e-Motion (NYC Premiere), Tremor (New York Premiere) and Then (World Premiere) / La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival
Company:
Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company and Pat Catterson
e-Motion, a dance-theater collaboration between choreographer Daniel Gwirtzman and playwright Saviana Stănescu, explores AI, neuroscience, and what it means to be human in a digital age. Gwirtzman creates a physical interpretation of Stănescu’s provocative text that brings conceptual ideas deep into the human body. The score is text, augmented by music composed by the late Jeff Story, a longtime collaborator of DGDC. The narrative duet, performed by Gwirtzman and Sarah Hillmon, follows the presentation of the AI creature for public consumption. The big launch. What could go wrong? Reviewing the premiere, The Ithaca Times wrote: “What e-Motion does well is to articulate the concerns (part ethical, part dystopian) of the bond between human and AI.”
Pat Catterson will present Tremor, a work for five dancers, and Then, a new solo. Created while Catterson was a La MaMa Resident Artist, Tremor is concerned with those moments of high alert when we realize something is not right, when what happens next is uncertain. The work is performed by New York dancers Brandon Collwes, Louisa Pancoast, Maia Ramnath, and Timothy Ward, and Boston dancers Mitzi Eppley and Sarah Slifer Swift. The original score is by Quentin Chiappetta. Then is the opening solo of a new ensemble work in progress inspired in part by solo cello pieces by Philip Glass. The title, Then, implies both past and future, as does this dance in its structure, feel, and movement.
The 20th Annual La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival, curated by Nicky Paraiso with guest curators Martita Abril, Blaze Ferrer, and Adham Hafez, features works by 20 visionary artists with varied creative practices and approaches to performance. La MaMa Moves! runs April 10 to May 4, 2025, at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre, The Downstairs Theatre, The Club, and Community Arts Space. Performance times vary.
