UP NEXT: the after-image is a Spring 2024 Artist-in-Residence at the Barnard Movement Lab
Performances of Let’s Exorcise! at The Movement Lab: March 21 and March 22 at 6PM (FREE and open to the public)
Sinners, Perspirators, Jazzercists! Grab your sweatband and join us for an interactive theatrical exorcism of the things holding us back.
That artifact from your past that doesn’t belong in the trash, but needs to get the hell out of your life? You know the one. That sweater from your former friend, the ugly souvenir from that messy weekend, or the letter you wish you hadn’t kept from your ex…? If you feel ready to move on…bring it to Let’s Exorcise! and OFFER. IT. UP.
With a little help from our consummately qualified Catharty Captains, some motivational jams, and a tug or two on our therabands you just might get to give your object - and yourself - a new story.
You bring the artifacts, we’ll bring the snacks and exorcism expertise. These objects won’t know what hit ‘em.
Let’s Exorcise! A Community Catharty Party
Produced by the after-image
Conceived by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
Co-Written by Amy Shoshana Blumberg and Kate St. John in collaboration with devising company Nick Alselmo, Bryanna Bradley, Caroline Burkhart, Courtney Bryan Devon, Ciera Miller, and Zahydé Pietri
Direction by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
Creative direction by Kate St. John
Sound design by Nick Alselmo (AKA DJ Scenick Roots)
February 2023 workshop performance at Caveat NYC performed by Nick Alselmo, Amy Shoshana Blumberg, Bryanna Bradley, Ciera Miller, Kate St. John, and Zahydé Pietri
April 2023 world premiere at Caveat NYC performed by Nick Alselmo, Amy Shoshana Blumberg, Bryanna Bradley, Caroline Burkhart, Kate St. John, and Zahydé Pietri
Filmed and edited by Jonathan Rodrigues
HOUSE OF AMERICAN ACTIVITIES is an original dance-theater production about the fears, divisions, and nascent uprising shaping the lives of Americans during the 1950s Red Scare. As government officials, Hollywood stars, and powerless Americans grasp for an alternative ending to a story on repeat, who will survive and who will be left behind?
Created by the after-image and a team of devisors, this 80-minute production envisions a fictional world in which world-famous activist and celebrity Paul Robeson and Hollywood star Judy Holliday prepare to face off against the House Un-American Activities Committee. As they negotiate with Congressional staff and ordinary people behind closed doors, everyone’s agendas and hopes slam up against one another, but in this culture of fear, not everyone will come out on top.
Produced by the after-image
Created and co-written by Amy Shoshana Blumberg and Kate St. John
with additional writing and material generated by devising company:
Bryanna Bradley, Caroline Burkhart, Tad Cameron, Zahydé Pietri, and Alyssa Virji
Direction and choreography by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
Creative direction and scenic design by Kate St. John
and
Lighting design by Yang Yu
Costume design by Sarah Constable
Sound design by Nina Field
Stage Management by Yoonie Yun and Dakota Silvey
Dramaturgy by Vida Manalang
Production history // March 2022 world premiere at Theater for the New City
All photos by Olga Rabetskaya
Recent collaborations include:
Associate Director PURPLE: A Ritual in Nine Spells by SLMDances, Lincoln Center’s Clark Studio Theater (world premiere) & Spring 2024 Tour
“BAC Story: Baye & Asa” (Baryshnikov Arts Journal, September 2022) - a creative non-fiction response to choreographers’ Baye & Asa’s creative process for HotHouse
Dramaturg for ASSEMBLY by GREYZONE (world premiere at Oklahoma International Dance Festival)
World Premiere at Lincoln Center’s Clark Studio Theater (June 2023)
Directed & Choreographed by Sydnie L. Mosley
Associate Directed by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
photo by Lawrence Sumulong
BAC Story about choreographers Baye & Asa
published on Baryshnikov Arts Center’s website in Fall 2022.
Click HERE for BAC Story
ASSEMBLY by GREYZONE (Lindy Fines, artistic director/choreographer)
Dramaturgy by Amy Shoshana Blumberg throughout the development, world premiere, and NYC premiere of ASSEMBLY.
World premiere, Oklahoma International Dance Festival, August 2021
NYC premiere, Paul Taylor Studios, June 2022
ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare / DIRECTED by Douglas Wager at Temple Theaters in March 2018 / PHOTOS by Mark Garvin
Choreography by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare / DIRECTED by Douglas Wager at Temple Theaters in March 2018 / PHOTOS by Mark Garvin
Choreography by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare / DIRECTED by Douglas Wager at Temple Theaters in March 2018 / PHOTOS by Mark Garvin
Choreography by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare / DIRECTED by Douglas Wager at Temple Theaters in March 2018 / PHOTOS by Mark Garvin
Choreography by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
THE TWO GENTLEMAN OF VERONA by William Shakespeare / DIRECTED by James J. Christy at Temple Theaters in February 2016 / PHOTOS by Mark Garvin
CHOREOGRAPHY by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
THE TWO GENTLEMAN OF VERONA by William Shakespeare / DIRECTED by James J. Christy at Temple Theaters in February 2016 / PHOTOS by Mark Garvin
CHOREOGRAPHY by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
What if you were at a TED talk about chaos theory that suddenly went wildly off the rails?
A super serious lecture about Chaos Theory explodes into a series of interactive games and experiments inspired by the science of chaos theory, Jurassic Park, and the ultimate chaos: middle school crushes. Your guide, chaologist Dr. Genevieve Saoch, whose personal life continuously interferes with her objectivity as a chaologist, invites you to play through a series of multiplayer experiments modeled on the butterfly effect, fractals, and deterministic chaos, ultimately inviting you to apply the formulas that explain chaos *theory* to the chaos of your *actual* life. You've got nothing to lose but the illusion of order in your life!
CHAOS THEORY by Jessica Ellen Creane
CHAOS THEORY: DIGITAL EDITION by Jessica Ellen Creane
PRODUCED by IKantKoan Games
CO-DIRECTED by Joseph Ahmed & Amy Shoshana Blumberg
PRODUCTION DESIGN by Evelyn Langley
PERFORMED by Jessica Ellen Creane
CHAOS THEORY PRODUCTION HISTORY Caveat NYC / HERE Arts / FringeNYC
CHAOS THEORY: DIGITAL EDITION PRODUCTION HISTORY Curious Theatre Company (Denver, CO) / Caveat NYC / IKantKoan
PHOTOS by Breese Pickel and IKantKoan Games
RE: SHE a litany of adventures is an original dance-theater production about how hate gets passed down from generation to generation. Journeying through familial histories real and imagined and diving deep into the first annual Lost World Convention, RE: SHE asks how we might be able to contend with - if not stop - lineages of destruction. RE: SHE investigates hatred based on race, gender, and ability through the lens of the lost world genre, particularly the story that started it all, H. Rider Haggard's Victorian smash hit She: A History of Adventure.
CO-CREATED by Kate St. John, Amy Shoshana Blumberg, & the devising ensemble
WRITTEN by Kate St. John & Amy Shoshana Blumberg
DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
PRODUCTION DESIGN by Kate St. John
SOUND DESIGN by Elizabeth Atkinson and Eliana Fabiyi
STAGE MANAGED by Ash Tetreault and Jonah Reeder
DEVISED / PERFORMED by Marcus Barainyak, Hannah Brannau, Hannah Gold, Tariq Kanu, Vida Manalang & Jessica Money
RE: SHE PRODUCTION HISTORY produced by the after-image for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival // September 13 -15 & 20 - 22, 2019 // PlayArts
PHOTOS by Sarah Mackus and Dustin Pettegrew
he called it cymbeline is an immersive rendering of Shakespeare’s CYMBELINE. The audience must choose their own adventure, but no matter their choices, there will be s’mores and there will be dancing. Diverging from the original script, this movement-theater production is about the forgiveness of violence in service of maintaining power. he called it cymbeline centralizes the stories of women who no longer want to bear the brunt of that brutality. In this experiential event, the audience cannot possibly see everything, and must decide for themselves who they believe and who they forgive.
CO-CREATED by Kate St. John and Amy Shoshana Blumberg,
Based on William Shakespeare’s CYMBELINE with additional text by Kate St. John, Amy Shoshana Blumberg, ensemble, and testimony from local sexual assault survivor community
DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
PRODUCTION DESIGN by Kate St. John
PERFORMED by Joel David Apgar, Maggie Brennan, Cianna Castro, Noriani Estevez, Tariq Kanu, Matthew Levy, Annika Prichard, Isabel Robin, Jake Ropka, Kodiak Thompson, & Audrey Ward
he called it cymbeline PRODUCTION HISTORY The Great Court at Mitten Hall // Produced by Temple University Theater Department // December 2018
PHOTOS by Kate St. John
THE TRESTLE AT POPE LICK CREEK by Naomi Wallace
DIRECTED by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
SCENIC DESIGN by Fred Duer
LIGHTING DESIGN by Jason Norris
COSTUME DESIGN by Hannah Compton
SOUND DESIGN by Elizabeth Atkinson
PERFORMED by Christopher Fitting, Jonathan Hirsch, Avery Infranco, Matthew Levy, and Nichole Mottershead
PRODUCED by Temple Theaters / September 2018
PHOTOS by Kate Raines
WAITING FOR RAIN by Mark J. Costello
DIRECTED by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
SCENIC* & LIGHTING DESIGN by Dustin L. Pettegrew
COSTUME DESIGN by Kathleen Embrey
SOUND DESIGN by Michael Kiley
PERFORMED by Hannah Brannau and Jay Ritter
PRODUCTION HISTORY World Premiere / Produced by Temple Theaters / January & February 2018
PHOTOS by Mark Garvin
*Back wall designed by Jonathan Mesich
I USED TO WRITE ON WALLS by Bekah Brunstetter
DIRECTED by Amy Shoshana Blumberg
SCENIC DESIGN* by Fred Duer
LIGHTING DESIGN by Jason Norris
COSTUME COORDINATION by Ariel Wang
SOUND DESIGN by Lyell Hintz
PERFORMED by Mary Kate Foley, Kelly Holstrom, Ryan Mikles, Hannah Postlewait, Isabel Robin, Cassidy Sanders, Satchel Williams, Hannah Kathryn Young, Paxton Zeis
PRODUCTION HISTORY Produced by Temple Theaters / October 2017
PHOTOS by John Flak
*Scenic elements designed by Jonathan Mesich