SEATTLE FESTIVAL OF DANCE + IMPROVISATION to Feature Summer Residency Showings at Velocity Dance Center

Velocity Dance Center has announced a series of free residency showings during the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation (SFD+I), offering audiences an early look at four new works that will premiere as part of the organization's 2027 season.

Taking place throughout July, the showings invite audiences into the creative process as artists Akoiya Harris, Vlada Kremenović, Jody Kuehner (also known as Cherdonna Shinatra), and Kara Beadle develop new experimental performance pieces. The artists are currently in residence at either the 12th Ave Arts Studio Theater or Seattle's Freeway Park.

OUT THERE Residency Showing

Date: July 17

Time: 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Location: 12th Ave Arts Studio Theater

The first residency showing features new works by Akoiya Harris and Vlada Kremenović, both of whom will premiere expanded 30-minute pieces during Velocity's experimental dance festival, OUT THERE.

Harris' work examines the relationship between Seattle's Black communities and the Duwamish River, exploring themes of displacement, resilience, environmental change, and cultural memory through movement, poetry, and visual media. The project considers the lasting effects of redlining, gentrification, and ecological exploitation on both the city's landscape and its communities.

Kremenović's Medusa is a multidisciplinary dance performance inspired by the life cycle of jellyfish. Featuring an all-trans cast, the work combines dance, projection, and an original score by Fox Whitney in a coming-of-age story exploring identity, survival, sexuality, and migration.

SFD+I Residency Showing: Jody Kuehner (Cherdonna Shinatra)

Date: July 24

Time: 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Location: 12th Ave Arts Studio Theater

Audiences will also have the opportunity to preview Jody Kuehner's newest work, Metals and Matter of You, created through her drag persona Cherdonna Shinatra.

Developed in collaboration with Seattle-based green funeral home Recompose, the performance blends dance, drag, clowning, music, and storytelling to explore death, decomposition, and consciousness. Inspired by Recompose's human composting practices, the work seeks to transform perceptions of death from something feared into something approached with compassion and care.

SFD+I Residency Showing: Kara Beadle (Heap Troupe)

Date: July 26

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: Freeway Park

Kara Beadle and Heap Troupe will present a preview of The Pile-Up, a site-specific work examining the influence of automobile culture on urban environments and everyday life.

Created in collaboration with performers Alethea Alexander, Leah Crosby, Leo Othón, and Ben Swenson-Klatt, the project transforms Seattle's Freeway Park into a theatrical landscape where performers embody road rage, congestion, and the psychological effects of modern car culture. The work continues Heap Troupe's interdisciplinary approach, combining movement, interactive performance, and experimental theater to explore consumer culture and bodily autonomy.

About the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation

The residency showings are presented as part of the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation, which runs July 12 through August 9. Additional festival programming includes BRKFST on July 19, the Cohort Showcase July 31-August 1, Closer on August 6, and Research in Performance on August 8.

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