Birth + Carnage – December 19-21

ABOUT

Birth + Carnage is a dance work fusing choreography, astrophysics, and video installation. Born from the collaboration between choreographer Marla Phelan and astrophysicist Dr. Blakesley Burkhart, the piece is inspired by the astrophysical phenomenon of stellar birth as both visceral metaphor and choreographic framework.

In collaboration with director Tim Richardson and video artists Klsr and reinfected.me, astrophysical data is abstracted into shifting visual fields that echo cycles of creation. An ensemble of dancers performs against the backdrop of a monolithic digital installation, creating a feedback loop of allegory and sensation. The original score by James Newberry deepens the emotional terrain through epic sonic landscapes.

Birth + Carnage invites audiences into a theatrical abyss where cosmic and human systems mirror one another—bridging the vastness of the universe and the depths of human connection.

Birth + Carnage is supported by the Simons Foundation’s Science, Society & Culture division. Developed with residency support from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), New Directions Choreography Lab (NDCL) at The Ailey School, and Simons Foundation & Gibney’s Open Interval Residency Program.

CREDITS

Choreographer + Director: Marla Phelan
Director: Tim Richardson
Composer: James Newberry
Video Artist: klsr
Video Artist: reinfected.me
Astrophysicist: Dr. Blakesley Burkhart
Lighting Designer: Devin Cameron
Assistant Director: Kelly Ashton Todd
Dramaturg: Catherine Correa
Costume Designer: Elanur Erdogan
Producer: Yazmany Arboleda, The People’s Creative Institute
Producer: Cameron Sczempka, Polymath Production
Producer: Lisa kjerulff
Producer: Movement Museum
Stage Manager: Emily Pathman

Choreographed in collaboration with:
Dancer: Damontae Hack
Dancer: Sydney Hirai
Dancer: Mizuho Kappa
Dancer: Eleni Loving
Dancer: Sayer Mansfield
Dancer: Meenah Nehme
Dancer: Marla Phelan
Dancer: Wyeth Walker
Dancer: Paul Zivkovich

BIOS

Marla Phelan is a choreographer and performer whose work spans stage, film, and immersive installations. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Movement Museum, a multidisciplinary company fusing choreography, theater, science, film, and technology to craft visceral worlds of physical rigor and emotional depth. Her choreography has been presented at Lincoln Center, The Joyce Theater, La MaMa Experimental, The Juilliard School, Dixon Place, and Gibney Center, with features in V Magazine, Nowness, and New York Magazine. She has choreographed for Kinlaw, Fischerspooner, Michael C. Hall, Maison Margiela, Mugler, Mazda, Emursive llc, The Mckittrick Hotel (Creative Director), City Springs Theater, Theater Aspen, and Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof National Tour. Phelan is a Simons Foundation, LMCC, and AKC Fund awardee, NYFA/NYSCA Fellow Finalist in dance, and past Ailey NDCL, Gibney MTJ and Open Interval Fellow. Phelan has danced with Gibney Company, Hofesh Shechter Company, Akram Khan (The Shed), and Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More and The Drowned Man. A Juilliard graduate, she is on faculty at the Mark Morris Dance Center and has taught workshops for NYU Tisch, Bard College, Brigham Young University, and Washington University.