Velocity’s Next Fest NW 2024 offered a thought-provoking glimpse into contemporary dance and performance with the theme, Total Chaos. This year’s iteration invited artists to explore notions of cacophony, disorder, and mess, resulting in a collection of works that were both chaotic and deeply reflective of the current moment. Choreographers Symone Sanz, Hannah Krafcik and Emily Jones, and Artie Thomas aka drag artist Stasia Coup challenged audiences to rethink order, intimacy, and identity in a world steeped in turmoil.
Symone Sanz’s WRETCH aimed to bring the gritty and awkward energy of a DIY Seattle house show, heavily referencing Seattle’s grunge roots. Musician Benjamin Hunter played electric guitar in the middle of the space while the dancers circled around him. He created a classic rock soundscape reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix heightening the feeling of being taken back to a time in Seattle when it was revolutionary to kindly roughhouse with comrades on the dance floor. The dancers, dressed in purple tie-dye costumes, moved with an intensity that oscillated between athletic drill team precision and chaotic mosh-pit abandon. There was even an instructional crowd surfing moment where the dancers asked a few audience members to help carry Sanz around the space like a rock star.
Wrestling matches and yoga-like holds blurred the lines between combat and self-care, revealing a strong feminist subtext of intimacy and trust amongst the group of femme and non-binary presenting performers. Sanz’s work seemed to be about preparing for life’s chaos with strength, camaraderie, and resilience.
Krafcik and Jones’s The Swirl was a meditative exploration of partnership and duality inspired by the freefalling embrace of eagles in midair, framed by video projections of absurd hand painted animations. The dancers created intricate spiralling tableaus that evoked geometrical optical illusions and interconnected eagles—a metaphor for risk, intimacy, and connection. The animations by visual artist Ralph Pugay, whimsical and reminiscent of children’s book author and artist Shel Silverstein’s drawings, provided an otherworldly and comedic backdrop featuring renderings of eagles and the dancers themselves.
The performance dove head first into the complexity of physical relationships, presenting the duo not as a binary but as a fluid, interdependent set. Their movements suggested an ongoing negotiation of trust and tension, a meditation on the ways people fit together and evolve together. Their dance became a story of intense physical contact and shared intention, offering a vision of partnership as an opportunity to explore the endless possibilities for discovery when dancing with another person.
Artie Thomas aka drag artist Stasia Coup’s work was a surreal and silly journey into the early stages of parenthood. Combining drag performance and physical comedy, Thomas brought to life the chaotic joy and anxiety of starting his parenting journey. The performance featured playful yet absurd (and sometimes disgusting) elements—breastfeeding pink balloon udders, stuffed animals crying demanding their dirty diapers be changed (oh yes there was “poop” in those diapers), and the “baby” was a doll dressed as Stasia, complete with popstar-high ponytail wig and sunglasses. Throughout the doll is treated as both child and accessory.
Photo by Jim Coleman.The humor was undercut by a sense of urgency, reflecting the current political climate surrounding trans rights. Thomas invited the audience to consider the anxieties of complicating the cis heteronormative binary of gendered parenting roles. The performance captured the strength and sense of humor required to maintain hope and support while building a queer family in difficult times. The performance also celebrated the legacy of “mess acts” in drag as a strategy for rebellion, societal critique and personal vulnerability, creating a space where queer and allied audiences could reflect on and laugh about the challenges of blood and chosen family building.
From the mosh pit energy of Sanz’s WRETCH to the eagle inspired complexity of Krafcik and Jones’s The Swirl and the politically charged mess of Coup’s parenting fever dream, each work offered a unique perspective on navigating chaos with care. Together, these performances demonstrated the power of contemporary dance and performance to disrupt, challenge, and inspire us to stay creative, connected and compassionate as we move through these difficult times together.
Velocity’s NextFest NW 2024: Total Chaos ran December 6-14 at 12 Ave Arts Studio Theater. Featured photo of Stasia Coup by Jim Coleman.
