ArtsEmerson To Present NOLI TIMERE At Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre

ArtsEmerson will present NOLI TIMERE, a new performance work by choreographer Rebecca Lazier and sculptor Janet Echelman, at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. The production brings together contemporary dance, aerial performance, and sculptural installation in a work designed specifically for the theatre space.

NOLI TIMERE

In Noli Timere (Latin for “be not afraid”), eight multidisciplinary performers move through and within a custom-designed net sculpture created by Echelman, suspended up to 25 feet above the stage. The sculpture functions as both environment and partner, shaped by movement, balance, light, and sound. The work is directed and choreographed by Lazier, with an original score by composer Jorane, and explores themes of human and ecological interdependence through physical collaboration and spatial negotiation.

“What began as a simple question—how to bring humans into a suspended net sculpture—opened new ways of imagining space, relationships, and interdependence,” said Lazier. “Woven from a six-year collaboration between myself, Janet Echelman, Jorane, engineers, performers, riggers, and designers, Noli Timere forms a world where choreography and sculpture, music and dance, hope and fear, and human connection become inseparable—rendered visible and tangible through shared movement.”

“For the first time, I've created a new kind of sculpture as a world for dancers to inhabit, where the sculpture itself becomes a dancer, just at a different scale,” said Echelman. “Noli Timere is the culmination of a long artistic search to express how to navigate a world where the ground is no longer solid—and how to do this without fear.”

ArtsEmerson will present the production as part of its anniversary season programming. “We are excited to open the 2026 portion of our 15th anniversary season with Noli Timere,” said Ronee Penoi, Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts & Director of Artistic Programming at ArtsEmerson. “Janet Echelman lives in Boston and her studio is in Brookline; her work has appeared over the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway and now we are thrilled to bring it to the Cutler Majestic stage. In a time defined by uncertainty and distance, this piece isn't just about resisting the gravity that weighs on us, it's about choosing to catch each other when we fall, to carry each other through the invisible webs that bind us.”

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