Jody Oberfelder Premieres Immersive STORY TIME at The Center at West Park
Performances run May 16-17.
By: Stephi Wild Apr. 15, 2025
Jody Oberfelder Projects, known for their immersive dance experiences of inventive athleticism, wit, and whimsy, invites audiences to step into the realm of myth and imagination with Story Time, a new evening-length work premiering Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 7:30 PM at The Center at West Park, a landmarked Romanesque Revival church full of character—and currently the subject of a high-profile preservation battle.
Conceived, directed, and choreographed by Jody Oberfelder, Story Time deconstructs fairy tales and myths to uncover the deeply human narratives beneath them. Like a book of collected stories, the choreography is purposefully episodic; each chapter introduces new terrain—psychological, physical, and spiritual—tracing the arcs of a cast of heroes and protagonists who are always changing. Dancers shape-shift from scene to scene, embodying conflicting roles and reminding us that within each of us lies the potential for both hero and villain, destruction and grace.
Performed by a cast of five intrepid dancers—Mariah Anton, Andi Farley-Shimota, Michael Greenberg, Nyah Malone, and Caleb Patterson—and accompanied by live musicians Grace Bergere and Tine Kindermann, Story Time brings to life archetypal characters whose journeys overlap: the benign, the haughty, messengers, helpers, conjurers, phantoms, bullies, and tricksters. The movement is athletic, emotionally charged, and at times dreamlike, evoking the timeless push and pull of good and evil, fear and freedom, destruction and rebirth.
Set inside an architectural jewel facing the threat of demolition, the work unfolds in two parts: a site-specific prologue of installations and movement throughout the sanctuary, followed by a series of page-turning tales performed on stage. The audience begins as wanderers, drawn into live dioramas, physical vignettes, and surreal curiosities—before settling into the pews for a richly layered theatrical experience. The boundary between viewer and performer is gently blurred. The immersive experience also features live vocals, original music, haunting soundscapes, surreal installations, and hand-crafted costumes—all combining to evoke a fairy tale world just slightly off-kilter from our own.
The venue itself is part of the story. The Center at West Park, housed in the 133-year-old West-Park Presbyterian Church, has faced demolition threats due to its deteriorating condition and ongoing legal disputes. The church's application for a hardship demolition was withdrawn in January 2024 after vocal opposition from preservationists, artists, and elected officials. Oberfelder's choice to perform Story Time in this embattled space is intentional—calling attention to the cultural and spiritual role of such places, and the danger of losing them.
“Across cultures and time, people have always gathered around stories—to make sense of the world, to find direction, to feel less alone,” says Oberfelder. “Dance is its own kind of storytelling: fleeting, wordless, yet full of meaning. There's a Grimm tale that ends, ‘And the mouth of the person who last told this story is still warm.' That warmth—that sense of something just passed on—is what I hope lingers. I want audiences to arrive with wonder, to follow the threads of their own journey, and perhaps leave seeing themselves as the hero in their own unfolding tale.”
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