STAGE
BRECHT
“A tour-de-force of emotions and stamina for all”
- LA Dance Chronicle
BRECHT is an evening-length collaborative performance constructed by dance artist Bret Easterling & sound designer Maxwell Transue. The work provides a space for Easterling to navigate a field of microphones, using improvised movement to discover his choreographic voice, while Transue constructs the score in real time, using only sounds captured during the performance. The audience, seated in the round, experiences the work intimately — an unpredictable immersive environment punctuated with sincerity, cynicism, and exalted joy.
This work was made possible through the Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacobs Pillow, L.A. Dance Project, and was produced by BEMOVING.
photo credit: Ascaf
EXIT STRATEGIES
photo credit: Hope Spears
“Easterling captivated the space with a vulnerable presence, intricate pathways, and dynamic physicality”
- LA Dance Chronicle
A solo improvisational study exploring options.
This work was developed at b12 and was produced by BEMOVING.
ODDMENTS
“a wonderful world… incredible for any age”
- Whim W’Him
8.6 light years away on the brightest star in our night sky, we find a magical synthesized light being named GAMUT. This extraterrestrial has the power to bend starlight into an infinite amount of colors and is able to retroject themselves into an infinite amount of copies. ODDMENTS gives us a peak into the traditions, relationships, and surprises of their world.
Commissioned by Whim W’Him Seattle Contemporary Dance featuring new music by Juniper XX.
ON SECOND THOUGHT
"The work forces dancers to think outside the box, refusing to stick to a singular aesthetic."
- LA Dance Chronicle
What might we create if we went with our second thought? Refuting the logic of first thought, best thought, ON SECOND THOUGHT draws attention to bias and patterns as improvisational structures and set choreography combine to break habits and inhabit new terrain. In a world trapped in trends and stuck in systems of harm, Easterling devises a new mode of decision-making and artistic exploration to craft different potentials and imagine liberatory futures.
Made with support from BEMOVING and PAY DANCERS alongside research conducted at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and b12.
ON SECOND THOUGHT (USC)
photo credit: Rose Eichenbaum
Challenging the composition teacher’s lesson of first thought best thought, what would happen if all of the creative decisions were instead made based on one’s second thought?
Research and development conducted at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.
photo credit: Angel Origgi