Kyle Marshall Choreography (with BlackBox Ensemble)

COMPANY
Artistic Director: Kyle Marshall
Creative Director: Edo Tastic
Managing Director: Madalyn (Madz) Rupprecht
Stage Manager: Emily Wong
Lighting Designer: Connor Sale
Performers: Alex Francois, José Lapaz-Rodriguez, Khalid Dunton, Kyle Marshall, Niara Hardister, and Syd Worthy

Founded in 2014, Kyle Marshall Choreography (KMC) is a company that sees the dancing body as a container of history, an igniter of social reform, and a site of celebration. KMC believes in the creation, sharing, and teaching of dance as a way to deepen our knowledge of who we are as individuals, how we develop relationships, and ultimately societies.

KMC has performed at venues throughout NYC including: The Joyce Theater, Chelsea Factory, BAM Next Wave Festival, Joe’s Pub, The Shed, Roulette, and Abrons Arts Center. National touring has included: Jacob’s Pillow (Beckett, MA), American Dance Festival (Durham, NC), FringeArts (Philadelphia) and New World Center (Miami). Choreographic Commissions have included: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Baryshnikov Arts Center, “Dance on the Lawn” Montclair Dance Festival, NJPAC and Harlem Stage.

Ebbing between joyfully queer geometry and dense solos of honesty, Femenine is driven by sheer musicality and dramatic moments of power. Washed in an ocean of bells, instruments including vibraphone, brass, woodwinds and strings, Julius Eastman’s jubilant minimalist composition, “Femenine” (1974), carries us through spaces for softness and affirmation revealing the shadows and shimmers of Eastman’s life and legacy. A 70-minute journey, Femenine celebrates Black and Brown LGBTQ+ people, community and artistry in times of resilience and solidarity.

Kyle Marshall (Artistic Director, Choreographer) is a choreographer, performer, teacher and artistic director of Kyle Marshall Choreography (KMC). Since inception in 2014, KMC has performed at venues including: Chelsea Factory, BAM Next Wave Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Actors Fund Arts Center, NJPAC, Little Island, and Roulette. Kyle has received choreographic and dance film commissions from the Baryshnikov Arts Center, “Dance on the Lawn”, Montclair’s Dance Festival, Harlem Stage and THE SHED.Kyle has received a 2018 NY Dance and Performance Juried Bessie Award, a 2020 Dance Magazine Harkness Promise Award and a 2020 Bessie Honoree for his revival of Colored (2017). He has also received choreographic fellowships from Princeton University, NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts, and residencies from Monira Foundation, 92Y, CPR, and Bethany Arts Community. As a performer, Kyle is a former member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company, doug elkins choreography etc., and Tiffany Mills Company. A New Jersey native, Kyle currently lives in Brooklyn and is a graduate of Rutgers University with a BFA in Dance.

Edo Tastic (Creative Director) is a visual artist based in New York City. His artistic path began with poetic works in collaboration with sound, film and photography. To date, he has published two books “Effects” and “He Was Here” as a part of a 12-book poetic memoir, BURPS. He has also self- produced poetic videos, a short documentary: “The Poetic Catharsis Of Edo Tastic”, and a yet to be released fashion-forward poetic short film; “Abducted: A Living Poet”. His visual art has been shared in-residence at Ma’s House and a group showing at La Mama Galleries. Edo’s curated poetry readings have been held in apartments, rooftops, and galleries across NYC and Jersey City in collaboration with several musicians and artists. In 2017 and 2018, Bloomingdales commissioned poems for their Soho and 59th Street Flagship location. Edo’s work in hair and makeup began as a model in front of the camera. This passion led to first assisting stylist Andre Austin, and later a makeup mentor/friendship with David Frank Ray and Donyale McRae, who inspired his desire to develop a timeless style across mediums. After lending his makeup skills to “Stellar” at Baryshnikov Arts Center in 2021, Edo’s creative directing position has evolved. His experience in fashion and visual art guides KMC’s visual aesthetics and storytelling on stage and across all media.

Madalyn (Madz) Rupprecht (Managing Director) is a movement-based artist and arts administrator born in Baltimore and now based in Brooklyn. As a performer, Madz has performed works by Abby Zbikowski, Alwin Nikolais, Fredrick Earl Mosley, Kathleen Kelley, and Martha Graham, among others. As a choreographer, Madz has been selected to present their work at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Bridge for Dance’s Uptown Rising Performance Series, the Post/Future Performance Festival, and Bailar al Sol International Dance Festival in Puerto Rico. Most recently she was in residence at MOtiVE Brooklyn. As a dance administrator & marketer, Madz has worked with Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Michelle Tabnick PR, Proteo Media + Performance, and Eryc Taylor Dance. Presently, in addition to their work with KMC, they are the Communications Coordinator for dance service organization Dance/NYC. Madalyn graduated magna cum laude from Montclair State University with a BFA in Dance and a BA in Journalism.

Emily Wong (Stage Manager) is a NYC native stage manager with an in-depth experience in live theater. With exceptional organizational skills and a keen eye for detail, Emily has successfully managed productions ranging from intimate performances to large-scale productions. She has worked in venues in and out of NYC- on Off-Broadway, Joyce Theater, Danspace Project, ADF and various universities on the East Coast. Emily thrives on the energy of live performance and is committed to bringing every production to life with precision and creativity.

Connor Sale (Lighting Designer) is a Brooklyn-based Lighting Designer and the Resident Lighting Designer of Triskelion Arts. Recent collaborations include: Farewell My Fool; til infiniti; The Closties Variety Hour; The Suite; to begin with no end; ENUF; The Dybbuk Part Two (Triskelion Arts), Das Ersatz (The Brick), MEOW! (Exponential Festival), But, Soft (PAGEANT), the body || dust (Gibney), and Sea Change (Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago). He tours internationally with Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring (Sadler’s Wells/École des Sables), Akram Khan’s Gigenis, and Faye Driscoll’s Weathering. He’s interested in using the temporary nature of light to make people more active in space. More of his work can be found at connorsale.com and at @connorsalelight

Alex Francois (Performer) is a dance artist from Queens, New York, currently based in New York City. Alexandria is a recent graduate of Rutgers University receiving their Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts. During their time in college they’ve been under the instruction of and performed works by artists and educators, Kyle Marshall, Gerald Casel, John Evans, Jordan D. Lloyd, Ani Javian, Blair Ritchie, Julia Ritter, and Evelyn Wang. In addition to collaborating with their peers to create various works, Alexandria hopes to continue their career as a performing artist and creator.

José Lapaz-Rodriguez (Performer) is a freelance dance artist and model from the Dominican Republic currently living in New Jersey. José is a Hanya Holm award recipient and he graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University with a BFA in Dance performance. José researches the interconnection of contemporary dance and voguing in concert dance in queer bodies as he is part of the ballroom scene. He has performed works by Matthew Rushing, Pam Tanowitz, Jordan Lloyd, Stefanie Batten-Bland, Roderick George, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. Aside from concert dance, he has performed as a cameo artist in the Off-Broadway ‘Hercules’ by Chase Brock, he collaborated with Mandy Moore for the Facebook Messenger commercial, Jermaine Browne for Rowan Papier’s Telfar “The Same Beat”, and danced in Chad Lawson’s ‘Prelude in D Major’ VEVO music video.

Khalid Dunton (Performer) was born and raised in Washington DC/Maryland. In 2020, Dunton completed his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance as well as a Minor in Business from Montclair State University. Dunton has performed with dance companies such as: Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater(2021), McKoy Dance Project(2022), Carolyn Dorfman Dance(2021-2023) and Gaspard & Dancers(2023-2024). During 2021, Dunton worked as a professional dancer in the iconic Black Iris Project which received a New York Emmy Award for WILD: Bird of Paradise. Along his dance journey, Dunton had the privilege of performing works by Martha Graham, Stacey Tookey, Juel D. Lane, Bill T. Jones, Carolyn Dorfman, Danial Shapiro and Joanie Smith, Maxine Steinman, Christian Von Howard, Earl Mosley, and many more. Showcasing his diversity, Dunton had the opportunity to work with celebrity artist, Todrick Hall, featured as a dancer in his music video WIG. Within the midst of his career, Dunton has trained and worked in the commercial dance industry alongside Dana Foglia, James Alonzo, and Yanis Marshall.

Niara Hardister (Performer) is a New York based dancer and arts administrator from Riverside, California. She received a B.S. in Hotel Administration and a minor in Dance from Cornell University. Niara has performed work by Sara Erde at The Metropolitan Opera, Nicole von Arx, Jamel Gaines, Christopher Huggins, Helen Simoneau, Nicolas Fiery, Sofia Forero, PUSH Dance Company, the LV Dance Collective, Printz Dance Project, Tucker Davis, and Eryc Taylor. She is also the Programs Manager for David Herrera Performance Company.

Syd Worthy (Performer) is a freelance dancer and visual artist. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, now living in NYC, Syd is a recent graduate from Marymount Manhattan College (Spring 2023) where she received her B.F.A in dance with a concentration in choreography. Her dance training extends from primary school to a college level of professional training, studying techniques such as Ballet, Graham, Jazz, Horton, African- Umfundalai Technique, Hip Hop, and more. Syd has also had opportunities to perform works with many professional choreographers in the larger dance world. This includes individuals such as Andrea Miller-GALLIM, Sekou McMiller, Akira Uchida, Rodney Hamilton, William Isaac, Jennifer Freeman, Darshan Singh Bhuller, April Berry, Katherine Dunham. She is super excited to explore the depths of her artistry by finding the intersections of dance, art, and spirituality.

The BlackBox Ensemble is a collective of contemporary music performers based in New York City dedicated to exploring the experimental boundaries of the music of our time through projects that are innovative, impactful, and resonant with our contemporary moment. Our wide-ranging, multidisciplinary projects have brought us from major concert halls to museum galleries, the mountainous landscape of the Berkshires, the woods of Michigan, the Hudson River waterfront, and an underground karaoke bar in midtown Manhattan. Founded in 2018, our 2024-2025 season includes concerts at home in New York and around the country, including the season-opening performance of the Southern Exposure Series at the University of South Carolina, performances at the Timucua Arts Foundation, University of North Carolina – Pembroke and the Fayetteville Technical Community College Fine Arts Series, and residencies at the University of Chicago, University of Florida, and University of Central Florida. At home in New York, the ensemble will present a program of NYC premieres in November in our new home space at the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew, and will conclude the season with a performance on Bang on a Can’s LongPlay Festival in downtown Brooklyn in May 2024, presenting a sonic portrait of the musical influences of Julius Eastman co-curated with Eastman scholar Isaac Jean-Francois.

Our 2023-2024 season included major performances in New York City and beyond. Highlights included The Sound of Space Between Us, a site-specific, outdoor music and dance performance at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and the live premiere of Borrowed Landscape, a radio play by German playwright duo tauchgold with music by Dai Fujikura, at the Noguchi Museum and Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art. In addition, we celebrated our 5-year anniversary with our inaugural BlackBox Festival, which featured multiple world and NYC premieres by frequent composer collaborators and included our debut at NYC’s historic Roulette Intermedium. Finally, our season included residencies at University of Florida, University of Michigan, NYU, and the Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School.

Past seasons have included world premieres by Paul Novak, Annie Nikunen, Erich Barganier, Cole Reyes, and composer-vocalist Tanner Porter. The ensemble was a 2022 recipient of Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward grant for emerging ensembles, through which they received coaching and mentorship from Alan Pierson, Conductor and Co-Artistic Director of Alarm Will Sound. They have since been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, Brooklyn Arts Council, Chamber Music America, Amphion Foundation, and Aaron Copland Fund.

Femenine was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and The Mellon Foundation. Femenine is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Bates Dance Festival (BDF), in partnership with Jacob’s Pillow, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information, visit www.npnweb.org.

Femenine was developed with residency support from Jacob’s Pillow’s Pillow Lab and PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance. Thank you to Kimani Fowlin for critical feedback and opportunity to premiere this work at Drew University.

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