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Please see the descriptions below of the available dance works:
Installments 1, 2, and 3 (2011) is a series of solos that bring together Vervet choreographer Loren Groenendaal's dance and visual arts interests together by focusing on the visual components of dance. These works explore how time-based dance can be sculpture, consider whether a body can be object-like without risking objectification, and expresses abstract beauty through the body. Each dance has a unique colorful costume that either exaggerates or obscures the human form. All of the Installments are very shape–oriented and bound to a small space, but each has its own style and feeling reflecting the color of the dance. Installment 1 and Installment 2 are both very slowly progressing, while Installment 3 takes on the challenge of being sculptural while moving quickly.
Installment 1 (green) A sense of mystery and wonder grows in the audience watching the dancer reach gently and slowly upwards, passing through unexpected shapes with taut angles and swaying curves. (8 minutes, 1 dancer, 1 musician, choreography by Loren Groenendaal, costume designed by Loren Groenendaal and constructed by Jakki Kalogridis, music by Melinda Faylor inspired by Olivier Messaien, can be performed in small and unconventional spaces)
Installment 2 (purple) includes the intuitive exploration on the color purple, the drapery of the costume, and the more formal consideration of continual turning brings out a ritual-like meditation on persistence, beauty, and ongoingness in the cosmos or in an individual. (about 10 minutes, 1 dancer, 1 musician, choreographed by Loren Groenendaal, music by flandrew fleisenberg, can be performed in small and unconventional spaces)
Installment 3 (orange) zip! zap! go! stop! with a sense of urgency angular shapes are made, sometimes wildly, almost falling, but always precise and held until the next surprise happens. (5-7 minutes, 1 dancer, 1 musician, choreographed by Loren Groenendaal, music by flandrew fleisenberg, can be performed in small and unconventional spaces)
Ornamentation (2010) is a whimsical, quickly moving, contemporary septet that is inspired by the behavior of birds and aesthetic characteristics of classical Balinese dance from the Indonesia island of Bali. In Ornamentation, the hands of the dancers are exaggerated with feathers, similar to the way Balinese Tjauk dancers have long finger nails. The use of nature imagery, a focus on details of head and hands, energy quickly shifting from delicate to powerful, and strong musicality are in keeping with Balinese tradition, but the specific kind of hand movement, the use of asymmetry, chaos and order, and floor work add a contemporary feel. The dance is coordinated to prepared piano music by John Cage, an American composer who acknowledges a Balinese influence similar to the choreographer, Loren Groenendaal. The costumes specifically reference the carmine bee-eater, a bird native to sub-Saharan Africa, while the movement and choreography draws from a variety of birds. (7 minutes, 7 dancers, choreography and costume and makeup design by Loren Groenendaal, costume construction by Jakki Kalogridis, original lighting design by John Gamble, requires a dance theater space with crossover)
Self-Refraction; performance of instantaneous choreography (2010) The choreographic decisions of Self-Refraction are made instantaneously in performance from movement motifs already established. The particular movement motifs referenced, re-arranged, reflected, and refracted in live performance are the three most liked clips of a selection of ten on YouTube by voting audience members prior to the show. Believing that live performance is the most alive, relevant, and exciting when the work can be specific to that moment, Loren further challenges herself further by instantaneously choreographing this dance with audience feedback to a musical selection that is made improvisationally from a pre-screened, but not studied selection. At its premiere, John Sanford Friedrich of The Carolinian, called Self-Refraction “a curious innovation,” proclaiming it was “testing boundaries of the art” of dance. (5-10 minutes, solo choreographed and performed by Loren Groenendaal, original lighting design by R. Mitchell Fore, music varies, requires video projection)
Swarm! (2012) is a structured improvisation inspired by both the aleatoric interests and tonality of John Cage's music as well as the swarming behavior of locusts. The dancers change from my isolated creatures to more gregarious entities just as locusts become more sociable as their serotonin levels increase. The design of the dance structure follows the same pattern that the locusts inhabit. The improvisatory nature of the score encourages just enough chaos to keep this artwork present and more like the moment to moment reality that the locusts live. Further, this blurring of art and life, presentation and presence is in keeping with interests of John Cage, a prolific artist of much inspiration for the artists behind Swarm!, Melinda Faylor (composer and pianist) and Loren Groenendaal (dance score designer and performer). (about 10 minutes, cast size 5-20, choreographed by Loren Groenendaal in collaboration with the dancers and composer, original music by Melinda Faylor, can be performed in a dance theatre, unconventional space, dinner theater, or outdoors)
0.03 grams Cantharidin (2009) is a structured improvisation conceived and performed by pianist Melinda Faylor and dancer Loren Groenendaal. This work explores the space in between life and death, lust and madness through the vehicle of the potentially lethal aphrodisiac Cantharidin derived from a beetle, the Spanish Fly. (about 7 minutes, 1 dancer, 1 musician, best with an grand or baby grand piano, can be adapted)
Abyss of Birds (2017/2024)- excerpt of Quartet for the End of Time, more description coming soon
Additive Accumulation (2016/2017)- More description coming soon
Between sky and earth, everywhere flowers (2021)
be[ ] ing (2016)- More description coming soon
Boing! (2015)- More description coming soon
colorFULL (2014)- More description coming soon
Duet for the End of Time (2022) - excerpt of Quartet for the End of Time, more description coming soon
Giving In (2014)- More description coming soon
In the Light (2018)- More description coming soon
Installment 4, 5, 6 (Yellow, Blue, Red) (2013-2014)- More description coming soon
. . . of changes (2012/2016/2017)- More description coming soon
one step forward (2015/2016)- More description coming soon
Phasic (2017)- More description coming soon
Presence of Mass (2016)- More description coming soon
Primary Colors (2014)- More description coming soon
Processional (2013)- More description coming soon
Put it On (2010)- More description coming soon
Ravishing and Ravenous (2019)- More description coming soon
Regenerating Hope (2021)- More description coming soon
SOUP (2009)- More description coming soon
Secondary Colors (2012)- More description coming soon
Surrender and Support (2019) - More description coming soon
Tangle of Rainbows (2023) - excerpt of Quartet for the End of Time, more description coming soon
tape work (2013)- More description coming soon
With the Round (2016)- More description coming soon