COMPLIMENTS (2018)

A quartet inspired by the humor and drama behind giving and receiving compliments. There are dozens of ways that we accept or deflect compliments (whether given innocently or deviously), and very few of them are genuine or simply gracious. The movement was developed from a bag of hundreds of compliments, generated in collaboration with the dancers. We would pick a slip of paper and see where it took us, using acting exercises and improvisations to explore our reactions to the prompts. If I had to describe the tone of the piece, it would be "thoroughly un-elegant." Excerpts performed in Under Exposed at Dixon Place, The Craft, Home Audio, SPARK Dance Forum, and Your Move Dance Festival. Half-evening-length version presented in Split Bill at Triskelion Arts in 2019.

Choreography: Phoebe Rose Sandford in collaboration with the dancers Performers: Rebecca Allen, Jessica Aronoff, Laura Gilbert, Monica Mordaunt Performed at Split Bill at Triskelion Arts

Photos by Lil Aronoff, Caylee Shimizu, Ezra Goh, and Miguel Aviles.