Co-MISSION Festival of New Works
June 18th and 29th
FOLK is the movement of the present that binds us.
A working class anthem, ballad, lullaby..
archival + future-making.
A quilt in progress / a group effort
Unifying in cacophony
Mobilizing, effortful and true.
Four dancers, two musicians and an audience study themselves and each other to identify what's working, what's not, and where we all go from here.
movement research + performance : tuli bera, isabella limosnero, ali lorenz, chrissy martin
sound development + performance : haruhi kobayashi, scott rubin
composition + direction : amanda maraist
vocal contributions from all collaborators, michael macdonald, and the Dixon Wetlands frogs at Skokie River Nature Preserve
text lovingly collaged from the brilliant minds of Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Woody Guthrie, Ted Lucas, Randy Martin, Chaepter Negro, Rising Appalachia, and Florence Shaw.
FEATURED ARTISTS
amanda maraist | Links Hall Fall 2024 Co-MISSION Resident
COLLABORATORS
amanda maraist is a movement deviser + improviser from the texas gulf coast, living in chicago. she co-directs bim bom studios + works collaboratively with movers, musicians and artists; most recently with Irene Hsiao, Helen Lee, Harlan Rosen, Gina Hoch-Stall, Chrissy Martin, Freedom From and Freedom To, Khecari, and Ayako Kato / Art Union Humanscape. her movement work exists as both dance-making and physical space-making. using authentic movement practices and meticulously rendered improvisational scores, her work is process-forward with a do-it-together demeanor. she is supported by a 2024 Links Hall Co-MISSIONS Residency, a 2025 residency at the Ragdale Foundation, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, and is a Synapse Arts New Works artist for 2025.
Tuli Bera is a Chicago-based performer, choreographer, producer, and dance educator. Their artistic voice is an emulsion of their technical prowess and honest expression of identity. Since moving to Chicago in 2016, they have committed to creating public experiences that foster authentic self-exploration. Bera is informed by various styles of dance, which have led them to feel most comfortable as an improviser. They lead with curiosity and lean into transforming as they navigate through, collaborate, and create within the Chicago arts landscape. To learn more about Tuli, you can visit their website: www.tuli.space
Haruhi Kobayashi is a Chicago-based sound artist and vocal performer from Tokyo. Originally a J-pop singer-songwriter, she now explores the themes of identity, tradition, love, fear, and humanity while seeking to liberate sound from its fixed meanings. Her work intersects experimental pop, classical composition and avant-garde songwriting through voice, bass, and electronics. She invites audiences to engage with both familiar and unexpected sonic textures. She is currently a High Concept Labs Artist in Residence.
From Ohlone land known as Gilroy, CA, Isabella Limosnero (they/them) works as a GYROTONIC® instructor and freelance multidisciplinary artist, using dance as their primary medium. Since moving to Potawatomi; Kickapoo; Myaamia; Očhéthi Šakówiŋ; and Peoria land, known as Chicago in 2021, Limosnero has had the privilege to work with Project Bound, Momentum Sensorium, LittleFire Artist Collective, House of Dov and was Khecari’s Resource Share Resident in 2023.
Ali Lorenz (they/she) is a transdisciplinary artist person based in Chicago. Originally from the PNW, their experimental + task-based work has been presented by Queer Spectra Arts Festival, Short Stack Film Festival, We Are Collective, and Deseret Experimental Opera. Ali works as a company member with Project Bound Dance in addition to being an independent/freelance artist. They hold a BFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah and have almost 50 houseplants.
Chrissy Martin is a transdisciplinary performance artist and educator with roots in contemporary dance forms, contact improvisation, Afro-Caribbean dance, postmodern experimental music, vocal jazz, and physical theater. Chrissy blends these forms to rigorously examine her intersecting queer and neurodivergent identities. Martin is an avid member of the global contact improvisation community and has facilitated and taught workshops across the Midwest. Chrissy’s integrated movement style is deeply informed by a lifelong somatic practice. She has taught dance and somatics at Cleveland State University, Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University, and is currently an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University.
Scott Rubin is Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and improvising violist whose work interrogates relationships between sound and movement through analog and digital means. His recent projects have involved collaborations with musicians and dancers, often incorporating interactive acoustic/electronic improvisation, expanded performance practices, motion-sensing data, and live video. In these projects, he engages themes of intimacy, control, and the sublime.
ABOUT THE CO-MISSION PROGRAM
This event is part of Links Hall’s 2025 Co-MISSION Festival of New Works, two groundbreaking weekends of new performance and public events.
Representing some of the most talented makers in Chicago from dance, performance art, installation, and performance as social practice, six artists present works developed while in-residence at Links during the 2024-2025 season. Featured artists include: Links Hall Residents Dani Oblitas, Selena Lasley, Kevin Michael Wesson, and Amanda Maraist; and Fellows Jaquanda Saulter-Villegas & Jacinda Bullie and Tuli Bera.
This project is partially supported by a grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
OTHER PERFORMANCES IN THE CO-MISSION FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS
Kevin Michael Wesson & Theatre Nobody’s CAMPOUT, A Night in the Woods
Amanda Maraist’s FOLK
Tuli Bera’s Bangali Meye
Dani Oblitas’ Un/Rerooted and Selena Lasley’s TIMEShit
Jacinda Bullie and Jaquanda Saulter-Villegas’ FILLINZ, Put Some Respect on It!
ABOUT LINKS HALL
For 46 years, Links Hall has played a pivotal role in Chicago, encouraging artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining a facility and providing flexible programming for the research, development, and presentation of new work in the performing arts. Founded in 1978 by experimental choreographers, Bob Eisen, Carol Bobrow, and Charlie Vernon, Links became a National Performance Network partner in 1998 and received a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2016. Links Hall supports multidisciplinary artists through residencies, festivals, subsidized rentals, and other resources for performers at every stage of their career.
Links Hall programming is made possible by artists, audiences, and support from: Arts Midwest GIG Fund, Association of Performing Arts Professionals, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, Exelon, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Heather B. Henson Fund/Puppet Slam Network, Illinois Arts Council Agency, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, National Performance Network, The Charlie Vernon Performance Fund at the Evanston Community Foundation, The Jentes Family Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at Prince, The Martha Struthers Farley & Donald C. Farley, Jr. Family Foundation, The Prince Charitable Trust, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, and The Weasel Fund.
STAFF
Aaliyah Christina, Artist Programs Manager & Associate Curator
SK Kerastas, Executive Director
Mario LaMothe, General Manager
Dana Pepowski, Programs Associate
Giau Truong, Production Manager & Associate Curator
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Amy Chavasse
Jane Beachy
Vesna Grbovic
J’Sun Howard
Ross Stanton Jordan
Susan Manning
Trevor Martin
Jon Pagac
Jenna Pollack
Tina Post
Doreen Sayegh
Michael Tokoph
Patrick Zakem
ADVISORY BOARD
Cheryl Lynn Bruce
Bob Eisen
E. Aaron Greven
Tracie D. Hall
Maggie Kast
Meida McNeal
Eva Silverman
Claire Sutton
Blair Thomas
Michael Zerang