Malleable Dance Theater Repertory

Repertory: (*asterisk denotes active repertoire)

*7 Veils
Choreographed by Erin Malley
Directed by Kevin Dodd
35 minutes
Music compilation: Jean-Joseph Mouret, Michiel van der Kuy, K.T. Tunstall, Thom Yorke, Queen & David Bowie, The Wiseguys, and Arcade Fire
Text compilation: Charles Mee's 'Salome,' Chuck Pahlaniuk's 'Invisible Monsters,' lonleygirl15, Margaret Atwood and various classified ads from the Village Voice and Craigslist
2 female actor/dancers
Made possible in part by the Field’s FAR residency program.

Raised to be a suburban homemaker, our heroine employs 7 pairs of shoes and innumerable Craigslist classifieds to escape her predetermined life.  '7 Veils' examines one woman's trials with her own identity.  It is a pastiche of images, personae and texts inspired by Charles Mee's 'Salome.'

more info

*The Tarp Piece... Vegas Wedding (in progress)
Length: 5 minutes
Music: Hildegard Knef, Du Hast Mich Ganz in der Hand, Elvis Presley, Viva Las Vegas
5 dancers, 2 offstage hands
Made possible in part by Materials for the Arts

A woman's wedding plans suddenly fly out of her hands and we witness her journey through everyone else's idea of what her wedding should be.  Central to the piece are the various incarnations of a white, plastic 16'x18' tarp.

View a performance of "The Tarp Piece... Vegas Wedding" on You Tube!

*Play the Dance (2006)
Premiere:  chashama OASIS Festival, New York, July 2006
Length: variable from 20-60 minutes
Music compilation: Songs with color as a prevalent theme or element
5 dancers, 1 actor/emcee 

Intended to be performed in a storefront window, passerby/audience members are invited by an emcee standing outside to interact in various ways to 'direct' the dance and 'activate' the dancers.    

"a retro-spectacle in which five dancers, each in a different colored wig, perform to classic pop after receiving calls on their cell phones…"     New York Sun 

"…wacky artistic behavior for public consumption"     
New York Times 

more info

Separations (2004)
Premiere: Epic Center, Kalamazoo, MI, March 2004
Length:  50 minutes
Music composed by Scott Blasco (original composition)
Performed live by La Catrina String Quartet
7 dancers
Costumes: Patricia Plasko
Lighting design: Megan Slayter
Made possible in part by the Irving S. Gilmore Emerging Artist Grant 

A collaborative, integrated exploration of the different types of separations in the human life cycle: birth through maturity, faith, love, and death.  Musicians perform and dance alongside dancers in the visual landscape. 

"…the ultimate melding of music and movement."
-Kalamazoo Gazette

Roxanne (2003)
Premiere: Epic Center, Kalamazoo, MI, December 2003
Length: 4 minutes
Music: Sting, from the movie Moulin Rouge, Roxanne
5-15 dancers 

Dramatic, tense duet caught in the midst of a torrent of movement. 

Wow! What a Bargain! (2003)
Premiere: Epic Center, Kalamazoo, MI, May 2003
Length: 4 minutes
Music: KOOP, Summer Sun
8-12 dancers 

A vibrant, sixties-inspired romp a la Austin Powers where the clothes still have their price tags attached… 

 *Cherish (2001)
Premiere: Western Michigan University, April 2001
Length: 9 minutes
Music: Gabriel Faure, Apres un Reve, Tristesse, Au Bord de l’Eau
Male/Female duet, plus 5 female dancers
Costumes: Patricia Plasko 

Lush, lyrical movement fills the classic story of unrequited love, told with a tender and tense duet that unfolds into a group dance.  Each dancer becomes an apparition of the pursued. 

*Poem for a Woman (2000)
Premiere: Western Michigan University, April 2000
Additional notable performances:
American College Dance Festival, Detroit, MI, March 2001
Prague International Dance Festival, Czech Republic, April 2001
Dancenow Festival, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, New York, September 2005
Length: 5 minutes
Music: Astor Piazzolla, Preludio para el ano 3001 (Rinascero)
Female solo
Costume: Candace Woodhouse Hughes 

A signature solo of strength, dynamicism and vulnerability in which a woman comes into her feminine power. 

Dance O Rama Thon (2000)
Premiere: Western Michigan University, April 2000
Length: 5 minutes
Music: Duke Ellington
6 female ballet dancers en pointe 

A lighthearted, springy ballet sextet with a comic touch. 

Possible Consumption of the Watery Green Thud (1999)
Premiere: Western Michigan University, April 1999
Length: 9 minutes
Music: John Cage
4 dancers 

A swamp-like atmosphere of competition and confrontation; like pulling a bow and experiencing the anticipation of the release.

*Snake (1999)
Premiere: American College Dance Festival, Normal, IL, March 1999
Length: 2 minutes
Music: Meredith Monk, Panda Chant I
Solo 

A tense, spiraling, and relentlessly driving solo. 

contact us to inquire about booking performances