SEARCH PARTY
2019
Created and performed by a group of women and queer artists, SEARCH PARTY is a live dance work that relentlessly challenges and reconstructs the boundaries we face during this charged political moment by investigating agency, defiance, freedom in space and in the body, and what is expected of us vs. what we are capable of. Existing somewhere between a dancefloor and a sports arena, this work is wrought from defeat, endurance, compassion, competition, collaboration, and victory - as individuals, as a group, and together with our audiences.
SEARCH PARTY is a performance presented in the round in a social environment - it is alive, intimate, and engages with its audience directly as spectators. The performers lay down neon tape, creating new dance floors, and challenge their own physical bounds -on the floors, the walls, each other.
“Search Party makes, crosses, destroys, and recreates borders, to tear down. These dancers show us that with great physicality comes tenderness and care, empathy, and thus equality “ - Picture this Post
Presentations
Shitimachi Arts Festival; (dB) DanceBox, Kobe, Japan —— October 2019 —- [tour + residency]
Pivot Arts Festival, Chicago IL. —— June 2019 (premiere)
CoMission Festival of New Works: Links Hall —— December 2018
Chicago Dancemaker's Forum Elevate Chicago Dance; The Chicago Cultural Center —— October 2018
Excerpts + In-Progress (2017) Chicago Dancemaker's Forum Elevate Chicago Dance; Arts AID America Exhibition: The Alphawood Foundation + Gallery; Mana Contemporary Chicago : HCL Invited Studio Showing; High Concept Lab’s Open House: Hairpin Lofts; Salonathon/Beauty Bar; ACTIVATE Chicago; Dance In the Parks - Chicago Park Districts; House Show (initial workshop draft) - HOMEroom studio
SEARCH PARTY |
Created + Choreographed by: Erin Kilmurray
Movement developed collaboratively with original performers: Alyssa Gregory, Camila Rivero Pooley, Dee Alaba, Kaitlin Webster, Maria Blanco, Tia Monet Greer
with production design + technical director: Bran Moorhead
costumes by Samantha Allen
sound by Misha Fiksel.
SEARCH PARTY was created through commission from Links Hall Co-Mission Residency (2018), Chicago Dancemaker’s Forum Greenhouse Grant (2018), and supported through 3arts 3AP program + ‘Make-A-Wave” award, a High Concept Labs' Sponsored Artist Program (2017) . SEARCH PARTY toured in cultural exchange to Japan with Dancebox ( 2020) and was recreated for performance at Art-Theatre-Kobe.
Run time: approx. 60 minutes
Showings |
Shitimachi Arts Festival; (dB) DanceBox, Kobe, Japan —— October 2019 —- [tour + residency]
Pivot Arts Festival, Chicago IL. —— June 2019 (premiere)
CoMission Festival of New Works: Links Hall —— December 2018
Chicago Dancemaker's Forum Elevate Chicago Dance; The Chicago Cultural Center —— October 2018
Excerpts + In-Progress (2017) Chicago Dancemaker's Forum Elevate Chicago Dance; Arts AID America Exhibition: The Alphawood Foundation + Gallery; Mana Contemporary Chicago : HCL Invited Studio Showing; High Concept Lab’s Open House: Hairpin Lofts; Salonathon/Beauty Bar; ACTIVATE Chicago; Dance In the Parks - Chicago Park Districts; House Show (initial workshop draft) - HOMEroom studio
in the Press|
Performance Review "SEARCH PARTY" -Mari Takeda; Art-Theatre-Kobe Japan
“Harsh, powerful and ceremonial choreography involves the solidarity and mutual respect of women dancers and mutual respect” - [Japanese - to English translation here]
Pivot Arts Festival Presents Erin Kilmurray in SEARCH PARTY review: Shattering Expectations - Picture This Post; 2019
“Search Party makes, crosses, destroys, and recreates borders, to tear down. These dancers show us that with great physicality comes tenderness and care, empathy, and thus equality “
Call Off the Search Party : These Femmes are Found- Performance Response Journal; 2018
“These bodies are strong, capable, queer, and kinky. As its title suggests, Search Party is both an ecstatic celebration and a thoughtful inquiry. Who holds power? And who is seen? These are performers who demand visibility. They do not need a search party. They are in your face, proud, and their ferocity is unassailable. Their power and rage are resonant, and I experience them sympathetically. Search Party is performance that makes me feel alive. If these are the femmes of the future, then I am on board”.