Kathy Westwater Residency Sharing

A dance performance for four, but this stupendous fragmentariness heightened extends Kathy Westwater’s exploration of her choreographic approach, "the disorganized body", which destabilises dominant dance forms. Taking inspiration from the writings of cultural theorist Byung-Chul Han and his notion of an “aesthetics of disaster” – that without pain, illness, or disaster there could not be beauty – Westwater explores the relevance of beauty to contemporary existential experience. Music is by Natasha Barrett; costumes by Curious Orange/Claire Fleury. Performed by Chia-Ying Kao, Paul Singh, Christopher Williams, and Westwater.

Kathy Westwater will present a sharing of her work on Friday 13 March at 6pm, advance booking recommended.

Kathy Westwater choreographs experimental dances, creating over ten major works since 1996. In 2023 at Chocolate Factory Theater in NYC she premiered Revolver + Choreomaniacs, part of a decades-long exploration of pain and the body, and described by The New York Times as "revelatory". In 2022 she premiered her first gallery exhibition, PARK Ephemera, emerging from her exploration of Fresh Kills Landfill, once the largest landfill in the world. Westwater is a recipient of the Solange MacArthur Award for New Choreography, the first woman to receive the prize. She lives in the Bronx with her husband and frequent artistic collaborator, architect Seung Jae Lee.

Created with support from Bronx Council on the Art, Dance NYC, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, American Dance Festival, and Dance Cork Firkin Crane.