986), Newark (Niweweorce) (1987), Astral Convertible (1989), Foray Forêt (1990), and Astral Converted (1991). Lucas’ dancing has been described in The New York Times as “affecting in her softly penetrating attack” and “especially luminous.” In 1993, Brown appointed
Lucas as her Choreographic Assistant, a position Lucas held for twenty years before being named Associate Artistic Director in 2013. As Choreographic Assistant, Lucas played an integral role in Brown’s creation process in dance and opera, working closely alongside Brown for pieces including If you couldn’t see me (1994), its revision to the duet You can see us (1995) with Bill T. Jones and later Mikhail Baryshnikov, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1998), and its revival in 2002, El Trilogy (2000), Luci Mie Traditrici (2001), It’s a Draw (2002), Winterreise (2002) with Simon Keenlyside, PRESENT TENSE (2003), O Złożony/O Composite (2004) with étoiles from the Paris Opera Ballet, Da Gelo a Gelo (2006) with Salvatore Sciarrino and La Monnaie, Rameau’s Pygmalion (2010) with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, Festival d’Aix, Holland Festival and Athens Festival, and Brown’s final work for the Company, I’m going to toss my arms- if you catch them they’re yours (2011) which premiered at Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris. In addition to assisting with new choreography, directing Company rehearsals and restaging existing choreography on the current dancers, Lucas has led projects for companies and institutions around the world, including The New School in NYC, P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, and Paris Opera Ballet. She was one of the first instructors Brown sent to P.A.R.T.S. to construct a Set and Reset/Reset, whose collaborative, interdisciplinary learning process is now a cornerstone of the Company’s education program. Lucas is currently sharing her firsthand knowledge of three decades of dancing, teaching and documenting Brown's work for the Trisha Brown Archive. She studied Tai Chi with Maggie Newman and Alexander Technique with June Ekman.
ROBERT ASHLEY (Composer, Son of Gone Fishin') is known for his work in new forms of opera. In the 1960s, Ashley organized Ann Arbor’s legendary ONCE Festival and directed the ONCE Group. During the 1970s, he directed the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College, toured with the Sonic Arts Union, and produced and directed Music with Roots in the Aether, a 14-hour television opera/documentary about the work and ideas of seven American composers. Ashley wrote and produced Perfect Lives, an opera for television widely considered the precursor of “music-television.” The stage versions of Perfect Lives, Atalanta (Acts of God) and Now Eleanor’s Idea toured throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. Dust was commissioned for premiere at the Kanagawa Arts Foundation in Yokohama, and Celestial Excursions for the Berlin Festival. Most recently, The Old Man Lives in Concrete was presented at Roulette in Brooklyn. Ashley is working on his latest opera, Quicksand, which was first released as in novel form by Burning Books. Ashley’s book Outside of Time: Ideas about Music, was published by MusikTexte in 2009. Kyle Gann’s biography of Robert Ashley was published by the University of Illinois Press in November 2012.
JUDITH SHEA (Costume Designer, Opal Loop/Cloud Installation #72503 and Sons Gone Fishing) has work represented in many museum collections including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Museum of Modern Art; The National Gallery, Washington, DC; The NelsonAtkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; The Whitney Museum of American Art; and The Walker Art Center. In addition, to these her work has been exhibited at The Barbican Art Centre, London; Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporaneo,
Mexico, DF; The Guggenheim Museum; Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; The Indianapolis Museum of Art; The Laumeier Sculpture Garden and Museum, St. Louis; The List Gallery at MIT, Boston; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington,DC; The New Museum; The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; and P.S.1. Awards include The National Academy's Dunwiddie Prize in Sculpture (2007); The Rome Prize, Trustees Award (1994); The Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship to Bellagio, Italy (1993); Fellow of the Augustus Saint-Gaudens Memorial in Cornish, NH (1993); The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum's Sculptor in Residence at Chesterwood, MA (1989); and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Sculpture (1984, 1986). Shea has taught at Yale University in the MFA program in sculpture; New York University, Graduate program; U.C. Davis; The San Francisco Art Institute; the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston; Parsons School of Design; and the Skowhegan School, among others
CECILY CAMPBELL (Rehearsal Director, Dancer), born in New Mexico, is a New York City based dance artist and teacher. After graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance, she danced with Shen Wei Dance Arts from 2008-2013 and joined the Trisha Brown Dance Company in 2012. She has performed repertory spanning Trisha Brown's 40-year career and has taught master classes and workshops around the world in technique, repertory, improvisation, and composition. She is a recurrent teacher at the Cndc - Angers, and has restaged Trisha Brown’s work on multiple companies including Set and Reset/ Reset at the Venice Biennale College Danza and The Julliard School, Newark and Foray Forêt on the Lyon Opera Ballet, and Solo Olos on A.I.M. She has performed with The Merce Cunningham Trust for Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event, and with Annie-B Parson at the Metropolitan Opera and Storm King Art Center. She is delighted to share in this work with you.
DANCERS
BURR JOHNSON (he/him) currently dances with Kimberly Bartosik/daela and The Trisha Brown Dance Company. He has performed with John Jasperse Projects (2010-2016), Shen Wei Dance Arts (2009-2017), Netta Yerushalmy, Marina Abramović/ GIVENCHY, Ryan McNamara, Boris Charmatz, Isabel Lewis, Christopher Williams, Sally Silvers, Bill Young, Jack Ferver, Moriah Evans, and The Merce Cunningham Trust for Night of 100 Solos: LA. He is a 2020 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award honoree for individual performance in Kimberly Bartosik’s through the mirror of their eyes. His choreographic work has been presented through Movement Research, Abrons Art Center, Danspace Project, The American Dance Festival, GIBNEY, Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum, and The Future Dance Festival at the Joyce Theater. He has guest-taught at Philadelphia's University of the Arts, the University of Utah, Virginia Commonwealth University, UNC Greensboro, Purchase College, The Juilliard Dance Division, The Alvin Ailey School, and The American Dance Festival. He has received artist residencies through New York Live Arts’ Studio Series, The
Ellis-Beauregard Foundation in Rockland Maine, Redtail Arts in Jamaica Queens, and The Alvin Ailey New Directions Choreography Lab. He enjoys dancing professionally but also socially at night and into the morning. (BFA Virginia Commonwealth University)
PATRICK NEEDHAM (he/him) is an LA native living in New York City, where he earned his BFA in Dance and Choreography from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Along with being a current member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company, he has enjoyed collaborating with choreographers such as Judith Sanchez-Ruíz, Noe Anneke Hansen, Netta Yerushalmy, and Kendra Portier, among others. McGrath has performed experimental dance theater with Company SBB and HOLDTIGHT. Teaching highlights include summer dance intensives at the ASWARA School of Dance in Malaysia and WESTSIDE Dance Project in Southern California. Needham’s most recent endeavor has been teaching for the Trisha Brown Dance Company's Education programs, all while pursuing his performance career. Currently, he is thrilled to be focusing on a new chapter of creating his own choreography repertoire for future performances and events.
JENNIFER PAYÁN (she/her) 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 Sleep No More, Pam Tanowitz Dance, Company SBB, Netta Yerushalmy, Jasmin Hearn Collaborates, UNA Productions, GREYZONE, and LeeSaar the Company. 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. This is Jennifer’s fifth Joyce season with the Trisha Brown Dance Company and fourth year as a company member.
ASHLEY MERKER (she/her) is a Brooklyn based dance artist, and GYROTONIC® and Pilates instructor. Originally from Denver, Colorado, began her dance training at an early age. She earned her BFA from The Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase where she performed works by Kimberly Bartosik, Hannah Garner, Aszure Barton, Martha Graham, Trisha Brown, Adam Barruch, and Doug Varone. She also studied at Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, Australia and has trained with The Merce Cunningham Trust. Upon graduation, she was invited to join Buglisi Dance Theatre under the direction of Jacqulyn Buglisi, and has since performed with Doug Varone and Dancers, Emma Cianchi, Claude Johnson, Nicole Fuentes, and Jody Oberfelder. Ashley is currently in her second season with Trisha Brown Dance Company.
SAVANNAH GAILLARD (she/her) is a movement artist and motion graphics designer from Northern Virginia. She received her BFA in Dance and minor in Public Health from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Savannah has performed works by Wayne McGregor, Ronald K. Brown, Sidra Bell, Rodney Hamilton, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Reiner, Mathew James, and Nicole Mannarino. She studied improvisation and gaga in Berlin and Tel Aviv under Meg Stewart, Judith Sanchez-Ruiz, Leila McMillan, Shahar Binyami, and Ohad Naharin. She performed Off-Broadway in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma “Dream Ballet" (2018) and Nevermore Immersive’s Dreams of Dracula (2023). Savannah creates durational, multi-media, and set improvisation scores. Her work has been shown in the Jack Crystal Theater, Lightbox NYC, and the Junction Function NYC. Savannah is enthusiastic to be moving, studying, and creating with the Trisha Brown Dance Company.
ROCHELLE JAMILA (she/her) is a Brooklyn based dancer, choreographer and doula hailing from Oka Nashoba, also known as Memphis, Tennessee. She graduated from Columbia University in 2017 with a B.A. in Dance and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. Rochelle currently performs with Reggie Wilson Fist and Heel Performance Group and MBDance. She has performed works by Ebony Noelle Golden, Ogemdi Ude, Jasmine Hearn, Jodi Melnick, and Beth Gill. Rochelle’s choreographic practice imagines liberation through human and ecological fertility. Her work has been shown at Judson Church, Snug Harbor Botanic Garden, Triskelion Arts, The Buckman Theater, and University of Amsterdam. Rochelle is excited to be in her first season with Trisha Brown Dance Company.
SPENCER JAMES WEIDIE
(they/them) is originally from Kailua, Hawai’i. They graduated from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, SUNY with a BFA in Dance and a concentration in Dance Composition. They also studied at London Contemporary Dance School and extensively with the Merce Cunningham Trust. Spencer has previously held company positions with Brian Brooks/Moving Company, Bocatuya, Gallim Dance, MADBOOTS Dance, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More and as Rehearsal Director for Belinda McQuire Projects. They have also collaborated with such notable choreographers as Annie-B Parson, Doug Varone, Jack Ferver, Judith Sanchez Ruiz, Kyle Abraham, and Noe Soulier. Spencer continues to be a passionate educator with past teaching at CNSMD Lyon, Movement Research, NYU Tisch, and more. Their choreographic works have been performed at 92Y’s Future Dance Festival, Arts on Site, and The Neuberger Museum. Spencer was invited to join the Trisha Brown Dance Company in 2022 and most recently made their Broadway debut as Dance Captain/Swing in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Cub in 2024.
STACEY-JO MARINE
(Production Stage Manger, she/her) has worked in over 35 countries and all 50 states touring with dance and theater companies, corporate and private events. Memorable collaborations include John Jasperse Projects Visitation, Paul Taylor Dance Company (1995 - 2022),
Martha Graham Dance Company (2012 - 2015), Purchase College Dance Corps (2000 - 2012), STOMP (1st North American Tour), Richard Move’s Martha @ series (U.S. and abroad), Dance by Neil Greenberg (NYC & Los Angeles), and Reza Abdoh’s Tight, Right, White (Europe and NYC). Most recently she was the production manger and company manager for The Night Falls at Montclair State University. The New York Times listed The Night Falls as one of the best dance productions of 2023. Stacey-Jo was the the company manager at Bard's Summerscape and Music Festival for five years (2015-2019); housing, transporting and feeding 300- 500 artists and staff per season. Recent favorite events include show calling for the Alfred E. Smith Annual Dinner, deck managing at the United Nations and regularly being backstage with the Young People's Chorus of New York City (500+ young singers from NYC's 5 boroughs). YPC performs at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Geffen Hall and the United Palace annually. Stacey-Jo is currently preparing for composer Richard Cameron Wolfe's 60 year retrospective at Symphony Space, Thalia Hall on April 20, 2024.
JOE LEVASSEUR (Lighting Supervisor, he/him) is a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts, and has been working in theatrical production in New York since 2002. As a lighting designer, he has collaborated with many artists including: Pavel Zuštiak/Palissimo, John Jasperse, Sarah Michelson, Jodi Melnick, Jennifer Monson, Neil Greenberg, and Beth Gill. He lit both Wendy Whelan's 2013 breakout Restless Creature, and her subsequent collaboration with Brian Brooks, Some of a Thousand Words (2016). He has received two ‘Bessie’ awards (including one with Big Dance Theater) and a Knight of Illumination Award for his work on Meredith Monk’s Cellular Songs. Instagram: @sirjoelevasseur/ www.joelevasseur.com