About this project

What we’re up to

“The body doesn’t lie. But when we bring language to the body, isn’t it always already an act of fiction?” Lidia Yuknavitch, The Chronology of Water

I’m fascinated with both words and the body.

“Agnes Falling” began as a coming of age fable loosely inspired by the memoirs of the American writer, Lidia Yuknavitch (Chronology of Water) and British artist, Tracy Emins (Strangeland).  What I’ve realized is that the work is finding its own voice, Agnes has evolved to have her own story, her own journey, separate from her beginnings.

In rehearsals with the dancers (Kate Abernethy, Heather Cole, Kathy Kerner, Melissa Rodis) the work continues to evolve into something new for me, finding a conversation on life, dance and memory in the confines of a theatrical structure. 

So much of the female experience is about the body and everything about being a dancer is about the body.  The work evolves as it collides dance, words and song, to inhabit fragments of the ordinary, the improbable and the unloved to get at something other than narrative or dance as we expect them to behave.

I am curious about the challenge of colliding strong movement with narrative. How the body tells its own story without the need of words or anything else and how what we observe, what each person receives in the exchange between watcher and doer is a separate, unique and distinctive gift. I like to think of that as the power of dance.

“Agnes Falling” premieres September 16 and 17 2011 at Conwell Dance Theater at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA as part of the Philadelphia Live Arts/Fringe Festival!  We’re looking forward to all the unexpected creative discoveries with our collaborators on the journey ahead. 

Press

“Tender intertwining of community non-dancers with professionals”
   We Want Something From Everyone 
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Cordova’s choreography explores the awkwardness of the body, the way that awkwardness becomes grace, the way a spasm becomes beautiful. Bodies bent at angles, moving slowly then quickly, jerking under the weight of an invisible burden.” “Visually compelling.”
   Staged, blog

”Keila Cordova’s political send-up was smart, amusing and prescient too, given Sarah Palin’s sudden ascent.” 
 Janet 2.0 
- Broad St Review

What’s in it for you

We want you in on the conversation. Our Kickstarter campaign is an invitation into our process and we hope visiting our Kickstarter website will get you interested in all that is and that will be “Agnes Falling.”

 We are self-producing our September premiere, which means we’re committed to make the work happen.  We need support for our costs (including theater rental, making sure all of the dancers and collaborators are paid stipends, set design, costumes, documentation).  We’re offering some snazzy rewards for your participation, including opportunities to be a part of our process by attending rehearsals, opening, and performances - those invitations do not cover transportation costs.

“Gratitude is the memory of the heart” – Jean Baptiste Massieu