Karen Sherman: One with Others

DiverseWorks presents Karen Sherman: One with Others, May 2 & 3, at 7:30 pm at The Barn.

Dance, words, and scrap wood are the raw materials for One with Others, an examination of who we become due to the choices we make — or that others make for us.

Crude, handmade wooden appendages — part prop, part prosthetic, part costume —stand alongside text and choreography to form a trio of jerry-rigged tools that dismantle and cobble back together relationships between people, and with oneself; affinities and art; and what if means to be seen, handled, used, and needed.

Each performance will be followed by a talk back with Sherman. One with Others will be performed by Joanna Furnans, Don Mabley-Allen, and Karen Sherman.

I think often of [Karen Sherman] as a working man’s choreographer, as she is as inspired by hard physical labor as she is by creating movement/performance in a studio. It’s as if she emerged out of the lumber camps of the Northwest or the tool and dye shops of Detroit.

"One with Others" is a chamber of work for there dancers, and a unique quality about this work is that she extends the line and the form of the body with her handmade wooden appendages. This would be a not-to-be-missed event for me.
—Ben Johnson, independent curator and arts programmer based in Los Angeles for Portland Monthly

Credits:
Choreography: Karen Sherman in collaboration with Joanna Furnans and Jeffrey Wells
Performed by: Joanna Furnans, Karen Sherman and Jeffrey Wells
Sound Design, Scenic Design & Construction: Karen Sherman
Lighting Design: Carrie Wood
Scenic Consultants: Jeremy Wilhelm and Carrie Wood
Video: Karen Sherman and Andrew Welken
Text: Karen Sherman, Joanna Furnans, Jeffrey Wells, Claudia La Rocco, Nami Mun, Hope Forstenzer
Costumes: Tulle & Dye
Stage Manager: Aaron Schoenrock
Dramaturgy/Interpretation: Jeremy Wilhelm and Claudia La Rocco

ABOUT KAREN SHERMAN
Karen Sherman has been based in Minneapolis, MN since 2004 after relocating from New York City. Her work has been presented nationally by P.S. 122, Walker Art Center, The Southern Theater, Danspace Project, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Fusebox Festival, PICA/TBA Festival, Highways Performance Space, ODC, The Red Eye Theater, Philadelphia Dance Projects, Links Hall, and many others.

She has worked and collaborated with such artists as Sally Silvers, Morgan Thorson, Dan Hurlin, Emily Johnson, Lisa D’Amour, Katie Pearl, Nami Yamamoto, Neal Medlyn, National Theater of the United States of America, The Love Everybody Players, Tanya Gagné, Circus Amok, and the feminist punk pop band, Le Tigre (as choreographer for their 2004-2005 world tour).

She has received numerous awards for her work as a choreographer, performer, and designer, including a 2007 “Bessie” Award for her work in Morgan Thorson's Faker, McKnight Foundation Fellowships in Choreography (2013, 2006) and Dance (2009), a Bush Foundation Artist Fellowship (2009), Sage Awards for her work as a Performer (2006) and Scenic Designer (for her 2008 work, copperhead), City Pages Best Artist Awards as a Dancer (2007) and Choreographer (2009), MacDowell Colony Fellowships (2010, 2003), a Movement Research Artist Residency (1999-2000), and a Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship and residency in Liguria, Italy (2010).

She holds a BFA in Acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (with a double major in Women’s Studies) and is also a singer, fifth-generation lasso spinner, and former student of flying trapeze. Her background in these areas, as well as her work in nearly every facet of arts production as a producer, production and tour manager, technical director, scenic and sound designer, and technician, informs each aspect of her work.

As Administrator and Production Manager of New York’s Judson Church from 1994-2004, she co-created, produced, and curated START, a multi-disciplinary series integrating politics and arts. Her writing, including essays and poetry, has been featured on many live stages and print forums, including The Movement Research Performance Journal, Culture Bodega, The Performance Club, and The Triumph of Poverty: Poems Inspired by the Work of Nicole Eisenman.

DiverseWorks Executive Director Elizabeth Dunbar on One With Others:
“Karen's work is really appealing to us because it not only crosses the boundaries between disciplines, but also engages creative individuals from various backgrounds. Her work transcends a single definition of what dance can be, by using objects as well as movement to communicate ideas–which has been a central topic for DiverseWorks of late. Combining choreography, sculpture, and installation, her work is able to speak to multiple audiences simultaneously, from those with a deep knowledge of dance to those who come at it from a visual arts perspective.”