GRAYSCALE DANCE Presents
THESE SPACES OF POSSIBILITY
new works by Jessica Kondrath
THESE SPACES OF POSSIBILITY is an evening-length interdisciplinary piece combining dance, film, visual arts and architecture. It draws inspiration from poems by Mary Oliver, Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, repetitive geometry and the juxtaposition of reality and imagination. THESE SPACES OF POSSIBILITY crafts an immersive environment for the viewer to investigate the narrative terrains that exist between each of us.
FEATURING Zach Bird, Erika Astrid Farkvam, Kathryn Hetrick, Xenia Mansour, and Sarah Morimoto with films by Jukka Rajala and Taso Papadakis.
TICKETS $20
ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE DATES
FEATURED ARTISTS
Top row: Kondrath (photo by Denise Leitner), Bird, and Farkvam (photo by William Frederking). Bottom row: Hetrick (photo by Frederking), Mansour (photo by Janya Photography), and Morimoto (photo by A. Deran).
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Jessica Kondrath, a Chicago native, holds degrees in dance from UC Santa Barbara (BFA) and California State University, Long Beach (MFA). Her choreography through her company GRAYSCALE has been presented nationally and internationally; and she's had works commissioned by Moorpark College, Mt. San Antonio College, Cyprus College, El Camino College, Rio Hondo College, CSU Long Beach, Santa Monica College, CSU Fullerton, College of DuPage, Stevenson and Beverly Hills High Schools, and Momenta Performing Arts Company for their 35th and 40th anniversary concerts.
She has taught guest classes and lectures at the ACDA Conferences in the Baja and North Central Regions, Loyola Marymount University, Colorado State University‐Fort Collins, University of Wyoming‐Laramie, CSU Fullerton, the University of Colorado‐Boulder, Columbia College Chicago, Joffrey Ballet Academy, and Novia University in Finland.
As a dancer, Jessica recently performed the works of Carol McDowell, Liz Hoefner Adamis/Immediate Action Dance, Sarita Smith‐Childs and in her own work as part of the Hi, Solo series and at Beyond Baroque’s Poetry Series You Can Get There from Here curated by Liz Hoefner Adamis. She was a recipient of the Professional Artist Fellowship Grant from the Arts Council of Long Beach for her work as the Artistic Director of GRAYSCALE, was recently nominated for a Faculty Teaching Award at Loyola University Chicago and listed as an Outstanding Divisional Adjunct Faculty Member at College of DuPage.
Over the past twenty years, Kondrath has also worked as a lighting designer for dance, a Pilates Instructor certified at the Kane School of Core Integration under the direction of Kelly Kane and she is currently on faculty in the Dance Departments of Loyola University Chicago and College of DuPage, where she is the program director. Her most recent projects include an artist residency and premier of the evening length work Invisible Landscapes at The Visionary in Mt. Vision, NY, the One Hour Project with Project Bound in Chicago, for the choreography of the dance film Hemlighet in Vassa, Finland, and for the production of Terrang in collaboration with Carina Ahlskog and Diana Baumbach performed at Columbia College Chicago. This is GRAYSCALE's 20th year and we are thrilled to be back home in Chicago at Links Hall!
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Zach Bird is a Chicago based artist and performer who enjoys collaborating with friends and dance companies throughout the city. Originally from Iowa, Zach’s love for dance and corn brought him to the University of Iowa where he graduated with a B.F.A. in Dance under the mentoring of Jennifer Kayle.
After losing interest in the multiple varieties of corn cuisine, he moved to Chicago to further his dance and artistic training. Since his move, Zach has had the pleasure of dancing for Mordine and Company, Hedwig Dances, Kelly Anderson Dance Theater, Monica Thomas, Brady VanPatten, Earlyn Whitehead, and RE Dance. Zach is beyond excited and thankful to be dancing for Jessica Kondrath and her company Grayscale Dance. His next artistic focus will hopefully include the dynamic relationship between dance and corn.
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Erika Astrid Farkvam began her dance training at the Academy of Movement and Music in Oak Park, IL. In 2005, she moved to Tucson, Arizona to attend the University of Arizona where she received her BFA in Dance in May 2009. From 2009 to 2012, Erika danced and choreographed with New ARTiculations Dance Theater in Tucson. Since Erika’s return to Chicago in 2012, she has performed with Momenta (2012-14); a showing of Aftertaste, hosted by The Inconvenience and Tuesday Night Dinner (2013); The Fly Honey Show (2013-14); works choreographed by Erin Kilmurray; The David Bowie Variety Hour Show at the MCA with The Salt; RE|Dance Group; and GRAYSCALE.
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Kathryn Hetrick is a Chicago-based performing artist. She graduated from the dance program at Western Michigan University and performed work by noted artists Alonzo King, Lori Eisenhower, John Lehrer, Michael Foely, and Ginger Thatcher. Past collaborators include Esoteric Dance Project and Salty Lark Dance. Aside from her continued partnership with Project Bound Dance, Kathryn can also be seen performing with the Same Planet Performance Project.
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Xenia Mansour is a movement artist, performer, director, and coach based in Chicago and New York City. Born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, she spent her formative years studying at the Academy of Movement and Music and performing with its resident company, MOMENTA.
Mansour holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and has received additional training at LINES Ballet, The Juilliard School, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, NW Dance Project’s LAUNCH: 11, New Dialect, and the Merce Cunningham Trust. She has performed in a range of stage, site-specific, immersive, film, and fashion work including as a performer for Brendan Fernandes’ In Two, a dance and sculptural performance in conversation with the work of Scott Burton throughout the galleries of The Pulitzer Arts Museum in St. Louis, as a guest dancer and model for Mexican fashion designer Carla Fernández, with choreography by Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, and as a feature dancer for CXN’s Fashion Commercial Come With Us, choreographed by Katherine Maxwell. Recently, she choreographed and performed in Welcome Home at Steppenwolf Theatre with Grammy-nominated musician Nico Segal. She also collaborates with Greek-American pop artist Tommy Bravos, performing in and movement directing his work.
Currently, Mansour performs regularly with experimental dance theater HOLDTIGHT in both Denver and New York City, as well as with Katherine Maxwell’s HIVEWILD. In October 2023, Mansour established Philoxenia Movement LLC, offering private movement instruction, direction, performance, and consultation services. Mansour's movement vocabulary and curiosities stem from her lifelong participation in various sports, including softball, volleyball, tennis, and boxing. She remains fascinated by the intersection of these diverse movement modalities.
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Sarah Morimoto is a Chicago performer. She graduated from Northwestern University in 2016 with degrees in dance and chemistry. Throughout her training, Sarah has worked with and performed works by several Chicago artists including Jeff Hancock, Lizzie Leopold, Laura Wade, Maray Gutierrez, Robyn Mineko Williams, Joseph Caruana, and Riccardo Battaglia. Professionally, Sarah has worked with Project Bound, Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre, Joel Hall, and Hanna Brictson and Dancers. Sarah is so excited to be working with Jessica Kondrath on this performance!
Films by Jukka Rajala and Taso Papadakis.
ABOUT GRAYSCALE DANCE
Formed in 2005 in New York City, in Los Angeles from 2009-2022, and currently located in Chicago, IL, GRAYSCALE has shown work throughout NYC, Chicago, and along the California coast at venues and festivals such as Triskelion Arts, The Merce Cunningham Studios, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The D.U.M.B.O. Dance Festival, Dance Mission Theater, ARC Pasadena, Detroit Dance City Festival, and Dance Chicago, among others.
Jessica Kondrath|GRAYSCALE has had a full length works commissioned for the Dance Series at The Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, CA and The Visionary in Mount Vision, NY; was a recipient of the Professional Artist Fellowship Grant from the Arts Council of Long Beach, CA; were artists in residence at El Camino College (Los Angeles) and at Malakta (Finland); choreographic collaborator for the 1HR Project (Chicago); and through an ongoing collaboration with visual artist Diana Baumbach, presented work in gallery shows at the McMaster Gallery (U of South Carolina), the Curfman Gallery (CSU Fort Collins), the Faculty Department Show (U of Wyoming, Laramie), and in presenting Terrang at Columbia College Chicago. Returning to the city it first rehearsed in, GRAYSCALE is thrilled to be celebrating its 20th anniversary year in Chicago.
IG: @grayscaledance