NO
a simple work where the music was cut and selected 10 minutes before tech, concept fully decided an hour prior to the show. The intention is simple, what does it feel like to give space to the innate fluidity that exists inside identity? How would it feel to paint the way I perceive my chest, back and everything below? How would only moving Forward impact how I carry my identity and the relationship I have to my body? How would it feel to be witnessed cutting off years of weight in front of strangers?
It is a task based improvisation solo crafted in a heighthened state of anxiety, angst, pressure and immense exhaustion. a simple goodbye to three years of learning, exposing and failing in one of the most vulnerable states.
enter empty, continue
We invite you to, "empty your cup", listen, and understand
We invite you to not, assume, project or interject
Many of the inspirations for this creation are centered around the teachings and ideas of the author, Stephen Covey.
There is a deep reverence for the concept of "the hands that want nothing,” which is a learned idea shared by my dear friend Bree Kostelnik...
The person who originally came up with this concept is unknown.
"Empty your cup" is an idea coined by Bruce Lee, which has weighed heavily into the creative approach of this work in progress.
Much of the movement generation was intentionally crafted to serve each person in the space, to take care of a piece of them
that they offered openly, and to build from a foundation of attunement, patience, and trust.
Salma Kiuhan
Photography by Natasha Rotondoro
Mackenzie Auger
Louisa Miller
G L iT C h
Choreographed by Lo Poppy in collaboration with Matthew Mancuso and Anya Susan
Performers: Peyton Brewster, Grace Coleman, Anya Susan, Melinda Harrison, Jess Lemcke,
Matthew Mancuso, Meenah Nehme, Iris Sewell, Sadi Weir, Gary McCall, Iyanna Jackson
Inspired by, “The Dark Figure” Federico Castellón |
Excerpts reimagined from, “Impact” By Lo Poppy (2017)
What Shall We Grow?
The essence of this work makes space for the memories that are deep voids where no color and form exist; acknowledging the collections of experiences that evoke a visceral response but no image.
It is an ever-evolving work that validates the emotional history informing the reactions and triggers that can not be recounted with words.
It’s a consensual outlet where I am in control of how, what, when, where and why I am choosing to share and show up for my story as a partner, an observer, an ally and a supporter.
what shall we grow? is an invitation to embrace what is not easy to feel, remember, and carry forward and make it as comfortable as it can be inside and outside of the body.
This work is based on a score that interwove set choreography and improvisation influenced by a visual pattern of travelling, verbal cues and moments of stillness.
Movement Score, Performance, Written & Spoken Text by Lo Poppy
Music: “Therapy with Colour” T. Gowdy
April 2023
Steps Foundation Choreography Lab
Photography by Chris Coates @chriscoatesphotos
Filmed by John-John Roque
April 2022
Studio II Showing, NYU Tisch
Filmed by BJ Marchini
Scar Tissue
Notes on style: These four haikus are responses to each of the four sections of this piece, along with the overarching thematic structure, while remaining true to the haiku form itself. They each begin with a description of some natural phenomenon, and in the final two syllables of the first ‘5-7’, then turn’, subverting what has come before to reveal a deeper truth pertaining to the lived experience of trauma.
-Harry Hennessy
Mackenzie Auger
Water
Brackish pillars melt
In fiery tongues
That cleanse,
Forming fertile beds
Honey
Syrupy dapples
In downpours of brine
Shudder
Virginal gooseflesh
Clay
The sun-scorched face of
Iron-heavy earth lies
Salted,
Each spring bulb
choked back
Soil
In the sun seabed
Of the up-churned earth,
Soul rests,
Tempered, scarred afresh
Choreographed by Lo Poppy and Anya Susan
Set Design: Charlotte Shi
Costume Design: Nuzzi Li
Lighting Design: Ari Kim
Music: Carlos Bauzys and Harry Hennessy
Iris Sewell
Natalia Nikitin
April 2022
NYU Jack Crystal Theater
Milan Furtado
