Graduate students Marc Ellis Holland and Carly Lenzi of SUNY Brockport’s Dance Department are premiering Pruitt’s newest duet, Intersections in the upcoming faculty concert alongside work by Jenise Anthony, James Hansen & Mariah Maloney
Intersections was developed by asking the dancers to create movement responses that answered 16 questions about themselves. These movement “answers” were crafted into a duet with the goal of creating human connection through the body’s exploration of lived experiences and memories.
DANSCORE is the perfect opportunity to see works created by nationally and internationally renowned faculty members, whom Rochester’s City Newspaper calls some of the “top names” in the field. The diverse choreographic voices highlight the talented dancers and proves — as City also notes — SUNY Brockport is an “incubator for regional and national dance talent.”
Pruitt’s newest half evening length work, нет войне (translates to ‘no to war’ in Russian) premiered in Fem Dance Company’s concert, State of Flux alongside work by Artistic Director Alicia Ross, and Salt Lake based artist Jessica Baynes at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center August 2022.
ABOUT THE PIECE As I absorbed the shock of Russia invading Ukraine in late February, I sought to make any sense of the aggression and resulting atrocities against the Ukrainian people. How in 2022, were the Russian people standing behind this? Oversimplifying the situation as good versus evil would have been easier. But as I kept learning, I was better able to contextualize and humanize the variety of Russian experiences under oppressive government. I first heard NPR’s Rough Translation podcast “Letter of Unhappiness” in April, and it fueled the inspiration for this project. I began to see Russians as many stories of self-preservation and denial, trust and distrust, love and loyalty, propaganda and truth, and levels of fighting back inside a system of control. I was drawn to the lived reality of existing inside pervasive Russian propaganda and the acts of subversive protest against those lies. It was especially important to me to find these voices – to support them, share their story, and learn from them during this time of global upheaval and regression.
The title of this piece, нет войне means “no to war” in Russian. This work is an antiwar statement in support of Ukraine, and it’s also a work to help us reflect on our own culture, media consumption, and right to protest. I hope this piece helps us see and hear those fighting inside Russia and help us find more fight within ourselves when it matters.
KPD was thrilled to be performing at Austin Dance Festival! After 2020 & 2021 Covid postponements, we couldn’t wait to perform at the Festival and explorethe city! Pruitt and Ingram performed Of Nearness to a sold out, enthusiast house at the Long Center. We took master classes with Eli Motley, Shaun Keylock, and Ty Graynor and enjoyed getting to know the other festival dancers and choreographers. It felt great to gather in community again after the pandemic hiatus and get more of those wonderful “one degree of separation” moments we love about the dance world. The whole team of the festival and Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance were superb hosts, we hope to be back supporting this excellent festival in the future!
Pruitt has been commissioned to create a new half evening length work for Fem Dance Company of Salt Lake City, UT. Artistic Director Alicia Ross will also premiere a work in the concert titled, “State of Flux” – August 12th and 13th, 2022 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City.
Kaley’s creative process will explore the complexities of Ukrainian forced migration and Russian protest amidst propaganda. She is looking at how the idea of ‘readiness’ comes to play in fighting for survival in both settings of war and suppression.
fem dance company is a project based collective in Salt Lake City that strives to represent and empower women in dance. We believe in the potency, exquisiteness, and brilliance that women hold in the performing arts industry. Our mission is to create space and opportunities for all women and non-binary individuals to share their artistry and inspire others. We aim to connect and enliven the salt lake city dance community through collaboration, performance, and interdisciplinary art-making. we aspire to build a flourishing organization with a welcoming and inclusive environment. Photograph by Becca Webb & Keith Fearnow
Kaley Pruitt was commissioned by Simantikos Dance Chicago to create a new trio titled Readiness. This piece will premiere this Saturday June 18th at the Athenaeum Center in Chicago. Performances are at 3pm and 7pm. Readiness will be performed by Simantikos dancers Kalina Bartlett, Marissa Kaufmann, and Megan O’Toole.
Simantikos Dance Chicago New & Found | Saturday June 18th Athenaeum Center 2936 N Southport Ave. Chicago, IL Performances: 3pm & 7pm Tickets: $24
Mark DeGarmo Dance continues its transcultural transdisciplinary Virtual Salon Performance Series for Social Change 2022 to an international audience on Zoom with performances featuring global performing artists: Alfonso Cervera (Seattle, WA), Aishwarya Madhav (New York City), Kaley Pruitt (Bloomington, IL), and Angela Stoecklin & Peter Pierhosseinlou (Zurich, Switzerland and Tehran, Iran) on Thursday May 12th at 7PM ET. Each performance is curated and includes audience response supported, encouraged, and facilitated by Dr. Mark DeGarmo.
ABOUT THE PIECE: Of Nearness explores the embodiment of power dynamics and psychophysical connection between two people. The work probes the relationship between movement and time, as it molds the audience witnessing as a catalyst for empathy. Bringing the audience into the dancers’ experience both mentally and physically, a sound score of recorded narration functions to offer an unknown witness’s inner monologue of personal reflection about the relationship as the work unfolds. The piece encourages a psychological connection between audience and dancers in addition to the kinetic connection to explore new ways of watching and engaging with dance.
Pruitt’s recent work Hold commissioned by Salt Lake City’s Repertory Dance Theatre got rave reviews. This work premiered virutally in February 2022 and will be presented live in their 2022/23 Season in the Jeanne Wagner Theater.
“The rhythmic foundations shift as the music builds an arch and Pruitt replicates this with impressive effect in the dancers. The dance artists open up the movement space, replicating clearly the crossovers suggested in the music. Pruitt succeeds at heightening the already profound emotional foundation of the music, most notably at the melodic peak of the music where the bass line has been stripped out and the movement takes on a near-ethereal floating sensation. The company responded fully to the poignant demands of this outstanding interpretation.” – Les Roka of The Utah Review
THE PLAN: 1) Purchase your virtual ticket to RDT’s Emerge Concert 2) Log Into Zoom on Saturday 2/19 at 8pm EST 3) Hear Kaley discuss her process and inspirations 4) Watch the streamed concert 5) Log back onto Zoom for a Q&A with Kaley and to share you thoughts 6) Hang out and catch up (it’s also Kaley’s birthday!)
By purchasing a ticket, you will have access to the performance for up to two views until March 6, 2022.
If you already had tickets purchased from the cancelled live performances in January, you should have received a separate email with a link to the performance. If not, contact rdt@rdtutah.org
Pruitt’s newest work, Hold, emerged from reflecting on what is personal but also universal to each of us. The pandemic has brought on a shared global experience that is unprecedented. The work looks at how this upheaval has allowed us to de-center our own narratives and realize our impact on the larger communities around us. Set to Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” Hold leaves space for doubt and hope simultaneously. The piece asks what it means to not defeat something, but instead transform ourselves for the better because it remains. Hold orients us inside this present moment with attuned awareness of our humanity and greater connections.
“The rhythmic foundations shift as the music builds an arch and Pruitt replicates this with impressive effect in the dancers. The dance artists open up the movement space, replicating clearly the crossovers suggested in the music. Pruitt succeeds at heightening the already profound emotional foundation of the music, most notably at the melodic peak of the music where the bass line has been stripped out and the movement takes on a near-ethereal floating sensation. The company responded fully to the poignant demands of this outstanding interpretation.” – Les Roka of The Utah Review
ABOUT THE PROCESS: I began the process for Hold by sharing my personal experiences during the pandemic and motivations in making a work that would reflect this moment of shared experience. I communicated my driving motivation to create a dynamic rehearsal space of healing, learning, and connection to each other and our present history. I welcomed that this latter priority would shift our “product” in a direction that I could not foresee nor take sole ownership of. The gift of working collaboratively with RDT’s amazingly talented and generous dancers in a rehearsal space unmasked, physically connecting after a year and a half of distanced, masked, and often digital interaction was not lost on us. The process that unfolded was cathartic. We explored the thin edge between our most personal experiences and the universal experience of the global pandemic. The creative process provided a space for reflection, embodied conversation, and liberating expression. I believe the finished work reflects a deepened sense of community and empathy, and I’m thrilled to share it with audiences in Salt Lake and those streaming from afar in January. -Kaley
Read about Pruitt’s process and the inspriations for the other works in Emerge in the recent articles in The Utah Review by Les Roka and in Salt Lake City Weekly
“Thinking about the movement for the composition, Pruitt says she focused on the simultaneous presence of doubts, fears and hopes while finding an opportunity to appreciate a joyous moment of life at least for the moment without the regret of thinking too far ahead. Indeed, she says it is meant as a healing moment, an opportunity to rebalance ourselves — dancers and audiences included.” READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE
After winning Repertory Dance Theatre’s choreographic competition Regalia earlier this year, Pruitt traveled to Salt Lake in October to create her newest work entitled, Hold. The work is for the full company of eight dancers and is set to the iconic American score, “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber. Hold will premiere in Repertory Dance Theatre’s EMERGE concert January 7th-8th, featuring choreography all set to music from the 1930s and 1940s.
Pruitt’s work Hold Premieres in RDT’s Emerge Concert in Salt Lake City, UT Friday, January 7th – 7:30pm Saturday, January 8th – 2:00pm Saturday, January 8th – 7:30pm
ABOUT THE PROCESS: I began the process for Hold by sharing my personal experiences during the pandemic and motivations in making a work that would reflect this moment of shared experience. I communicated my driving motivation to create a dynamic rehearsal space of healing, learning, and connection to each other and our present history. I welcomed that this latter priority would shift our “product” in a direction that I could not foresee nor take sole ownership of. The gift of working collaboratively with RDT’s amazingly talented and generous dancers in a rehearsal space unmasked, physically connecting after a year and a half of distanced, masked, and often digital interaction was not lost on us. The process that unfolded was cathartic. We explored the thin edge between our most personal experiences and the universal experience of the global pandemic. The creative process provided a space for reflection, embodied conversation, and liberating expression. I believe the finished work reflects a deepened sense of community and empathy, and I’m thrilled to share it with audiences in Salt Lake and those streaming from afar in January. -Kaley
KALEY PRUITT DANCE 