The vision of the Department of Performing and Media Arts is to nurture and mentor artists, performers, writers, and thinkers through the process of event programming. We recognize that all people should see their stories represented, and envision their stories as valuable.

We commit ourselves to creating spaces that actively seek to break down systems of oppression based on race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and place of origin and empower all to be involved. We seek to stimulate thoughtful discussion and enact social change within our productions and our audiences. It is our goal to make our events accessible to the wider Cornell and Ithaca community, to strengthen bonds and engage inquiry, dialogue, and impact around social and cultural change.

In the 2022-2023 academic year we will help realize a wide range of students' creative projects, from original plays, to solo performances, to readings, to choreographies, to acting, directorial, and curatorial projects. We are particularly happy that in addition to supporting live performances, we are now also supporting the production of student films. Enjoy the shows! 

The past year and a half, in the aftermath of Covid restrictions and its resultant psychological effects, along with the many organizational complications, getting back to making work as we did pre-pandemic has proven to present an ever-evolving pattern of obstacles that reach far beyond the close and the expected. Some of those barriers have presented in process, while others emerge from individual and group struggles, bubbling chaotically in all aspects of the department. We have experienced some debilitating circumstances that have rendered the choreographic process to form within a level of darkness that we have not previously had to contend with during what is usually a joyful process. Torn between wanting to express these negative experiences through embodied performance, while working to satisfy student interests and needs that often sit apart from the complexities of process and production, the work has changed greatly over the last several months. There has been a shifting impulse to reveal, or at least comment, on the many difficult circumstances that have blocked, or at least hindered, the creative process, in contrast to a reluctant desire to find a resolution, utopic or not. Resistance to a utopic resolution is based on an insistence on normalizing what have been very atypical circumstances, and very troubling behaviors. This past year and a half has felt like a painful puzzle rendered impossible to solve by its many missing or ill-fitting pieces. The puzzle concept carried the work to the concept of a labyrinth and its rich global histories. Having always been interested in mazes and labyrinths, and holding a fascination with the short opera Ariadne auf Naxos, and Ariadne’s thread, we brought in those concepts as motivating formal aspects of the work, while working to keep the physical demands of the working bodies as close to a position of health and positivity as possible. Western Concert Dance has specific aesthetic principles and a logic that are acquired and/or adopted after many years of working in the field and this is necessary for both students, instructors, audiences and critics. That said, innovation in the field is what enables its sustainability. Questioning standards of aesthetic production is built into the histories and aesthetic products produced in the field which at times can seem disconcerting to the uninitiated. We, as a group, formed from many diverse backgrounds and systems of organizing the athleticism and artistic principles of the different fields from which we originate, together, we have found ways to merge the many ways of thinking and making into a cohesive, but at times, intentionally chaotic, series of contrasting, yet resonating, moments. In this quest, Courtney Henry, as a visiting guest instructor/coach, helped us with a fresh view from the outside and a level of expertise unique to Courtney. Her work with the students proved invaluable, and we appreciate her gifts greatly. This work is not meant to solve any problems, only gesture towards recognizing them. Art does not always deliver comfort and reassurance and this work is not meant to accomplish those goals. Raising questions, provoking thought, and even unsettling observers are all a part of this unique formation of performance. We welcome all experiences as there will likely be a different experience for each audience member… as that is what dance does … accepting and imbibing are all that are needed.

- Byron Suber

---

Interludes

As the meaning of an experience changes when the event is transposed to another set of circumstances, choreography changes when it is re-located. In October 2021, with autumnal light flooding an open barn, Kumi Korf, artist and printmaker, created costumes for her performance piece “Hidden Books.” I wanted to bring Kumi’s exquisite costumes to the Kiplinger Theatre, this time with stagelighting and across our proscenium stage.The lovely PMA dancers, working imaginatively with the choreography of Byron Suber, Miles Yeung, and Olive Prince, have created the brief prelude and four interludes, relocating the concert itself as it unfolds.

I am deeply grateful to the production staff of PMA for their integrity as artists, their support, and their generosity in allowing me to step back into LGD. I am also deeply grateful to Byron, Miles, Olive, and their dancers – and yet again to wondrous Kumi. From outside PMA, I see more clearly now the surpassing beauty and creative genius of its dance program, so much owing to Byron.

- Jumay

---

The cricket’s song is used to both attract, and warn. Shadowed in the night, a nocturnal courtship, the sirens call sailors (to their destruction(?)). Stereo bodies sing out, call out, for another. This work is situated in dance-as-calling. A supercut of amplified vibrations, beating hearts lapping the shore, pulled by the moon. Ballads sent through the radio. Is anyone out there listening?

Our dance is with you. Together, we are sounding.

I extend my gratitude to the faculty, staff, and students of the Performing and Media Arts Department for continuing to answer the calling of art.

- Miles

Sirenas by Ariel Baksh

Trap me in your infinity
Let us entangle
Forever
reach
out
to Me
Please
Hold__
Why?
did you let go?
let me walk away?
When you reached out to me it did not reach me
But did you try?
I did
and crawled on the thorn-filled floor, you disjointed me but still you tell me-

Come back
To this infinity and drown-

So I let you suffocate me
I want to stay forever
In this love-like
Slow poison flooding into my veins
and you
grabbed me but turned away Disappeared.
Despair
and love
are the same

If I drown
If i give my whole life to you,
Would you let me in this embrace? Would you love me?
With a love without the thorns and poison?
Hug me
Lift me

To this life we lived together:
I reached to you but you never took that hand you let me pour my whole heart into the sea

See me
Not for the siren in the night
Not for the sirens blaring alarm in this love
Not for the sorrow clouding us
See me for me, who ignored that noxious sea surrounding you

And please
No matter time and space and infinity
My love for you will forever be
I am your siren
Let me down you in this sorrow

Sarah Grace Brown
Mechanical Engineering ’26. Sarah Grace is a classically trained ballet dancer coming from Le Jeune Dance in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has danced roles such as Sugar Plum in the Nutcracker and Fleur de Lys in La Esmerelda and has competed at YAGP. She has spent summers training at Joffrey and at the Rock School. On campus, she is a member of Impact Dance and the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle project team.

Annika Currie
Bio not available.

Annika Deutsch
Annika Deutsch is a junior in the college of Arts and Sciences majoring in Physics and Mathematics and minoring in Dance. She has taken part in previous productions of Mini LGD and LGD and is very excited to continue to be involved in this wonderful production! In addition to dancing with PMA, she is also a member of Rise Dance Group at Cornell. Before coming to Cornell, she studied Ballet, Flamenco, and Modern Dance with Ballet Hispanico in New York City. In her free time, Annika enjoys stargazing, climbing (trees, rocks, anything really), and learning German! 

Colton Edwards
Colton is a senior in the Dyson School studying Applied Economics and Management. A Pittsburgh-native, Colton started dancing at the age of 15, specializing in contemporary, neoclassical, and ballet. Further honing and developing his dance fundamentals, Colton attended Westinghouse Arts Academy. Colton's past notable credits include America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, and Break the Floor Productions. This is Colton's second year performing with the PMA department, and he can't wait to train with them for the remainder of his undergraduate experience.

Trent Edwards
Trent Edwards is a senior in the Dyson School of Applied Economics with a concentration in strategy and environmental resource economics. Training in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, Trent has studied contemporary, modern, ballet, and jazz. Trent’s notable credits are So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Got Talent. This is Trent's third PMA performance, and he hopes you enjoy the performance. 

Molly Goldstein
Molly is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences double majoring in Government and Near Eastern Studies. Molly grew up training mainly in ballet, jazz, contemporary, and modern at the Houston Ballet Academy for 13 years. This is Molly’s second year performing with the PMA department and hopes to continue her dance training for the next few years! Break a leg everyone!

Malena Angelopoulos Goula
Malena is a 7th grader that goes to DeWitt Middle School. In her free time, she likes to dance, do her homework, and spend time with her friends. She participates in her school’s annual musical and is very exited to preform at Cornell. She would like to give a special thanks to her family and friends for supporting her and Byron for this wonderful opportunity. Enjoy the show!

Charlotte Hee
Charlotte is a junior in the Hotel School majoring in Hotel Administration and minoring in Dance and Real Estate. Charlotte grew up training in classical ballet and contemporary at Marin Ballet. This is Charlotte's second year with the PMA department, and she is looking forward to being on stage again!

Molly Hudson
Molly Hudson is a sophomore in the College of Human Ecology studying human development. Molly grew up training in modern, contemporary, musical theatre, ballet, and tap at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway in New York City. This is her second year performing with the PMA department and she can't wait for everyone to see the show!

Austin Johnson
Bio not available.

Anna Liba
Anna Liba is a sophomore Government and Economics double major. She has been dancing for 15 years and performed in ballets including The Nutcracker and La Fille Mal Gardee. When not in the studio she enjoys spending time with friends, hiking and exploring campus. Anna enjoyed the time she spent working on this piece with Byron and her fellow dancers, and appreciates the hard work that everyone has put towards the production.

Sarah Lynch
Bio not available.

Anna Rose Marion 
Anna Rose is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences double majoring in Environment & Sustainability and Anthropology. Anna Rose has trained in ballet, pointe, modern, contemporary, and jazz. This is the second year that she has performed in Locally Grown Dance. Anna Rose is excited to continue to learn and grow as a dancer with the PMA department. 

Joie Mentry
Joie Mentry is a junior in the ILR School. She has been dancing competitively since she was three years old, but this is her first year dancing with PMA. She is so excited to be a part of the show!

Cate Moore
Bio not available.

Caroline O’Brien
Caroline (Collo) O'Brien joins long time collaborator and friend Olive Prince for this Locally Grown Dance performance. A Philadelphia based movement artist since 2007, Caroline has worked with many inspirational artists and choreographers; including Artistic Director Angela Liong of ArtsFission Dance Company in Singapore, and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company (as part of the community participant collective in "Deep Blue Sea" at the Mann Center in May 2022). As of late, Caroline is reclaiming and redefining her artistic identity, processing the grief and reflection of the last 3 years, and committing to curiosity of what the future holds. Throughout her week, Caroline works as a CPhT at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital; connecting with patients and families to uphold the highest standard of medication reconciliation within the transitions of care. In addition, she is the owner/founder of HelloCollo Organizing; helping small businesses and families find peace and purpose within their spaces.

Caroline Ongchin
Caroline Ongchin is a first-year student in Dyson majoring in Applied Economics and Management with a minor in E&S. Prior to college, she was a competitive ballet dancer, so she’s had her fair share of Youth America Grand Prix experiences! Some roles she danced at her pre-professional ballet school, Ramon Moreno School of Ballet, include Sugar Plum, Clara, Kitri, and Swanhilda. Here at Cornell, she is part of Impact Dance Troupe and dabbles in a bunch of other dance styles! They have a show in April, come stop by!

Jenny Jinjoo Park 
Jenny is a senior majoring in Music with a minor in Anthropology. She has performed in Melodramatics’ First Date and has also taken part in Cornell Opera Society’s recitals. This is her first time taking part in Locally Grown Dance and is really excited to be a part of this incredible production! 

Katerina Petrosky
Kat is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in biology and society and minoring in Spanish and dance. Kat danced with the Junior Company of Mystic Ballet in Mystic, Connecticut throughout middle and high school where she trained in ballet, contemporary, and jazz, in addition to dancing and choreographing with the arts department at The Williams School. She is very grateful to continue dancing at Cornell in the PMA department and as a part of Rise Dance Group, and Kat is especially excited to be on stage again in the Kiplinger for her second Locally Grown Dance

Emma Rethy
Bio not available.

Caitlin Sigda
Caitlin Sigda is a freshman in the College of Engineering planning to major in biomedical engineering. She trained in modern, ballet, and jazz at the Steffi Nossen School of Dance from 2010-2022, and was part of the Steffi Nossen Dance Company from 2019-2022. She has also taken part in the Bates Dance Festival and American Dance Festival. On campus, she is a part of Impact Dance Troupe and the Cornell Concert Commission. She has loved being a part of the show and is extremely excited to perform.

Byron Suber - Faculty Mentor
Byron Suber is originally from New Orleans, LA, and moved to Ithaca in 1991 after ten years of living and working in New York City. His work there included choreography, music, theatre, costume design and performance art. His pieces have been exhibited at La MAMA Inc., Performance Space 122, the Kitchen, DANSPACE, the American Dance Festival and The Wigstock music festival. He has received grants and awards from the Harkness Foundation, Art Matters Inc., New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Cornell Council for the Arts. He has taught at the American Dance Festival at Duke University, Dance Space and Steps, in NYC, as well as various universities in the States, France, Italy, Ireland and Spain. Since coming to Cornell he has continued to create work in dance and theatre as well as entering the realm of digital sound and visual media, for instance in collaboration with professors and students from MIT on a pair of digitally wired sneakers that produced music when the dancer moved. At Cornell, Suber teaches ballet and modern technique, yoga, dance history and criticism, dance composition, and digital media. Outside of his position in the Department of Performing and Media Arts, he completed a M.A in the History of Architecture and Urbanism in the School of Art, Architecture and Planning at Cornell.

Miles Yeung-Tieu - Faculty Choreographer
Originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Miles Yeung-Tieu is a dance artist currently based in Philadelphia, PA. His performance credits include Brian Sander's JUNK, Stacey Tookey's Still Motion, Helen Simoneau Danse, La Biennale di Venezia's Arsenale della Danza, and the New York City production of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Miles has worked with international dance artists including Ismael Ivo (Brazil, Italy), Isabel Lewis (Germany), and Douglas Becker (Belgium) while studying and performing across Europe. Miles received his training at the University of the Arts, completing both his BFA in Modern Performance ('14) with honors and MFA in Dance ('19). He currently dances with Brooklyn-based company Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group and is a collaborator with Mark Caserta's BigKid Dance.

Olive Prince - Guest Choreographer
Olive Prince is a veteran Philadelphia performer having worked with many independent artists as well as a company member with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (2007-2013), and Merian Soto (2005-present) for close to a decade. Prince received her MFA in dance and choreography from Temple University, where her choreography was chosen for the American Colleges Dance Festival Association's National Concert at the Kennedy Center.

Jumay Chu  - Guest Choreographer
1975-79 Viola Farber Dance Company, NYC; 1980-84 Lucinda Childs Dance Company, NYC; 1984 Francois Verret, Paris; 1989-2020 Cornell; 2022- Phoenix Players Theatre Group, Auburn, NY.

David Ferri - Lighting Designer
David Ferri has worked with prominent choreographers such as Pina Bausch, Shen Wei, Doug Varone, Yin Mei, Eikoand Koma, Jane Comfort, David Rousseve, Jody Sperling and Ballet Preljocaj. He has been the Production Manager for the prestigious American Dance Festival since 1996 training upcoming designers in America. Recipient of 1987-1988 BESSIE AWARD for his design of Doug Varone's "Straits", and 2000-2001 BESSIE AWARD for Sustained Achievement in Lighting Design. David is the resident Lighting Designer -Technical Director for The Vassar College Dance Department and was also resident lighting designer and technical director at PS122 from 1985-1991.

Arlette Arroyo - Stage Crew 
Arlette Arroyo is a senior Performing and Media Arts major and Music minor in the College of Arts & Sciences. In Spring 2022, she designed the set for Marisol (Risley Theatre) and appeared as the Drinking Patroness in Haunted Natures, Hidden Environments (Schwartz Flex Theatre). Last Fall, she was the stage manager for Baby Rock (Schwartz Black Box Theatre). She is very excited to be working on a dance production for the first time and hopes you enjoy the performance! 

Sarah Bauch - Stage Manager 
Sarah is the resident Production Stage Manager and House Management Supervisor at the Schwartz Center. She is 2022 Recipient of the national USITT Stage Management Award, and two-time winner of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Stage Management Award. She received her MFA in Stage and Production Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and has worked at companies such as Paper Mill Playhouse, Interlakes Summer Theater, Resonance Works Pittsburgh, and Little Theater of Wilkes-Barre. She has given workshops on Theatrical Intimacy Choreography at the Collegiate level, and has served on over 30 stage management teams. She has stage managed operas, musicals, plays, and dance concerts. 

Sarah Eckert Bernstein - Costume Designer
Sarah Eckert Bernstein is the Resident Costume Designer at the Schwartz Center and Senior Lecturer in costume design, costume history, and character design. Some of her recent projects at Cornell include: HumaNatures, Haunted Natures/Hidden Environments, Locally Grown Dance 2022, Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, LGD 2021, Pipeline/Townhall, LGD 2020, The Next Storm, The Wolves, Spill, LGD 2019, Awakening of Spring, Mr. Burns, LGD 2018, Hamlet Wakes Up Late, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and Baltimore. Sarah is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University and the Yale School of Drama.

Kumi Korf - Costume Designer for Interludes  
Kumi Korf was born in Japan and has lived in Ithaca since 1959.   In her early years she practiced architecture and  painting. She graduated with an MFA in Printmaking from Cornell. She has collaborated with Cornell choreographers Peggy Lawler, Joyce Morgenroth, and several times with Jumay Chu, creating sets and backgrounds for dance performances. The garments that the dancers are wearing in “Interludes” were designed and hand-sewn by Korf. She made them using tarlatan, a by-product of intaglio printing. She has been saving her tarlatan discards for decades, in anticipation of using them in some new work. The colors are from the inks that are wiped off the copper plates prior to printing.  

Ethan Ordower – Assistant Stage Manager
Ethan is a Sophomore majoring in Urban and Regional Studies. He is the President of Cornell Ambassadors to Media and Performance and a co-producer of the student-run Melodramatics Theatre Company. He has stage managed for shows such as Avenue Q, First Date, 9 to 5, and Fiddler on the Roof. He is also the Producer of PMA’s bi-annual Festival 24. This is his first large production with PMA and he is super excited to be involved! 

Caroline Ryan – Dresser
Caroline is a third year Biology & Society major with intended minors of Law & Society and Education. She loves experimenting with costume design and makeup! She also loves to dance, and most recently performed as The Bride at Cornell’s Halloween Drag Bingo and will be performing as Grassaline in The Family Copoli.

Assistant Stage Manager: Ethan Ordower
Stage Crew:  Arlette Arroyo
Light Board Programmer: Steven Blasberg
Sound Board Operator: Warren Cross
Dressers: Caroline Ryan, Sharyn Schweitzer

1610 Technical Production Lab:
Arlette Arroyo, Isabella Benenati, Alexia Carey, Adela  Colorado, Jennifer Herrera, Ashley Herrera, Kate James, Joseph Lang, Yue Lin, Shuqian Lyu, Adaora Nwosu, Ke Wu

Scene Shop Work-Study:
David Bascom, Arianna Louise Marie Josue, Julianna Lee,  Charlie Wright

Electrics Work-Study:  Jesse McDonald

Prop & Paint Work-Study: Jessica Ritchie

Costume First Hands:
Isabel Berkenblit, Havily Nwakuche, Jill Parrino, Bella Peters

House/Building Managers:
Idey Abdi, Cierra Baptiste, Kenneth Choi, Mari-Christina Clark, Safiyyah Franklin, Jack McManus, Jessica Pedro-Pascual, Nia Reid-Vicars, Ethan Sarpong, Matthew Saylor

PRODUCTION STAFF
Director of Productions and Events: Pamela Lillard
Technical Director: Fritz Bernstein
Assistant Technical Director: Savannah Relos
Props Coordinator: Tim Ostrander
Costume Shop Supervisor: Lisa Boquist
Master Electrician: Steven Blasberg
Sound Engineer: Warren Dennis Cross
Computer Support: Chris Christensen
Communications Manager: Gary Gabisan
Performance & Events Coordinator: Youngsun Palmer

This program has been made possible through the generous gift of Cheryl Whaley and Eric Aboaf.