Training Student Showcase : Linnea Goldstrom, Sophia Inostroza, McCall McClellan, Vanessa Salas Vargas

Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
The Theater (Studio H)
280 Broadway (enter at 53A Chambers Street)

Gibney proudly presents an evening of work by Independent Training Students Linnea Goldstrom, Sophia Inostroza, McCall McClellan, and Vanessa Salas Vargas. These artists will each share their work in a culminating performance of their time as Gibney Independent Training students.

We’ve Been Human Forever Choreographed by McCall McClellan, Isa Segall, and Josephine Brunner
We’ve Been Human Forever is a live dance collaboration between McCall McClellan, Isa Segall, and Josephine Brunner. The piece is a lighthearted quirky approach to the sincere question of what it means to be human. It arose out of the sensation of feeling disconnected from one’s own body or environment. We spent a lot of time exploring movement possibilities from two juxtaposing frameworks: “What would it be like to respond to this task like a person?” versus “What would it be like to respond to this task like an ‘alien’ or extraterrestrial?” Most of our time and inspiration came from the surreal, Salvador Dali, and Wes Anderson. Ultimately, We’ve Been Human Forever abstractly explores the absurdity and caricature of Western “poshness,” that being human may just amount to owning a dog (haha) and, that having community, whether that companionship be extraterrestrial or of this world, makes the highs and lows more bearable. 

An Unstoppable Will to Move Forward by Linnea Goldstrom
Death remains a taboo subject within society. The reminder that we’re all subjected to an ending evokes anger, comfort, fear, sadness, each presented in its own form. Perhaps it generates a motivation to continue, a feeling of being imposed, a desire to self-indulge, or an overwhelming pressure to excel at the human experience. Antithetically, maybe death is a simple passing thought.  Regardless, how wonderful that our shared moments are held in time eternally. 

OCEAN by Sophia Inostoza
Ocean is an experimental creative process, based on the search for the movement of how one goes from serenity to chaos, reflecting the different types of waves of emotions, corporalities and intensities, an exploration based on the sea and finding similarities with oneself.

Are we? We are by Vanessa Salas Vargas
This piece is about the connection of humanity and aliens and what it’s like for an unfamiliar being emerging themselves into the human world. Through studying humanistic qualities, we are able to pick up gestures, human behavior, the lifestyle, and imitation of how they present themselves such as clothing. Will they be able to fit in? We’ll see. In reality, fitting in is common human behavior.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

McCall (she/her) graduated with a BA in Dance and Minor in Media Arts from BYU in Utah in 2021. After graduation, McCall spent two years performing as a freelance artist in SLC with Wasatch Contemporary Dance Company and Oquirrh West Project while working as an Adjunct Contemporary Dance Professor at BYU. She recently relocated to NYC and collaborates as a freelance dancer and filmmaker. McCall is currently training in the Choreographic track at Gibney’s Visa and Professional Training Program, tonight’s program being a culmination of the past six months of learning and creating! In her spare time she enjoys riding her scooter around Fort Tryon Park and throwing a frisbee with her partner Caleb.

Linnea (she/her) is from Vancouver, BC, where she began her training at a local studio. In 2020, she trained in a post-secondary professional training program, Lamondance, under the direction of Davi Rodrigues and Racheal Prince. In her two years there she performed works under Dance//Novella, Yoshito Sakuraba, Richard Walters, and Kirsten Wicklund. In January 2023 she worked with Dance//Novella in a remount of “When the Walls Come Down”, performing in Vancouver and Edmonton at Sound OFF Festival. This fall she relocated to New York for Gibney’s Independent Training Program, under the direction of Jessie Kardos. Learning from artists; Baye and Asa, Francesca Dominguez, Wesley Ensminger, Laja Field, Gilbert T. Smalls II, Kelly Ashton Todd, VIM VIGOR, Yue Yin, and Isadora Wolfe; Linnea has been researching how art impacts our interpretation of history, thoughts, and ongoing social climates.

Sophia Inostroza (she/her) is an artist born and raised in Chile. In 2015, Sophia was a student at the Municipal Theater of Santiago for 2 years and in 2019 she obtained her bachelor’s degree from the artistic institute of the University of Chile with a major in dance and she also completed the Pre-Basic at the University of Chile. She is currently part of Scarleth Alvarez’s TEHHnyc foundation in which she expanded her knowledge of technique and styles within dance, she is also part of the training within the Rumbamena company. She currently lives in New York looking to expand her career as a choreographer and performer.

Vanessa Salas Vargas (She/Her) Is a Mexican dance artist, emerging choreographer, and certified PBT teacher. She recently graduated from a BA in digital advertising and marketing. While doing her degree, she kept on dancing, teaching, and choreographing different pieces in Mexico. She’s about to complete her studies on the choreographic process program at Gibney in New York and wants to keep continuing on with this path. While doing the program she has had the opportunity to learn from Adam Barruch, Baye and Asa, Brandon Coleman, Cameron McKinney, Laja Field , Nicole von Arx, Dual Rivet, VIM VIGOR and her mentor Francesca Dominguez . She envisions a future where her dance skills and marketing expertise come together to make meaningful and creative contributions to the dance community.

GIBNEY INDEPENDENT TRAINING PROGRAM
The Gibney Independent Training Program offers students from across the world the opportunity to train full time at Gibney, New York City’s premiere destination for contemporary dance. Training Students at Gibney have the opportunity to train with NYC’s foremost dance educators, gain practical skills toward building a sustainable career in the arts, and join a network of incredible dance artists. Each Training Student in the Choreographic Process Track spends six to twelve months creating and producing an original work, culminating in a final performance in The Theater at Gibney.