Work Up 6.2: Wendell Gray II, Kalliope+Symara, & Ramona Sekulovic

After careful consideration of the news regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19), Gibney has decided to cancel  the Friday and Saturday performances of this event. This is a difficult decision to make, but during this time we need to prioritize the health and safety of our community and our staff. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact boxoffice@gibneydance.org with any questions.

Work Up is a residency, professional development program, and performance opportunity that supports early-career artists.

Emphasizing the articulation of ideas in both movement and language, Work Up 6.2 features work by Wendell Gray II, Kalliope+Symara, and Ramona Sekulovic.

Wendell Gray II
FIELD, field

FIELD, field began as a duet that plays with the yearning for personal freedom. Inspired by Khalil Joseph’s film The Mirror Between Us, Wendell Gray II and his collaborator Stephanie Carlos embody the duality of one person in the privacy of their room. Assisted by various objects, Gray and Carlos and newly added Trinity Dawn Bobo imagine and search a vast space beyond the walls they create, a place of fantasy and indulgence, pleasure and access, moving beyond the traps of flat reality.

Kalliope+Symara
What we did there the last time we’re now gonna drag out for some time

Kalliope+Symara use a detailed score of text, setting, sound, space, and the narrative of chosen sisterhood to create an enlivened space which prioritizes honesty and spontaneity. This work has been in process for the past four years, and is the product of a collection of interdisciplinary mapping systems.

Ramona Sekulovic
UNI

In UNI, Ramona Sekulovic investigates what it means to be present. What constitutes presence in both a performer and the audience? How is a performer’s presence intimately related to technique? Sekulovic suggests that we can only connect and communicate while being fully present. Movement and short personal monologues reflect findings of Sekulovic’s research, and recall fleeting past moments in ongoing navigations.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Wendell Gray II is a dance artist and choreographer currently living in Brooklyn, NY. He has collaborated with artists such as Pavel Zustiak, Jonah Bokaer, Helen Simoneau, I-Ling Liu, Christal Brown, Esther Baker-Tarpaga, and J Bouey. He has shown his own work at Movement Research at Judson Church, Center for Performance Research, and BAAD! He has been commissioned to make works for University of the Arts, Pennsylvania Ballet II + Philadanco II, and Periapsis Music and Dance. Wendell is a BFA graduate of the University of the Arts (15’) under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield and was raised in Atlanta, GA.

Kalliope+Symara began their creative relationship at SUNY Purchase in 2015, and have continued making work that prioritizes using information yielded by interdisciplinary discourse that challenges the traditional foundations of dance. Together they have been a part of BadDance Festival, Spitball, Culture Shock/Fall Fest Music Festivals, and have performed at DIY music spaces: The Glove, Silent Barn, Whitsons, and the Forum Art Space. Their work “Two and Four” was selected for the Collaborations in Dance Festival at TriskelionArts. They have created movement installations for gymnasiums, outside amphitheaters, galleries, living rooms, beaches, and racquetball courts.

Born and raised in Germany, Ramona Sekulovic is an independent performing artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Trained as a dancer as well as a visual anthropologist, she currently strives to incorporate the experience and perception of her own body as well as its individual physical aesthetics influenced by anatomy, history, and habit into choreographic practice. Her choreography has recently been produced by Movement Research at the Judson Church, WestFest, Green Space Studio, Dixon Place, Austin Dance Festival, Nacre in Saratoga Springs, the Dumbo Dance Festival, and SoloDuo Festival among other venues. Ramona is a guild certified Feldenkrais Practitioner. She holds a MA in Visual Anthropology from Freie Universität, Berlin, and a BA in Anthropology from Columbia University.

Photos (left-right): Wendell Gray II by David Gonsier; Kalliope+Symara by Anouk Grandits; Ramona Sekulovic by Ian Douglas.

ACCESSIBILITY

Gibney 280 Broadway is accessible via elevator from the main entrance at 53A Chambers Street.

We welcome the opportunity to make this event more accessible. Please refrain from wearing scented products, so that people with chemical sensitivities can join us. Please request ASL interpreting, audio description, or open captioning 30 days before the event or submit other requests by completing our Access Requests and Inquiries Form or calling 646.837.6809 (Voice only).