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Shawn
McConneloug has been dancing and choreographing since 1982.
Over the past eleven years she has created twelve performance works
that have been presented at venues across the United States, as well
as Central America and Japan. She has received numerous awards and
fellowships, including a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer’s
Fellowship and a Bush Foundation Artist Fellowship. In addition to
her choreographic work, McConneloug has collaborated with Greg Cummins
to develop films and videos that have been presented at over fifteen
dance and film festivals across the US and Europe, including the Sundance
Festival in Utah and Dance Screen in Vienna.
Shawn's
most current work, SHE CAPTAINS was inspired by the collision of
childhood tales of adventure with seedy, seafaring romance novels;
by Hollywood imagery, but mostly by the real life story of a truly
inspiring transgressive, Granuaile a.k.a. Irish pirate Grace O'Malley.
SHE CAPTAINS promises to be a swashbuckling tale
of adventure, romance and women in pants.
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Statement
I formed
Shawn McConneloug and her Orchestra* as an informal group of performers
and collaborators in 1993. The purpose of the Orchestra has remained
constant over the past eleven years; to challenge itself both physically
and emotionally. I believe that if the performers aren't stimulated,
the audience won't be.
Throughout
rehearsal, the work remains extremely collaborative...continually
searching for ways to break out of traditional, habitual patterns
and responses; in order to create a language for each piece that
is derived from necessity, one that comes from an honest place.
The process is organic, experimental and, at times, emotionally
unsettling. It requires a great deal of those involved not only
as performers but as people. We work hard to learn to trust ourselves...as
well as each other. With the Orchestra, I strive to create visually
evocative, original works. The Orchestra's projects have no rigid,
preconceived formula or design. The process is as important as the
result. The intent is to create theatrical, performance work that
engages both those who see it and those who make it... compelling
audience and performers to feel something and challenging both to
think about how they feel.
video
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