company
photography: Ben McKeown, Tim Walter, Alex Maness, Michelle Lotker, Jessica Arden Photography, and Erin Bell
installations: “and then the sun swallowed me” (CAM Raleigh) and “echo” (21C Durham) by Heather Gordon at CAM, Raleigh
Mesa (2022). Video courtesy of the american dance festival
Show (2018)- Part one. film by Michelle Lotker
Established in 2013,
COMPANY is a project-based arts collective that integrates movement, visual arts, sound, digital media, production, and design in the creation of public, theatrical, and experimental events.
COMPANY engages transdisciplinary practices to create, interactive and accessible art scenarios, engage communities in experimental and intermedia dance works, and expand the possibilities of art in public life.
COMPANY works both locally and internationally, enlivening non-traditional spaces and collaborating across disciplines to create new works that are only achievable through shared vision and authorship. COMPANY has presented intermedia work in museums across North Carolina, major productions at The Fruit, 21C, and The Carrack, and improvisatory performances in the area and abroad in France, Italy, and Germany.
COMPANY works from these fundamental values:
- Cross-disciplinary collaboration
- Experimentation
- Process-orientation
- Equal advancement of aesthetics and experience in all aspects of the work
- An ethics of care, inclusivity, and exchange are both essential and generative to the creative process and move far beyond the work and into the community who holds space for it to exist
A new project (2024-2025) is currently progress, stay tuned!
Recent works:
Mesa (2022)
Premiere: June 21, 2022 at Reynolds Industries Theater
Commissioned for the 2022 season of the American Dance Festival
Choreography: Justin Tornow, with Amy Blakely, Maggie Bradley, Austin Dixon, Jasmine Powell, Evvie Rumsey, and Chris Strauss
Performers: Amy Blakely, Maggie Bradley, Austin Dixon, Jasmine Powell, Evvie Rumsey, and Chris Strauss, with live sound performance by Ultrabillions
SHOW (2018)
A one-hour site-reactive and transdisciplinary work in two parts.
One) a warehouse-wide collection of interactive performance installations with local artists in movement, sound, visual art, and design
Two) a staged dance production for 6 dancers and a rotating roster of area sound designers. Created in collaboration with Heather Gordon (visual concepts, sound,) Alex Maness (film, projection, and sound,) Christopher Fleming (lighting and set design,) and performers Amy Blakely, Maggie Bradley, Austin Dixon, Kate Kyle, Jasmine Powell, Evvie Rumsey, Justin Tornow (movement, dramaturgy). Live sound scores composed and performed by Jude Casseday, John Osborne, Del Ward. SHOW included original work by COMPANY and invited area artists Stacey Kirby, Megan Yankee, Studio C Productions, Tommy Noonan, Kai Riedl and Ultrabillions.
Concept, choreography, and direction by Justin Tornow. Premiere: Durham Fruit and Produce, Durham, NC. July 11-15, 2018.
COMPANY collaborators past and present:
Heather Gordon, visual art and concept. Alex Maness, film, video, tech, set, lighting. Christopher Fleming, lighting, tech, and set. Matthew McClure, music and sound design and performance, electronics and technology. Lee Weisert, sound composition and performance, electronics and technology. Del Ward, music and sound composition and performance. Jude Casseday, sound design and performance. John Osburn, sound design and performance. PlayPlay/Jess Dilday, sound composition and performance. Michelle Lotker, documentation and video. In movement creation and performance: Emily Aiken, Amy Blakely, Maggie Bradley, Hunter Darnell, Austin Dixon, Kate Kyle, Alex Lieberman, Jasmine Powell, Evvie Rumsey, Samantha Steffen, Christian Strauss, Ronald West.