New Danceworks I
October 20-22, 2005 at 7:30pm
October 23, 2005 at 2:00pm
Dance Studio Theatre
PEBE 132
Talking String
Choreography:
Sound Score:
Text:

Composers:
Lighting Design:
Costume Design:
Set Design:
Performers:

Casey Blake and AJ Niehaus
AJ Niehaus and Dancers
Excerpts from Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and
Neuromancer by William Gibson
From NEUROMANCER by William Gibson,
Copyright 1984, used by permission.
AJ Niehaus and Dancers
Aaron Fellenz
AJ Niehaus and Susan Niehaus
Mark Ammerman and AJ Niehaus
Meghan Bingle
AJ Niehaus
Stjepan Rajko
Rachel Ryan
Siew Wong

Since 2003, AJ Niehaus has focused her research on the integration of wearable
computing and smart fabrics into the choreography process, particularly in the application
of interactivity. With the technology on the performers body they can effect their
environment (lights, sound, video projection) through their movement. In the Dance
Theatre, there is an existing vision-based sensing environment made up of three cameras
placed throughout the space, which also makes it possible for the performer to effect their
surroundings. This system is different than a motion capture system used for video
games and movies. Talking String incorporates both wearable-sensing and vision-based
sensing in this multimedia performance, which is loosely based on the novel Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson. This science fiction novel explores the possibility of a computer
virus that is capable of infecting human beings and “crashing” their brain. Niehaus
diverges from the novels apocalyptic view, instead she will allow the computer virus to
alter the performers movement/behavior rather than crash their system. As the dancers
move around the space they affect the audio and video occurring on stage. They in return
are affected by the technology through auditory cues from the sound. Characters from
cyberpunk and popular culture, such as Neo from The Matrix, Case from William
Gibson’s novel Neuromancer, Lara Croft, and Tank Girl, inspire each performer’s
movement quality. The texts within the sound score are excerpts from the novel Snow
Crash and Neuromancer. Niehaus is also exploring a different way to project in the space
by blending the performers jackets into the projection surface. The web of string hung
throughout the space is metaphor for a computer network.
0010000111001 Thank you Casey

1010101010101 Merci Meghan, Rachel, Siew and Stjepan
0101010101010 Gracias Committee Members Jen, Jodi, John, Todd
0000111101010 Efharisto Mom, Dad, Coston, family and friends
1111000010101 Danke Dan
10 minute intermission
Look, Don’t Touch All The Pretty Things (Section I)
Choreography:
Keira Hart
Music:
Live at the Knitting Factory selection from the New
York Jazz Festival 1998
Lighting Design:
Mark Ammerman and Keira Hart
Costumes Design:
Keira Hart
Set Design:
Keira Hart
Performers:
Keira Hart
Sarah Holcsman
Jordan Kriston
Christiana Lederman
Aaron McGloin
Stjepan Rajko
Look, Don’t Touch All The Pretty Things (Section II)
Choreography:
Keira Hart
Composer:
Telephone Jim Jesus and
Music from Talk to Her Soundtrack by Alberto
Iglesias and Bau
Lighting Design:
Mark Ammerman and Keira Hart
Costume Design:
Keira Hart
Set Design:
Keira Hart
Performers:
Cherie Burnett
Jean Kelley
Shelley Kemmerer
Jordan Kriston
Harper Piver
Stjepan Rajko
Katheryn Richardson
“Six Bulls, one woman. My job is to fight bulls…two, six, whatever they say.”
Lydia from Talk to Her.
This piece was inspired by scenes from the film “Hable con Ella/Talk to Her” directed by
Pedro Almodovar. Keira’s entire work is an experimental approach to choreography.
Keira designed the costumes first and then created dance movement and choreography as
a result and/or reaction to different elements found in each costume design. Look, don’t
touch all the pretty things also deals with the way in which we look at and interpret the

female image presented to us in a variety of different mediums like fashion, dance, and
film.
Special thanks to Jackie Benard and Galina Mihaleva for all of their support and
encouragement in the costume shop, to Carlton Wolfe for this beautiful photography and
grip efforts, to Matthew Moore and his rosefield friends, to Jen Tsukayama and John
Spiak for all their encouragement during the creation process, to the dancers, and to my
family who have always supported me!
10 minute intermission
THE TAKEOVER
Choreography:
Video Design:
Comic Artist:
Acting Coach:
Concept Design Support:
Composer:

Additional Sound Design:
Lighting Design:
Costume Design:
Set Design:
Performers:

Liz Young and Dancers
Liz Young
Dan Olson
Mary Stevens
Tuey Burns, Marilyn Maywald and Dan Olson
Sufjan Stevens, Sigridur Nielsdottir and Dmitri
Shustankovich (band: “Slowblow”) Mark Oliver
Everett (band: “The Eels”), Pizzicato Five, Rufus
Wainright and the publisher of the Real Tuesday
Weld has asked that we list the following in the
program:
“Heaven Can’t Wait”
Performed by the Real Tuesday Weld
Composed by Steven Caotes
Published by Six Degrees Music (ASCAP)
(p) 2004 Stephen Coates
Courtesy of Six Degrees Records under exclusive
license from Stephen Coates
www.sixdegreesrecords.com
William Swayze and Liz Young
Laura Atwood
Liz Young
Liz Young
Tuey Burns
Sarah Holcman
Martha Howe
Julianna Kenworthy
Marilyn Maywald
Aaron McGloin
Sara Parish
Kathryn Richardson
Sonja Wajih

THE TAKEOVER blends comic art and theatrical dance to reveal a story that expresses
how human beings connect and misconnect to life and the present moment. By mixing
artistic mediums, storytelling possibilities are created by the integration of literal comic
strip images combined with live dance and theater, telling a fresh and revealing story.
This quite absurd work jumps from place to place, from “real” scenarios to the fantastical
and ridiculous, creating a surprising and delightful performance. Ultimately, THE
TAKEOVER, takes a comical and theatrical approach to communicate the funny and
sometimes painful adjustment to being human, being an artist, having fears, wanting to be
heard, connecting, misconnecting, experiencing and misexperiencing life in the search its
meaning.
Liz would like to give a very special thanks and applaud her cast of Tueys for stepping
out of their skins and fully diving into the absurd process of creating this work. She
would also like to give a HUGE thanks to Dan Olson for his incredible comic art. Also
thanks to Keira Hart and AJ Niehaus for such a supportive and fun collaborative
partnership and Jen Tsukayama for helping us stay on task. Finally, thanks to Mary
Fitzgerald, Naomi Jackson and Arthur Sabatini for their helpful eyes throughout the
creation of the work.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Keira Hart has landed herself at Arizona State University to pursue her MFA in Dance.
She graduated from James Madison University in Virginia with degrees in both Dance
and Media Arts and Design. At ASU, Keira works as the rehearsal director for Dance
Arizona Repertory Theatre (DART). She also held a research assistantship in the Arts
Media and Engineering program and recently completed working on Motion e, a threeyear project with choreographers Bill T. Jones and Trisha Brown using motion capture
technologies. Keira has danced in a number of residencies with Bebe Miller, Trisha
Brown Co., Aviva Geismar, Monica Bill Barnes, Mark Taylor, Kyle Schwandt, Tommy
Neblett, William Seigh, Beth Sager, and Robin Peterson. Keira’s choreography was
chosen from ASU to attend the American College Dance Festival in Western Washington
this past year. Also, Keira’s video work has recently been shown at the American Dance
Festival winning a jury award, Washington D.C., and Phoenix Az. Keira has attended a
number of dance festivals including the American Dance Festival in North Carolina,
Bates Dance Festival in Maine, Breaking Grounds Dance Festival in Toronto, the Dance
for the Camera Film and Video Festival in Utah, and MELT in NYC. As Keira pursues
her MFA her goal is to create amalgamations of all her varied interests in dance,
choreography, video, costume design, set design, and technology. Keira would like to
thank her family for their love and support!
AJ Niehaus is perusing a MFA in Dance, concentration Interdisciplinary Digital Media
and Performance through the Dance Department and Arts, Media, and Engineering at
Arizona State University. She received her BS in Dance, May 2001 from the University
of Wisconsin – Madison. While at Madison she had the great opportunity to study and
work with renowned artists such as video dance artist/theorist Douglas Rosenberg and

choreographer Li Chiao-Ping. She was asked by Rosenberg to work as part of the
production team for Larry Goldhuber and Heidi Latsky’s (former Bill T. Jones company
members) performance Worst Case Scenario at the famous Performance Space 122
(PS122) in New York City, NY. Niehaus has also studied with the late Loyce Houlton,
Heidi Hauser Jasmin, the daughter of the late Nancy Hauser, postmodern dance historian
Sally Banes, and art philosopher Noel Carroll. Her current research is in wearable
computing and smart fabrics as a way to place the technology onto the body of
performers so they can effect their environment through their actions. She also works
alongside John D. Mitchell as the Arizona site for the Association for Dance and
Performance Telematics (ADaPT) a research/performance group, which creates
networked performances together using the internet with sites across the United States
and around the world.
Liz Young received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Behavioral Biology and Dance
from Beloit College in Beloit, WI. Post-College she performed and choreographed
professionally in Phoenix, Tucson and Seattle, WA with companies and choreographers
such as Pablo Cornejo and Locate Performance, Cheronne Wong, KT Niehoff,
Collabolab, Guido Tuveri, Alexandra Bellar and New ARTiculations. She has worked in
residencies with artists such as Sean Curran, Marlies Yearby and Fred Darsow. Young’s
work has been commissioned and invited for presentation in Seattle by Velocity Dance
Center, Rockhopper Dance Company, On the Boards, Seattle Fringe Festival and has
been funded by Allied Arts of King County and IBM. Her work additionally was selected
as Seattle’s runner-up for The Field Seattle/Chicago/New York Tri-city Exchange.
Currently pursuing her MFA in Dance at Arizona State University, she is inspired by her
involvement with Dance Arizona Repertory Theatre (DART), the Phoenix, Arizona
Survivors of Torture (PAST) program and in teaching at ASU. While at ASU, Young
stays active in the professional community in both Tucson and Seattle as choreographer,
performer and featured guest artist. Also at ASU, she has presented and published
research on dance and community exchange, her choreography was selected to be
presented at the American College Dance Festival and she is the founding director of
UA/ASU Dance Connect Initiative. Her interest and passion in dance involves
collaborative arts investigation, teaching, community exchange and theoretical research.
Concert Production Staff
Artistic Director
Technical Director
Production Stage Manager
Costume Designers
Sound Designer
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Managers
Light Board Operator
Sound Board Operator
Stage Crew

Jennifer Tsukayama
Mark C. Ammerman
Carolyn Koch
Jacqueline Benard
Galina Mihaleva
William Swayze
Laura Atwood
Sarah Knight, Heather Klein
Aaron Fellenz
Julia Vessey
Akshay Thakker

Production Assistants

Members of DAN 210
Laura Atwood
Natalie King
Nicole Manus
AJ Niehaus