ODDS & ENDS: A Split Bill featuring Grace Yi-Li Tong and Heather Dutton

On August 28-29, 2025 at The NOD Theater (1621 12th Ave Seattle, WA 98122) at 7:30pm, emerging New York-based choreographers Grace Yi-Li Tong and Heather Dutton will present ODDS & ENDS, an dance-theater split bill program featuring: Tong’s MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY and Dutton’s This is what I’d do if I loved you.

MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY (2025, ongoing) by Grace Yi-Li Tong is a clown-like parody of the processes of assimilation. Through sound, character, costume, and dance, Tong’s newest work mimics the relentless whittling at the rough edges of the Asian, femme, and diasporic body by tides, winds, and voices. MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY was originally created with the support of the Performing Arts Salon Saturdays Residency program at Snug Harbor Cultural Center (Staten Island, NY) and features live sound by Colby Lamson-Gordon and movement performances by Hiroka Mori Nagai, Rachel Ha-Eun Lee, and Grace Yi-Li Tong,

This is what I’d do if I loved you (2024) by Heather Dutton is a dance theater duet that considers the way that fantasy fuels, and sometimes totally sustains queer, female desire. Guided by a series of “what if” questions, it fluctuates between realism and absurdity, attempting to capture the unpredictable nature of finding yourself inside of a type of love the world didn’t teach you to want. This work was developed in collaboration with Abigail Linnemeyer with the support of Spark Theater Festival, and has been presented by Domingo World and Arts on Site.

About the Artists:
Grace Yi-Li Tong (she/her) is an experimental, Chinese-American choreographer crafting physical collages. Influenced by make-believe games, clowning, paper collage, pantomime, and contemporary dance theater, she ridiculously cuts-and-pastes “regular” events onstage to decontextualize bodily and social identity, fairytale, and comedy. Now based in New York, she has recently shown work at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, The Center for Ballet Arts, Flushing Town Hall, Triskelion Arts, and more. Grace grew up in Seattle, WA, where she attended the Cornish Preparatory Dance Program and Lakeside School. She holds a BFA in Dance and a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and has recently performed as a freelance dancer with: the Metropolitan Opera, Patricia Hoffbauer, Beth Gill, Luis A., and more.
For more, please visit: http://gracetong.com
IG: @graceytong

Heather Dutton (she/they) is a Brooklyn based queer and gender fluid dance theater artist driven by a deep fascination with human nature. She is the founder of emerging dance company, Middle Child Dance Theater. Their multidisciplinary approach to movement calls on their background in theater, comedy, creative writing, and a range of dance techniques. She strives to tackle complex concepts in logical and digestible ways, with an eye toward simultaneously challenging and entertaining audiences. She was a recent artist in residence with the American Dance Festival and their work has been seen at ODCTheater, Flushing Town Hall, Here Arts Center, Dixon Place, LPAC, the Tank, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and more. She holds a B.A. in Dance (choreography & education) and a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies from Muhlenberg College.
For more, please visit: http://heatherduttondance.com
IG: @middlechilddancetheater & @featherrbutton